Juan Valdez Café

Juan Valdez is Colombia's iconic national coffee chain, and this location sits on a quiet plaza in the walled city right across from the Universidad de Cartagena — making it one of the few cafés in the old city open every day. Grab a well-made coffee for 5,000–8,000 COP and a pastry without the tourist markup you'd expect from the location. It's not a hidden gem, but it delivers consistently good Colombian coffee in a spot that's hard to beat for a midday break.