Santa Marta Historic Centre

Santa Marta was founded in 1525 and has the distinction of being the oldest Spanish-founded city in the country that has been lived in continuously ever since. The historic core is modest, perhaps ten blocks by six, of one and two-storey houses, a squat white cathedral and a pedestrian square that fills with tables after dark. The best thing in it is the Museo del Oro Tairona, housed in the old customs building, which sets out Tairona goldwork, ceramics and stonework from the Sierra Nevada that rises directly behind the town. The bayfront walk runs past fishing boats, pelicans and, at one end, a working cargo port.

What you actually see

• Museo del Oro Tairona - Tairona goldwork and ceramics in the old customs house.
• The cathedral - the low white basilica on the main square.
• Parque de los Novios - the pedestrian square that comes alive after dark.
• The bayfront walk - boats, pelicans and the Sierra Nevada rising behind the town.

When to go

December to March is dry and marginally cooler; the heat and humidity are constant year-round and the afternoons are heavy. Colombian holiday periods in late December, Holy Week and June to July fill the town and raise prices. Evenings are the pleasant part of the day here, which is when the centre is worth walking. Museums close on Mondays.

Honest expectations

It is hot, loud and scruffier than Cartagena, and the town beach is not somewhere most people want to swim. Most travellers use Santa Marta purely as a base and see little of it. Tour touts work every corner. Renovation is patchy, so a restored block sits beside a derelict one, and the port and traffic noise carry across the centre at all hours.

Nearby

Tayrona and Minca are an hour or less away; Ciudad Perdida treks are organised from here.