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Cartagena Ancient City Tour
Information on Tours, Prices and Reservations
*Decameron Explorer’s local activities and tours have an additional cost ($)
Fascinating tour through the Old and Modern city of Cartagena. We will visit the most representative monuments, such as the Convent of the Popa (highest point in the city). There, one can appreciate a spectacular view, a museum full of legends, a monastery which is now a dwelling, and beautiful church of the colonial era.
Then we will go to the Castillo de San Felipe, an immense fort filled with history and mysteries hidden in its stone-walled tunnels. Right after that, we will visit the monument to Zapatos Viejos the “Old Shoes”. You might feel a little dwarfed inside of them and have the opportunity to take some amusing photos.
You will take a short walk through the Downtown Historical Center of the City, where you will find churches, museums, plazas, restaurants, shops and jewelry stores. In this historical center one finds everything so you will never forget this wonderful destiny: Cartagena de Indias. During the trip you will be accompanied by a English speaking tour guide who will offer you complete information about the history of each of the sites you will visit.

San Pedro Cathedral

Baluarte

Beautiful Colonial Balcony
Panoramic visit to get acquainted with the history of the most representative monuments of the city of Cartagena. This is an interesting tour of recognition and orientation to our “Corralito de Piedra”.
Then you will enjoy an exclusive walk through the Downtown Historical Center of Cartagena de Indias, which includes churches, museums, plazas, monuments, exclusive shops, jewelry stores, besides having the opportunity to learn the legends which frame the charm of its narrow streets, accompanied by a English speaking tour guide who will offer you complete information about the history of each of the sites.

Walled City -"La Tenaza"

Inquisition Street
Rumba en Chiva ( The Party Bus)
Get on board one of our colorful, typical chiva buses and enjoy the charming and bewitching atmosphere of a fascinating nighttime tour of the city of Cartagena, accompanied by a Vallenato live band which will delight you all evening long, tasting our traditional Antaño Rum. Included in this trip is a stop to try the exquisite typical fried Cartagena snacks with the authentic coastal flavor and a folklore show offered by an excellent regional group. The tour finalizes at one of the most popular discotheques of the city.

Chiva Rumbera Nigth Tour

Beautiful Balcony
Tour in Horse-Drawn Carriage with dinner at “La Vitrola” Restaurant
Live the experience of returning to the colonial era with our TOUR in horse-drawn carriages where you will admire our beautiful Cartagena even more. Enjoy the walled city and its balconies illuminated by lanterns under an enchanting moon.
Entertain your imagination with the marvelous stories of each of the streets of the Old City, narrated by the carriage driver, and conclude this romantic soirée in one of the best restaurants in the Old City, “La Vitrola,” where you may enjoy live music (son cubano) and an exquisite menu featuring Caribbean fusion cuisine.

"La Vitrola" Restaurant

Horse-drawn Carriages
Nighttime stroll through the old city of Cartagena
Let yourself be carried away by the incredible and majestic tour of the Old City where you will discover the enchantment of the Cartagena nights.
Live it up and let yourself get engulfed in the mysticism of its narrow old streets and plazas full of thousands of stories and discover the meaning of each of their names, thanks to the orientation of a English speaking tour guide who will accompany you on your tour. Don’t hesitate to participate and enjoy this walk as the best alternative to discover even more of the charm of our “Corralito de Piedra”.

Walled city at night

Stone Wall
Go through the different coastal cities of the Bolivar, Atlantico and Magdalena departments, until you reach the oldest city of South America, Santa Marta. Visit the last dwelling place of Liberator Simon Bolivar, the Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino, The Cathedral, The Pibe´s Valderrama monument and a panoramic tour of the bay of the “Pearl of America” and its exotic boardwalk, from which you can appreciate the Caribbean Sea.
You will arrive at the Decameron Galeon Hotel in Santa Marta, located at the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, where you may take an ocean dip at our ample private beach, swim placidly in our semi-olympic pool and enjoy a succulent buffet-style lunch accompanied by our incomparable open bar.
Back to Cartagena, with a panoramic tour of the city of Barranquilla, “Golden Door of Colombia,” and a stop at the best Shopping Mall in the city to make purchases of famous brand clothing, jewelry, etc., accompanied by a professional English speaking tour guide who will offer you complete information on the history of each of the sites you will visit.

The Cathedral

Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino

Santa Marta
DOLPHINARIUM SHOW AND ECOLOGICAL EXCURSION IN ISLA PALMA
Enjoy an All-Inclusive program on an exclusive island located in the Archipelago of San Bernardo. After a 3-hour bus trip, you will arrive at this wonderful site where you will enjoy a day of sun, white-sand beach and crystal clear waters, and begin to live an unforgettable experience. The island is surrounded by an exotic beach and coral reefs, marsh lakes with pink flamingos and mangroves where a rich variety of continental and marine fauna and flora abound.
Enjoy yourself to the maximum during your visit to the aviary, ecological walk through the mangroves, swimming in the island’s crystal-clear waters, visit the aquarium and the spectacular show with dolphins Fiona and Camila, where you will amaze yourself as you see, in their natural medium, these mammals known for their great intelligence, feed them and learn important aspects such as their reproduction and interaction.
Enjoy an exquisite buffet-style lunch, snacks and open bar with unlimited domestic beverages and spirits.

Dolphinarium Isla Palma

Flamingos

Decameron Isla Palma
On this great tour you will discover that Cartagena is not just walls full of history. The city also provides a great versatile ecosystem full of color and adventure with the same magic and charm that surround our city. This is a unique opportunity to visit the only mud volcano in the zone, located just outside the city, and allow yourself a therapeutic mud bath with healing properties and a refreshing dip in a lagoon.
Cartagena, located on the shores of the Caribbean Sea, has the privilege of having a wonderful sea full of coral reefs where one finds multicolored fish and different marine species waiting to be discovered. The diving excursions are made daily to special sites such as the islands of Barú and Rosario (approx. 45 – 60 minutes away) with different options of two or three dives. Warm waters (28ºC. / 86ºF. average) and a very varied submarine environment provide spectacular diving activity as much for beginning divers as for the advanced.
Cartagena offers its visitors multiple exceptional submarine experiences, to assure an unforgettable stay. Is the ideal vacation spot With diving of excellent quality, tropical Islands, paradisical sites and white sands beaches.
Certified Divers – two dives
Outings for diving With two tanks begining with 2 dives, each one of 60 to 70 feet (16 to 22 meters) in depth, the outings to go diving are made daily to special sites such as the Islands of Barú and Rosario (approx.45 minutes away). Once the dives are made, we will have break for refreshments in a wonderful beach.
Mini Diving Course
The trip to the first dive site (training class) will be of 45 feet (13 meters) in depth. The outings to go diving are made daily to special sites such as the islands of Barú and Rosario (approx. 40 minutes away). Once training is completed we rest for a short time and beging the second dive. Once the dives are mad, we will have break for refreshments in a wonderful beach.
SNORKELING TOUR
If you enjoy crystalline waters and observing the exotic marine life from the surface of the ocean, this is the tour for you. Using a diving mask and a snorkel will allow you to see the ocean bottom. The activity is carried out between Baru and Rosario Islands beaches. Then we will have break for refreshments in a wonderful beach.
Islas del Rosario - Rosario Islands
We offer four island alternatives to enjoy the beauty of our beaches, a magnificent excursion to a spectacular coral reef, turquoise sea and many marvels of nature. To reach any of these three lovely islands one starts with a 45-minute trip by speedboat. We count on the assistance of a professional guide who will provide you with very valuable historical information about the bay, the outlying villages and the only maritime entry / exit for the city of Cartagena: el canal del dique.
Upon arrival at the selected island, you may appreciate the imposing beauty of the place and its ecological environment. A series of optional activities are offered, such as snorkeling, a panoramic tour of some of the 27 islands, transfer to the oceanarium to enjoy dolphin and shark shows and different marine species (additional cost). Later on the island you will have an exquisite typical lunch (fried fish, patacones, salad) and a few hours rest at the site installations.

Rosario Islands

Rosario Islands

Bird watching in Los Colorados Sanctuary
A morning excursion to observe birds in the Los Colorado’s Flora and Fauna Sanctuary, specifically along the Planeta Bosque Interpretive Path, which allows you to have a learning experience in environmental education and enjoy a natural landscape.
In this dry-humid tropical forest exist a variety of species of animals, among them the Howler Monkey -Alouatta Seniculus- from which the sanctuary get its name, numerous insects, amphibians and reptiles. More than 280 species of birds have been sighted and registered, outstanding among which are macaws, parrots, humming birds, the cacao bird and the flautero, and moreover 41 migratory species at the continental level. It is one of the few remaining forests with these characteristics in Colombia. At the end of this interesting walk you will enjoy a refreshing swim in Salto del Chivo waterfalls.
Before starting this wonderful hike a brief explanation is given of the basic techniques for observing and identifying the birds.
Archeological and Cultural Adventure
A complete tour of the most important towns of the Bolivar department. It starts with an interesting route along San Juan Nepomuceno, land rich in biodiversity and culture where we will do a panoramic overview of its main church, main streets and plazas. Afterwards we will visit San Jacinto, considered the principal handicrafts center of the Atlantic coast. In addition it possesses the most antique ceramics of America, conserved in the Ethnic Archaeological Museum where we will also find delight appreciating a regional of folkloric dance show. In this village you will find the greatest samples of handicrafts elaborated mainly from cotton fibers, with which they fabricate their famous hammocks, bags, and other accessories made by the natives, and without doubt they will be your best option to take with you as souvenirs.
We will begin this tour of nature with a visit to the Guillermo Piñeres Botanical Garden. In a one-hour path you can appreciate all the flora of the Colombian Caribbean region all in this one wonderful place. It is rich in wildflowers and has an herbarium with more than 12.600 examples duly conserved and classified, a collection of plants among which are outstanding ornamental plants, fruit trees and a protected native forest; source of streams with unique aquatic fauna; species such as iguanas, red squirrels, poisonous frogs, howler monkeys and birds, among others. On this adventure you will learn about and understand the need to conserve the ecosystem for the benefit of the community and the region.
Only 10 minutes away, we will visit an interesting breeding farm for alligators, Calatrava. There you will enjoy refreshments and an easy hike through an extensive wooded zone where you can interact with nature, finding diverse vegetation, lakes and exotic animals, such as the sloth, boa constrictors, tortoises, macaws, a show with horses doing fancy footwork, and moreover, you will be delighted by the presentation of the alligators breeding program where a brief description is given of their biological process which has as its chief objective the exploitation of its skin.
Fifteen minutes from Cartagena we find the Cartagena Country Club, a 69-hectare golf course – 18 holes par 72 with a longitude of 6,901 yards from championship marks (approved by the Golf Federation). The fairways are sown in Bermuda and native grasses from the region, and the greens are dwarf Bermuda grass; the course offers magnificent fresh air, privileged climate and beautiful vegetation so that you will enjoy the best golf course in the city.
TOUR TO SANTA CRUZ DE MOMPOX “THE CITY OF GOD”
You will enjoy lodging for one night in this colonial treasure declared by UNESCO Historical Heritage of Mankind on December 6, 1995. It is located only 248 Km. south of Cartagena on the Banks of the Magdalena River, arriving at the port of Yatí where you will enjoy a 45-minute panoramic tour by ferry until you reach this wonderful spot.
Santa Cruz de Mompox has been conserved almost intact up to our days, which has marked it as one of the most beautiful jewels of the Colonial Period. Upon arrival, you will enjoy an exquisite lunch and begin a tour which will delight you with its beautiful architecture, visiting the principal churches among which stand out the Church of San Francisco and the loveliest for its barroque style: the Church of Santa Bárbara. Moreover, you will tour the principal plazas, Antique narrow streets, visit the Statue of Liberty, the Ethnic Archaeological Museum, the House of Culture and what was the first university of the Colombian Atlantic Coast today conserved as a National School.
After enjoying a placid night in the Hostal Doña Manuela, the largest and most beautiful mansion in town, the next day you will have the chance to observe a smithing technique unique in the world: the traditional work in gold and silver filigree, and please yourselves while purchasing beautiful jewelry fabricated with these woven designs.
Tel: +57 (5) 650-3600 x 161
E-Mail: cartagena.receptivosexplorer@decameron.com
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