A walled colonial city on the Caribbean
Cartagena's old city is ringed by thick stone walls built to defend a Spanish treasure port, and inside are colonial streets of pastel houses with bougainvillea tumbling from wooden balconies. The Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas, the great fortress on a hill outside, was never taken by force. Getsemaní, just beyond the walls, has street art and the city's liveliest evenings on Plaza de la Trinidad. Boats run to the Rosario Islands for swimming, and dinner means ceviche, fried fish and coconut rice.