VacationSelector
The skyline across the water with the Chugach Mountains behind, Anchorage
AnchorageThe skyline across the water with the Chugach Mountains behind
Yellow colonial houses in the walled city, Cartagena
CartagenaYellow colonial houses in the walled city

Photos: Anchorage by Frank K., CC BY 2.0, cropped; Cartagena by Dr. Thomas Liptak, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Anchorage or Cartagena?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Anchorage for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Anchorage’s own page.

Choose Cartagena for

  • beaches
  • nightlife
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Cartagena’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Anchorage 8, Cartagena 70: Cartagena leads by 62 points.
Food & drink. Anchorage 40, Cartagena 62: Cartagena leads by 22 points.
Culture & sights. Anchorage 35, Cartagena 68: Cartagena leads by 33 points.
Nightlife. Anchorage 30, Cartagena 70: Cartagena leads by 40 points.
Nature & outdoors. Anchorage 93, Cartagena 46: Anchorage leads by 47 points.
Day trips. Anchorage and Cartagena are level on 33.
Good for families. Anchorage 55, Cartagena 40: Anchorage leads by 15 points.
Getting around. Anchorage 22, Cartagena 54: Cartagena leads by 32 points.
Shopping & style. Anchorage 28, Cartagena 48: Cartagena leads by 20 points.
Affordability. Anchorage 28, Cartagena 60: Cartagena leads by 32 points.
Live music & performing arts. Anchorage 34, Cartagena 40: Cartagena leads by 6 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Anchorage 32, Cartagena 40: Cartagena leads by 8 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Anchorage and Cartagena.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Anchorage
37match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and families with your weighting.

Cartagena
Best match
53match

Wins on beaches and nightlife with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Anchorage in July

20 °Cdaytime high
12 °Cnight-time low
47 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
13 °Csea
18 hdaylight a day

Cartagena in July

31 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
124 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
30 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
AnchorageCartagena

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Anchorage: 1991-2020 normals, Anchorage Air Force Base (7 km from centre). Cartagena: 1991-2020 normals, Cartagena / Rafael Nunez (3.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAnchorageCartagena
Official language-Spanish
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Colombian Peso (COP)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB110 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-9, UTC-8 in summerUTC-5
Emergency number911123
Elevation31 m2 m
Main airportTed Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC)7 km from centre49 non-stop destinationsRafael Nuñez International Airport (CTG)2 km from centre26 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days19 days

By the numbers

MeasureAnchorageCartagena
City population291,247914,552
People per km²581,599
Museums within 10 km52
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Anchorage or Cartagena somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.