Best Areas to Stay in Barranquilla, Colombia

The Alto Prado neighborhood is located north of the historic center of the city of Barranquilla.

This area is considered one of the best neighborhoods of middle-upper and upper class in Barranquilla.

This neighborhood is one of the most pleasant areas of Barranquilla, with residential buildings, shopping centers and offices.

The area around Washington Park concentrates most of Barranquilla’s bars, pubs and nightlife options.

Alto Prado concentrates excellent leisure and food options.

Alto Prado offers a large number of luxury hotels and boutique hotels.

This is also one of the safest neighborhoods to stay in Barranquilla and an excellent area for business travelers.

Not far from Alto Prado is the neighborhood of El Prado, also known as Viejo Prado, a historic area with a unique atmosphere in the city of Barranquilla.

El Prado is located between Carreras 50th and 60th and 53rd and 75th streets, and is considered the first planned urban development project in Colombia.

This neighborhood, to the northwest of the Historic Center, stands out for its houses, gardens and mansions of different styles, commissioned mostly by Italian, German, Jewish and Arab immigrants at the beginning of the 20th century.

The wide avenues in El Prado are bordered by tall trees and were designed in the 1920s by the brothers Karl and Robert Parrish.

Some of El Prado’s large mansions have been transformed into boutique-style hotels.

El Prado is one of the best areas to stay in Barranquilla thanks to its elegant atmosphere of yesteryear and its central location.

Riomar is one of the five localities in which the city of Barranquilla is divided.

This district is located in the north end of the city and includes 25 neighborhoods spanning from the center of the city all the way to the mouth of the Magdalena River and the coast of the Caribbean Sea, hence its name (which can be loosely translated as “Riversea”).

It is a predominantly upper and upper-middle-class neighborhood, with high residential buildings, many of them equipped with a swimming pool.

Among its natural attractions are the Cienaga del Mallorquín and the “Boca de Ceniza”, both at the mouth of the river.

Riomar also hosts several shopping centers, such as the Buenavista mall, one of the most exclusive in the city.

Riomar is a good area to stay in Barranquilla, although it is a bit far from the more central neighborhoods.

The Historic Center is the birthplace of Barranquilla and where social, commercial, cultural and political life developed from its establishment in the 17th century until the 1980s.

The historical center of Barranquilla is located in the far east-central part of the city, close to the western margin of the Magdalena River. It is comprised between Carreras 35 and 46 and streets 30 and 46.

The historic center of Barranquilla houses a large number of buildings from different periods of Colombian architecture: neoclassical, late Spanish baroque, neocolonial, art nouveau and art deco, as well as many contemporary additions of questionable aesthetic value.

Although the old town of Barranquilla is not as beautiful as that of other Colombian cities, the area concentrates a good selection of cheap accommodation options.

The downside of staying in this area is that Centro Histórico is not the safest neighborhood to stay in Barranquilla. Caution is advised, especially at night.