shopping

Discovering Cartagena

More Articles By Phillip Bruce www.raxomnium.com

Shopping

Shopping in Cartagena is easy to enjoy, the commercial area is compact and there are no hills to worry about.

In fact, most of the shops can be found in a straight line that runs in from the underground car park at the waterfront. Park there and, with your back to the sea, face the city wall, cross the road and walk to the left. Pick up a map at the tourist booth.

At the corner of the wall, head inland. You will see a bench with a statue of a sailor sitting on it and then another statue of a sailor walking along. The newly-restored former town hall is on the left. A good place to stop for a coffee, breakfast or lunch, is VIPs restaurant, which you will half a minute’s walk up Calle Cañon, on the right. Or, there is the Valor chocolate café, in front of the old town hall, which serves delicious hot chocolate and other treats but no coffee.

From the old town hall just walk straight ahead into the pedestrianised Calle Mayor, always the fashionable heart of Cartagena. There are shops on the left and, as you walk further on, to both the left and right.

Then you will come to the end of the Calle Mayor and a street with traffic. This is the Puerta de Murcia, with plenty of shops. Carry on, past the ugly Barclay’s Bank building, and you will see a beautiful building with a statue of a boy, one of Cartagena’s famous street urchins, in front of it. This is the Pedreño House, now a bank, but once the palace of a very wealthy family where balls were held. If you can manage to get in, there is a terrific ballroom with chandeliers to see.

Head to the right of the Pedreño House and you are in the Calle Carmen, newly pedestrianised and smart. There are lots of shops here. Walk along until you come to a roundabout, at the end of the pedestrian area. Turn around there and walk back to the car park at the waterfront.

Among the shops you will see on your stroll are the big Spanish brands, such as Mango, Zara and Berushka, but there are lots of interesting little local shops as well. Shoe shops are well represented. Some of the smaller shops close during the afternoon, from about 1.30pm, but the big brand shops are open all day. The late afternoon and evening, from about 6pm to about 9pm, is a great time to go shopping and you will find all the shops open and the local people out for a stroll.

A huge out of town shopping centre is gradually opening during 2006. This is Parque Mediterraneo, and it can be found off the A30 motorway, a couple of miles north of Cartagena, at the Cabo Beaza Industrial Estate. At the start of May, the big Decathalon sports store and the Kiabi fashion store were open, both from 10am to 10pm. Toys R Us, Media Markt, a huge DIY chain and about 130 other shops are to follow. There is, of course, a mass of free parking.

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