Cartagena

Cartagena offers two distinct ways to experience a stay: a house with more than 90 years of history and a festival held every year on July 25. The Montas de Cartagena include horse races with ribbons and a monta rústica. If you are considering Cartagena as a destination, you can first decide whether the history of a house or a cultural event held on a fixed date should shape your travel plans more. Both give you a concrete starting point for planning your days and looking for a suitable vacation rental.

La Casona and the history of a house

La Casona, Centro Turístico, is more than 90 years old and is cared for by Lillian Gonzales. She is the daughter of the person who originally had the building constructed. This connection between the house and the family makes the building’s history feel personal: its age is not the only part of its story; its care by the daughter of the original builder is also part of what makes its history distinctive. For travelers interested in places shaped over time and their past, La Casona is therefore a cultural point of interest in Cartagena in its own right.

Visitor information for La Casona states that an appointment must be arranged in advance. Include this in your preparations if you would like to visit the house during your trip. This makes a visit something to schedule ahead, rather than something to assume you can do spontaneously. You can take this planning requirement into account from the outset when choosing your travel dates and looking for a vacation rental.

Montas de Cartagena: an event on July 25

The Montas de Cartagena bring together several elements of local festive traditions. On July 25, these include a monta rústica and horse races with ribbons. Traditional foods are also sold during the festivities: tortillas, buñuelos, chichada made from purple Pujagua corn, white and purple atole, and corn rice. Alongside the equestrian events, there is a varied selection of foods associated with the festivities. If you value both culture and local food traditions on your trip, this date offers a clear focus for your visit.

The date is the key consideration when planning: the Montas take place every year on July 25. If you want to travel to Cartagena specifically for the festival, plan your travel dates around it and check the schedule for this year in advance. The foods listed are part of the festivities; they are not available year-round. This makes planning a visit around the Montas different from arranging an appointment at La Casona: the festival centers on a fixed calendar date, while a visit to the house requires advance arrangements.

Connect your reason for traveling with your accommodation search

These two highlights can help you set your priorities for Cartagena. If you mainly want to learn about La Casona’s history, arranging an appointment is part of your preparations. If you are especially interested in the festival, its equestrian events, and its food, July 25 is the key date. If both appeal to you, you can plan around them separately without assuming they follow the same schedule.

Looking for a vacation rental in Cartagena makes particular sense when the city itself is the reason for your trip. That way, your choice of accommodation starts with what you want to experience in Cartagena, rather than with a general idea of what a place to stay should be. Arrange your visit to the house in advance, and plan around the festival date for the Montas. These different preparations make the two highlights a practical guide for planning your trip.

Discover more destinations: Culebra, Sierra, Guayabal, Punta Islita, San Francisco de Coyote, Villareal, Santa Cruz, Santa Bárbara.

For the broader travel overview: Guanacaste.