8 Reasons Why I Wanted to Visit Cartagena, Spain, Cartagena, Spain

Today as I peered out my cabin window onboard Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines Balmoral, I could see right over to the beautiful city of Cartagena, Spain located in the province of Murcia. I was excited to visit all of the ports of call on this cruise, but I had several reasons why I wanted to visit Cartagena, Spain.

I’ve been lucky enough to travel to Colombia and I’ve stayed in a few cities there including Bogotá and Cartagena. When I saw that I would visit Cartagena, Spain on this cruise, I was curious how the two would compare. Would these cities have similarities or not?

TSG Tip: How do you pronounce Cartagena? Easy. Say Car-ta-hey-na and like that — you’re now speaking Spanish.

My friend, Danielle, and I made our way off the ship and decided to walk into Cartagena as it wasn’t far to the city. Cartagena has a population of 216,451 residents (as of 2014) in an area of about 215 square miles. Compare that to the other Cartagena, a city in Colombia that was founded in 1533 with a population of 1.1 million and an area of 221 square miles and named after Cartagena, Spain. While both cities are coastal cities and share a name, they are two distinct and different cities. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).