Things to do in San Juan
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit San Juan
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best weather, driest and least humid with trade winds, but priciest and busiest.
Sweet spot month favoured by locals, lower prices and crowds with warm sea and lush forest.
Hot humid family season with afternoon downpours and the calmest clearest sea early on.
Peak hurricane risk with humidity and some seasonal closures, lowest prices if bookings stay flexible.
Improving shoulder month, late November after Thanksgiving is underrated before Christmas pricing.
What's on
- Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián Usually mid January, over four or five days
Puerto Rico's biggest street festival in Old San Juan, ending the long Christmas season.
- Día de Reyes 6 January
Three Kings Day, the bigger gift day in Puerto Rico's long Christmas.
- Puerto Rico Open typically late February / early March
PGA Tour golf at Grand Reserve, the starting point for a golf trip week.
- Heineken JazzFest typically March, dates vary
Flagship jazz festival, part of a year round salsa and arena music calendar.
- Noche de San Juan 23-24 June
Locals walk backwards into the sea at midnight for luck on beaches citywide.
- Santurce es Ley typically August, dates vary
Street art festival when new murals go up around Calle Cerra.
- Puerto Rico's long Christmas late November to mid-January
Parrandas, coquito and lechon everywhere, with hotels pricing up from mid December.
Best things to do in San Juan
Castillo San Felipe del Morro
Six level harbour fort and UNESCO site, best at late afternoon when families fly kites on the lawn.
Castillo San Cristóbal
The larger, more labyrinthine fort most visitors skip, covered by the same park ticket as El Morro.
La Placita de Santurce
Working market by day that becomes San Juan's real salsa street party on weekend nights.
La Factoría
Unmarked door into six bars in one, starting with craft cocktails and ending with salsa and late rooms.
Calle Cerra
Murals and festival walls along Calle Cerra give the clearest daylight walk through Santurce street art.
Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico
The island's serious art museum, covering Puerto Rican art from colonial times to now, with a sculpture garden.
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico
The contemporary companion to the main art museum, worth pairing when modern work is your focus.
Casa Bacardí
Rum tasting and tours across the bay by ferry, best as the tasting or mixology version, not the basic tour.
Where to stay in San Juan
Condado
first trip, all-round base
Walkable beachfront strip with the densest good restaurants and bars, ten minutes from Old San Juan by Uber.
Old San Juan
history-first, short trips
Wake inside the colonial postcard with forts and top bars on foot, but no beach and small cobbled streets.
Isla Verde
beach-first, family and airport trips
Long wide swimmable beach near the airport and better value per space, but a hotel strip with little neighbourhood feel.
Ocean Park
repeat visitors, longer stays, local feel
Leafy residential beach area by Calle Loiza food strip, with guesthouses and rentals instead of full service hotels.
Miramar
events, conferences and points stays
Functional lagoon and convention centre base with easy bridges to Old San Juan and Condado and shuttles to beaches.
Think twice about
- La Perla
Residential community below the city wall. View its houses from the wall or El Morro lawn only and do not wander in or photograph people.
- Inland Santurce and Barrio Obrero around Luis Llorens Torres
Working class residential blocks with little visitor infrastructure and poor late night street activity. Book on a main lit avenue instead.
- Airport and highway motel strips
Car dependent strips on the expressway frontage and far Carolina or Bayamon, walkable to nothing and built for flight logistics only.
Best restaurants in San Juan
Marmalade Restaurant & Wine Bar
Special occasion tasting menu built per table, with the famous white bean soup and island best service.
Santaella
Modern Puerto Rican cooking in a garden courtyard by La Placita, the locals' celebration room.
Vianda
Small farm driven tasting restaurant working with what Puerto Rican farms are actually growing each season.
Cocina al Fondo
Rooted Puerto Rican heritage cooking with fine dining technique, the reservation food writers ask about.
José Enrique
Unmarked house where the modern Puerto Rican movement began, with a daily chalkboard market menu.
La Casita Blanca
Traditional Puerto Rican Sunday lunch institution serving generous canon dishes under the trees.
El Jibarito
Family run traditional lunch inside the walls, the best value sit down meal in Old San Juan.
Manolín
Peer alternative to El Jibarito for traditional Puerto Rican lunch, agreed on by forum regulars.
Outdoor things to do in San Juan
El Yunque National Forest
Only tropical rainforest in the US forest system, with waterfalls, natural pools and tower views over the coast.
Mosquito Bay
Recognised as the world's brightest bioluminescent bay, lighting blue with every paddle stroke on dark nights.
Laguna Grande
The bio bay you can do from San Juan, kayaking through mangroves at dusk as the water starts to sparkle.
Playa Flamenco
Mile of white sand and turquoise water with rusting tanks in the surf, reached by catamaran with a snorkel stop.
Cayo Icacos
Uninhabited cay with clear water, beach and snorkelling, half the transit of Culebra and most of the pleasure.
Balneario La Monserrate
Long palm backed crescent with calm reef sheltered swimming and views back to El Yunque.
Kioskos de Luquillo
About sixty food stalls in a row for grazing on fritters, seafood and coconut desserts after the beach.
Bahia Beach Resort & Golf Club
Robert Trent Jones Jr course through lagoons to the sea, the connoisseur round near San Juan.
Best hotels in San Juan
Condado Vanderbilt Hotel
Restored 1919 grand dame on Ashford with pools, spa and 1919 Restaurant, the city's most storied address.
Hotel El Convento
Former Carmelite convent turned boutique luxury hotel opposite the cathedral, all atmosphere and no beach.
Fairmont El San Juan Hotel
Glamorous 1958 resort on Isla Verde Beach with famous lobby, four pools, casino and nightclub energy.
La Concha Resort
Modern scene luxury in a shell shaped 1958 landmark, with lively pool deck, casino and younger crowd.
CasaBlanca Hotel
Boutique on Calle Fortaleza with rooftop soaking tubs and fort views, best value in the old city.
Decanter Hotel
Small stylish boutique with a wine bar heart, a top pick for one or two day stays in the old city.
Hyatt Place San Juan
Reliable chain play with larger rooms, pool and shuttles to Escambron, Old San Juan and Distrito.
Hyatt House San Juan
Suite version of the Hyatt play with kitchens, pools and shuttles, good for longer functional stays.
Is San Juan expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | $75 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | $150 a person |
| Splurge | $375 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Casa Bacardí: a few days ahead
- Coca-Cola Music Hall: weeks ahead
- Coliseo de Puerto Rico: weeks ahead
- Ron del Barrilito: a few days ahead
- San Juan Sunset Catamaran Sail: a few days ahead
- El Yunque National Forest: weeks ahead
- Mosquito Bay: weeks ahead
- Laguna Grande: weeks ahead
- Marmalade weeks ahead for weekends and high season.
- Check El Yunque entry rules as soon as dates are fixed.
- Book bio bays for the darkest night of your stay, not the most convenient.
- Book Culebra and Vieques ferries online as soon as tickets release.
- Santaella, Vianda and Cocina al Fondo days to a week ahead.
- San Juan festival and Christmas hotels months ahead.
Is San Juan safe?
- Check your government's current travel advice before you go.
- Do not enter La Perla unguided, day or night.
- Do not walk the beach itself at night in Condado or Ocean Park.
- Swim at Playita del Condado, Escambron, Isla Verde and lifeguarded balnearios, obey flags.
- Valuables left on towels or in rental cars are the most reported visitor crime pattern.
- Tap water is US standard and drinkable, emergency number is 911.
San Juan travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Fortaleza street restaurants with photo menus and touts, walk to El Jibarito or Chocobar instead.
- Renting a car for the whole stay and paying to park it while you walk.
- Swimming at Condado Beach in front of your hotel despite rip currents.
- A bio bay tour booked at full price on a full moon night.
- Distrito T-Mobile as a destination rather than a pre show stop.
- Timeshare and resort credit pitches at the airport and hotel lobbies.
Getting around San Juan: public transport and more
- Walk Old San Juan, cars are a liability inside the walls.
- Uber is the default between zones, typically 8 to 18 dollars Condado to Old San Juan.
- Rent a car only for day trip days and pick it up that morning.
- Airport is 5 to 10 minutes to Isla Verde, 15 to 25 to Condado and 20 to 35 to Old San Juan.
Who San Juan suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Great |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Great |
Make San Juan your trip
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