Visiting the Fuerte de Navidad fortress in Cartagena by car, a roundabout route with interesting detours

Discover the timeless fishing village of La Algameca hidden in a small rocky inlet

Since its restoration and conversion into a small museum between 2004 and 2007 the fortress of the Fuerte de Navidad has become a popular destination for visitors to the city, with many of them reaching it via the tourist boat which departs from the seafront in the city centre.

But almost equally attractive to some will be the prospect of visiting the fortress by car, with plenty of interesting detours and sites of interest along the way in a part of Cartagena which is not often explored.

A glance at the map reveals that the fort sits on the tip of a triangle of land with no road names, and this is because for many years the whole area was strictly controlled by the military. In fact, on the drive to the fortification there are several signs giving the distinct impression that visitors are trespassing on military land, and although this is in fact no longer the case it adds a little spice to the adventure!

Access is first along the Carretera de Algameca, which first follows the western bank of the large “rambla de Banipilá”, the floodwater channel which cuts through the city of Cartagena. When taking the road at its northern end alongside is the impressive “Asilo de Ancianos” run by the Hermanitas de los Pobres, an old peoples home run nuns: the building was designed by the great modernist architect Victor Beltrí and although it only dates back to 1930 it appears much older!

After under a kilometre the route to the Fuerte de Navidad crosses a bridge over the rambla where the fort is signposted along with the Navantia shipyard, and then requires an immediate right turn. However, this is the point at which those with exploratory tendencies can start to have a bit of fun!

Instead of going across the bridge, carry straight on and the road turns into a rough track, seemingly going nowhere, until abruptly the intrepid explorer arrives in a small fishing village which appears to belong in a past century. This is La Algameca, a small, sheltered bay with an inlet dividing the village right through the middle, fishing boats and pleasure boats moored outside the houses with their nets flapping in the wind and a dilapidated air of authenticity in the air.

Follow the track right through the village and it climbs up the headland, ending in a small car park - not for the faint-hearted! - and a walk along the track will bring you to an isolated military lookout point above small cove. This features a huge, romantic natural arch of stone with a secluded pool at its foot, apparently a little secret known only to a few!

To take a closer look at the village drive back to the bridge, go across, but instead of following the road up the hill by the Navantia dockyard take the right fork and drive along the rambla until you reach a parking area. From there, walk down to the village and see a genuine village where families have fished for centuries and still do today with no concern for the outside world.

Only a few of the houses are permanently and  most of the rest are owned by residents of Cartagena who use them as a bolthole where they can enjoy the friendly atmosphere, the smell of the sea and the lack of urgency and stress.

La Algameca is not even remotely glamorous, but authentically honest. Boats are carried to the water, rooves are galvanised tin, paint is peeling off the walls and there are no exceptional sights to see other than the beautiful little pictures that dot the walls, some of them made of tile offcuts.

This is a little part of Cartagena that you are unlikely to find in the guidebooks or in tourist brochures, but well worth a visit nonetheless, and of course once you’ve seen La Algameca you can head off to what was supposed to be your destination: the Fuerte de Navidad!

For more local tourist information as well as news and what's on visit the Cartagena section of Murcia Today.