Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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Old San Juan
The soul of the city and a gastronome's delight, Old San Juan's
seven-square-block Unesco World Heritage site is packed with priceless historical rel-
ics and equally pricey restaurants.
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Puerta de Tierra
This thin slither of land that links Old San Juan with the rest of
the city is a strange amalgam of tatty housing projects, salubrious parks and one of the
best municipal beaches on the island.
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Miramar
A leafy residential quarter of eclectic middle-class houses and plush
lakeside condos that showcases San Juan's new state-of-the-art convention center.
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Condado
San Juan's original resort strip has transformed itself from a tacky tourist
zone into a revitalized urban neighborhood replete with designer shops and pretty
parks.
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Ocean Park
An attractive beachside residential community punctuated with classy
B&Bs, high-rise condos and a quiet, gay-friendly stretch of beach.
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IslaVerde
The city's premier hotel strip plays host to a mishmash of craning condo
towers and swanky resorts that are big on luxury but short on authenticity.
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Santurce
The once vital city center suffered from dilapidation in the '80s and '90s,
but a fine arts center, myriad nightclubs, and a couple of well-appointed galleries have
placed it back in the urban reckoning.
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HatoRey
San Juan's mini Wall Street is a dense cluster of glass tower blocks and is
home to the island's most prestigious ball park and the Caribbean's largest shopping
mall.
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Río Piedras
The low-rise academic quarter is, not surprisingly, replete with cheap
shops, a thriving market and an exotic botanical garden.
OLD SAN JUAN
Old San Juan is a colorful kaleidoscope of life, music, legend and history and would stand
out like a flashing beacon in any country, let alone one as small as Puerto Rico.
Somnolent secrets and beautiful surprises await everywhere. From the blue-toned
cobblestoned streets of San Sebastián, to the cutting-edge gastronomic artistry of SoFo, you
could spend weeks, even months, here and still only get the smallest taste.
Add to this the quarter's sensuous yet subtle mood swings: tranquil at dawn, languid dur-
ing the midday heat, romantic at dusk and positively ebullient after dark.
Mixing ancient with modern, San Juan has embraced the 21st century in the same way it
embraced every era that went before - with confidence, innovation and a dynamic joie de
vivre.
