The Four Seasons in Cartagena is now open. The walls are painted yellow and blue in the old city. Bougainvillea spills from balconies above narrow streets. Beyond the ramparts, the Caribbean stretches toward the Rosario Islands, where beach clubs and small hotels occupy pockets of white sand.
Cartagena has become one of the Caribbean’s most in-demand destinations, a city where colonial architecture, destination restaurants, rooftop bars and nearby islands can all fit into the same vacation.
Now, getting there is about to become easier from two major parts of the United States.
United Airlines is launching new year-round nonstop flights to Cartagena from Houston and Washington Dulles beginning Dec. 17, giving the Colombian Caribbean city two important new links to the United States.
Both routes will initially operate four times each week, making United the first U.S. carrier to connect Cartagena nonstop with both Houston and the Washington, D.C. area.
The airline will operate the routes with Boeing 737 aircraft, with flights scheduled on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays during the winter season.
The new service gives Cartagena direct connections to two of United’s largest hubs — and one-stop itineraries from more than 70 cities across the United States.
It’s the latest big news for the destination, including the opening earlier this year of its first-ever Four Seasons.
The new Washington Dulles-Cartagena flight will depart Washington at 8:20 a.m., arriving in Cartagena at 1:10 p.m.
The return flight is scheduled to leave Cartagena at 4 p.m. and arrive at Washington Dulles at 8:40 p.m.
From Houston, United’s new flight will depart George Bush Intercontinental Airport at 9:35 a.m., arriving in Cartagena at 2:50 p.m.
The Cartagena-Houston flight is scheduled to depart at 2:20 p.m. and arrive at 5:45 p.m.
The schedules are designed to feed United’s domestic network at both hubs, putting Cartagena within one stop of cities across the Northeast, Midwest, Mountain West and West Coast.
United currently serves Bogotá and Medellín, and the addition of Cartagena will give the airline its third destination in Colombia.
“Colombia has been an important part of United’s Latin America network for more than 30 years, and our new service to Cartagena reflects our continued investment in the country and commitment to offering customers new and distinct travel experiences,” said Patrick Quayle, United’s senior vice president of network planning and global alliances.
Quayle said Cartagena would give passengers “a different side of the country,” while making one of the Caribbean’s best-known destinations easier to reach from North America.
Cartagena occupies a distinctive place on the Caribbean travel map.
It is a beach destination, but the water is only part of the trip. Most visits begin within the fortified old city, where restored mansions have become boutique hotels, convents have been converted into luxury properties and centuries-old plazas now contain restaurants, cafés and cocktail bars.
The city’s central districts — including the Centro Histórico, San Diego and Getsemaní — are compact enough to explore over several days, with the Caribbean visible from the walls surrounding the old city.
You can spend one afternoon visiting the Castillo San Felipe de Barajas, then return to the old city for dinner inside a former colonial residence. Another day can begin with a boat ride to the Rosario Islands, followed by a rooftop drink above the domes and tiled roofs of Cartagena.
