The 10 Most Instagrammable Places in Cartagena, Colombia

Cartagena, Colombia is one of the most photogenic cities in the world. Around every corner there’s a 400-year old cathedral, a colorful mural, a balcony laden with flowers, or a rainbow-colored street. We’ve taken several trips to Cartagena and find ourselves returning to the same photogenic spots over and over again!

Today, we’re sharing all of our secrets to finding our favorite spots to take photos in Cartagena. You know, for Instagram. Because if you don’t post about it on Instagram, did you really go? Let’s all collectively swallow our irony and just agree that photography is fun and Instagram is fun and follow each other, OK?

Planning a trip to Cartagena? Here are a few posts you’ll want to check out before your trip:

• What and Where to Eat in Cartagena, Colombia on a Budget
• What to Pack for Colombia: The Ultimate Packing Guide
• Mud Baths in a Volcano: Cartagena’s Most Ridiculous Tour
• How to Get from Cartagena to Santa Marta

If you want to experience a deeper side of Colombia—as in, not just the touristy stuff — have a local plan your trip using ViaHero! Not only will you be directly supporting a local, but they’ll provide insider access to all the coolest stuff, do the heavy lifting when it comes to planning your ideal trip, and help you stay safe once you arrive in Colombia via 24/7 phone support. You’ll get a customized itinerary, guidebook, and even an offline app to use during your trip. Hot dayum that’s insanely helpful. Click here to check out ViaHero (oh, and you’ll also get 5% off cuz we love ya).

Oh, hey! Don’t forget to subscribe below for a FREE printable packing list for Colombia, plus our favorite tips for visiting our favorite country!

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Have you ever made your partner your 3rd wheel? On our trip to Colombia this February, there were 3 of us: me, Jeremy, and my best friend of over 20 years. It was a return for all of us: my first ever visit to Colombia was with my BFF, years ago when she taught English for a year in Baranquilla. I remember freaking out when she told me where she was going to be teaching. "COLOMBIA?" I squealed with the most concerned-parent tone a 22 year old could muster. "Isn't that like, SUPER dangerous?" . She assured me that it wasn't, and I bought a plane ticket to visit her, because when your best friend does something cool like teach English abroad, you use it as an excuse to come visit and crash on her couch. Except her host family didn't have a couch for me, so I crashed on her neighbor's couch instead. . That very first visit to Colombia left me feeling enchanted. It was my first visit to Latin America. My first time realizing how incredibly kind and generous the people here were. My first time using the Spanish I'd let fall by the wayside since high school to navigate – in Europe, you can learn the basics and then rely on everyone to take pity on you and speak English. Not in Colombia. It was my first time riding through the jungle in a motorcycle to a waterfall. My first time falling in love with a hostel. My first time drinking coffee at the farm it came from. So many firsts! Colombia had a hold on me, even then, even after my BFF returned to the states and ended her own love story with Colombia. . When I told Jeremy I wanted to start our year-long honeymoon in Colombia, he was like, "COLOMBIA? Isn't that like, SUPER dangerous?" I just laughed. Needless to say, we'll be back again … and again.. and again. . Have you ever traveled with your best friend before? Tell me about your adventures in the comments!

A post shared by Lia & Jeremy ❤️ Travel Couple (@practicalwanderlust) on Mar 20, 2018 at 8:32am PDT

Tips for Taking Photos in Cartagena, Colombia

Be aware of the hard lighting

The lighting in Cartagena is EXTREMELY hard. Like, it’s some of the hardest lighting we’ve experienced anywhere in the world. The sun is hot and bright, and the buildings cast dark shadows, dividing half of the street into harsh lines that ruin your photos. This is probably the biggest challenge when it comes to photographing Cartagena.

The worst hard lighting lasts from around 10 am to 4 pm, so plan to spend some time indoors (perhaps somewhere with A/C?) during the sunniest part of the day, and plan your photos around the morning and early evening. During that time, the sun is the most forgiving – great for your photos, and for that sweaty, sticky look that I always get right at noon.

Bring a wide-angle lens

The streets of Cartagena are narrow, which makes it difficult to capture a lot of Cartagena’s most unique details, like the 2nd story balconies and street art. Bring a wide-angle lens to help solve this problem so you can capture all of the beauty of Cartagena de las Indias. This one fits right on your cell phone – no fancy equipment needed!

Wait until the street clears

Patience is the name of the game in Cartagena. There is seemingly ALWAYS a bright yellow taxi,  a group of tourists, some teenagers taking a selfie, an oncoming car, or a just an onlooker blocking your ideal shot. Deep breaths – the street will clear, eventually. You just might have to stand there for a while, serenely, meditating, thinking about being “in the moment,” etc. Or just say f*** it and include taxis in half of your photos. Hey, it’s more “authentic” that way. 

Another suggestion? Head to the less crowded areas of Cartagena, like Getsemani. Many of our favorite shots of Cartagena were taken in colorful Getsemani, and we almost never had to worry about invading cars or avoiding crowds!

Be careful with your tripod

Cartagena is a busy place, and I wouldn’t recommend putting your camera on a tripod and walking away from it. But if you don’t have a photographer handy, it’s totally a necessary risk to get the ideal shot! We always travel with the lightweight JOBY GorillaPod tripod, which you can attach to anything (fences, trees, street-lamps, door handles …to give you a few examples from our last trip). Having your tripod firmly wrapped around something and your camera screwed safely into it means that nobody can walk off with your camera (or your phone, with this attachment) without a struggle, which is enough of a theft deterrent for 99% of opportunists.

Bring a lockable camera bag

Deter theft with a lockable camera bag – even better, a lockable camera bag that doesn’t scream I’M A CAMERA BAG WITH LOCKS ON IT. We have this bag, which holds all of our camera gear plus plenty of extra room, has lockable zippers, and looks like a regular backpack. Psst: make sure you buy locks that can’t be easily opened with a TSA key, like these. And read up on more travel safety tips here.

The Most Instagrammable Spots in Cartagena, Colombia

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I visited Colombia for the 3rd time last week – the only country that I've visited 3 times EVER. And yes, it was just as good the third time around. It felt, in a weird way, sort of home-y. Like, as home-y as you can feel in a country you've visited 3 times and have spent a grand total of 1.5 months in. . I don't know exactly why, but Colombia calls us back and enchants us with a kind of weird magic. And I mean like, MAGIC magic. Like, realismo magico, Gabriel Garcia Marquez levels of magic. There is just something about Colombia. Some invisible life-force that guides us around, enthralled, putting our minds at ease and leading us to discover new and exciting secrets. Things happen in Colombia that we wouldn't accept elsewhere – ghost stories seem more real, impossible things more acceptable. Colombia captivates us. It dazzles us. Something makes us overlook its flaws (because no country is perfect, and Colombia certainly is not) and embrace its many wonders. . I know I'm being like, SO vague, but it's mostly because I have a zillion stories about Colombia to share and I don't want to give away everything just yet. But let's start things off with a little bit of history, yea? . Our trip began in Cartagena: a hot, sunny seaside city with a bloody past. Built in the 1500's by Spanish colonizers, the city quickly amassed wealth by literally grave-robbing the indigenous people whose homes they had built their city upon. That's right: the Spanish showed up, decided to build a city, and then proceeded to ROB THE TOMBS of the former inhabitants and BUILD A CITY on top of those robbed tombs. Is there anything shittier? …. Well, yes. This history only gets more and more horrifyingly gory, and I can't wait to tell you all about it …starting tomorrow. . Is there a place you find yourself returning to again and again? Tell me in the comments! #DameTraveler #girlslovetravel #gltlove #femaletravelbloggers #dametraveler #darlingescapes #girlaroundtheworld #globelletravels #ladiesgoneglobal #sheexplores #sheisnotlost #thetravelwomen #wearetravelgirls

A post shared by Lia & Jeremy ❤️ Travel Couple (@practicalwanderlust) on Mar 1, 2018 at 12:52pm PST

Abaco Libros y Café

This iconic photo is the one most people imagine when they think of beautiful Cartagena de las Indias. We kept stumbling upon this view as we wandered through the maze of the Walled City. The dome hides around one turn and pops out through another, shows itself through a pair of palm trees on side of a park and conceals itself on the other. But the best spot to take this photo is right outside of Abaco Libros y Cafe. Just locate the coffee shop, turn around, and shoot! If you’re lucky, you’ll get a blissfully taxi-free opportunity to shoot straight down the street.

Since you’re already here to take your iconic Cartagena photo, head inside for a bonus shot! This gorgeous little coffee shop is also a stunning little bookstore. Capture your photo and spend a few minutes in the blessed A/C browsing books in Spanish, or sipping on an ice-cold coffee.

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Calle 37

Wander outside the crush of tourists near the entrance of the walled city to its quieter outskirts, and you’ll stumble upon some of the most adorable alleys in Cartagena – like this one at Calle 37 between Carerra 9 & 10! There are quite a few places to stay along this street, in the quieter part of the walled city.

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The first time we visited Cartagena, we were too miserable to appreciate it. Cartagena was the very first stop on our year-long honeymoon. Imagine a little harp music and wavy lines, and let's flash back to July 12th, 2016…. . We were in our backyard, cuddling our cat friend, Jasper – a cranky black cat from down the street who was 14 years old and missing a few teeth, but who we loved dearly – watching a moving company pack up all of our belongings and stick them them in the back of a truck. The feeling of "oh god what have we done" began to sink in as we shouldered our packs, said our tearful goodbyes to Jasper, and headed down the street to take the train to the airport. . By the time we were disembarking in Cartagena, that feeling slapped us in the face like a hot, wet towel – or maybe that was just the humid tropical air. My hair immediately fluffed up to 3x its normal size and our hearts sank. We weren't feeling excited about our journey. We were feeling homesick, sad, remorseful, and terrified. Did we just make the biggest mistake of our lives? . We spent our first night in Cartagena morosely wandering the 400-year-old wall that surrounds the city, feeling more and more miserable until we both just sat down and cried. It was pointless: we weren't enjoying ourselves. We headed back to our hostel and spent the rest of the night watching Jessica Jones Season 1, holding each other tight through our tears in a tiny twin bed, because we couldn't bear to sleep apart just yet. We were a sorry sight. . This February, we visited Cartagena for the third time. We sashayed through the airport, greeting the city like an old friend. We stayed out past midnight dancing and exploring, experiencing the city the way we couldn't just 2 years before. Cartagena felt familiar, and as we traversed that same wall in the middle of the night, one of us stumbled and fell – a nasty stubbed toe required an emergency taxi to a 24-hour pharmacy. We laughed about our rotten luck the whole way there, and then stayed out for 2 more hours, limping from plaza to plaza, loving it all. . Have you ever found yourself too miserable to enjoy a trip? Share your story in the comments!

A post shared by Lia & Jeremy ❤️ Travel Couple (@practicalwanderlust) on Mar 19, 2018 at 11:37am PDT

La Cocina de Pepina in Getsemani

I swear someone built this wall with Instagram in mind, because it is the PERFECT photo spot. Located just outside one of our favorite restaurants in Cartagena, La Cocina de Pepina, this wall provides the perfect framing and color for a gorgeous Instagram shot – totally profile picture worthy! It’s perfect for twirling around in front of in a flowy skirt (this is the one I’m wearing).

To get the best shot, head to the opposite side of the street, where you can frame your picture perfectly. This part of Getsemani isn’t terribly crowded, so you should be safe to set up a tripod here, particularly early in the morning. But if you’re planning to head inside and try their amazing fish soup (WHICH YOU SHOULD), don’t arrive TOO early – they open around 11.

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The beautiful, vibrant Cartagena of today wasn't always a welcoming, Instagram-friendly explosion of color and culture. In the not-so-distant past, Cartagena was the site of unspeakable cruelty and suffering. No, I'm not talking about cartels or Narcos – that's much further south, and much more recent – I'm talking about the Colonialization of Cartagena, and of Colombia. It is a dark, twisted story, and one that I found important and meaningful to give context to a city that today, is famous for street art, music, and joy. . I mentioned in my last post that the Spanish colonizers who first arrived in Cartagena built their city using the plundered riches of Indigenous graves located in present-day Cartagena. Shortly afterwards, having established a bustling town that mostly traded in grave robbing, Cartagena was granted the privilege of becoming South America’s only market for the trade of African slaves. Yup. The Conquistadors literally dug up dead bodies, stole all of their belongings, sold them, and then used the profits to buy and sell enslaved humans. That's like, a whole new level of awful. . But the story doesn't end there. Bloated and wealthy from the booming trades of grave robbing and human enslaving, the Spanish citizens of Cartagena became targets of other morally bankrupt individuals: pirates. Throughout 1500’s-1700’s, the city was constantly under siege by pirates looking to get some secondhand stolen sh**. (Can we be honest, though? The Spaniards were kind of asking for it). Fed up with people stealing their stolen goods, the Spaniards built a wall to keep the pirates at bay. Thus was born the famous wall surrounding the old city of Cartagena, the Walled City. Walk on that 400-year old wall gazing at the colonial balconies laden with flowers as the sun sets over the Caribbean ocean and ruminate on that for a while. . BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE. Cartagena was also the center of torture for all of South America… But I'll leave that for tomorrow's post. . Did you know about the dark history of Cartagena? Does it change your perception of this beautiful, vibrant city?

A post shared by Lia & Jeremy ❤️ Travel Couple (@practicalwanderlust) on Mar 5, 2018 at 1:05pm PST

Calle San Andres

Head outside of Cartagena’s walled city and through the Parque del Centenario (keep an eye out for iguanas and parrots, both of which live in the park). As you exit the park through the far end, you’ll be greated with a beautiful street decorated with brightly colored banners. This is Calle San Andres, and it makes for a fantastic photo! Wander down this street and you’ll find even more photo ops, as well as local artists selling colorful paintings along the street. The next best thing to a great Instagram photo is a painting of what you WANTED to capture, right?

https://www.instagram.com/p/Be_sgmkBa19/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Calle de la Sierpe

This large, curving street leading from the Walled City to Getsemani is beautiful during the day. Unfortunately, it’s also a little bit smelly, especially at night. But hold your nose and check it out, because it’s worth it to catch the stunning street art.

The most iconic mural on this street is of a laughing old woman, black and beautiful and bold in her defiant joy. It’s an uplifting piece, and it’s hella Instagram worthy.

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'Las Tres Guerreras' 🎨 by @findac #getsemani #cartagena

A post shared by Carrie Lyman (@carriedesigns) on Jul 6, 2016 at 1:30pm PDT

Las Tres Guerreras

This stunning portrait was created by Fin DAC and represents “The Face of Cartagena.” For a little context, Cartagena is home to a huge number of African descendants thanks to its bloody history as the primary slave port for the Spanish back when raping, pillaging, and conquering was all the rage. The brutal history has given rise to a unique Afro-Caribbean heritage, and today, the street art celebrating black Cartagena residents is a defiant and exciting statement against the racism that they still face today.

To find this gorgeous mural, head to Quintal Distrito Gourmet, Avenida Pedregal, Getsemani, Cartagena. You can also learn more about this piece and its origins in this article on Street Art News.

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Plaza de Trinidad, Getsemani

One of the best plazas in Cartagena, Plaza de Trinidad is usually packed at night but blissfully empty during the day. There are multiple excellent photo ops here, and both are examples of the colorful art splashed all over the crumbling walls of Getsemani.

The first is the beautiful portrait of an indigenous woman. The second is a powerful statue that dominates one side of the plaza, depicting Pedro Romero, a Cartagena hero and leader of the Lanceros, a militia comprised of free people of color (remember, Cartagena de las Indias was the primary slave port for all of South America – read more about Cartagena’s bloody history here). The lanceros led a battle to overthrow Spanish rule in Cartagena. You can read more about the story here.

Directly behind the statues is a colorful mural on the wall of a Maria Mulata, the official bird of Cartagena.  The story goes that the jet black bird was once brightly colored, but years of smoke and soot turned her feathers black. On a bright day, you might still catch a glimpse of the rainbow in her plumage!

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When you picture Cartagena, the first thing that comes to mind is bright colors. Cartagena is incredibly colorful, both in terms of the paint on its crumbling walls and in the people who call it home. I mentioned yesterday that Cartagena is a melting pot of people: mestizos, Afro-Colombians, Romanis, Amerindians, zambos, castizos. If half of those words were foreign, don't worry, I'm gonna give you a short history of racial relations in Cartagena (from a very well-meaning-white-lady point of view, which is to say that if I got something wrong, please educate me in the comments)! . OK so. Back in the day in Latin America – when things were still real sh***y and racist and slaves were the major industry of the continent – there were so many shades of people that elaborate classification systems were developed to define what percentage European, Indian, or African you were. There were even paintings illustrating matter-of-factly which "casta" you fit into. Like, say your daddy was a white man and your mother an enslaved African woman (who he probably raped) – what were you? Or perhaps if your grandmother was an Indian, your grandfather a freed slave, and your parents both Mestizos? And so on. It was like a complicated family tree all doped up on racism. . Sound confusing? It was. It was a LOT of work trying to fit everyone into little racial boxes. But policing race was incredibly important in Colonial South America. Why? Because the selling of human beings relied on the idea that some races weren't REALLY human at all – that even religiously devout and pious Spaniards could own slaves, because God said it was OK so long as they followed the arbitrary rules that everyone made up as they went along. And the entire economy of the New World relied on slavery. The Americas were built by slaves, every brick, every stone laid by enslaved humans building a beautiful New World that they weren't allowed to enjoy. . Of course, today Cartagena's full name is Cartagena de las Indias, not Cartagena de las Slave Owners, so we know how that turned out. . So what "casta" would you be? I'm Jewish/European and Jeremy is European/Mexican. What about you? Drop us a note!

A post shared by Lia & Jeremy ❤️ Travel Couple (@practicalwanderlust) on Mar 15, 2018 at 11:14am PDT

The Street Outside Santo Domingo Vidal Hostel

We discovered this nondescript little street during our first trip to Cartagena when we stayed at Santo Domingo Vidal Hostel. What a lucky find! The hostel ended up being one of our favorite hostels in Colombia, and it provided us with not just one, but TWO majorly Instagrammable photo ops.

Although the streets of Getsemani don’t boast the high walls and flower-covered colonial balconies as the walled city in Cartagena, it is just as colorful and beautiful as its sister neighborhood. We think this spot is a gorgeous photo op to capture the beauty and magic of Cartagena in a photo – and as a huge bonus, there’s so few crowds to worry about here that you can use your tripod worry-free.

The Mural Outside Santo Domingo Vidal Hostel

This beautiful mural of Joe Arroyo located directly outside of Santo Domingo Vidal Hostel is picture-perfect and a great example of the gorgeous street art you’ll find as you wander through Getsemani, which is the much quieter neighborhood just outside of the more famous (& crowded) Walled City.

As a bonus, there’s a beautiful tree growing over the wall behind this mural, which means this spot is usually well protected by the shade. This is great for your photos as it avoids the problem most photographers encounter in Cartagena – the hard lighting – and for your face because it means you’ll be less sweaty as you twirl around in your flowy skirt (this is the exact one I brought!) or embrace bae for your 15th cute couple photo.

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Are you dying to explore Cartagena de las Indias with your camera? I’ll come with you – who says 4 times is too many times to visit the same city?!

Heading to Cartagena for the warm Caribbean water & sunny beaches? The best beach in Cartagena is actually on an island just offshore – read our guide to Isla Baru and Playa Blanca. Pssst…what says instagrammable more than blue water and beachy scenes!?

Oh, and if you’re already shopping for plane tickets, here are a few more posts you’ll want to check out before your trip:

• What and Where to Eat in Cartagena, Colombia on a Budget
• What to Pack for Colombia: The Ultimate Packing Guide
• Mud Baths in a Volcano: Cartagena’s Most Ridiculous Tour
• How to Get from Cartagena to Santa Marta

If you are looking for more tour tips during your visit to Colombia the amazing guys over at ViaHero will connect you with a local person who will share all their juicy knowledge and help you plan your perfect itinerary. Check it out here.

And don’t forget to subscribe below for a FREE printable packing list for Colombia, plus our favorite tips for visiting our favorite country!

Hey, what’s the most photogenic place you’ve ever visited? Drop us a comment below!

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Disclaimer: We do have an affiliate partnership with ViaHero. And although we have not used their trip planning services ourselves, we’re really kicking ourselves for not hearing about them sooner, because they’re honestly rad AF. We’re fully intend to rectify that lack of personal experience – 5th trip to Colombia, anyone?!