La Ciudad Amurallada — Cartagena's UNESCO Walled Colonial City
Cartagena de Indias (the port city on the Caribbean coast of Colombia — UNESCO World Heritage Site (designated 1984) and the most visited tourist destination in Colombia after Bogotá): the 'Ciudad Amurallada' (the 'Walled City' — the historic colonial core of Cartagena, enclosed within the 11-kilometre (6.8-mile) Spanish colonial fortified city wall (the 'Las Murallas') built from the 16th through 18th centuries) is the best-preserved Spanish colonial city in the Americas and the most photographed city in Colombia.
Castillo San Felipe de Barajas & Cartagena's Military Heritage
The Castillo San Felipe de Barajas (the massive Spanish colonial fortress on the San Lázaro hill overlooking Cartagena — the largest fortress built by Spain in the Americas, constructed in multiple phases from 1536 to 1796) is the supreme achievement of Spanish colonial military architecture and the fortress that successfully repelled the largest British naval expedition in history in the Battle of Cartagena de Indias (1741).
Playa Blanca, Barú & Cartagena's Caribbean Beach Experience
The Caribbean coast beaches accessible from Cartagena — the Playa Blanca on the Barú Peninsula (the most beautiful beach in Colombia, 45 minutes by boat), the Islas del Rosario (the coral island archipelago in the national marine park, 45-90 minutes by boat), and the beaches of Bocagrande and Marbella (the urban beaches adjacent to the walled city) — together constitute one of the finest Caribbean beach experiences available in South America.