Where to Go Salsa Dancing in Cartagena's Old Town (and Getsemaní)

By Townhouse Cartagena · October 1, 2026

• Donde Fidel

  · Plaza de los Coches corner, under the Clock Tower, at the far end of the walled city from us. You can cross the whole old town on foot in about 20 minutes. · No cover for the outdoor tables; drinks at normal walled-city prices

  Start here. It opened in 1985 in Getsemaní and moved to this corner in the late 1990s, and it plays classic salsa only: no reggaeton, no electronic, no requests you'd be embarrassed by. Three small indoor rooms plus four rows of outdoor tables along the city walls, which is where you want to be, because you can watch the plaza and hear the music without being inside a sweatbox. Past acts on the bill include El Gran Combo and Oscar De León, so the crowd skews older salsa faithful with travellers mixed in. Open daily 4pm to 2am, which makes it the only reliable option if it's a Tuesday and you still want to hear a good salsa record.

• Café Havana

  · Getsemaní, corner of Calle de la Media Luna and Calle del Guerrero, across Parque del Centenario from the walls · Cover 40,000 to 60,000 COP depending on the night

  This is the one to plan a night around. Two live orchestras rotate most nights, more than twenty-five musicians across the two bands, playing to a horseshoe bar with the dance floor built around it. The band starts around 11pm and the floor is full before that, so arrive by 10.30 if you want somewhere to put your drink. Wednesday to Saturday it runs until about 4am, shorter the rest of the week. Two warnings: it is hot, properly hot, so dress for sweating, and the floor is packed enough that you'll cut your steps down to nothing. Worth going even if you don't dance, which is not something we'd say about most clubs.

• Bazurto Social Club

  · Back patio of Casa Cruxada on Plaza Santo Domingo, inside the walls · Free before 10pm, roughly 20,000 to 30,000 COP after

  Not salsa, and that's the point of including it. Bazurto plays live champeta, cumbia and reggae, which is the music Cartagena actually grew up on, and the house will teach you the basics of champeta on the spot if you look lost enough. Thursday to Saturday, music from around 10pm until 3.30am. Note that it moved in March 2024 from its old Media Luna address in Getsemaní to Plaza Santo Domingo, so ignore any blog that still sends you to Getsemaní for it. Grittier and more local than Havana.

• Plaza de la Trinidad

  · Getsemaní, a walk across Parque del Centenario · Street prices; a beer from the shop costs a fraction of a bar

  The warm-up, not the destination. The square fills from about 7pm with people drinking beers bought from the shops around it, and it's where you go to kill the two hours between dinner and the band starting at Havana, which is three minutes away. Sit on the church steps, buy from the vendor nearest you, and move on when the music you want starts elsewhere.