Sunday, December 9, 2007

GETTING THERE: New nonstop service from Washington Dulles to Panama City, Panama, launched by COPA Airlines earlier this year, has made it much easier to get to Cartagena. The connecting flight from Panama City to Cartagena has a long layover on the way out, but it's still more convenient than anything offered by the competition. Prices through the airline ( http://www.copaair.com) start at about $713 round trip, but they are often cheaper through third-party booking sites such as http://www.travelocity.com.

GETTING AROUND: Inside the walled area of Old Town, which consists of the neighborhoods of San Diego and Centro, you can get to every attraction on foot, though taxis are widely available. You will probably want a taxi to get to Bocagrande, a beach about 10 minutes away; expect to pay about 6,000 Colombian pesos, or $3, each way. At night, taking a taxi is recommended if you are going to the nightclubs and bars of the Getsemani neighborhood, which lies outside the Old Town walls.

WHERE TO STAY: We stayed at Casa La Fe, a cozy boutique hotel with an incredibly friendly staff (Calle Segunda de Badillo 36-125, 305-767-1217, http://www.casalafe.com). We paid about $125 a night for a small but comfortable room with two twin beds on an upper floor, including breakfast. (Ground-floor rooms are less expensive.) The hotel has a hot tub and a small pool on the roof.

On our last night we switched to Hotel Tres Banderas (Calle Cochera del Hobo 38-66, 011-575-6600160, http://www.hotel3banderas.com), near Plaza de San Diego. It's a breezy, spacious place for young backpackers who want to splurge and for long weekenders who know a good deal when they see one: We paid $75 for a double, including breakfast. If you can book in advance, get one of the terrace rooms with a private balcony. This place is a steal.

The insanely gorgeous Sofitel Santa Clara (Calle Del Torno 39-29, 011-575-6504700, http://www.hotelsantaclara.com) is the gold standard of luxury Cartagena; rooms start at $350. If you want to stay in the more active El Centro area of Old Town, another beautiful high-end option is the elegantly atmospheric Hotel El Marques (Calle Nuestra Senora Del Carmen 33-41, 011-575-6644438, http://www.cartagenainfo.net/hotelelmarques/english.html); rooms start at about $300.

WHERE TO EAT: The acting, singing, bullfighting celeb Juan del Mar is known among foodies for his excellent seafood restaurant, also known as El Mar de Juan, that makes use of the region's fresh tropical ingredients (entrees $15 to $30). But he also owns a pizzeria next door, where I had the best pizza I've ever tasted this far from New York (Plaza de San Diego). For full-scale Italian food, La Bruschetta (Calle del Curato 38-135) has an excellent food and wine menu; dinner for two, including a less expensive bottle of wine, should run about $60.

One of the hottest places to eat is the Cuban-influenced La Vitrolla (Calle Baloco 2-01), where reservations are required; dinner with drinks for two can easily be $100. But if you like your Cuban food cheap, your mojitos strong and your communist kitsch a little more in-your-face, check out the tiny La Bodeguita del Medio (Calle Santo Domingo 33-81).

For Colombian food, I'd often just walk into a mom-and-pop joint and order some arroz con coco (coconut rice) or arepas to go, or hit up a street vendor selling butifarras, small smoked sausages on a stick. Nothing cost more than a dollar or two.

WHAT TO DO: The Plaza de Bolivar is a pretty city park that borders both the impressive Palace of the Inquisition, which now houses a museum displaying Colombia's more brutal past of hunting witches and heretics (along with other parts of Cartagena's history), and the Gold Museum. The beautiful, airy Plaza de San Pedro Claver-- easily recognizable for its artsy, quirky metal sculptures (two men playing chess, a dentist and his dentist chair) -- is where you'll find the fine Museum of Modern Art and the captivating church and convent of San Pedro Claver. (The latter is now a museum as well.) None of these museums will cost you more than $2; a few are free.

The local beaches are not as pretty as the Caribbean-island variety, and you might get a headache from all the people trying to sell you things. But they're serviceable if you want to catch some ocean air while having waiters bring you a coco loco, a sweet rum-coconut drink that I warmed up to. (An umbrella with two chairs should run you about $15 for the whole day; drinks cost $3 to $6.) Most people who have the time take an hour-long boat ride to the Rosario Islands, which has great snorkeling, or they visit Playa Blanca, a pristine white-sand beach about a 45-minute boat ride away. You can also get to Playa Blanca by car.

There's night life, of course. Usually people start off with drinks at the large, open-air Cafe del Mar (Baluarte Santo Domingo), which overlooks the ocean from atop Old Town's 17th-century fortification walls. When I went, the stylish Babar (Calle San Juan de Dios 3-37) was the place to be for both tourists and locals; the DJ played a little bit of everything. Many people get outside the Old Town walls to find more raucous action: the well-known La Carbonera Cantina (Calle del Arsenal 9A-47) and Mister Babilla (Calle del Arsenal 8B-137) are both in the Getsemani neighborhood.

INFO: Web sites to check include the Colombia Tourism Promotion Fund ( http://www.turismocolombia.com), with a wealth of details about travel to the country, and Cartagenainfo.net ( http://www.cartagenainfo.net), which spotlights the city. For general info, check with the Colombian Embassy (202-387-8338, http://www.colombiaemb.org). -- T.N.