MONDAY 15 AUG 2022
A Service of Casa Clara Vista Guesthouse Since 2019
Our guide to San Juan: Capital of Puerto Rico for almost 500 years!
A great, sprawling metropolis of nearly half-a-million (with another 1.2 million in the suburbs) San Juan like New York is a city of boroughs. From the charm of Old San Juan, to the gritty urbanity of Santurce; from the glitter of the Condado to the raw business of Hato Rey; from the academe of Sacrado Corazon and Rio Piedras to the Dominican enclave of Barrio Obrero, San Juan is a city of depth, culture and contrast. Click on the pictures below and begin our guide to this remarkable city-- the third oldest European founded capital in the Americas!
The Arms
The municipality's coat of arms: A lamb of Peace on an island surmounted by the five towers of a "city."
Old San Juan
The little island that could! Puerto Rico's indomitable (and almost unconquerable) capital and the city's historic focal.
Barrios
A map of the municipality showing the locations of its eighteen barrios or "neighborhoods.
The Condado
Crossing the Dos Hermanos Bridge from Old San Juan into the Condado, is like traveling in a time machine. In the turn of a road you leave the cramped confines of the colonial city for...
Santurce
Making a crescent around the lagoon and including the Condado (although we treat the Condado separately here) Santurce is the largest and most diverse borough in San Juan...
Hato Rey
Just over a canal from Santurce (which you might barely notice) lies the thriving banking district of not only San Juan but of Latin America in general. Hato Rey which was once the king's...
Santurce
Hato Rey
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico you, lovely island
Island of tropical breezes
Always the pineapples growing
Always the coffee blossoms blowing...
Rio Piedras
The borough farthest to east in San Juan, Rio Piedras reminds me a lot of my beloved Brooklyn in New York. Like Brooklyn, Rio Piedras was a fully functioning "sister city" (founded in...
Gay Visitors
Puerto Rico is a land of contrasts and in the gay-o-sphere of the island there is no exception. A joyful people, Puertoricans love to party and they...