Nearly 500 years old, San Juan is the oldest capital under the U.S. flag. Throughout its five centuries the city and the country it governs has accumulated a history and a culture that beg exploration. As if this weren't reason enough to visit Puerto Rico, the island also boasts a wealth of natural attractions. El Yunque - America's largest rain forest - and 19 other forest reserves are home to 20 orchid varieties and countless other flora and fauna. Water babies will love its 270 miles of coastline littered with innumerable snorkeling, sunning and world-class surfing beaches. The island's massive central mountain range tops 4,000 feet and demands hikers take note. There's even a phosphorescent bay that glows at night.
Restored to much of its former glory, Old San Juan is crammed with history. El Morro, a fort built in 1591, stands much as it did in centuries past watching over the city's harbor. At the opposite end of the colonial city, Fort San Cristobal was designed to ward off surprise land attacks. La Casa Blanca on Calle San Sebastian was the home of Ponce de Leon's family for more than two and a half centuries. It is the oldest building in the historic district. La Fortaleza, the Western Hemisphere's oldest continuously inhabited executive manor, strikes an elegant pose on the Calle Recinto Oeste. So far, six governors have walked its gilded halls and slept in its stately rooms.
After dark, visit New San Juan for its flamenco dancers, piano bars, open-air concerts, discos, casinos, folkloric shows and Latin revues. In fact, San Juan, from the cobbled streets of the Old Town to the more modern boulevards of the Condado district or Isla Verde, is usually hopping until dawn. Casinos can be found in almost every major hotel, discos for all shapes and tastes go in and out of trendy favor, and there are always new restaurants to sample.
If you need a vacation from your vacation, board a ferry for short rides to Puerto Rico's satellite islands, Vieques or Culebra, where you can stretch out on your own slip of sand for a few hours of blissful tranquility. Untamed, restrained, cosmopolitan and country, Puerto Rico has it all.
MAJOR ATTRACTIONS
- Munching local delicacies such as lechon, asopao and tostones
- Playing archeologist at the petroglyph-covered monoliths at Caguana Indian Ceremonial Park
- Trying to get in the red at the Hyatt Regency Cerromar, Dorado Beach or one of 16 other golf courses
- Spelunking the lengths of Rio Camuy Cave Park, one of the Western hemisphere's most extensive cave systems
- Daytripping to charming Ponce
