tom42

We have 7 or 8 days in early April. We want warm weather, water nearby, culture, good food, and some interesting sights to see. We are considering either Lima or Cartagena. Both look like interesting places to spend a week. Which would you recommend? Thanks

crellston

A surprisingly difficult question! We have spent more than a week in both cities and loved both places. Lima is massive, Cartagena much more compact. Lima has the better food scene, amongst the best in South America but Cartagena isn’t bad either.

Neither city is worth visiting for the beaches. In terms of sightseeing, Cartagena is by far the prettiest but the "culture" is more limited.

Cartagena is a very walkable city, whereas in Lima, you would need to rely on taxis or the Metropolitano to get around.

We usually stay in Barranco in Lima mainly for its bohemian, villagey feel. Miraflores is the next barrio and is also pretty good. In Cartagena, you will likely want to stay either in the old town or Getsemene.

There are a few photos in te Peru and Colombia sections our blog of our time in both cities @ https://accidentalnomads.com

I would check out the weather situation in both cities but am pretty sure that Lima should be good in April. For large parts of the year it is affected by the Garua, the sea mist which can make t( city feel a bit grey and depressing.

tom42

Thank you! And great blog!

xcountry

Too bad about Puerto Rico. If you’re going to Lima, get to Cuzco. And if you get homesick try Juliaca (unhelpful and inappropriate humor).

mlgb

Cartagena is hot. There are better beaches outside of the city itself. Lima in April is unlikely to break 80 and it isn't a beach town. It's a big city like LA with an incredible food scene, especially seafood.

tom42

is this who I think it is? You've been missed in the lounge. Yes, very sad about Puerto Rico. I googled Juliaca and looks like a fantastic city. lol

tom42

<<Cartagena is hot. There are better beaches outside of the city itself. Lima in April is unlikely to break 80 and it isn't a beach town. It's a big city like LA with an incredible food scene, especially seafood.>>

We are looking for a place where we can relax either by a pool or a beach (doesn't have to be the best beach) for part of the time but where we can also do some sightseeing and in the evenings have a good selection of restaurants. I thought Cartagena would fit the bill a little more than Lima. When I was doing research, it reminded me of Old San Juan. Would you agree with that?

(btw, we are all over the map at this point. Initially looked at Caribbean but I can't justify the prices that time of the year. Then we looked at Kauai. But then I stumbled on both Lima and Cartagena and they intrigued me and we can go to either of those places for about half the price of anything we looked at in the Caribbean or Hawaii).

tom42

also - in Cartagena we were looking at hotels in Bocagrande. Any thoughts on that area?

mlgb

Not sure Lima city itself has much of a lay round the pool scene either.
During beach season (which might run into April) the locals head south or north from what I understand. Or some will go to the beaches in Argentina/Urugay.

Bocagrande is the new part of Cartagena with the high rise hotels where the Secret Service got into trouble. You can look at Google Maps street view for an idea.

Lay around the beach vacations aren't my thing (since I grew up in Miami and the Caribbean it's sort of like going to the mall for me) so can't be much more help.