Walking in old san juan

Hello! We will be visiting San Juan in late June and will be in port from 8-4. I would really like to get the most out of our day but have been told by several people doing a formal tour is unnecessary. I'm going to be traveling with my 60 year old mother however and while she is able to walk and get around her stamina and breathing isn't as good as it once was.

What kind of temperatures/humidity should I be expecting in Old San Juan at this time of year? Is it is reasonable to expect someone on the older and out of shape side to be able to walk to the forts and explore on foot? I hear a lot of the walk is up hill. Would it make sense to take a cab to a "higher" area and maybe walk down hill?

I would love any suggestions on how we should attack this to lesson the impact. Also has anyone used any kind of walking app or other self guided tour? I worry about just wandering around and missing something interesting. How do you guys get around?

Thanks!

Temperatures in June will be in the mid to upper 80s. Humidity probably in the mid 70s.

My wife and I are in our mid 60s. I have really bad knees that were creaking and hurting when we were in OSJ in January. We walked from the pier to both forts, climbed around on the forts, walked back along several streets. Walking downhill and down fort steps is worse on knees than up hill. I put almost 20,000 steps on my garmin device that day. I'm still around;p

But everyone's fitness is different. So I would suggest if you want to go see one of the forts or a museum, take a taxi. You might be able to catch the hop-on, hop-off bus, but at the port they get filled quickly. Likewise at El Morro for the return. They also don't run as regularly as they advertise. On our walk, we saw no buses go by along the street from one fort to another. Saw no buses stopping at the fort when we left. Saw one reach the pier on return about the same time we did. it was packed and people were trying to get off and get on at the same time.

Thanks for the reply! Luckily mom's knees are still fairly good as far as I know. The taxi seems like the best bet but then I worry we will miss out by not exploring. Plus I'm not sure just wandering around an old fort is going hold her interest for very long. We might consider taking a taxi there and maybe wandering back. I'm still debating a tour company but I don't know if we want to be on someone else's clock so to speak either.

Best self-guided tour book I know of. Maps and descriptions and pictures so you can go where you want.

http://faculty.salisbury.edu/~msscott/Walking%20Tour%20of%20Old%20San%20Juan.pdf

Best self-guided tour book I know of. Maps and descriptions and pictures so you can go where you want.

 

http://faculty.salisbury.edu/~msscott/Walking%20Tour%20of%20Old%20San%20Juan.pdf

Thank you for the pdf, we will be there for the first time in July, and plan on walking, so it will come in handy. Thanks, Again. :)

San Juan has a new HOHO bus...google City Sightseeing Hop-on-Hop-Off Bus...this might be a good option for you both.

Thanks for the reply! Luckily mom's knees are still fairly good as far as I know. The taxi seems like the best bet but then I worry we will miss out by not exploring. Plus I'm not sure just wandering around an old fort is going hold her interest for very long. We might consider taking a taxi there and maybe wandering back. I'm still debating a tour company but I don't know if we want to be on someone else's clock so to speak either.

Why not take a short private tour and then wonder around. If not wanting to spend the money taxi up and walking back down also works.

Not arriving till 1 and leaving at 8 pm I guess only option is to walk the town? any suggestions?

We followed advice we got here and took a taxi to the top of the hill, to the fort El Morro, and then took our time walking down to the various sites. There are self-guided walking tours of San Juan that you can do. That is what we did.

A great place to stop for a rest and cool drink is in the El Convento Hotel. We had lunch there last week and it was a cool, peaceful place to take a break from walking around Old San Juan.

If you do a search on a self-guided walking tour, there are several. One that includes pictures of the various buildings is 'puerto rico day trips dot com'. It has 3 short walks to do, so even a small amount of time should make this possible.

There is a free trolley bus that runs, but I don't know how frequently or how busy it is. I would imagine very busy when there are ships in port.

La Casita used to be an Tourist Information Point. We got a big surprise last week when we got there and were given a huge welcome and invited in to discover that it is now a bar! :confused:

You might consider a walking and tasting tour through Old San Juan. My husband and I and 4 others recently did the Sunset Walk and Taste Tour with Spoon Food Tours. On the tour we learned a lot about the history, culture, and architecture of the city while enjoying freshly prepared and locally sourced food at five different restaurants. The walk was mainly downhill and the pace was leisurely. Our guide was a native who knows his city well.

Matin and Lindsey, how much was the cab to the forts? Will be traveling with a 4 and 7 yo, so don't want to fight the crowds with the free trolley. Want to can up and leisurely walk back downhill. Thanks.

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Matin and Lindsey, how much was the cab to the forts? Will be traveling with a 4 and 7 yo, so don't want to fight the crowds with the free trolley. Want to can up and leisurely walk back downhill. Thanks.

 

 

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Sorry, it wasn't this year we used the taxi and I don't remember. I believe though, that the taxis are regulated on fares and seem to remember that there used to be a table quoting prices on here. I don't know if there is an up to date one.

If you have children of 4 and 7, something that might be fun to do is flying kites on the grassed area in front of El Morro. They have people selling them and often there are several people flying kites there as it is a great place to catch the wind.

Have fun! Peurto Rico is one of our favourite ports to cruise from. We love to see the castle lit up as the ship sails away. For some reason though, this year, the fort wasn't lit up properly. :(

We just got back Saturday...... we did San Juan on our own. We got off the ship at 8am, and walking up the hills to the forts was not too bad at that time. But after touring the first one, the HEAT arrived, and no breeze at all. We are both very active people, lots of walking and hiking at home...but we were sweating and hot hot hot by noon. Just be prepared.

Thank you for the tips. Knowing the munchkins, they will complain about walking, especially uphill.

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Thanks you for the advice. Taxi to El Morro and a walk back to the ship sounds like a great idea

Are the forts a "must" for SJ? I know the views will be great, but wondering if it's "worth" going up in late July! We'll only be in port from 7am-1pm so it's not a lot of time. Is the rest of SJ walking tour a viable option or will we have wished we went up to forts?? Thank you!

Old SJ has a few small hills and the cobblestone are uneven, other member mentioned the trolley and using a cab. These are my favorites places in old SJ: Visit/tour La Fortaleza, tickets are free get them few bldgs before the mansion to the left, visit Casa Blanca (original governor mansion built by Juan Ponce de Leon), visit El Morro Fort and St. Cristobal, visit Calle Capilla Cristo, and the Paloma Park next to it, Catedral (next to Hotel El Convento), my favorites street go down either calle Sol or Luna, go thru the walkway around city and gate

Best self-guided tour book I know of. Maps and descriptions and pictures so you can go where you want.

 

http://faculty.salisbury.edu/~msscott/Walking%20Tour%20of%20Old%20San%20Juan.pdf

This is awesome. Thank you.

Information on the free Trolley that goes around the old town (Including tips on where to get on/off)

https://sanjuanpuertorico.com/trolley-old-san-juan/

Hello! We will be visiting San Juan in late June and will be in port from 8-4. I would really like to get the most out of our day but have been told by several people doing a formal tour is unnecessary. I'm going to be traveling with my 60 year old mother however and while she is able to walk and get around her stamina and breathing isn't as good as it once was.

 

What kind of temperatures/humidity should I be expecting in Old San Juan at this time of year? Is it is reasonable to expect someone on the older and out of shape side to be able to walk to the forts and explore on foot? I hear a lot of the walk is up hill. Would it make sense to take a cab to a "higher" area and maybe walk down hill?

 

I would love any suggestions on how we should attack this to lesson the impact. Also has anyone used any kind of walking app or other self guided tour? I worry about just wandering around and missing something interesting. How do you guys get around?

 

Thanks!

Are the forts a "must" for SJ? I know the views will be great, but wondering if it's "worth" going up in late July! We'll only be in port from 7am-1pm so it's not a lot of time. Is the rest of SJ walking tour a viable option or will we have wished we went up to forts?? Thank you!

I would do the fort at the end, and if you only have time for one visit go to El Morro, or you can drive by in the trolley (both of them)