Is Cartagena expensive? The prices set by law, and a budget for your day

Pick what you are paying for, or read the whole ledger. Each line gives the amount, the rough figure in the other currency, who sets it and the document it comes from. Rules sit beside prices where a rule is all there is: for tips, the price tag and the hotel tax, the law sets a limit, not an amount.

The official parts of your stay are already in the form: the taxi from the airport to your zone, bus rides, the tickets you choose and the fees for each boat day. Add your own figures for the room, meals and tours, in dollars or pesos, and the ledger on the right gives the cost per person for the stay and per day.

The form suggests no hotel, meal or tour prices. Those are set by each seller and change by season and by the week; take them from your booking or the menu you are looking at.

Set side by side, the official prices fall into two groups, and the third group is everything else. The bars show each price in dollars on a stretched scale, so that a bus ride and an airport tax fit on one line.

Taxi fares in Cartagena are set by city decree, Decreto 0051 de 2026, Alcaldía Mayor de Cartagena. El Universal reported its 2026 minimum fare as 12,250 COP (El Universal, 27 February 2026); in the decree’s table from the historic center, Bocagrande, Castillogrande, El Laguito, Marbella, Manga and Crespo are all at that minimum, and the night surcharge is 1,100 COP from 19:00 to 5:00. For rides from the airport the operator prints the fare to each zone: that is the airport block of the ledger. For other rides, agree the fare with the driver before you get in, and say the barrio, not only the hotel name. Every taxi must carry the notice of the official fares where you can read it; how to report an overcharge: getting around.

The UK, Canada and Australia advise against hailing taxis on the street and suggest a licensed taxi booked by phone or app, or through your hotel; the US rule is for its own staff. All four advisories: is Cartagena safe. At the airport the operator runs two authorized taxi stations, one at the domestic and one at the international exit, and recommends always using them. Their fare is the one in the ledger. If you would rather have a driver waiting with your name, a private arrival or departure transfer is booked ahead at a price the seller sets.

Buses, walking and apps, hop by hop: getting around Cartagena. The airport exits and the taxi desks: Cartagena airport.

A restaurant or bar in Colombia may suggest a tip on the bill. The tipping law of 3 August 2018 (Ley 1935 de 2018) sets what that line may be:

• It is voluntary. Voluntary money given by the consumer; the venue may suggest it; acceptance always depends on the consumer.
• It has a ceiling. A suggested tip may not exceed 10% of the value of the service.
• You may refuse it or change it: the consumer has the right not to pay a suggested tip, or to change its amount.
• You are asked first. Staff must ask whether the customer wants the voluntary tip included on the bill, or what amount.
• You see the bill before you pay: you get the itemized bill before paying, with each item, its unit price and the total.
• It goes to the staff: only the people in the service chain; owners may not take any part.

The menu price already includes tax: Colombian law requires the price shown to include all taxes and extra costs.

Your hotel bill. A room can be exempt from IVA, the value added tax, when three conditions hold, in the tax office’s reading in Concepto 14767 de 2025. You live abroad and use the service in Colombia. The hotel, or the tour operator that sells the package, is registered in the national tourism register (RNT). And you prove your entry: your original passport with a valid entry stamp or a suitable temporary visa; if you came through the automatic Biomig gates and have no stamp, your passport plus a Migración Colombia certificate of your movements or other proof of your dates. The hotel must keep copies, or the exemption does not apply. Ask at check-in whether your hotel applies it, and check the bill for an IVA line. Areas and kinds of places to sleep: where to stay and boutique hotels.

The currency in Cartagena is the Colombian peso, COP. The official exchange rate, the TRM, is certified each day by the Superintendencia Financiera; on 11 November 2026 it was 3,297.07 COP per USD. Every “about” figure on this page uses that rate, and the converter in the ledger turns any amount.

Dollars. The law asks for prices in pesos, and the peso price is the one you owe. A price quoted in dollars is the seller’s own conversion; compare it with the official rate before you agree.

Cards. On Transcaribe, a contactless Visa card or phone pays at the gate; the bus block of the ledger has the rules. Elsewhere, Canada warns of card overcharging: Happens especially in popular tourist areas; ask for a printed price list before ordering.

Cash machines. Canada: Use ATMs in well-lit public areas or inside a bank or business; cover the keypad when entering your PIN. Australia: Use ATMs inside banks, shopping centres or other public places during business hours; avoid street ATMs. Take out what the day needs.

Most official prices in Cartagena change once a year, around January. The rules behind the changes:

• The fort: its prices rise with consumer prices (IPC) each 15 January, rounded up to the next thousand pesos. The 2026 rates hold from 15 January 2026.
• The bus: a new city decree each year. The 2025 fare was 3,400 COP; since 23 January 2026 it is 3,900 COP.
• The national park: Parques Nacionales sets the fee per calendar year; the 2026 fee is one price for Colombians and foreigners.
• The airport tax: set in dollars for the calendar year.
• The exit tax is new: it applies to tickets sold from 23 September 2026.

The park and dock fees are paid at the dock’s ticket store or online, at the 2026 price, so check whether a tour includes them. The 5-stop Rosario Islands day tour, for one, lists the port tax as payable on the day. Choosing between the islands: Cartagena islands, Isla Barú and San Bernardo.

Gate fees on a plan: things to do and the itinerary. Tables for reuse: Cartagena data.