Things to do in Barranquilla

Landmark · Barrio Abajo to Vía 40, along the Magdalena

Five kilometres of riverside promenade built along a working river, with food halls, sculpture, a Ferris wheel and cargo ships sliding past a few metres away.

Local tip: Go at dusk when the heat breaks and the river turns copper. The Barrio Abajo end has the better food stalls; the Vía 40 end has the better views of ships turning in the channel.

Neighborhood · Between the centre and the river

The old low-lying quarter where Carnival is made — one-storey painted houses, comparsa rehearsal yards, the Museo del Caribe and the Casa del Carnaval.

Local tip: In January the rehearsal patios open up and you can watch a garabato or a congo group drilling for free. That is a far better introduction to Carnival than a grandstand seat in February.

Nature · End of the Magdalena's western breakwater, north of the city

The point where Colombia's biggest river meets the Caribbean, reached along a stone jetty that runs several kilometres out to sea with brown river water on one side and blue sea on the other.

Local tip: Take the little rail trolley (planchón) from Las Flores rather than walking the whole jetty in the sun, and go on a clear morning. Ask locally about conditions first — this is an exposed working breakwater, not a promenade.

Food · South-east of the centre

The vast, loud, entirely unpolished market where the city actually buys fish, yuca, plantain and everything else, spilling across streets near the old customs house.

Local tip: Go early with someone who knows it, carry nothing you mind losing, and eat a bollo de yuca with butifarra from a stall. It is not a curated experience and that is the point.

Culture · Barrio Boston

The bar where the Grupo de Barranquilla — Gabriel García Márquez, Álvaro Cepeda Samudio, Alejandro Obregón — drank and argued in the 1950s, now a restaurant and small museum.

Local tip: Sit at the bar rather than the tables, order a whisky and look at the Obregón mural. It is a working restaurant, not a shrine, and the food is decent coastal cooking.

Nature · North-west, toward Puerto Colombia

A large coastal lagoon and mangrove system on the city's edge, recently opened up with boardwalks, a viewing tower and canoe routes through the mangrove channels.

Local tip: Go at first light for the birds — flamingos turn up seasonally — and combine it with the old iron pier at Puerto Colombia twenty minutes further on, which was once one of the longest in the world.