The one-line version
Bocagrande is the beach with high-rises on it. The Old Town is the walled colonial city with no beach in it. Travel forums have been calling them exact opposites for years and that's still the fairest summary (TripAdvisor Cartagena forum).
We are not neutral. We're at Carrera 7 in San Diego, inside the walls, so you can guess which way we lean. What follows is still the honest case for both, because sending the wrong person to the wrong side of the bay helps nobody.
The case for Bocagrande
You walk out of the lobby and you're at the sand. That's the whole argument and it's a good one, especially with small kids or if the point of the trip is to lie down for four days. The hotels are modern high-rises with reliable air conditioning, and you generally get more room for your money than inside the walls (Tom Plan My Trip, My Cartagena Trip).
The cost is that every evening in the Old Town becomes a taxi ride out and a taxi ride back at 1am. Do that four nights running and you'll notice it, in money and in patience.
The case for the Old Town
You walk. That's our whole argument. The walled centre is small enough to cross on foot in about twenty minutes, so dinner, drinks, the walls at sunset and the walk home are all one continuous evening rather than three logistics problems. There is no beach inside the walls and we're not going to pretend otherwise.
Our corner of it, San Diego, is the quieter northern end. Plaza de San Diego is our square and it's where we eat when we're not working. Las Murallas, the city walls, are a short walk away and you can walk along the top of them at sunset, which is the single best free thing in this city. Getsemani, the loud one, is out through the gate and across Parque del Centenario when you want a later night than the plazas provide.
Side by side
| Bocagrande | Old Town (where we are) | |
|---|---|---|
| Beach | Directly outside the hotel | None inside the walls |
| Buildings | Modern high-rises | Colonial houses, ten rooms in ours |
| Getting around | Taxi for most evenings out | Walk, roughly 20 minutes end to end |
| Nights out | Quieter, hotel-centred | Plazas, then Getsemani |
| Value per square metre | Generally better | You pay for the address |
| Best for | Beach days, families who want sand at 9am | First-timers, walkers, people who came for the city |
How we'd actually decide
Under four nights: Old Town, no debate. You did not fly here to spend an hour a day in traffic on Avenida San Martin.
Beach every single day: Bocagrande, or split it. Three nights inside the walls, two on the water, and everyone's happy.
Want both without moving: stay inside the walls and take the water to you. Our beach club, Blue Apple Beach, is on Tierra Bomba, the island straight across the bay. You get a proper beach day and you're back for the rooftop, which is open till midnight.
Travelling with kids: Bocagrande is easier at nap o'clock. If you're with us instead, note the rooftop is adults-only after 8pm; before that, children are welcome up there.
The part nobody puts in the comparison
Inside the walls you're living in the middle of the thing you came to see, which means the thing you came to see is also happening outside your window at 11pm. Drums, a wedding parade, someone's speaker. If you want quiet and colonial hush, we're probably not your spot, and that goes double for a plaza-facing room anywhere in the centre. Bocagrande is genuinely calmer after dark.
Book direct with us and breakfast is included, which is a small thing until you've priced eggs on the tourist strip.