I’ve watched many videos about Old San Juan on YouTube, but none of them could tell us where to start! They just kept mixing around about stuff in Old San Juan!
So, I mapped out all the “Must-Sees” in Old San Juan, and I found out…
That we should start at the San Juan National Historic Site, the fort, then walk to the Cemetery (it’s right from the fort).
The admission fee for the San Juan National Historic Site is $10 per person. There’s a walkway along the ocean, but we didn’t get the chance to explore it.
To reach the cemetery, simply walk back to the field in front of the fort. We actually found a shortcut to get there. Just be cautious because there are cars driving around.
The mistake was, we walked to have lunch at La Verguenza, which was too hot to walk, and they don’t serve Fried Porkchop that I wanted!
In fact, we ordered Pork & Onion (which we found out was better than Fried Pork chop). I would recommend you skip this shop because it’s not on a good route to walk in Old San Juan when it’s extremely hot!
Then we walked to the Church, Catedral Basilica De San Juan Bautista, and stopped to get a Piña Colada at Barrachina (Actually, we should have had lunch over here!). Remember, if you want to get just a to-go Piña Colada (~$8), you can skip the line in front (those lines are for tables).
I think the Piña Colada (with Rum) at Barrachina is the best Piña Colada I had for the whole trip this time!
Then remember, to walk all around Barrachina in the back side of the shop. Then you can keep walking up to (Barrachina on your right hand), you can walk to the Museo de las Americas (Art Museum) which I don’t think it’s our favorite to stop – (we actually came back for this museum on the last day in Condado because the museum closes on Monday & Tuesday). AND THIS MUSEUM IS OPPOSITE THE STREET FROM THE SAN JUAN NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE!
Note: Next to the museum is the landmark “El Totem”.
Well, but I would prefer to walk down from Barrachina (pass the church again), then you will see the Capilla Del Santo Cristo De la Salud (Chapel of Christ), You can visit the exterior of Capilla del Cristo at any time, but the interior is only open on Tuesday afternoons and religious holidays. The sanctuary was built in honor of a rider who lost control of his horse along Calle del Cristo during a fiesta.
We kept walking down to the ferry area, which we planned to pass the Harley Davidson shop. The husband likes to get the local T-shirt which has Harley Davidson on it!
The price for t-shirts for both women and men are about $39.99 (+ tax) each which is much better qualities and styles than the souvenir t-shirts in the airport, and it starts at $31.99 each!
Last stop to take pictures with the I LOVE PR sign (right in front of Ferries).
Then we called UBER (which is NOT a good idea to call UBER from here, we should at least cross the street and away from the cruise people!)
But it’s not too bad to wait for UBER from traffic (cars and people). We had enough of Old San Juan in 2 short visits.
We had lots of ideas for exploring the nightlife in Old San Juan, but since it rained every evening during our stay in Condado, we decided to skip that part of our plans.
By the way, I wanted to try coffee at Café Colro (not far from Harley Davidson shop), but when I got there I didn’t feel like drinking coffee…so just FYI.
Read through and learn from our mistakes!
>> Trip Itinerary : Cost Break Down : Pros/Cons
– Condado Beach
– Old San Juan * You are here
– Pinones Beach
– Vieques Island
– FULL DAY IN VIEQUES ISLAND
– Fajardo at El Conquistador Resort
– Culebra Beach Day Tour by Catamaran from Fajardo
