Cartagena city tours – Explore the historic old town

This walking tour is available from hotels in the town of Mompox

About

If you are visiting Mompox then you have already made one of the more sophisticated choices in a Colombian itinerary. Mompox sits well away from the country’s conventional tourism circuit and rewards travellers prepared to make the journey with one of Colombia’s most distinctive historic towns.

The historic centre of Santa Cruz de Mompox is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, recognised for the remarkable preservation of its colonial architecture and urban layout. Its churches, plazas, whitewashed houses and long riverfront tell the story of a town that was once an important trading centre on the Magdalena River before changing transport routes left it increasingly isolated.

That isolation is also one of the reasons Mompox feels so distinctive today. It is a wonderfully atmospheric place to explore on foot and most visitors have one full day in town. A guided walking tour is therefore a natural way to spend part of that day, adding historical context to a place whose importance is not always immediately obvious from simply wandering its streets.

There is no need to over-organise a visit to Mompox. Part of its charm lies in walking slowly, sitting by the river and enjoying the town at its own pace. A local guide simply helps put what you are seeing into context and gives you a better understanding of this remarkable corner of Colombia.

The tour

Explore the historic centre of Mompox on a three-hour walking tour with a local guide, discovering the history, legends and distinctive corners of this UNESCO World Heritage town.

Your guide will meet you at your hotel before setting out through the colonial streets and plazas of Mompox, bringing to life the people, events and traditions that shaped the town and its extraordinary history on the Magdalena River. The tour also explores the cultural character of Mompox and the atmosphere that has made it so closely associated with Colombia’s tradition of magical realism.

The tour includes a 15–20 minute visit to a traditional filigree workshop, where you can see one of Mompox’s most celebrated crafts at close quarters, as well as bottled water.

The walking tour lasts approximately three hours.

Groups sizes

All private guided tours are available from 1 person up to large tour groups.

Languages

Mompox walking tours are available in English, Spanish, French and Italian.

We say

Mompox is one of those places where understanding the history makes a real difference. The town is beautiful to wander independently, but a local guide helps explain why this apparently quiet riverside settlement became so important.
Most visitors have one full day in Mompox, and a three-hour walking tour fits very naturally into that without taking over the day.
The short visit to a filigree workshop is a worthwhile addition. Filigree is one of the crafts most closely associated with Mompox and seeing the work being made gives useful context to something you will notice throughout the town.