Visit the amazing capital city of Puerto Rico – San Juan should be on everyones list.

You can do it your own way, at your own pace and Google Maps (and of course with this post). Or in a larger group with a „Free Walking tour“. We strongly recommend you to do the walking tour, as the amount of knowledge your guide will impart is incredible.

Take the Old San Juan Free Walking Tour  which we also did. You will be shown around the most interesting points of the Old San Juan and introduced to the amazing culture and history of the place.

The tour lasts about 2 h and although it is called „Free Walking Tour“, the guides work for tips, so they are very much appreciated. Our guide told us right at the beginning of the tour that the most common tip is $10 per person.

However, if you decide to explore the capital on your own, get to know 12 important places in San Juan you absolutely must see.

San Juan is an incredibly interesting and colorful city. The residents are very friendly, which made us feel safe throughout our stay in San Juan but also in other places in Puerto Rico.

The colonial buildings, the blue cobblestone roads and the ubiquitous cats are just some of the points why we liked this beautiful city so much. It took us two full days to explore the Old San Juan, but definitely one full day is enough to see all the highlights.

However, if you have more time to explore the streets of San Juan, all the better. Take your time, sip your coffee slowly at a cafe, stroll the blue streets, buy souvenirs for your loved ones. And head to one of the rooftops in the evening to admire this amazing city from above.

#1 Plaza Colon

Plaza Colon is one of the most important plazas in all San Juan. It’s here that you’ll find the big “I ♥ SJ” sign for the perfect photo of your vacation. In the center of plaza, you will see a monument of Christopher Columbus, which commemorate the fourth centenary of the arrival of the Spanish.

The plaza is surrounded by restaurants and cafes, you’ll also find a store to stock up on drinks for further sightseeing. On most days of the week, the marble floor of Plaza de Colon hosts a market where local artists sell their wares. On the north of the Plaza you can admire Castillo San Christoba, a fortification from 17th century.

#2 School number 1

Right next to the Plaza Colon is located the first school build by Americans, when they arrived to Puerto Rico. Unfortunately, the first Americans didn’t boast much imagination when coming up with a name for this school, as they simply called it “School Number 1”.

#3 Old Casino

Opposite School Number 1 is the beautiful Old Casino building, which was the idea of a group of San Juan residents who requested a place to establish a new social club.

Construction began in 1913, but due to lack of funds it was closed. The construction of casino began again in 1914 and was completed in 1917, making it one of the most beautiful and oldest buildings in Puerto Rico. During World War II, the building was used as an officers` Club by the United States Army.

Recently the building has been restored and serves as a wedding and other celebrations venue.

#4 US Post Office and Cuorthouse

This building was built in 1935, and it is the facility of United States. Housing operations of the United States District Court for the district of Puerto Rico.

#5 Governor`s house

La Fortaleza or other called Palacio de Santa Catalina is the official building where the Governor of Puerto Rico resides. It was built by chronic harbor of San Juan. It is the oldest executive mansion in continuous use in the New World.

#6 La Casa Estrecha

Yellow painted building is the narrowest building in whole city of San Juan, and it is only 1.5 meters wide. Don’t forget this building when visiting Old San Juan.

#7 Watch Towers

Scattered around the city, the watch towers are a great place to admire the lower terrain of San Juan and the Atlantic Ocean. They are located on the walls of the military fort, El Morro, and they have a peculiar bell-shaped roof.

#8 San Juan Bautista Cathedral

This is the oldest cathedral in America, and legend has it that every traveler who arrived at the gates of San Juan walked straight to the cathedral, which is located opposite the gate to the city.

The road to the cathedral is paved with blue cobbled stones, which were delivered to San Juan from as far away as Liverpool in England.

Opposite the cathedral is a small park, with very interesting sculptures, one of which is Gato Jirafo a fantasy animal resembling a cat, with a neck as long as a giraffe and a bird’s tail. The animal wears swimming googles and a bow-tie and was created by artist Jorge Zeno.

#9 San Felipe del Morro Castle

The San Felipe del Morro Castle designed to guard the entrance to the San Juan Bay, and defend the Spanish colonial port city of San Juan from pirates. This citadel built between 16th and 18th centuries by orders of King Charles V of Spain.

El Morro was a defensive military fortification and a major component of San Juan’s harbor defense system, nowadays it is a museum and a World Heritage Site by the United Nations.

Visit all six floors of castle and take beautiful pictures with watch towers on the walls of the fort. Entrance ticket is $10 per person.

#10 Cementary

Right next to San Felipe del Morro Castle, on a hill, facing the Atlantic ocean, is the cemetery of Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzi.

It is a colonial era cementay where famous Puerto Ricans are buried. The best view of the cementary spreads over the walls of San Felipe del Morro Castle.

#11 La Perla

Inside the Old San Juan Historic District facing the Atlantic Ocean is the La Perla area located. It was built in the 18th century outside the walls of San Juan by slaves who were required to live outside the city. Now La Perla is a unique cominity of a families who live there for a many years.

In the 1970s La Perla was considered a very dangerous neighborhood in San Juan. Now even our guide advised us against walking around La Perla, much less after dark. If you still can’t resist, at least avoid bouncing your possessions – if only out of respect for the residents. You can also admire it from the San Felipe del Morro Castle.

#12 Buildings around San Juan

Walking around Old San Juan, it’s easy to spot the colorful colonial buildings. The original ones are up to the first floor in height and have wooden balconies.

Don’t be surprised by the number of doors in the buildings either. They were used to circulate air indoors, and the richer the owner of the building, the more doors.

Since Puerto Rico is an island, you can reach it either by ferry or by plane. Politically, Puerto Rico and therefore San Juan belong to the USA, which is why there are daily national flights to the island for example from Miami. Of course there are also some international flights.

You can also reach Puerto Rico by ferry, as we did from the Dominican Republic.

The best means of transportation around especially Old San Juan is your own feet. All the aforementioned places are easily accessible on your feet, and you can even visit them in one day.

If you live outside of Old San Juan, you can get to the city very easily, quickly and reasonably by Uber. Unfortunately, bus connections from the outskirts of the city take a very long time and transfers are also not infrequently needed.

While we mostly cooked during our stay in San Juan, there is one restaurant that we liked so much that we went there as many as twice.

• Stuffed Avocado | Delicious bowls

San Juan is quite an expensive destination, so hotel and Airbnb prices being are very high. But if you care about being in Old San Juan and being able to get around everywhere on your feet, go for it.

We stayed in an affordable Airbnb in San Juan . It took us about 20 minutes to get to the city with Uber for $10 per ride.

The best time to visit San Juan is April to June. This is right after the dry season (December to March) so prices are already a bit lower.

The prices are per person, except for the accommodation and Taxi, which we rent for 2 people.

Accommodation: $80 / night

Restaurant: $20 / meal

Snack: $2 – $8 / meal

Pleasure: $3 – $8 / event

Taxi: $5 – $14 / ride

Activity: $10 – $15 / event