Shopping Tour & Historical Highlights

Start your journey of history with a photo stop at San Felipe Fortress, the largest work of Spanish military engineering in South America. Continue to take a panoramic look of Rafael Nuñez's house, a poet, writer and four-time president of Colombia. Las Bovedas Artisan Center is next, built as dungeons and as a means of storage. Today, local artisans display their work there. Walking through El Torno Street you will get to San Diego Square, where the Sofitel Santa Clara Hotel is placed. A restored Clarissan nunnery built in 1621 is full of history and is one of the best hotels in Cartagena. Then, visit the nearby Fernandez Madrid Plaza, church of Santo Toribio and see some of the area's restored houses. Continue on a 15-minute drive to the famed walled city and marvel at the plethora of colonial buildings and age-old fortifications around every corner. Make the best of your free time at the Old City to explore and shop before returning to the pier. Make your way to the modern residential area known as Bocagrande, home to vast array of hotels, shops, eateries, night clubs and art galleries, to find Colombia’s famous native gem —the emerald— at Pierino Gallo Shopping Mall for a 45-minute visit.