Cartagena Street Food Tour: 10 Local Tastings in the Walled City

Ten stops morning tour: ceviche, plantain, sweets, pandebono, empanadas, sancocho, coffee, arepa, fresh fruit carts

A 2.5-hour walking food tour through Cartagena's Walled City where you taste ten street foods at different vendors and stops, learning the history and cultural heritage behind each one. The guide walks you through the neighborhoods, introduces you to the vendors, and explains the African, Indigenous, Lebanese and Spanish influences that shaped Caribbean Colombian cooking. Children from age 2 are welcome. The route is wheelchair accessible and suitable for all fitness levels.

Step-by-step itinerary

Stops and time spent at each

1. Isla Grande20m
2. Cartagena Old Town20m · entry included
3. Santo Domingo Church10m
4. Bolivar Square10m
5. Gold Museumpassing by
6. Cartagena Cathedralpassing by
7. Plaza de San Diego10m

Cartagena street food tasting tour

• Start near Caribbean Sea with ceviche
• Taste patacón with queso costeño
• Try cocadas and alegrías at Portal de los Dulces
• Eat pandebono with jugo de corozo
• Sample Colombian empanada
• Drink sancocho broth
• Pass by Gold Museum
• Pass by Palace of Inquisition
• Pass by Cartagena Cathedral
• Taste Colombian coffee at El Depósito
• Try arepa de huevo in Plaza de San Diego
• Sample seasonal tropical fruits from carretilla

The experience

The tour starts steps from the Caribbean Sea with Colombian-style ceviche: shrimp or fish marinated in lime and tomato, served cold in a cup with crispy crackers, eaten standing up with the sea breeze on your face. From there you move into the Walled City proper, stopping at a street baker for pandebono, the cassava-starch bread that arrives warm and soft inside a crisp exterior, paired with corozo juice pressed from a palm fruit native to the coast. At Portal de los Dulces, the arcade that has sold traditional sweets for over a century, you try cocadas and alegrías: handmade daily by the same families who have occupied these stalls for decades.

The guide takes you to a vendor for patacón, the twice-fried green plantain topped with queso costeño, the salty crumbly cheese that anchors Caribbean Colombian cooking. You taste a costeño empanada: thin, crispy corn shell fried golden, filled with seasoned meat, the kind that shatters slightly when you bite into it. At Bolívar Square you get a cup of sancocho, the slow-cooked broth that may be chicken, beef or fish depending on what the vendor prepared that morning. You pass the Gold Museum, the Palace of Inquisition and Cartagena Cathedral (landmarks that frame the city's colonial history), and stop for single-origin Colombian coffee at El Depósito, where the guide connects the flavors in your cup to the mountain region that produced the beans.

The final stops are arepa de huevo at Plaza de San Diego (a corn arepa split open, filled with a raw egg, sealed and fried until the outside turns golden and the egg sets perfectly inside), and whatever tropical fruits the carretilla carts have that day: mamoncillo, níspero, or whatever the season delivers. The whole route stays inside the Walled City, moving between plazas and street corners where vendors have been working the same routes for decades. You walk the same cobblestone streets that have held five centuries of history, tasting food that requires no menu, no restaurant, and no occasion other than hunger and a good street corner.

What’s included

• Walking tour through the Walled City of Cartagena.
• ten authentic street food tastings at different vendors and stops.
• specialty coffee tasting.
• local gastronomy insights and cultural heritage explanations.
• official tour guide in English or Spanish.
• all food samples included.

Before you book

Days and timesMonday to SaturdayDepartures at 10:30 and 16:00

Book up toStart time

AgesAdult (19 to 60 years) · Senior (61 to 80 years) · Youth (5 to 18 years) · Child (2 to 4 years)

GroupUp to 12

Live guideEnglish and Spanish

Meeting point and pickupNo hotel pickup: you go to the meeting point. Ends at a different place from where it starts.

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24 h before the start. After that, no refund.It may be canceled due to bad weather. If that happens, you're offered another date or a refund.

Prices and times updated yesterday

Good to know

Low physical effortWheelchair accessibleStroller-friendlyPublic transport nearbyInfants must sit on laps

Operated by NEXPERIENCE

Is this one for you?The guide speaks English or Spanish, so choose the language that lets you follow the stories behind each food comfortably. The 2.5-hour walk stays inside the Walled City on flat cobblestone streets that are wheelchair accessible, making it work for mixed fitness levels and families with children from age 2. The pace is set by the stops themselves, not by rushing between them.

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Top questions

What languages is the tour guided in?

Live guide in English and Spanish.

Can children come?

Yes. Ticket types: Youth (5 to 18 years); Child (2 to 4 years).

What happens if it rains?

It may be canceled due to bad weather. If that happens, you're offered another date or a refund. Free cancellation up to 24 h before the start.

What exactly do I taste on this Cartagena street food tour?

Ten different street foods: ceviche, patacón with cheese, cocadas and alegrías from Portal de los Dulces, pandebono with corozo juice, empanada, sancocho, single-origin Colombian coffee, arepa de huevo, and seasonal tropical fruits from the carretilla carts. The guide explains the African, Indigenous, Lebanese and Spanish roots of each one.

How long does the walking tour take and how much ground do we cover?

The tour runs 2.5 hours and stays inside Cartagena's Walled City, moving between plazas and street corners: Plaza de San Diego, Santo Domingo Church, Bolívar Square, Portal de los Dulces and other neighborhood stops. The route is wheelchair accessible and suitable for all fitness levels.

What is arepa de huevo and why is it so famous on the Colombian coast?

Arepa de huevo is a corn arepa that is partially fried, split open at the right moment, filled with a raw egg, sealed shut and dropped back into hot oil until the outside turns golden and crispy and the egg sets perfectly inside. It is one of the most iconic street foods of Colombia's Caribbean coast: handheld, self-contained, and requiring considerable skill to make well.

Does the tour include transportation to and from the meeting point?

Transportation to and from the tour is available as an option at checkout. Public transportation options are also available nearby if you prefer to make your own way to the Walled City.

What makes Portal de los Dulces special, and what sweets will I try there?

Portal de los Dulces is an iconic arcade at the entrance of the Walled City that has been home to Colombia's most beloved traditional sweets for over a century. The women selling there have passed their recipes down through generations. You try cocadas (dense, chewy rounds of toasted coconut and panela), and alegrías, a crunchy golden bar made from puffed amaranth and raw sugar whose name literally means happiness.