Attractions

The Spanish began to settle in the area now known as Old San Juan around 1521. At the outset, the city was called Puerto Rico ("Rich Port"), and the whole island was known as San Juan.

The streets are narrow and teeming with traffic, but a walk through Old San Juan -- in Spanish, El Viejo San Juan -- makes for a good stroll. Some visitors have likened it to a "Disney park with an Old World theme." Even fast food restaurants and junk stores are housed in historic buildings. It's the biggest and best collection of historic buildings, stretching back 5 centuries, in all the Caribbean. You can do it in less than a day. In this historic 7-square-block area of the western side of the city, you can see many of Puerto Rico's chief sightseeing attractions and do some shopping along the way.

On the other hand, you might want to plop down on the sand with a drink or get outside and play.

The Cathedral of Rum

Called "the Cathedral of Rum," the Bacardi Distillery at Route 888 Km 2.6 at Cataño (tel. 787/788-1500), is the largest of its kind in the world. Reached by taking a 20-minute ferry ride across San Juan Bay (50¢ each way), the distillery produces 100,000 gallons of rum daily. At the site, you can go to the Casa Bacardi Visitor Center, Carretera 165, Cataño (tel. 787/788-8400), for free 90-minute tours Monday to Saturday from 9am to 4:30pm, Sunday 10am to 3:30pm. You are taken on a visit of seven historical displays, including the Bat Theatre, and the Golden Age of the Cocktail Art Deco bar.

Upon entering the first floor, you'll get a glimpse of what rum production was like a century ago, including oak barrels used in the aging process and an old sugar-cane wagon. On the fifth floor you'll enter the Hall of Rum, with a collection of beverages made by the corporation over a period of years. You'll then witness "the birth of rum" -- the fermentation processes of molasses (it takes 100 gal. of molasses to produce one barrel of rum).

You'll visit the Bacardi Family Museum, documenting the family's history, and you can watch a short video about the bottling process. At the end of the tour you're taken on a trolley ride to the Hospitality Pavilion, where you can pick up a souvenir and have one for the road.

La Criolla Chic

San Juan has Latino chic to rival South Beach. Puerto Rican royalty (from Benicio del Toro to Marc Anthony and J-Lo to Ricky Martin) are regularly jetting in, and so are other interesting people. The city has been transformed by the opening of the Puerto Rico Miguel José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum (500 Arterial B Street Hato Rey; tel. 877/265-4736; box office open Mon-Fri 10am-5pm) and the Puerto Rico Convention Center (100 Convention Blvd., San Juan; tel. 800/214-0420). Since the opening of "the Choliseo," as the coliseum is known locally, performers like the Rolling Stones, Elton John, the Police, and Billy Joel have played there, and it regularly gets top-name Latino acts, like Shakira and Juanes. The Convention Center is attracting all sorts of national groups as well as other entertainment events. CIRCO, an annual art fair, is getting serious attention, and the center is also the host of an annual fashion week with shows by local and international designers. The Puerto Rico Tourism Company's annual New Year's Eve party, broadcast live on Spanish language television and featuring some of the top names in Latino music, is also held here. Even when there are no stars, both venues have cafe-bars that have become hangouts for young urban professionals to let loose after work, especially on Thursday and Friday nights.

There is no trendier place in San Juan today than the new temple of island art, Museo de Arte. It took $55 million to turn this 1920s city hospital in Santurce, an eyesore for decades, into this new home for art. The new museum has become a way of life for some Puerto Ricans, many of whom go here at least once a week -- perhaps to see a production in the 400-seat theater, named for Raúl Juliá, the late Puerto Rican actor, or perhaps to go for a romantic stroll through the museum's 5-acre (2-hectare) garden. There may also be no better place to go at night for a nuevo criolla meal than the restaurant here, Pikayo.

San Juan even has SoFo, a once abandoned sector of La Fortaleza Street that is now buzzing with activity, home to some of Old San Juan's best restaurants, bars, and clubs. A play on the name of New York City's SoHo, SoFo purportedly refers to South Fortaleza Street. The name has stuck, even though it's geographically inaccurate, as the area is actually East Fortaleza Street. The Parrot Club is the original hot spot of the neighborhood, opening more than a decade ago with its brash and flavorful Nuevo Latino cuisine in a land of crusty Chinese restaurants and delis, run-down tourist shops, and dusty fabric stores. Today, these run-down businesses have been renovated. The area is a center for world cuisine, where you can get everything from French Trois Cent Onze to Indian Tantra to Asian Fusian Dragonfly.

And we would put the beach at Ocean Park against that at South Beach. It's just naturally far more beautiful, and its guesthouses and restaurants attract an eclectic set of trendsetters: students, surfers, gay people, and urban creatives from the East Coast who prefer its low-lying skyline and laid-back ambience over the big resorts and condos of Condado and Isla Verde.

And there's perhaps no place as timelessly chic as the Plaza de Mercado de Santurce (near Calle Canals and Av. Ponce de León). The traditional food market is a great place to buy tropical fruits and vegetables, and there's a bunch more oddities like old Puerto Rican music recordings, herbs, and religious artifacts involving santería. There are several good restaurants in the surrounding neighborhood (Don Tello and La Tasca del Pscador) and several bars. The neighborhood is a swirl of activity from early in the day through late evening. On Thursday and Friday nights, large crowds gather as the streets are blocked off from traffic. Several spots have live music. It's a favorite after-work spot for locals and a lot of fun. Just join the crowd and meander from one spot to the next. Seafood fritters, chicken kebabs, and meat turnovers are sold from street vendors, and there is music everywhere.

The city also has several beautiful green parks with loads of activities during weekends. A plan to connect them via bicycle and pedestrian pathways is underway. It will build on the Parque Lineal Marti Coli, which stretches for nearly 2 miles (3.2km) along Caño de Martín Peña, from Hato Rey to Parque Central. Eventually this boardwalk will reach a distance of nearly 12 miles (19km), linking the Old City with Río Piedras. Biking, hiking, and jogging pathways are planned; one day bikers will be able to go along the breadth of San Juan without having to encounter traffic. In the meantime, enough trails have been completed for a memorable stroll.

Later you can head to Old San Juan for some island music, either to Rumba or the Nuyorican Café to dance the night away to the sounds of salsa and Latin rhythms with an African beat.