San Diego

San Diego is the classiest and most sophisticated part of Cartagena. As in El Centro, there are plenty of picturesque buildings and narrow streets here—but also a high concentration of fancy restaurants and luxury hotels. The pace of life in San Diego is slower and privacy is easier to find. It was, after all, this part of the city that inspired Gabriel García Márquez’ Love in the Time of Cholera. (In fact, the famed writer's house is here.) In the plaza, you will likely brush arms with the city’s elite. Residents and visitors of San Diego are a bit more pampered and are given a little more respect and special treatment.

Other neighborhoods in Cartagena: Near Cartagena, Getsemaní, Bocagrande and El Centro.