Old San Juan and San Cristobal Castle Walking Tour
Description
This is the only walking tour in Old San Juan that includes a visit to the interior of the San Cristobal Castle. Wander through cobblestone streets lined with colorful facades, and listen as your guide shares tales of conquest and resilience spanning over 500 years of colonial history. Included in your experience is admission to the majestic San Cristobal Castle, offering panoramic views of Puerto Rico's landscape and a glimpse into its military past. The adventure includes other sites of historic relevance like the Governor’s Mansion, the Cathedral of San Juan and the City Hall at the main square of the town. Join us and discover what makes old San Juan the most visited place in Puerto Rico!
Tour Options
Itinerary
Considered the receiving plaza of Old San Juan, Plaza Colon is the ideal location to meet your certified tour guide. The guide will be standing in front of the big white monument located at the center of the plaza. The guide will be wearing a blue shirt and red cap. The square is a few blocks north from the cruise port and the town's main parking garages. Ubers and taxis can drop you right in the plaza. On this plaza you will learn about the colonial history of Puerto Rico and the former defensive structures that used to stand steps away from the plaza.
This World Heritage Site is the biggest fortification built by Spain in the Americas! You will tour the interior of the castle to get some of the most scenic views of the main island of Puerto Rico, the San Juan Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. As part of the tour you will visit an underground tunnel and former dungeons and barracks.
With over 500 years of history, this cathedral is one of the most important catholic churches in Puerto Rico. It is considered the second oldest church in the Americas. You will have the opportunity to visit the interior of the church to see its sacred altar, the mausoleum of Juan Ponce de Leon and the cathedral's oldest structure from the 16th century.
La Fortaleza has been the residence of the Governor's of Puerto Rico since the 1500's until our present times. Participants will have the opportunity to see its front facade and enjoy the exhibition hanging over the "umbrella street".
This tiny chapel is locally known for a miracle that happened right where it was built centuries ago! Here you will learn about this urban legend and its significance in present times.
North America's narrowest house is found in Old San Juan. You will see it as part of this tour!
This is one of the most spectacular historic buildings in Old San Juan. It was originally built to house the treasury of the island and it is now the Department of State of Puerto Rico.
Plaza de Armas is the town's main square. Here you will see the City Hall and the former Palace of the treasury of Puerto Rico. Also you will enjoy beautiful sculptures of the four seasons and the statue of the legendary music composer Tite Curret Alonso.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- Not recommended for travellers with walking limitations
Reviews(142)
Phenomenal tour, great experience and lots of history.
Melanie was an amazing guide! Super knowledgeable and fun. It's a lot of walking and hilly, wear good shoes. We loved the views from the castle!
Melanie was fantastic! Her enthusiasm while telling us about Old San Juan was great! She was entertaining and kept us engaged. Very knowledgeable and friendly! Would definitely recommend her and this walking tour to anyone wanting to learn about Old San Juan!
Had a great tour of Plaza Colon in Old San Juan with Roberto. He was very informative and enthusiastic. He clearly has a love for history and had plenty of fun facts to share. Our tour ended up being small, so we received more individualized attention, and an opportunity to ask more questions. Would highly recommend!
Roberto was our tour guide and he was incredible! He had so much knowledge to share and was so flexible and patient. He let us take as many photos as we wanted and always told us when to take a photo and what was a good photo opportunity! Thank you Roberto for giving us so much history on the incredible San Juan! We hope to do another tour with you in the future!
This tour is just FILLED with so much rich history about old San Juan, as well as seeing the beautiful parts of it. Thoroughly enjoyed Melanie as our tour guide. Her passion for the city and culture are so clear!!!! Love her personality and eagerness to answer questions. Loved seeing La Perla neighborhood but also the cathedral of San Juan Bautista. Beautiful church. Most of the tour was at Castle San Cristobal, but the fee to enter the castle is included. It’s well paced too! Make sure you wear good walking shoes and hats 🧢
Our tour group was smaller so it was nice having a more personalized experience. Melanie was friendly and very knowledgeable for any questions asked. Some great sights we saw! I wish we took photos on top of San Cristóbal with the city view. You should book with Melanie, you will be in for treat!
Our tour guide Melanie was so knowledgeable and fun! We had a great time and learned so much about the culture and history of Peurto Rico!
This tour was perfect. Our guide taught us so much of the history of PR. Even though it rained, it was a wonderful experience.
Guide Jorge was very knowledgeable about San Juan. He provided lots of very interesting information and showed us many different sites, locations and objects related to the history of San Juan.He took time answer any questions we had. Price very reasonable for the amount of time we spent with the guide. After reading others review before going, I was concerned about being able to tolerate the heat with all the walking but there was a nice constant breeze that made the heat and humidity very bearable.
