Cartagena Walled City | Self-Guided Audio Walking Tour

About this experience

Cartagena built a wall to keep the world out. The people who built it lived outside it. After Francis Drake took the city in 1586 the crown began fortifying in stone, and it kept going for generations. The artisans who cut and carried that stone lived in Getsemaní, outside the gate, across a drawbridge. In November 1811 those same men came in through the Puerta del Reloj and forced the governing junta to declare absolute independence. Ten stops: Plaza de la Trinidad, Calle Larga, the old quay, the Puerta del Reloj and the Plaza de los Coches, the Aduana, San Pedro Claver, the Palacio de la Inquisición, the Plaza de la Proclamación, the Plaza de Santo Domingo, and the Baluarte de Santo Domingo, where the city first built in stone. Self-guided, so the walk is yours. 10 stops, 2.1 km, about 90 minutes at an easy pace, narrated in English and Spanish with a live GPS map. No group, no guide, no set arrival time.

Experience type

Day tour or activity

Duration

1 hour and 30 minutes

Guide

Spanish, English

Audio guide

Spanish, English

Categories

Walking tour · Cultural and theme tours · City tours

What's included

Self-guided audio tour, narrated stops Audio guide in English and Spanish 10 stops, 2.1 km, 1.5 hours Stops at Plaza de la Trinidad, Puerta del Reloj, San Pedro Claver Walking directions between all tour stops Interactive GPS map, live position, route Phone browser access, no app needed Lifetime access to repeat the tour, flexible start, self-paced, no group

What's not included

Live guide, and there is no group Entry or admission fees, optional and paid on site Smartphone and earphones, bring your own charged Mobile data, or the tour downloaded before you set off Food and drinks Transport Tip or gratuity Food and drinks Entry or admission fee

Please note

To start the tour, enter the ticket code from your confirmation on the Roamer redemption page linked there. Do this before you set off, while you still have signal. The tour then opens in your phone browser, with no app to download. Best time: Early morning or the last two hours before sunset. Cartagena is hot and humid all year and the middle of the day inside the walls is hard work. The bastion at the end faces west, so a late afternoon start puts you on the wall for the sunset. The Museo Historico de Cartagena, in the Palacio de la Inquisicion at stop 7, opens Monday to Saturday 09:00 to 18:00 and Sunday and holidays 10:00 to 16:00. Children under five enter free. Checked 19 September 2026 on muhca.gov.co. The Santuario y Museo de San Pedro Claver at stop 6 opens Monday to Friday 09:00 to 16:30 and Saturday, Sunday and holidays 10:00 to 16:00. Checked 19 September 2026 on jesuitas.co. Carry water and start with a full bottle. The walk is short but there is very little shade on the bastion at the end. The walk begins in Getsemani and ends at the sea wall, about 1.3 km apart, so plan how you are getting back if you are staying on the Getsemani side. Stops 6 and 7 are both worth going inside if you have the time. Doing both adds roughly an hour and a half to the walk. This is a working city rather than an open air museum. Keep your phone in your hand rather than in a back pocket, particularly on the busier squares. You will be offered sunglasses, hats, massages and photographs at almost every stop. A clear no thank you is normal and is not taken badly. The top of the wall has uneven stone and few railings. Watch your footing and take particular care with children after dark. Cartagena's afternoon rain in the wet season comes fast and the paving gets slippery. If it starts, the arcades at stops 4 and 5 are the nearest cover. Public transportation nearby

Itinerary

1. 1
   Day 0

   Plaza de la Trinidad: The Square Outside the Wall

   Plaza de La Trinidad, Cartagena

   The square Getsemani still treats as its living room, in the suburb that spent its first century outside the walls.

2. 2
   Day 0

   Calle Larga: The Street the Lanceros Came From

   Calle Larga, Cartagena

   The street where Pedro Romero lived, and where the artisans who built the fortifications organised themselves into a militia.

3. 3
   Day 0

   Muelle de los Pegasos: The Water Everything Came In By

   Avenida Blas de Lezo, Cartagena

   The old harbour where the port landed its cargo, and thousands of enslaved Africans with it.

4. 4
   Day 0

   Puerta del Reloj and Plaza de los Coches: The Gate and the Auction Block

   Plaza de la Paz, Cartagena

   The city's main gate stood here, reached from Getsemani by drawbridge, beside the square where enslaved people were sold.

5. 5
   Day 0

   Plaza de la Aduana: Where the Crown Counted

   Calle de la Amargura, Cartagena

   The largest square in the walled city, built for administration, and the route the Inquisition's processions took.

6. 6
   Day 0

   San Pedro Claver: The Slave of the Slaves Forever

   Calle San Juan de Dios, Cartagena

   The Jesuit church where Pedro Claver is buried, named for the priest who spent forty years with the people landed at the port.

7. 7
   Day 0

   Palacio de la Inquisicion: The Building They Demanded Be Closed

   Plaza de Bolívar, Cartagena

   The Holy Office's headquarters on the main square, and one of the things the men from Getsemani came to abolish.

8. 8
   Day 0

   Plaza de la Proclamacion: Drake's Warning Shot

   Plaza de la Proclamacion, Cartagena

   The square beside the cathedral, and the 1586 attack that started the two centuries of building in stone.

9. 9
   Day 0

   Plaza de Santo Domingo: Gertrudis and the Friars

   Calle de Santo Domingo, Cartagena

   A sixteenth century religious foundation, a reclining bronze by Botero, and the most comfortable square in the city.

10. 10
    Day 0

    Baluarte de Santo Domingo: Where the Wall Began

    Las Murallas de Cartagena, Cartagena

    The bastion where the city first built in stone after Drake, and the end of the walk on top of the wall.

Meeting point

Plaza de la Trinidad, Cartagena Plaza de La Trinidad, Cartagena de Indias, Bolívar, CO

Pick up

Pickup is not provided.

Cancellation policy · Cartagena Walled City | Self-Guided Audio Walking Tour

Standard Viator policy

• Cancellation 0–24 hours before departure: 100% cancellation fee.
• Cancellation 24–24000 hours before departure: 0% cancellation fee.

Good to know

Operated by Roamer and sold by AGORA. Your voucher and booking reference arrive by email straight after payment.