When is the Best Time to Visit Cartagena, Colombia?

Are you considering or planning a trip and wondering when is the best time to visit Cartagena, Colombia?

Maybe you’re wondering when is the best weather in Cartagena. Maybe you’re wondering if there is a rainy season in Cartagena. Or maybe you’re wondering when Cartagena is less crowded.

One of the nice things about Cartagena is the temperature is fairly constant (and hot!) all year, and there is no truly bad time to visit.

However, after having lived in Cartagena for over a decade, I definitely think there are some times that are better than others and that there is, in fact, a best time to travel to Cartagena.

In this post, I’ll share my thoughts on the best time to go to Cartagena, Colombia, what other times I’d consider are good times to visit, what times of year there are larger crowds, and when there is more rain.

So read on to learn about the best times to visit Cartagena, Colombia!

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When is the Best Time to Visit Cartagena, Colombia?

Based on my 11 years living there, I believe the best time to visit Cartagena is from approximately the start of February to mid-March. This period is when there is the best weather in Cartagena since there’s little rain, and there is usually a nice breeze. There are also generally smaller crowds.

To expand a little bit, I would actually say this window of the best time to go to Cartagena is from around the very end of January, when Colombian schools start class, to two weeks before Easter, which varies year to year.

In a year with a later Easter, you could expand that best time to travel to Cartagena timeframe into April.

This time of year, you can enjoy the beautiful beaches in the Rosario Islands without having to worry about getting rained on, you can explore the city without having to dodge too many other visitors, and you may even pay a little less for hotels, tours, and other excursions.

But, what if you can’t plan your trip in this best time to go to Cartagena window?

No worries!

I consider Cartagena a year round destination, and there are several other periods of the year when you can still beat the crowds and should have mostly good weather.

In fact, there really isn’t a bad time for when to travel to Cartagena. However, the city can get crowded during peak travel seasons, and there is a rainy season. So you may have to contend with larger crowds, slightly higher prices for some things, and possible rain.

I’ll cover the other windows I think are good times to visit Cartagena as well as the times of year you should expect larger crowds and when the rainy season below.

However before I do that, if you’re currently beginning your planning, please consider checking out my guide to where to stay in Cartagena, my list of over 75 things to do in Cartagena, and my suggestions for the best tours in Cartagena to do during your visit.

If you’d like a little more expert help, consider planning an all inclusive, tailor made trip with our partner travel agency. Fill out the form here to start an inquiry.

Other Best Times to Travel to Cartagena

The period between Easter and mid-June is another good time before the city gets crowded again for the summer holidays. It will be a bit hotter with less of a breeze, but, well, we are talking about the Caribbean after all. There is also some rain in May and June, but it tends to be more quick storms and showers than all day downpours.

August to September is also a decent time and is similar weather wise. In fact, from May-September, it’s generally hot and humid with sporadic storms and showers.

Finally, there can be a window from the end of the rainy season in early to mid-November to about mid-December when the weather is nice and the city isn’t too crowded yet.

However, the end of the rainy season can be unpredictable and sometimes runs into late November (more on the rainy season below by the way).

Also, the week around November 11 is Cartagena’s Independence Festival. Now, I always really enjoyed this, but it gets pretty rowdy and is honestly not for everyone. You can read my article about what to expect during Cartagena’s Independence celebration to find out if it’s something you might love or if it’s something you would prefer to avoid.

So in my opinion, the absolute best month to visit Cartagena is February, but these other times can work well to avoid crowds and the rainiest time of year too.

So, if you have flexibility to plan a trip anytime, I’d recommend February as the best month to travel to Cartagena.

As I said before though, if you don’t have the flexibility to choose one of the best times to travel to Cartagena, don’t worry. You can still have a good time, and I’ll cover what to expect during the busier seasons and the rainy season below.

When is the Worst Time to Visit Cartagena?

October is the worst month to visit Cartagena due to the higher chance there will be frequent rains. While it can vary greatly from year to year, October is the rainiest month and the month most likely to have rains that last for long periods of time and have rain several times a week.

Is There Really a Bad Time to Visit Cartagena Though?

While October may be best avoided if possible for the chances of bad rains, there isn’t really a truly bad time to visit Cartagena.

It has beach weather year round with little true change in temperature. There aren’t periods of the year where things close, and almost none of the city’s main attractions are seasonal in nature. Even during October, it only averages rain about half the days of the month historically.

Still, you might want to consider avoiding it if you can, and the same might be said of the busy times of year, which are kind of what you would expect. Again, I wouldn’t consider them horrible times to travel to Cartagena, but it’s worth keeping in mind what to expect.

When to Expect the Largest Crowds in Cartagena?

The times of year that draw the biggest crowds to Cartagena aren’t really very surprising and coincide with popular travel seasons in much of the world. Here, I’ll run through them, what to expect, and my thoughts on if it is still worth visiting despite the crowds based on my experience living in Cartagena during these periods.

Christmas and New Years Holiday Season

You’ll find the largest crowds in Cartagena, much like in many other destinations, in the weeks around Christmas and New Years.

It’s worth keeping in mind that while many of the elite schools that Colombia’s wealthy send their kids to follow a schedule similar to the US’s from August to June with a shorter Christmas vacation and a longer summer one (known as Calendario B), the vast majority of Colombia’s children have a school year that runs from February to November.

So, really all of December and January can see a fair amount of visitors, but you’ll generally see things peak from around December 15 to January 15.

Now, there are two sides to this, which is why I wouldn’t rule out a trip or consider this the worst time to visit Cartagena.

While the city can be crowded, there’s generally not much rain, and weather is a tad cooler with a breeze. Really, the entire December to March period is the best weather overall.

Also, the city is gorgeous!

It’s really neat to see Christmas lights on the walls, and many plazas and parks have lights, including elaborate displays by the Clocktower. There are lots of fun Colombian Christmas traditions, including the Night of the Little Candles on December 7, which is usually when the Christmas lights are turned on around the city.

There are also a lot of fun Colombian New Years traditions, and seeing the fireworks on New Years from atop the wall was always a highlight for me when living here!

Finally, this is a big travel season not just for the holiday, but because it’s precisely when many children are out of school and people have time off from work.

So, if this is the best time of year to visit Cartagena for you or your family to travel for those reasons, then don’t let it stop you! Yes, you’ll deal with larger crowds, but it’s also truly very neat to see the city during the holiday season.

Just be sure to make hotel reservations early. I’d also recommend not waiting until the last minute to book excursions, especially for things like day trips to the Rosario Islands as they tend to fill up in advance. You might also want to make dinner reservations at nicer and more popular restaurants ahead of time.

Also, be aware that for Christmas Eve and New Years Eve many restaurants do special dinners, and you’ll usually need to buy a ticket in advance.

Finally, it’s not uncommon to see slightly higher prices for some excursions and hotels during this and the other high seasons too, although those will only be potentially worse if you wait until the last minute to book.

Easter Season

The week leading up to Easter, known as Semana Santa, or Holy Week also is a popular travel period domestically and internationally, so the city is often quite crowded.

While there are some processions for the religious holiday, I never thought they were particularly elaborate. There is a fun tradition of sweets made from different fruits that you can find sold on the streets around Easter.

However, because the city tends to be quite crowded and there isn’t a super significant cultural tradition for Easter, I’d honestly recommend avoiding this week if you can.

It’s still a fine time to come though, especially if Easter is earlier in the year when you shouldn’t have much, if any, rain. So, if this is the best time of year to go to Cartagena for you, go for it.

Late June-July Summer Season

One of the upshots of many children getting their longer vacation in December and January is that the summer vacation is shorter and usually runs from around the tail end of June to the middle of July.

Of course, that’s mitigated by the fact that many children elsewhere, like the US, do have most of June and July off, and the summer time is another popular time for even people without kids to take time off to travel.

So, while it can still be a bit slow in early June, there is another high season starting in late June through the end of July.

Since this is a longer vacation period, I never felt like the city got quite as crowded as around the more concentrated holidays of Christmas, New Years, and Easter, but especially July is often pretty busy.

I will say though, that July to about September always seemed like the hottest part of the year to me. Look it’s hot all year, but just be aware it’s extra hot this time of year and be sure to stay hydrated and use your SPF.

If this is the best time for you to travel to Cartagena, much like the December-January holiday season, I wouldn’t let the crowds or weather stop you. If you can manage to plan for early-mid June or late July, you might miss the worst of the crowds too.

When is the Rainy Season in Cartagena?

The true rainy season in Cartagena is October. Some years it starts a bit earlier in mid to late September and some years it runs a bit later into mid November. However, October is by far the rainiest month.

For that reason, I’d probably say October is the worst month to go to Cartagena.

The truth is that it can vary greatly from year to year though.

I’ll never forget my first rainy season in Cartagena, living in a little town on Isla Barú as a volunteer teacher. It felt like it rained almost every day in October. I remember one day it rained for like 17 hours. Beads of water literally seeped through and dripped down the concrete walls in my bedroom of the dorm like place we volunteers were staying.

However, there were years where I felt like it only rained maybe once a week in October. In fact, according to the data here, 2011 was the second rainiest year on record.

That’s to say, that while I’d probably recommend avoiding October if you can, if it’s the only time you can travel to Cartagena, I’d still come.

Just bring an umbrella and be aware there’s above average chances of rain throughout the month.

If you look at that link above, you’ll also notice that from May through November, there is also rainfall. My experience living in Cartagena was there was usually a pattern of hot and humid temperatures with quick but furious thunderstorms and rains a few times a week from May through whenever the true rainy season started in September.

Once the rainy season ended, whether that be by late October or sometime in November, there was usually little rain again until the occasional shower in March and April. Although, again, in 2011, it rained frequently through December.

So, while not 100% predictable, if you’re coming to Cartagena from May through November, you should be prepared for the possibility of rain. Avoid October if you can, but it’s extremely unlikely that rain will ruin your trip any other month, and, even October, most years are not that bad.

I would say if you’re coming any of these months, bring along an extra pair of shoes, as some streets in Cartagena do flood pretty badly and quickly when there are hard rains, and there are lots of puddles and cars throw up water as they go by too.

Best Time to Go to Cartagena, Colombia Final Verdict and Conclusion

The period from late January to just before Easter Week is the best time to go to Cartagena, Colombia, in my opinion. There are usually smaller crowds once the holiday season is over, there is little rain, and there are generally slightly cooler temperatures and a nice breeze.

I’d say February is by far the best month to go to Cartagena de Indias as you’re all but guaranteed to get the best of both worlds of good weather and fewer crowds.

The period after Easter to mid-June is also good for avoiding crowds, but it’s hotter and there are some chances of rain.

Finally, while the city is crowded, you shouldn’t shy away from planning a trip during the Christmas and New Years or Summer holiday seasons as long as you plan in advance and are prepared for likely larger crowds.

October is the rainiest month.

Although it may be the “worst” time to visit Cartagena, there are years where the rain isn’t that bad though. So, while perhaps best avoided to be on the safe side, there isn’t really a truly bad time to plan a trip.

I hope you found this post helpful if you are currently planning or considering planning a trip to Cartagena. Please do take a look around the site at all the other resources that might help you. Most importantly, I hope you have a wonderful time, whenever you visit Cartagena!

Cheers and Happy Exploring!