500 years ago this was an impenetrable fortified city. Today, it’s the capital of one of the most stunning destinations in the Caribbean. There’s 3 things I wanna share with you about my recent trip. Welcome to San Juan in Puerto Rico.

I spent time in San Juan in Puerto Rico just before the pandemic and there’s some things I wanna share with you today that go beyond the usual top things to do. These are really reflections about this place.

Let me just start by saying that Puerto Rico as a country has a lot to offer, there’s much more than San Juan. It has really rich history and culture, amazing food, pristine beaches, impressive mountains, sensational weather, relaxation, adventures and everything in one little Caribbean paradise. But today, I just want us to stay in the capital, in San Juan.

Before I forget, I’ve also made a video about this in case you want to check more of San Juan.

As always I’ll share my experience in 3 parts.

#3 OLD SAN JUAN

For me, this is the first place we have to visit once arriving to the city. The Old San Juan (or El Viejo San Juan) is essentially a stunning and perfectly preserved colonial village.

So we went straight away to Plaza Colón in San Juan, a great place to get a flavour of the history of Puerto Rico under the Spanish crown. Then we visited San Cristóbal. And again it was built by the Spanish to protect against any potential attack. This is one of the largest fortifications that Spain ever constructed in the new world.

We then crossed Calle de la Fortaleza to take a look at the amazing colourful buildings of San Juan. This was actually a good moment to have a little break and enjoy some hot chocolate at this place called Chocobar Cortés (a local person recommended this to us).

Eventually after that we arrived at the El Bastion area. It was interesting there was a random live concert, so we stayed there for a while.

We also visited the Totem, an incredible obelisk constructed in memory of the indigenous peoples of the island. And the final big stop this castle called Castillo San Felipe de Morro, essentially a fort constructed to protect the island from maritime attacks, and this was became the flagship of San Juan itself.

#2 LA PLACITA

When the night comes we can choose to stay in the Old San Juan (which we also did for few nights) or… go to a super local place for a little dance. This is La Placita. This is definitely not a tourist area but highly recommended, really!

OK first of all if we want to just to have a drink and talk to friends and stuff, this is not the best place. This is super loud, people dance everywhere, even on the streets… so… this is the place for party.

The interesting fact is that during the day, this is actually a market square, so there’s a farmer’s market, few bars and restaurants. At night, though (and especially on weekend nights), we can’t recognise this place anymore. It’s such a big transformation.

La Placita is also the place to participate in or watch salsa dancing competitions. The vibe in this area is so much fun, we can’t really stop having fun here.

Perhaps the final observation here is that if we plan to take Uber, most likely it will be cancelled as streets are very narrow and it’s such a busy place that meeting the driver is very challenging so for us taking a taxi instead was the best option. And because it’s a really busy place at night, it’s always worth keeping our eyes open and staying aware of our surroundings.

#1 LANGUAGE

As you know both Spanish and English are the official languages of Puerto Rico, but Spanish is without a doubt the dominant language. Please do not assume that since Puerto Rico is a United States territory, everyone is fluent in English. Most people I met actually didn’t speak English fluently and some didn’t even understand.

Of course, if we go to a tourist location, activity, fancy restaurant, hotels and stuff they will speak English. My recommendation or observation if we want to get out of these resorts and experience something more local is to learn few words and sentences in Spanish.

I think it’s important to know that while Puerto Rico is legally a part of the US, it’s culturally part of the Spanish-speaking world and particularly connected to the Caribbean roots.

Saying “gracias” (thank you) is always a good thing and if we don’t know how to break the ice, we can talk about sports. They love baseball, basketball, football and even boxing. So from my experience making the effort to speak at least few sentences in the local language, will help us and help them have a better time.

If you want to read more about the Caribbean, I have many other articles on the blog. The latest one is here.