How to get to Cartagena: fly direct, change once, or come by road

The chart below draws 13 cities abroad and 6 in Colombia with a direct flight to Rafael Núñez airport, each with the airline that sells it. Pick where you are starting: the chart lights your direct routes and rings the airport where a change works best. The table under it holds the same routes, with the season or schedule where the airline gives one.

For scale: the airport moved 4,001,889 passengers in the second half of 2025 and 3,906,258 passengers in the first half of 2026, on 17 airlines (operator's statistics, airline list).

United States

From Miami, American Airlines flies to Cartagena. JetBlue flies from New York JFK (route page) and from Fort Lauderdale, where in March 2026 it announced daily, year-round flights from 11 June 2026 (JetBlue).

Three new routes are announced for December 2026. On 29 June 2026 United announced flights from Houston and Washington Dulles, four a week (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday) from 17 December 2026; in its announced schedule the flight from Houston leaves Houston 9:35, lands 14:50 and the one from Dulles leaves Dulles 8:20, lands 13:10, both local times (United). On 10 September 2026 Frontier announced flights from Orlando, once a week from 19 December 2026 (Frontier). All three were announced subject to government approval, so check that the flight is on sale before you build a trip on it.

Canada

Air Canada flies Toronto Tuesdays and Saturdays, 17 November 2026 to 17 April 2027; most days it leaves Toronto 9:30, lands 14:45 (Air Canada). From Montreal, Air Canada flies Sundays, 13 December 2026 to 4 April 2027; in December and January it leaves Montreal 9:35, lands 15:30 (Air Canada). Air Transat also sells Montreal to Cartagena on its route page.

Europe

Three airlines link Cartagena with Europe: KLM from Amsterdam, Edelweiss from Zurich and Plus Ultra from Madrid. Plus Ultra sells its flight as direct and nonstop. With any of the three, the itinerary at booking shows whether the plane stops on the way.

Latin America

From Panama City, Copa flies from Tocumen (Copa) and Wingo from Panamá Pacífico, a different airport west of the canal (Wingo). LATAM flies Lima, about 8 direct flights a week (LATAM).

Then you change planes once, and the question is where. Three kinds of airport do it well.

Bogotá handles far more international travel than Cartagena. In 2025 its El Dorado airport counted 12,535,687 border crossings in and out, against 1,665,292 at Cartagena (Migración Colombia). On the airport’s flight board for 11 November 2026, Avianca, LATAM, JetSMART and Wingo all flew Bogotá to Cartagena (airport flight board). From Canada, Air Canada flies Montreal and Toronto to Bogotá (schedule).

Panama City is Copa's hub. Copa says it reaches more than 70 international destinations through Panama, and its Cartagena page sells onward fares from Mexico City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver, Toronto, Montreal, Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile and São Paulo (Copa). From much of Latin America and the western United States, that makes Panama City the natural place to change.

A city on the chart. From anywhere in North America, a first flight to Miami, Fort Lauderdale, New York or Toronto puts you on a direct route; Houston and Washington join if United’s announced flights start. From Europe, the same goes for Amsterdam, Zurich and Madrid.

Whichever way you come, the entry steps are the same for an international arrival: what to file and when, and the taxes inside your fare, are on Check-Mig Colombia. The airport itself, the two exits and the taxi to your area: Cartagena airport.

Inside Colombia the plane wins on every route longer than the coast road. The table gives the road distance from the Clock Tower as routed on OpenStreetMap, a driving estimate without traffic, and the bus time where an operator publishes one.

Barranquilla and Santa Marta are the short ones, along the coast. Marsol leaves from its own office at Carrera 2A # 43-111 (Marsol). Which of shuttle, terminal bus or private car fits your day: Cartagena to Santa Marta. Both cities also appear as long day trips on day trips from Cartagena.

Medellín and Bogotá are a long day or a night on the road. For Medellín, the door-to-door comparison of plane and bus is on Medellín to Cartagena.

The bus terminal is not in town. The Terminal de Transportes stands in El Pozón; address and phone: Carretera La Cordialidad, Diag 56 # 57-236, Barrio El Pozón; phone 6630454, WhatsApp 3205721282 (terminal). It is 12 km by road from the Clock Tower, about 40 minutes without traffic. The city's taxi table prices rides from the airport only: 51,000 COP from the airport to the terminal, 20,200 COP from the airport to the old town; it lists no fare from the terminal into town. Taxis, buses and walking once you are here: getting around Cartagena.

On a cruise. The port operator’s 2026-27 schedule lists 167 calls. Ships berth at the cruise terminal in Manga, 3.2 km from the walled city as the operator gives it. How the day ashore works: Cartagena cruise port.

City taxis from the airport add 1,100 COP to the zone fare from 19:00 to 5:00, so a landing after dark costs a little more (airport fares by zone). Island day boats leave the city's docks 8:00 to 8:30, so a same-morning island day needs a flight that lands well before that, with time for bags and the ride to the dock; otherwise plan the boat for your second day (Rosario Islands).

If you would rather have a driver waiting with your name, these private transfers are sold in advance: Transfer airport to the old city and Rafael Núñez Airport One-Way Transfer on GetYourGuide, and a private one-way airport transfer on Viator. Where to sleep, inside the walled city, in Getsemaní or by the beach in Bocagrande: where to stay in Cartagena. Cash, cards and what things cost on arrival: prices in Cartagena.