El Yunque & East Coast
A block from Luquillo’s plaza, this is the place to catch a surf break, admire the sculpture by local artist Carlos Guzmán, grab a bite from a gourmet…
Must-see attractions in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Built in 1843 in a neoclassical Creole style and said to be an excellent example of local 19th-century domestic architecture, this house is reputedly San…
San Juan
Set in a former marketplace, this small museum offers the definitive take on the city's 500-year history. A permanent exhibit showcases well-laid-out…
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico
San Juan
This museum sits just down the road from the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico in an eye-catching neoclassical Georgian building – the former Rafael M de Labra…
Central Mountains
Puerto Rico's tobacco industry might be outshone by Cuba's, but the island produced plenty of its own tobacco back in the day, which was then often…
Ponce
Facing the southern side of Plaza Las Delicias, Ponce’s city hall was built in the 1840s. The last public hanging on the island happened in its courtyard,…
Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria
Puerto Rico
Consecrated in 1760, Mayagüez’ original Catholic church was replaced by the current model in 1836. The cathedral suffered many blows over the subsequent…
Ponce
It doesn’t really compare with the hilltop cross in Rio de Janeiro, but the 100ft reinforced-concrete Cruceta del Vigía looking over Ponce is one of the…
Puerto Rico
A grand, crisply renovated, colonnaded facade announces this engaging, well-curated museum. Its seven exhibition halls are dedicated to local heroes such…
Ponce
The name for this island off shore from Ponce translates as 'coffin island' – at one point it was supposedly thought that its silhouette resembled a…
North Coast
If you follow the road past the Faro de los Morrillos lighthouse for less than a mile, you come to the Balneario Morrillos. There is a big parking lot…
North Coast
Said to be Puerto Rico's second-largest church, Arecibo's eye-pleasingly symmetrical neoclassical cathedral is a 19th-century replacement for an 18th…
Isla Mata la Gata & Isla Caracoles
Ponce & South Coast
These two mangrove cays lie less than half a mile offshore and are worth a visit. The sandy strands on the seaside are really the only places in La…
North Coast
A narrow road (Hwy 6671) squeezes between Laguna Tortuguero and the Atlantic, passing through coastal forest a few kilometers northeast of Manatí. Here is…
Central Mountains
One of Puerto Rico's most unusual markets takes place on Fridays amidst a labyrinth of stalls at San Sebastián's Plaza Agropecuaria. Whether you're in…
Aguadilla
Rough, lonely Playa Wilderness is a favorite with surfers. Off Hwy 107 to the left (west) as you follow the road north from Aguadilla to the Ramey Base,…
Jardín Botánico de la Universidad de Puerto Rico
San Juan
This 75-acre urban green lung has hiking trails through arches of bamboo leading to a lotus lagoon, an orchid garden with more than 30,000 flowers and a…
Plaza de Recreo de Barranquitas
Central Mountains
Barranquitas’ pretty central square is hemmed with cast-iron railings and guarded by the Parroquia de San Antonio de Padua. The centerpiece of the plaza…
Central Mountains
This is a great stop for a picnic if you're passing through the forest, and you can stroll to the Charco Azul natural pool via the appropriately named…
Puerto Rico
Founded in 1912, this university is now the largest private facility of its kind in the western hemisphere. The 267-acre campus just west of San Germán is…
North Coast
Calle 13 on the eastern side of Dorado terminates in a tan-colored stretch of tree-backed sand, and is freer from beachgoers than Balneario Manuel Morales…
Aguadilla
An undulating road winds down to a car park, snack stands, a pier and a swathe of ocher sand. It got its name because the air force used to keep rescue…
Puerto Rico
Mayagüez' central square is one of Puerto Rico's most attractive and intimate, shaded by the Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria on its east side…
Museo de la Historia de San Germán
Puerto Rico
Recently spruced up, the town’s museum is one of the few historical buildings in San Germán where you can enter, look around and fully experience local…
Parroquia de San Antonio de Padua
Central Mountains
This small church on the central square was first constructed in 1804. The original church was destroyed by two catastrophic hurricanes (the first of…
El Yunque
Baño Grande, a former swimming hole built during the Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps, lies across Hwy 191 from the Palo Colorado Information…
Centro Cultural Ecoturístico de Piñones
San Juan
This center hosts a number of cultural activities, many promoting Afro-Caribbean music and dance. It also houses the Corporación Piñones Se Integra, a…
Panteón Nacional Román Baldorio de Castro
Ponce
A fraction north of the city center, in the shadow of El Vigía, Ponce's city cemetery is a grand mid-19th-century conglomeration of – unusually – both…
Vieques
Bored of all that powdery, blindingly white sand? This beach lives up to its name with dark, sparkly sand derived from offshore volcanic rocks. This…
Ponce & South Coast
On the laid-back Plaza de Recreo, the massive Iglesia Católica Nuestra Señora del Rosario casts a long shadow over domino players and strolling couples…
San Juan
Condado's official public beach is Balneario Condado, a small arc of sand, adjacent to the Dos Hermanos bridge, that faces west toward Fuerte San Gerónimo…
El Yunque
This 65ft, Moorish-looking stone tower was built as a lookout in 1962. It's the first good spot for vistas of the islands to the east, but there are…
Ponce
This small museum commemorates the Ponce Massacre, the fated pro-independence demonstration of the 1930s during which almost 20 protestors (and two police…
Jardín Botánico y Cultural de Caguas
Central Mountains
While making a beeline for botanical gardens when there are flora-rich mountains beckoning might seem counterintuitive, this verdant area on a meander of…
Rincón
With its popular Thursday evening art walk, its pleasantly designed amphitheater and general leafiness, this is definitely one of Puerto Rico's nicer…
Central Mountains
Bosque Estatal de Carite is a forest reserve located less than an hour's drive south of San Juan. It's most famous for the dozens of lechoneras …
Puerto Rico
Situated on the San Germán main drag, this 1920s estate has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1986. Its eclectic architectural style,…
Puerto Rico
This Victorian-era house was built soon after the American occupation in 1898. With its gables, porches and roof turrets, it's redolent of a Queen Anne…
Central Mountains
This cave in the Bosque Estatal de Guajataca is reached by Trail Number One from near the forest ranger station. Wooden stairs descend to a cave hung with…
Puerto Rico
Built in 1917 in a crisscross of styles, this house to the east of San Germán's architecturally rich center exhibits elements of Creole, Victorian and art…
