Plan Your Cartagena Trip Around an Occasion

Two specific cultural occasions offer different timing options for a trip to Cartagena: La Casona, Centro Turístico, and the Montas de Cartagena on July 25. A visit to the house must be arranged in advance; the festival tradition is tied to a set date. So first decide whether you want to plan around an arranged visit or the festival day. This gives you a concrete starting point for looking for a vacation rental and deciding the order of your travel preparations.

La Casona: House History with Family Ties

La Casona is a house that is more than 90 years old and is maintained by Lillian Gonzales. She is the daughter of the person who originally commissioned the building. The house’s history is therefore shaped not only by its age, but also by the family relationship between its original commissioner and its current caretaker. Visitors interested in historic houses will find a personal connection here. Visits to La Casona must be arranged in advance. Coordinate your visit before traveling and confirm the arrangements; don’t plan on stopping by spontaneously.

Montas de Cartagena on July 25

The Montas de Cartagena on July 25 feature a monta rústica and horse races with ribbons. These festival traditions give your trip a fixed date to plan around. If you are especially interested in the Montas, you can use the period around July 25 as the starting point for your plans. The date differs from a visit to La Casona, which must be arranged in advance: the festival has a set date, while the house visit requires an agreed appointment.

Traditional Festival Foods

Traditional foods such as tortillas, buñuelos, chichada made from purple Pujagua corn, white and purple atol, and corn rice are sold at the Montas. Food is also part of the festival day, alongside the monta rústica and horse races with ribbons. Chichada is specifically made with purple Pujagua corn; atol comes in both white and purple varieties. If the food is an important part of your reason for traveling, check in advance what will actually be available at the particular edition you plan to attend. This lets you include the festival tradition in your plans without assuming that specific foods will be offered on your travel date.

Coordinate Your Travel Dates and Vacation Rental

When choosing your travel dates, it helps to distinguish between the fixed date of the Montas and the advance arrangement required for La Casona. If the festival is your main reason for traveling, start with July 25 and check the specific festival dates. If La Casona is your priority, arrange your visit first and plan the rest of your travel dates around it. If your travel dates are already set, you can instead check which of the two occasions falls within that period.

Discover more destinations: Cuajiniquil, Sierra, Ostional, Potrero, Santa Elena, Mata De Caña, Naranjos Agrios, Panamá

For the main travel overview: Guanacaste.