Travel Guide: San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan is the capital city of Puerto Rico and the island’s main hub of tourism. It is also one of the top destinations in the Caribbean. Today’s San Juan is the ideal blend of traditional culture and history with a touch of modernity.



Whether you are in search of the nostalgia of the Old World, delicious food, adventurous water sports or epic nightlife, San Juan has it all.  

To give you a better idea of everything there is to keep you busy in this amazing port city, we created this travel guide.

So here it is: everything you can do in San Juan, Puerto Rico to enjoy your trip to the fullest.

Visit Old San Juan

A stroll through the old town can bring you closer to the history of San Juan. With cobblestone streets, Spanish forts and colonial architecture that is among some of the oldest in the Caribbean, you are taken back in time to a different era.

To get a more colorful and in-depth experience of Old San Juan, check out the Old San Juan Walking Tour.

Museo de San Juan houses galleries of Puerto Rican art from different eras and historical artifacts. The museum is situated in a scenic, old marketplace.

Museo de las Americas is in Cuartel de Ballajá, the old barracks of Castillo San Felipe del Morro, and the museum showcases cultural art ranging from Pre-Columbian to modern, from Puerto Rico and other various places in the Americas.

Fortresses of Old San Juan

You can visit the old forts of San Juan, Castillo San Felipe del Morro and Castillo San Cristóbal, which once guarded the old city. These citadels were built by Spanish colonizers over 500 years ago and have become major attractions for the visitors in Old San Juan. You can walk through the tunnels, visit the dungeons and check out the old cannons that had once bombarded invaders.

Take Photos in Old San Juan

You are welcome to join me for a stroll through Old San Juan while we capture memorable photos. I also do my best to add some flavor to the tour by sharing what I know about the history of Old San Juan and Puerto Rican culture in general.

Check out my Old San Juan Highlights gallery for examples of my portrait photography in Old San Juan. For more information and prices, check out this page.

Contact me if you would like to book a portrait photography session.

Chill out at the Beaches

Many popular beaches are located right in the city of San Juan and you don’t need to travel far to reach them.

Isla Verde Beach is very popular and is frequently voted as one of the best urban beaches in the Caribbean. It is one of the best places for jet skiing in San Juan and one of the few places in Puerto Rico where you can parasail. It is huge and actually made up of multiple beaches so pay attention to which one you are on.

If you simply want to lay back and chill on the beach and soak up the glitz of the hotel and resort skyline towering above you, then Condado Beach is the way to go.

El Escambron is a scenic beach situated between Old San Juan and the modern part of the city. In the evening, you will be able to see the sun dip below Old San Juan in the West, providing an epic sunset as a background. This beach also offers snorkeling in the cove to the East, where you can potentially swim with turtles.

Sip Rum on a Tasting Tour

San Juan is the birthplace of the famous cocktail, the Pina Colada, and Puerto Rico has a long tradition in rum making.

There are two famous distilleries where you can go to for rum tasting experiences:

Bacardi Rum Factory (Casa Bacardi) is the world’s largest, premium rum distillery that can be reached by Uber, taxi or by taking a ferry across the bay from Old San Juan. You can take a historical tour of the distillery, take a rum tasting tour that includes tasting some of their most famous rums or take a mixology class and bottle your own mixed Bacardi rum.

The oldest rum in Puerto Rico, Ron del Barrilito, can be tasted at Hacienda Santa Ana just outside of San Juan. You are welcomed with a unique cocktail, which is followed by a historical tour of the estate and the legend behind the rum. If you want to taste more rum, check out the rum tasting tour.

Water Sports in San Juan

There are many snorkeling experiences offered at Escambron Beach, where you can potentially spot marine life such as turtles. You can even try jet snorkeling or scuba diving for beginners there.

If you are feeling adventurous, try parasailing or jet skiing at Isla Verde Beach.

For a more relaxing experience, head to the Condado Lagoon for paddle boarding, day kayaking or night kayaking. There is a family of manatees living in the laguna so, if you’re lucky, you might see them. One tour company offers glass bottom kayaking so you can better spot the manatees and other marine life.

The most popular area in San Juan for surfing is La Ocho which is accessible from El Capitolio Beach or from Escambron Beach.

Learn Puerto Rican Salsa

Salsa is an integral part of Puerto Rican culture and you can find opportunities to learn from professionals on the island.

Whether you are going solo or have a dance partner, you can book open-air salsa lessons. Taking these lessons will help you better understand the culture of Puerto Ricans and prep you for the night life. You have 2 options to book: Salsa at the Condado Lagoon or Salsa at Ventana del Mar, in the middle of Condado.

Experience the Epic Nightlife

Puerto Rico is known for its epic nightlife and San Juan is its hottest hub full of restaurants, bars and clubs throughout the city.

In Old San Juan, Calle San Sebastián is the host of the largest festival in the Caribbean and, all year round, is the center of nightlife in the old town. The street is lined with many bars and restaurants. The most famous bar is La Factoría, a unique labyrinth of many different bar rooms, each with its own variety of music (reggaeton, salsa, electronic) and vibe. La Verguenza in Old San Juan is a scenic spot to begin the night with drinks and an ocean view.

La Placita is the center of nightlife in the Santurce area. While it is a market during the day, as the night sets, La Placita transforms. The restaurants and bars fill with people and even the streets become one, huge open-air party. Music is blasted out from the bars into the streets and ranges from salsa to hip hop to reggaeton. You can even catch locals dancing salsa in the streets.

Calle Cerra is another nightlife spot in Santurce with a unique vibe, as it is centered in the urban art district. If you head there before night, you can have some drinks while you are surrounded by eclectic street murals. Things really heat up later in the night and a large crowd gathers out in the streets around the bar El Watusi. This is another spot to see locals dancing in the streets.

Distrito T-Mobile is a huge entertainment complex in between Old San Juan and Condado. While it is a relatively new development, Distrito T-Mobile offers a more modern environment compared to the traditional night spots of San Juan. There is a center stage surrounded by huge screens for performances, many bars and restaurants with a variety of cuisine, a movie theater, a massive arcade gaming center and even the Blazing Bull Urban Zipline that sends you flying through it all!

If you are looking for a more upscale club experience, check out Club Brava in the Fairmont El San Juan resort in Isla Verde, 7eight7 on Ponce de León in Santurce or Club Fifty Eight in Condado.

Watch the Sunset at El Morro

The open green field in front of the entrance to the San Felipe del Morro fortress fills up with visitors and locals waiting for the sunset in the evening. The Spanish castle, all the kites flown by the Puerto Rican families and the surrounding ocean creates a special atmosphere for sunset. You can lay out in the grass with a bottle of wine or walk around the old fortifications while the sun dips below the San Juan Bay.