Travel & Hotels - Voyage et Hôtels

Travel Note

Cartagena

Cartagena de Indias is the undisputed queen of the Caribbean coast, a historic city of superbly preserved beauty lying within an impressive 13km of centuries-old colonial stone walls. Cartagena's Old Town is a Unesco World Heritage site – a maze of cobbled alleys, balconies covered in bougainvillea, and massive churches that cast their shadows across leafy plazas.

Travel Note

Bogota (Jess' city)

Capital city of Colombia Bogotá is Colombia's beating heart, an engaging and vibrant capital cradled by chilly Andean peaks and steeped in sophisticated urban cool. The city's cultural epicenter is La Candelaria, the cobbled historic downtown to which most travelers gravitate. Here, a potpourri of carefully preserved colonial buildings is home to museums, restaurants, hotels and bars, peppered amid 300-year-old houses, churches and convents. Nearly all of Bogotá's traditional attractions are here, radiating from Plaza de Bolívar, and gorgeous Cerro de Monserrate is just east.

Travel Note

Tayrona (A must if it's your first time)

Protected National Park in the Colombian Caribbean - Right by Santa Marta. Parque Nacional Natural Tayrona is a magical slice of Colombia's Caribbean coast, with stunning stretches of golden sandy beach backed by coconut palms and thick rainforest. Behind it all rise the steep hillsides of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the world's highest coastal mountain range. The park stretches along the coast from the Bahía de Taganga near Santa Marta to the mouth of the Río Piedras, 35km east, and covers some 12,000 hectares of land and 3000 hectares of coral-rich sea.

Travel Note

Palomino (A bliss in itself!)

Right by Santa Marta. On on side of Palomino you'll find Colombia's most perfect beaches, while on the other are the dramatic Sierra Nevada mountains, a place the local indigenous people still guard carefully from outsiders. Palomino makes a wonderful base from which to explore, with a number of great accommodations options and a backpacker vibe you'll not find in many other places along the coast.

Travel Note

Cabo de la Vela (For those who like kite surfing )

The fishing village of Cabo de la Vela, 180km northwest of Riohacha, was until recently little more than a remote rural community, its Wayuu inhabitants living in traditional huts made from cactus right up against the sea. But in the last couple of years Cabo has become a hotbed of ecotourism and kitesurfing and now boasts a wealth of indigenous-style accommodations. Nevertheless, the village still has electricity by generator only, and there are few fixed phone lines. Internet access is sporadic at best.

Travel Note

San Andres & Providencia (For those who like island life & diving)

Just 150km east of Nicaragua and some 800km northwest of mainland Colombia, the seahorse-shaped island of San Andrés is best known as Colombia's favorite weekend getaway, where mainlanders love to come to drink, tax-free shop, sunbathe and party. San Andrés Town, the focus of the action, won't be splashed across postcards any time soon, though it does boast an attractive beach promenade and has in recent years begun to address what might be charitably termed its beauty gap.

Travel Note

Medellin (The cool, hype vibe!)

Named the world's most innovative city in 2013 ! Situated in a narrow valley, Medellín packs the punch of a city twice its size. Its skyline reaches for the heavens, setting high-rise apartments and office buildings against a backdrop of jagged peaks in every direction. Its pleasant climate gives it its nickname – the City of Eternal Spring – and the moderate temperatures put a spring in the locals' steps, at work and at play. It's a bustling place of industry and commerce, especially in textile manufacturing and exported cut flowers. On weekends Medellín lets its hair down, its many discos attracting the beautiful people.

Travel Note

Coffee Region (For the curious ones!)

Colombia is famous for its coffee, but nowhere is the prized bean more important than in the departments of Caldas, Risaralda and Quindío, which together make up the heart of the Zona Cafetera, also called the Eje Cafetero (Coffee Axis). Here you'll find jeeps packed with mustachioed coffee pickers, poncho-wearing senior citizens gossiping in cafes, and, of course, endless cups of piping-hot arabica. Many working fincas (coffee farms) have embraced tourism and welcome visitors onto their plantations to learn all about the coffee-growing process. It is particularly interesting to visit during the harvests (April to June, October to December) when the farms are a hive of activity.

Travel Note

Amazon Region (For the wild ones )

Amazon. The very word evokes images of pristine jungle, incredible wildlife and, of course, one world-famous river. The region known to Colombians as Amazonia is a vast 285,000 sq-miles (643,000-sq-km) slice of rainforest accounting for a third of Colombia's total area – about the size of California – and spread over some eight of the country's departments. There are no roads here, just fast-flowing waterways and vast tracts of wilderness where, for now at least, humans have had relatively little impact on nature, and indigenous groups deep in the jungle have managed to keep their cultures intact.

House Or Rental

Airbnb

We put together a list of great AirB&Bs inside of the old city, if you're in the mood of a more home-away-from-home feel vs. a hotel! Please find the names of potential places we directly recommend : -Casa Bovedas -Casa Julieta -Casa Rosa -Casa Cuero

Hotel

Sofitel Legend Santa Clara Cartagena $$$

The Sofitel Legend Santa Clara is a hotel filled with stories. Housed in a former convent, it offers the perfect blend of colonial architecture and French luxury.

Hotel

Hotel Charleston Santa Teresa $$$

A beautiful old colonial hotel with a central garden that makes a statement. The famous steakhouse Harry Sasson is also in this hotel if you want to kill two birds with one stone. For special wedding discount, please send and email to: res@charlestonsantateresa.com specyfying our wedding. The hotel will come back to you with the designated rates.

Discount Code - Please send and email to: res@charlestonsantateresa.com

Hotel

Bastión Luxury Hotel $$

The Bastion Luxury Hotel is located in Cartagena's old town, Colombia, built on the site of an old 16th century colonial house. A full service hotel: gourmet gastronomy, terrace with panoramic views, spa, gym And others.

Discount Code - JESSANDJULES

Hotel

Hotel Casa Don Sancho By Mustique $$

Beautiful luxury hotel boutique located on the old city! Perfect if you're looking for a romantic getaway in couple !

Hotel

Santa Catalina Hotel $$

Beautiful hotel Boutique close to the church where we will be getting married.

Hotel

Hotel Casa La Factoría By Faranda Boutique $$

Hotel

Centro Hotel Cartagena by DOT Tradition $$

Cozy & homey hotel boutique! Well located within the old city !

Hotel

Hotel Boutique las Carretas $

A small 3-star boutique hotel, perfect for a group that would like to take over the entire hotel and make it their own!

Hotel

Hotel Casa Real Cartagena $

Cozy, authentic and breakfast included. Good option as well for a group with intentions on taking the place for themselves..not pricey !