what i did, what i wore: cartagena

05: timeless summer dressing and where to go in cartagena, colombia

Earlier this month, my mom, aunts, husband and cousins flew to Cartagena, Colombia to watch my cousin get married in the most beautiful courtyard of a 1650s church. It was the perfect four days celebrating one of my best friends, while exploring a new city with our families. We roamed the cobblestone streets amidst the colorful historic buildings, ate lots of seafood and swam in the Caribbean Sea. It was perfect.

Below you’ll find all the spots we visited as well as all of the outfits I packed and wore. I hope it inspires you to make a trip to the stunning city yourself or at the very least, gets you excited for summer dressing and traveling.

Where we stayed

The Nacar Hotel by Curio Collection, which is a part of the Hilton hotel group. I usually try my best to steer clear of big American hotel chains, as I find them impersonal and sterile, but so much of my family was staying in the hotel and I wanted to be close to them as we were going to spend so much time together. Unlike most Hiltons, this one did have a smaller, boutique feel to it, and I did appreciate the big, very air conditioned rooms, especially after days out in the humidity and heat.

My cousin who was getting married stayed at Casa La Factoria, which was beautiful. I didn’t get to see much — just the 2-bedroom suite we got ready in for the wedding — but I loved the charming exterior and checkered white and black tiles.

Both were great location-wise! As long as you stayed within the city walls, everything was a 15 minute walking distance max.

Where we ate

• La Cevicheria: Our first stop in Cartagena, right across from our hotel. A casual ceviche spot — and Anthony Bourdain approved

• La Vitrola: This was on many lists as a must visit and *the* place to eat in Cartagena with its live music and energizing ambience. When we went, though, it was pretty quiet and was my least favorite of all the places we tried

• Casona Vida: We stumbled upon this spot as it was just across the street from where we stayed and ended up having breakfast here twice. They had lots of great food options with different smoothies and lattes

• Restaurante Candé: We ate here after it was recommended to us by a friend who also got married in Colombia. It was one of the best meals we had — my husband got this incredible fish curry that I wish I ordered for myself

• Juan Del Mar: Another suggestion on many lists! We ate here one night and ordered the pizza, which was highly recommended. It was a good late night snack and it was fun watching all of the people dining outside

• Carmen: Hands down our favorite meal of the trip. My cousin raved about this place — she loved it so much she ate here each of the three times she visited Cartagena — and I can see why. Each of the appetizers were incredible and again, the fish curry my husband ordered was one of the best meals I’ve tried in a long time

• Alquimico: I’m not really big on nightlife but we did go to this bar our first evening with all our family and friends and it had a really good vibe — seating, three floors and good music

There were so many other places I wanted to try, but didn’t have time to. Here are the others on the list we didn’t get to: Alma, La Pepiada, La Mulata

Besides celebrating, eating and spending our last day at Makani Beach Club (which was very relaxing and luxurious, by the way), we didn’t have much else planned. While I’m normally a very type-A planner when it comes to travel, I kept the itinerary loose as we were moving in such a big group. It was nice to be able to wander around without an agenda as we had a good amount of our trip planned for fun wedding festivities.

What I packed

As I do with every trip, I always try on different outfits and take photos of each one and keep them in a folder so I can refer back to them each morning to save time getting ready.

Below are the outfit breakdowns of everything I packed for Cartagena, including links to each piece. Because it was humid and very warm, everything had to be lightweight and breathable — and I made sure the separates easily mixed and matched.