Colombia (Lonely Planet, 5th Edition) - Jens Porup [129]
Restaurante Sareb ( 368 7407; Carrera 49C No 76-139; mains COP$9000-18,000; lunch & dinner) Barranquilla is home to a healthy Middle Eastern population, so you’ll find its Arab food is plentiful and good. This El Prado restaurant does it all – felafel, shawarma and kebabs – relatively cheaply.
El Merendero ( 356 5638; Carrera 43 No 70-42; mains COP$9500-19,500; lunch & dinner) This steakhouse serves up perfectly-seasoned slabs of beef – go for the punta gorda, a thin cut – in atmospheric thatched huts. Servings are substantial. The only downside is the lack of air-con – the meat isn’t the only thing sizzling!
Harry’s Café ( 345 6431; Calle 80 No 53-18; mains COP$10,000-28,000; dinner) Like a TGI Friday drunk on Latin fever, this bar and grill perpetuating itself as ‘All-American’ is a true scene: gringos mingling with locals. Will they or won’t they? Will they or won’t they? Let’s sit back and watch over another Aguilla draft! Everything from REM to Motley Crue provides the soundtrack.
Naia ( 368 1316; Carrera 53 No 79-127; mains COP$23,000-39,000; lunch & dinner Mon-Sat) Come here for corozo martinis, Colombia’s addictive entrant into the World’s Best Cocktail contest. Otherwise, soft earth tones set the mood at this trendy restaurant serving Barranquilla’s beautiful. Excellent fusion cuisine (mero in guava sauce, langostino with corozo and pistachio) and a hip front patio make this one-stop shopping for a night on the town.
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Entertainment
Barranquilla is home to the most raucous nightlife on the coast. What’s hot is always changing; check out La Checa (www.lacheca.com).
Barranquilla’s local soccer team is called Junior and they throw down at Estadio Olympico Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez (Vía Circunvalación & Av Murillo), south of Centro. You can buy tickets at the gates.
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Getting There & Away
AIR
The airport is about 10km south of the city center and is accessible by urban buses that say ‘Aeropuerto’ (COP$1300). Almost all main Colombian carriers service Barranquilla. El Prado has airline ticketing offices for most major airlines. Aires ( 368 8845; www.aires.aero; Carrera 54 No 72-27; 8am-noon & 2-6pm Mon-Fri, 9am-noon Sat) flies to Medellín (from COP$278,000, one way), Montería (from COP$214,000, one way), Panama City (from COP$320,000, one way) and Maracaibo, Venezuela (from COP$700,00, one way). Copa/AeroRepública ( 360 8239; www.aerorepublica.com; Calle 72 No 54-49; 8am-6pm Mon-Fri, 9am-1pm Sat) goes to Bogotá (from COP$383,000, one way), Medellín (from COP$316,000, one way), Panama City (COP$670,000, one way) and San Andrés (from COP$912,100, return; at 1pm on Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday), returning the same days at 11am. Avianca ( 353 4691; www.avianca.com; Calle 72 No 57-79; 8am-6pm Mon-Fri, 9am-1pm Sat) flies to Bogotá (from COP$280,650, one way), Medellín (from COP$339,100, one way), Cali (from COP$317,060, one way) and Miami (from COP$1,125,740, one way).
BUS
The bus terminal is located 7km from the city center. It’s not convenient, and it may take up to an hour to get to the terminal by urban bus. It’s much faster to go by taxi (COP$1500, 30 minutes).
Expreso Brasilia ( 323 0111; www.expresobrasilia.com) heads several times daily to Bogotá from 5:30am (COP$95,000, two hours) and Medellín from 6am (COP$85,000, 12 hours), as well as Santa Marta every 30 minutes from 2:30am to 11:30pm (COP$10,000, two hours) with continuing services to Riohacha on the Guajira Peninsula (COP$34,000, four hours); and Cartagena every 15 to 30 minutes from 4am to 11pm (COP$10,000, two hours). Unitransco ( 323 0030) services Tolú hourly every morning (COP$35,000, five hours) and Mompox once daily at 7:30am (COP$40,000, six hours). La Costeña ( 323 1360) also heads to Santa Marta every 10 minutes from 5am to 8:30pm for slightly