Walking from Cartagena's Old Town to Getsemaní at Night: The Route We Use

The route

Aim for the Torre del Reloj and everything else follows. From us, that means walking south through the walled city, which takes about ten minutes from Carrera 7 at an unhurried pace. Go out under the arch, cross the bridge past the India Catalina statue, and you're in Getsemaní. Ten more minutes gets you to Calle Larga and the Plaza de la Trinidad, which is where most of the night happens.

Call it 20 minutes door to plaza. It's flat and it's cobblestones for most of it, so this is not the night for new shoes.

Going at night

Go after dinner, not before. Getsemaní wakes up late: Café Havana on Carrera 10 doesn't open until 8pm and runs to 3am, and Arrabal on Calle de San Juan serves until 11:30pm on a Friday or Saturday. If you leave us at 7pm you'll be standing on an empty plaza wondering what the fuss is.

Walk out, and think about how you're getting back. We'd walk it over, have the night, and take a taxi home after midnight rather than do the bridge again at 2am. That's what we do ourselves, and it costs less than a cocktail.

Before you go

Start on our roof. We're open 8am to midnight with a cocktail bar and two plunge pools, and we were the first hotel in the city to open the rooftop to the public, so you'll be drinking with locals rather than only with other guests. Book a table if you want the sunset. Then walk down and out.