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Photo by Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Best time to visit Cartagena
Colombia · Latin America
All twelve months scored on daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and holiday crowding.
The year in Cartagena
Tap a month for its page
- JanJCartagena in January: sweet spot, busy
- FebFCartagena in February: sweet spot, busy
- MarMCartagena in March: ok, busy
- AprACartagena in April: sweet spot
- MayMCartagena in May: ok
- JunJCartagena in June: sweet spot
- JulJCartagena in July: sweet spot
- AugACartagena in August: sweet spot
- SepSCartagena in September: sweet spot
- OctOCartagena in October: sweet spot
- NovNCartagena in November: sweet spot
- DecDCartagena in December: sweet spot
- Sweet spot
- Good
- OK
- Avoid
- Busy
Dry season: Dec–Apr, 6 or fewer rainy days a month.
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Month by month
No fare history for this route yet, so this ranking is climate and crowds only — the price column will fill in as the scanner collects.
| Month | Max °C | Rain days | Humidity | Sun h/day | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 32° | 1d | 75% | 11.0h | sweet spot busy | busier than usual |
| Feb | 32° | 1d | 73% | 11.1h | sweet spot busy | busier than usual |
| Mar | 32° | 0d | 73% | 11.4h | okbusy | busier than usual |
| Apr | 32° | 4d | 78% | 10.9h | sweet spot | 32C max, 4 rainy days |
| May | 31° | 10d | 83% | 9.8h | ok | 31C max, 10 rainy days |
| Jun | 30° | 10d | 84% | 9.3h | sweet spot | 30C max, 10 rainy days |
| Jul | 31° | 8d | 82% | 9.9h | sweet spot | 31C max, 8 rainy days |
| Aug | 31° | 9d | 83% | 9.4h | sweet spot | 31C max, 9 rainy days |
| Sep | 30° | 10d | 84% | 9.3h | sweet spot | 30C max, 10 rainy days |
| Oct | 29° | 13d | 84% | 9.1h | sweet spot | 29C max, 13 rainy days |
| Nov | 30° | 9d | 84% | 9.3h | sweet spot | 30C max, 9 rainy days |
| Dec | 31° | 1d | 79% | 10.9h | sweet spot | 31C max, 1 rainy day |
Rain days are the days with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts them.
Weather read at the walled city: ten years of ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalysis, through Open-Meteo's open data.
A busy month is a crowded one, not a bad one — usually it is crowded because the weather is good. It is flagged rather than scored down, and crowds alone never make a month “avoid”: that is reserved for weather worth skipping.
How busy it gets
Then and now
Cartagena's December days now average 31.0°C, 2.1°C warmer than in 1981–1990. 12 of 12 months are clearly warmer.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981–90 | 30.0° | 30.8° | 31.2° | 30.3° | 29.1° | 29.1° | 29.1° | 29.0° | 28.6° | 28.1° | 28.2° | 28.8° |
| 2017–26 | 31.6° | 31.9° | 32.4° | 31.9° | 30.8° | 30.4° | 31.2° | 30.6° | 30.2° | 29.4° | 29.5° | 31.0° |
| Change | +1.6° | +1.0° | +1.2° | +1.6° | +1.7° | +1.3° | +2.1° | +1.7° | +1.6° | +1.4° | +1.3° | +2.1° |
The average daily high, month by month, for the nearest ERA5 grid cell. Bold is a clear change; grey is within the ordinary spread between years. Every destination, ranked.
Getting there
How far Cartagena is, and what it costs, depends on where you set off from — the months above do not.
- from Bogota
- from Miami
- from Lima
- from Mexico City
- from New York
- from Boston
- from Chicago
- from Toronto
Open in Rome2rio for every way from to Cartagena, flying or not.
Before you go
Type A and B plugs at 110 V. Drives on the right. The currency is the Colombian peso. UK Foreign Office: avoid all but essential travel to parts. Global Affairs Canada: Exercise a high degree of caution (with regional advisories). US State Department: Level 3: Reconsider Travel. Everything for Colombia: cost of living, languages, emergency numbers and health.
Being there
On arrival
- Paying — Cards work in most hotels, restaurants and malls in big cities; carry small notes for markets, small shops and the countryside. Locals also pay by phone with Nequi or Daviplata.
- UPI, for visitors from India — Not accepted for paying here; bring a card that works abroad.
- Tipping — Better restaurants usually add a 10% service charge; if not, add about 10%. Taxi drivers are not usually tipped; round up if you like.
Getting around Cartagena
- Apps — Rides: Cabify, DiDi, inDrive, Uber. Maps: Google Maps, Apple Maps. Messages: WhatsApp.
The old town in particular is best explored walking. Most places in Bocagrande are also within walking distance. More on Wikivoyage
From the Wikivoyage article on Cartagena (Colombia), written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Help
- Emergency — police and ambulance 123 · fire 119.
TravelCharika is not an emergency service: we cannot call for help or send anyone. Numbers can change; if one fails, ask someone local or your hotel.
Your embassy — : how to reach your embassy or consulate abroad. A guess from your city, : a city is not a passport.
Put together by hand from the sources listed, checked 3 October 2026. Apps, cards and rules change, so check before you rely on one.
Sources (16)
- gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/colombia/getting-help
- uber.com/global/en/cities/bogota
- web.didiglobal.com/co
- indrive.com/es-co/city-rides
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabify
- colombia.travel/en/practical-information/currency-information
- colombia.travel/en/practical-information/transport-mobility-colombia
- transmilenio.gov.co/viaje-en-transmi/medios-de-pago/medio-de-pago-de-transmilenio
- en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Bogot%C3%A1
- en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Colombia
- infobip.com/blog/whatsapp-statistics
- soax.com/research/most-popular-messaging-apps
- developers.google.com/maps/coverage
- apple.com/ios/feature-availability
- pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2286608
- rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/AnnualReport/PDFs/09PAYMENT290526C6588B796E664822A2BD0DEB6452CAD4.PDF
Cartagena in pictures
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Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Igvir Ramirez, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
What Cartagena is like
Cartagena or Cartagena de Indias is a city and a world heritage site on Colombia's Caribbean coast in the Bolívar. Founded by the Spanish in 1533, the impressive buildings from the Spanish time today make up a UNESCO World Heritage site. Or, you can hang out at one of the nearby sand beaches. More on Wikivoyage
- Worth seeing
- Cartagena has several faces; one of a dirty, sprawling Caribbean metropolis, in Bocagrande the one of a massive "hotel ghetto" and finally the old town with its well-polished face of a once affluent colonial city. More on Wikivoyage
- Worth doing
- Nearby coral reefs, powdery beaches, impressive mangroves, and waterways complement the historic and urban beauty. Chiva Bus. afternoons, evenings. More on Wikivoyage
- Getting in
- Rafael Núñez International Airport (CTG IATA) (is 3 km north-east of the old city). More on Wikivoyage
- Staying safe
- The touristed old town is not more dangerous than a city in the first world, but going off the beaten path to the periphery of the city there is a real risk of getting robbed. More on Wikivoyage
- Staying healthy
- Colombia has an outbreak of the Zika virus, which is hazardous for pregnant women since it can severely damage the baby in the womb. More on Wikivoyage
From the Wikivoyage article on Cartagena (Colombia), written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the full article has far more. The numbers above are measured; this is experience.
Around Cartagena
Also in Colombia
Nearby
Kind of place
Cartagena is in Colombia, Latin America. Distances are great-circle, so a short one can still be a long way round.
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