The Fine Arts Museum is housed in the former living quarters of the Abbey of Saint-Denis. The museum has extensive collections from the Renaissance to the present day.

Once the first free settlement in the Americas, founded by those who escaped slavery during the colonial period, the town of San Basilio de Palenque still stands today, and with it the unique culture of its inhabitants. A portion of the population still speaks palenquero, a creole tongue that emerged from a mix of several European and African languages, now used almost exclusively in San Basilio de Palenque. Music and dance occupy a place of paramount importance in residents' lives, with the Drums and Cultural Expressions Festival held annually in October. The palenque cuisine deserves a separate mention — a culinary tradition upheld by inhabitants of a small Colombian village has garnered international acclaim, with a cookbook written in the town receiving the highest prize at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in 2014. If your schedule happens to be too tight for a dedicated day trip (which earns our highest recommendation), try some of the tropical fruit sold by palenqueras in downtown Cartagena. The village was named Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2005.

Museo del Oro Zenú is Cartagena's response to the famous gold museum in Bogotá. Here you'll learn about the culture of the Zenú people through the artefacts of their tribe: over 600 gold, silver and ceramic pieces are on display. Other highlights include displays on body painting and textiles, and an exhibit focusing on the engineering prowess of the Zenú — learn how they built a vast network of canals over 2,500 years ago.

Balos Beach is a more relaxed and less frequented beach on the south side of the island of Samos, but it is by no means less picturesque than some of the more popular beaches.