Midtown Atlanta skyscrapers and the Downtown Connector
Colorful colonial buildings with wooden balconies on Plaza de la Aduana in Cartagena's walled city

Atlanta vs. Colombia (Cartagena)

Southern food and history or a walled Caribbean city?

Culture & food🗓 7 nights👥 2 adults✈ Round trip from Los Angeles📅 Checked October 2026

Flying from

Photos: Atlanta: AtlChampion, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cartagena: Dr. Thomas Liptak, CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons · Photo credits

Heads up: every price on this page is a sample estimate, not live pricing or a quote. Ranges are based on published typical fares and rates plus our own assumptions (see sources below). Switch the departure airport above to recalculate. Use the buttons to check today's real prices.

. Flight fares and all totals are estimates, not live pricing.

Atlanta

≈ $4,010

$2,840–$5,170

Cartagena comes out about $700 cheaper for 2 adults at the midpoint.

Flying from Los Angeles (LAX)

Sample estimate, not live pricing

Cartagena

≈ $3,300

$2,410–$4,180

Midtown Atlanta skyscrapers and the Downtown Connector
US trip

Atlanta

USA · ATL

All-in total, 7 nights for 2 adults, round trip from Los Angeles (LAX)

$2,840–$5,170

Midpoint ≈ $4,010 · ≈ $2,000 per person

Sample estimate, not live pricing
Cost breakdown (sample estimate, not live pricing)
ItemEstimate
Round-trip flights from LAX2 × $300–$520 per person$600–$1,040
Lodging7 nights × $150–$260 per night$1,050–$1,820
Food & drink7 days × $100–$170 per day$700–$1,190
Local transport7 days × $30–$60 per day$210–$420
Activities7 days × $40–$100 per day$280–$700
Total Sample estimate, not live pricing$2,840–$5,170
Flight time from Los Angeles
About 4.5 hr nonstop
Best time to go
April–May and September–October; summers are hot and humid.
Entry
No passport needed for US citizens.
Watch for
Car-centric city (rideshares add up); attraction bundles (aquarium, World of Coke) are pricey.
Best for
Southern food, civil-rights history, nonstop

Book flights, tours & more for Atlanta ↓ (affiliate links)

Colorful colonial buildings with wooden balconies on Plaza de la Aduana in Cartagena's walled city
Abroad

Colombia (Cartagena)

Colombia · CTG

All-in total, 7 nights for 2 adults, round trip from Los Angeles (LAX)

$2,410–$4,180

Midpoint ≈ $3,300 · ≈ $1,650 per person

Sample estimate, not live pricing
Cost breakdown (sample estimate, not live pricing)
ItemEstimate
Round-trip flights from LAX2 × $540–$760 per person$1,080–$1,520
Lodging7 nights × $80–$160 per night$560–$1,120
Food & drink7 days × $45–$90 per day$315–$630
Local transport7 days × $15–$30 per day$105–$210
Activities7 days × $50–$100 per day$350–$700
Total Sample estimate, not live pricing$2,410–$4,180
Flight time from Los Angeles
About 8–10 hr with 1 stop
Best time to go
December–April (dry, breezy; peak around Christmas and Easter). Hot and humid year-round.
Entry
Passport required. Colombia requires the online Check-MIG form before arrival.
Watch for
Hotels inside the walled city cost more; island boat trips (Rosario Islands) are the big activity spend; beach vendors can be pushy.
Best for
Colonial streets, island day trips, warm nights

Book flights, tours & more for Cartagena ↓ (affiliate links)

All-in totals by departure city

7 nights for 2 adults, round-trip flights from each city included. Midpoint of our estimate range, with the full range below it. Sample estimate, not live pricing.

Flying fromAtlantaCartagenaResult
Los Angeles (LAX)≈ $4,010$2,840–$5,170≈ $3,300$2,410–$4,180Cartagena ~$700 cheaper
Las Vegas (LAS)≈ $3,830$2,680–$4,970≈ $3,330$2,450–$4,200Cartagena ~$500 cheaper
Phoenix (PHX)≈ $3,860$2,714–$5,014≈ $3,480$2,588–$4,368Cartagena ~$400 cheaper
Denver (DEN)≈ $3,770$2,628–$4,904≈ $3,170$2,300–$4,048Cartagena ~$600 cheaper
Dallas (DFW)≈ $3,570$2,474–$4,674≈ $3,160$2,214–$4,114Cartagena ~$400 cheaper
Seattle (SEA)≈ $4,110$2,918–$5,304≈ $3,640$2,672–$4,600Cartagena ~$500 cheaper
Chicago (CHI)≈ $3,660$2,532–$4,786≈ $2,990$2,064–$3,910Cartagena ~$650 cheaper
New York (NYC)≈ $3,560$2,500–$4,626≈ $2,980$2,114–$3,836Cartagena ~$600 cheaper

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Flights search from Los Angeles (LAX) for a 7-night trip; switch the departure city above to update. Prices on partner sites are live and may differ from our estimates.

Atlanta vs Cartagena cost breakdown: where the money goes

Midpoint of each estimate range, 2 adults, 7 nights, flying from Los Angeles (LAX). Sample estimate, not live pricing.

Round-trip flights from Los Angeles

Atlanta ≈ $820
Cartagena ≈ $1,300

Lodging

Atlanta ≈ $1,440
Cartagena ≈ $840

Food & drink

Atlanta ≈ $950
Cartagena ≈ $470

Local transport

Atlanta ≈ $320
Cartagena ≈ $160

Activities

Atlanta ≈ $490
Cartagena ≈ $530

The verdict: is Cartagena cheaper than Atlanta?

Cartagena comes out about $700 cheaper for 2 adults at the midpoint. (from Los Angeles, sample estimate, not live pricing)

Cartagena comes out cheaper from every departure city we cover, by about $400–$700, as cheaper hotels and meals outweigh the pricier one-stop flight. Atlanta wins on a nonstop flight and civil-rights history; Cartagena on colonial streets, Caribbean islands and warm evenings.

Atlanta vs Cartagena: common questions

Answers use flights from Los Angeles unless a city is named; see the table above for every departure city.

Is Cartagena cheaper than Atlanta?

Yes. Flying from Los Angeles, Cartagena comes out about $700 cheaper for 2 adults and 7 nights (≈ $3,300 vs ≈ $4,010 all-in, flights included). Cartagena is cheaper from all 8 US departure cities we cover, by $400–$700. These are midpoints of our sample estimates, not live prices.

Is Cartagena cheaper than Atlanta from Chicago?

Yes. Flying from Chicago, Cartagena comes out about $650 cheaper for 2 adults and 7 nights (≈ $2,990 vs ≈ $3,660 all-in, flights included).

How much does a week in Cartagena cost for two?

About $2,410–$4,180 all-in (midpoint ≈ $3,300, ≈ $1,650 per person) for 7 nights for 2 adults with round-trip flights from Los Angeles: flights $1,080–$1,520, lodging $560–$1,120, food & drink $315–$630, local transport $105–$210, activities $350–$700. The same week in Atlanta runs about $2,840–$5,170.

How long is the flight from Los Angeles to Cartagena?

About 8–10 hr with 1 stop. For comparison, Atlanta: About 4.5 hr nonstop.

When is the best time to visit Atlanta or Cartagena?

Atlanta: April–May and September–October; summers are hot and humid. Cartagena: December–April (dry, breezy; peak around Christmas and Easter). Hot and humid year-round.

Sources, notes & assumptions

Flight ranges come from typical round-trip economy fares that fare-search sites (KAYAK, Google Flights, Priceline, momondo, Expedia, airline fare pages) published for each route from each departure airport we cover (currently LAS and LAX), viewed October 2026. Lodging uses published hotel averages where we found them (Engine's August 2026 US city averages; Budget Your Trip traveler averages abroad), adjusted to a mid-range room; otherwise it is an editor estimate. Daily food, local transport and activity budgets are editor estimates for a mid-range couple; where a Budget Your Trip average exists we set the range around it, but the range bounds are our own judgment and have NOT been verified against a single published source. Ski lift tickets use published 2025/26 (or 2026/27) resort prices; euro and yen prices are converted at editor-assumed exchange rates. Taxes, resort fees, baggage fees and tips may not be fully included. Flight ranges marked "Travelpayouts (Aviasales) Data API" in the sources are refreshed automatically from cached round-trip economy fares that Aviasales users found recently for departures about 1–4 months out (low = cheapest fare found, high = roughly the 75th percentile); routes without enough fresh data keep their previous published-fare range.

Assumptions: economy fares, 1 mid-range room, 7 nights / 7 days of spending, 2 adults. Excludes passports, travel insurance, checked-bag fees and souvenirs unless noted. Found a better number? Tell us.

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