Hotel da Pietro, Cartagena

Advantages: Natural Beauty, no crowds.
Disadvantages: Aranged trips, not a lot of freedom to move.

...To arrive to Colombia's "Islas del Rosario" is really very easy as there are a wide selection of tours that depart from Cartagena, these day trips are complete, you are collected from your hotel in the morning by chiva (typical open sided bus). These busses then take you to the port where depending on the chosen tour you board small to medium size boats that take you in around 1 hour to the islands, Safety on these boats is taken very seriously and everyone is supplied with a life vest. During this trip over water the guides explain the history of the bay of Cartagena which is very interesting. On arriving to the islands one is able to relax on the white sands of these fantastic beaches, where it is possible to see fragments of washed up corral, one has the opportunity to chose between a selection of activities that include... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: cheap cheerful and gorgeous beaches
Disadvantages: drug cartels, kidnapping - the usual

...People immediately think the worst of Columbia and I guess a for good reason. Mu mum went grey whilst I was awayjust from worry but I was absolutely fine. I did the typical uni thing and went travelling with my then boyfriend to meet up with his sister who was travelling all of South America and Columbia and Venezuela were the last two. We first travelled to Venezuela and then made our way over to Columbia, my first impression was it is so cold. Bogata is on a mountain, needless to say we were all sun people and moved on up the country. The aim was a national park near Cartegena, Cartagena is lovely. A old town and new combined, a mix of tourism and locals - but it works well. Travellers are well looked after, with the hostels and little cheap hotels. The national park was beautiful, sandy beaches, people sleeping in hammocks... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Location, Location, Location!
Disadvantages: No Lunch or Evening Dining Available in Hotel

...of good restaurants. We found a good restaurant not far from the Vatican - again about 15-20 minutes walk from the hotel. We did not need to take any public transport during our stay as we could walk to everything we wanted to see from this hotel. If I remember rightly, the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain were approx 30 minutes walk. There is a small grocery store nearby where you can buy wine, cheeses, bread, meats etc etc, which we did one night and dined in our room looking out over the city. It is about 35km from Ciampino Airport and 25km from Leonardo da Vinci Airport There is no subway close to the hotel but there are buses - number 64 or 40 from the Termini Railway Station which is about 31/2 km from the Hotel. If driving you take Exit 1 (Aurelia - direction San Pietro) from the Grande Raccordo Anulare. I do not think... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful