Cartagena is the city Cabo de Palos belongs to, 30 kilometres west and about half an hour by motorway. It has one of the finest natural harbours in the Mediterranean, and everything about it follows from that. The Carthaginian general Hasdrubal founded it around 227 BC as Qart Hadasht; Scipio took it for Rome in 209 BC and it prospered as Carthago Nova on the silver of the nearby hills; in the eighteenth century it became the Spanish navy’s Mediterranean base, which it remains.
A mining boom around 1900 left the centre with a remarkable set of modernist (Art Nouveau) buildings, and since the 1990s excavation has uncovered the Roman city beneath. It is compact, largely pedestrian and makes an easy, rewarding day away from the beach.
Top things to do: Cartagena
Roman Theatre and museum
Built at the end of the first century BC under Augustus and able to seat several thousand, the theatre lay forgotten under a poor quarter of the city until 1988. Rafael Moneo’s museum, opened in 2008, leads you through a sequence of galleries and a tunnel under a church before releasing you into the theatre itself. Tickets and combination passes can be booked ahead.
ARQVA — National Museum of Underwater Archaeology
On the waterfront, Spain’s national museum of underwater archaeology shows Phoenician ship timbers and cargo from the Mazarrón wrecks, Roman amphorae, and the coins of the frigate Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes, recovered after a famous court case. A natural stop for anyone who has been diving at Cabo de Palos.
Calle Mayor and the modernist centre
From the town hall (Palacio Consistorial, 1907) walk up Calle Mayor past the Casino, Casa Cervantes and the Gran Hotel, all from the mining boom years. Look up: the best detail is above the shopfronts.
Concepción Castle and the panoramic lift
A glass lift rises to the hilltop castle for the best overall view of the harbour, the theatre and the ring of hills, each crowned by a fort.
More Rome, Carthage and the navy
The Roman Forum district (Barrio del Foro Romano), the Punic Wall interpretation centre and the Naval Museum, which displays Isaac Peral’s pioneering electric submarine of 1888, each take under an hour.
Batería de Castillitos
About an hour’s drive west of the city, on a narrow mountain road to Cabo Tiñoso, a 1930s coastal battery built in the form of a fairy-tale castle guards two huge Vickers guns high above the sea. Free and open; not for nervous drivers.
How to get to Cartagena
- By car: RM-12 from Cabo de Palos to Cartagena, about 30 minutes. Use the underground car parks near the port; the old centre is pedestrian.
- By bus: regional buses link Cabo de Palos and La Manga with Cartagena’s bus station, a ten-minute walk from the centre. They are more frequent in summer; check current timetables.
Insider tips
- Many museums close on Mondays. Check before choosing your day.
- Combination tickets covering several sites cost much less than paying separately.
- In the second half of September the city stages its Carthaginians and Romans festival; Holy Week processions here are among the most distinctive in Spain.
- Cruise ships dock right beside the centre; on ship days the theatre is busiest late morning.
- In summer, sightsee in the morning and have a long lunch — the afternoon heat in the streets is intense.
Best tours: Cartagena
These top-rated experiences are the easiest way to see Cartagena:
Combo ticket from €20 Cartagena: Roman Theater, Forum, Castle and Panoramic Lift
One ticket for four of Cartagena’s main sights: the Roman Theatre and its museum, the Roman Forum Museum, the panoramic lift and the Concepción Castle on the hill above the port. With close to 900 reviews it is by far the most-booked product within reach of Cabo de Palos, and the obvious choice for a windy or cloudy day.
- Roman Theatre Museum
- Roman Forum Museum
- Panoramic lift and Concepción Castle
Entry ticket from €7 Cartagena: Roman Theatre Museum Entry Ticket
Entry to Cartagena’s star attraction: a museum designed by Rafael Moneo that leads you through the archaeological finds and out, dramatically, into the theatre itself. If you only have a couple of hours in the city, this is the ticket to buy.
- One of Spain’s largest Roman theatres
- Museum designed by Rafael Moneo
- Finds from Roman Carthago Nova
Entry ticket from €6 Cartagena: Panoramic Lift & Conception Castle Ticket
A glass lift carries you up to the Concepción Castle, the medieval fortress on the hill above the port, with an exhibition on the city’s history and the best view over Cartagena’s harbour and Roman theatre.
- Lift to the highest point of the old town
- Concepción Castle and its history exhibition
- Views over the port and the theatre
Sightseeing bus from €8 Cartagena, Spain: Panoramic Double-Decker Bus Tour
A sightseeing bus circuit of Cartagena with commentary, useful for reaching viewpoints and outlying sights without walking uphill in the heat. Ratings are good rather than great.
- Open-top double-decker
- Commentary on the city
- Free time in the historic centre
