The honest answer: you'll walk more than you expect
Inside the walls, walking beats everything. The whole walled city crosses on foot in about twenty minutes, the streets are narrow and one-way and clogged with other people's taxis, and a car will often lose to your own legs over the same distance. We're on Carrera 7 in San Diego, which is the quieter, northern corner of the Old Town, and from our door you're a short walk from the walls, from the main squares and from the gate down to Getsemani.
So the real question isn't how to get around Cartagena. It's what to do on the handful of trips where walking doesn't work: the airport, the beach, dinner across town when it's 32 degrees and you're already dressed.
Street taxis: no meter, agree the price first
The yellow taxis are everywhere and they are cheap, but they do not run meters. Fares are set by zone, so the routine is: say where you're going through the window, hear a number, agree it, then get in. This isn't a tourist trap in itself, it's just how it works here, and it happens to locals too.
The number worth memorising is the 2026 legal minimum fare: 12,250 pesos. Short hops in and around the Old Town sit near it. If you're quoted three times that for six blocks, you're allowed to say no and wait thirty seconds for the next one, because there's always a next one.
Our take: taxis are the most convenient option for most visitors precisely because you don't need data, a phone in your hand on the street, or a pickup point. You just need to be ready to talk about money for ten seconds.
Ride apps: InDrive, Uber, Cabify
If negotiating in Spanish at a kerb isn't how you want to spend your holiday, use an app. InDrive is the one most commonly used in Cartagena, and Uber and Cabify operate here too. The advantage is the price appears before the ride, which removes the entire conversation above. The disadvantage is you're standing on a street corner with your phone out waiting for a car that has to get through the same narrow streets you could have walked.
Our take: apps for anything after dark or out to Bocagrande, street taxis for quick daytime hops.
From the airport
Rafael Nunez International is unusually close to the Old Town for a city airport, which is one of the quiet pleasures of arriving here. You can take a taxi from the rank, or you can have it handled.
Ours is a fixed price: 120,000 pesos for up to four passengers, 200,000 pesos for five or more. Tell us your flight and someone will be waiting, which after a long connection through Bogota is worth more than the money. We've written the full airport-to-Old-Town comparison, including what a rank taxi should cost, on its own page.
Getting to the beach: that's a boat
The beaches you actually want are not a drive. The good ones are across the bay, so the transport is a boat from one of the piers rather than a taxi along the coast.
For our part, Blue Apple Beach is our beach club and the Blue Apple boat runs to the Blue Apple Beach dock. It's a far more comfortable ride than a local water taxi, which is a small open boat where spray is part of the experience. If you do take a water taxi, bring cash and a dry bag.
What we'd tell you not to bother with
Don't hire a car. There is no version of this trip where parking a rental inside a walled colonial city with cobblestone streets improves your day. If you've arrived with one anyway, we can reserve you a spot at a nearby garage for €15 a night.
Don't plan your days around vehicles at all, really. The city is built for walking and the distances are short. What defeats people here isn't the geography, it's the heat, so front-load the walking into the morning, take the middle of the day off, and come back out at five when the light softens.
A rough day, in transport terms
- Morning: walk. Old Town, walls, coffee, museums, all on foot.
- Midday: don't. This is the pool and the shade part of the day, and our roof is open from 8am until midnight if you want it.
- Evening: walk again inside the walls. Take an app if you're heading out to Bocagrande or coming back late from Getsemani.
That's the whole system. Two working modes, a boat for the beach, and one fixed-price run from the airport.