Barranquilla, Colombia's main seaport, is a bustling, chaotic city of 2 million people, 435 mi/700 km north of Bogota. It is located on the west bank of the Magdalena River, near where it empties into the Caribbean Sea after crossing most of the country south to north.
Barranquilla is best-known for its fabulous Carnival, one of the best in South America. It is held the four days before Ash Wednesday. It kicks off with the Batalla de Flores, a colorful procession along the Via 40 (between calles 83 and 40) on Saturday, which is continued on Sunday. If you don't want to mix with the partying people, you can watch the spectacle from platforms along the Via 40, which are called palcos.
The Festival de las Orquestras takes place on Monday and Tuesday at the baseball stadium. On Tuesday at midnight, Joselito Carnaval, a personified symbol of the Carnival, is buried. It's sometimes rough, but not unsafe fun. Only carry the money you might need for the evening and you should be fine. If you party with the people, expect water and corn flour (often a sticky mix of both) to be thrown at you, so don't wear your best clothes. There are lots of concerts and dancing events with great music. http://www.carnavaldebarranquilla.org.
If you are in town at other times, you can visit the Museo del Caribe, a superb museum dedicated to Caribbean cultures; the Museo del Carnival, which presents the history of Carnival; the zoo (http://www.zoobaq.org); and the remarkable modern Catedral Metropolitano.
On El Prado, between Calle 50 and Carretera 55, you can see some beautifully renovated mansions. In general, the city is humid, loud and seething with people—not worth going out of your way to see.
The city is divided into the clean, modern, vibrant, nonthreatening and affluent northern zone, north of the Museo del Caribe; and the filthy and unsafe lower-class southern half, which should be avoided.
Near Barranquilla is Isla de Salamanca, which has a well-protected mango swamp.
To request access to the full version of this destination guide, please provide your email address below. Your email address will only be used for verification purposes and will not be used for marketing purposes.