San Juan, Puerto Rico Guide | Best Things to Do & See in the City!

Puerto Rico is one of our favorite places to visit in the USA. It’s such a easy flight from NYC, and there is so much to do and see on the island! We had both visited before we met, but this was our first time going together and we remembered why we love it so much. We spent about 5 days in San Juan and felt like we got to see and experience so much of the city.

Where to Stay in San Juan

We stayed at Dreamcatcher by DW by the beach and it was one of our favorite hotels we’ve ever stayed in! It’s the only all vegetarian hotel in San Juan — and since we are both vegan — this was so nice to experience. The vibes of the hotel are very boho and the yard is filled with local plants. We also had an outdoor shower in our room at Dreamcatcher which was really nice when coming back from the beach. We loved the location as well, it was really close to everything we wanted to do and walking distance to the beach.

Find other accommodations in San Juan here on Hotels.com

How to Get Around San Juan

We recommend either walking, using Uber, or renting a car to get around San Juan. We didn’t rent a car since we mostly stayed near the city, but if you want to explore other parts of the island, renting a car is the best way to get around. We either walked or took Ubers to get around. The Ubers were very affordable and came pretty quickly.

Best Things to do in San Juan

Explore Old San Juan - Old San Juan is the historical area of the city with buildings, fortresses, and castles from the 16th century. This area is beautiful and colorful and a great area to walk around and explore.
Visit Castillo San Felipe del Morro - A beautiful fort located on the inlet of Old San Juan. It’s right along the water so it not only has epic views but also a ton of history you can learn and discover.
Do a Food & Walking Tour of Old San Juan - On this tour we got to learn the history of the island from our local tour guide and try some amazing local cuisine as well.
Go to The Beach! - Out hotel was along Condado Beach so that’s where we went and we loved it! There are hotels & restaurants along the beach if you want to grab food or drinks as well.
Drive Around the San Juan Bay with San Juan Mini Boats - You can operate your own mini powerboat and cruise along the San Juan Bay! It’s a really fun and unique experience with epic views of the city.
Snap a pic with the Puerto Rican flag door - It’s one of the most photographed spots in Puerto Rico! The door is located in Old San Juan on Calle Imperial.
Try a Pina Colada - the drink was invented in Puerto Rico so you can bet you will have the best ones of your life here!
Do a Queer Walking Tour to learn the Queer History of the City - We did the Queer Monuments Tour with Puerto Rico Gay Tours and loved learning the LGBTQ+ history of the island.

Find more activities & tours in San Juan here on Expedia!

Where to Eat & Drink in San Juan

Semilla Kitchen & Bar
Deaverdura
La Factoria
Junglebird
Lela’s Eatery

The LGBTQ+ Scene in San Juan

Puerto Rico is known as the LGBTQ+ capital of the Caribbean and we definitely felt that while visiting. We got to talk to a lot of queer locals who raved about how much they loved living on the island, and as a lesbian couple, we felt very safe and welcomed there. We saw lots of other queer couples traveling, and we were also with a big, diverse group of queer travelers as well! There a few queer bars in San Juan as well like Circo bar, Kweens Club, Oasis, and La Sombilla Rosa. Discover Puerto Rico also has a special LGBTQ+ Travel landing page with all the queer friendly things they recommend to do on the island.

To get a better sense of how we spent our time in San Juan, we recommend you watch our YouTube vlog below! It has so much more information and you can see exactly what we did during our trip.

Thank you to Discover Puerto Rico for inviting & hosting us on this trip! As always, all opinions are honest and our own. Some links on this post are affiliate links of which we receive a small commission, but the price is the same for you.