Budget-Friendly DIY Cruise Excursion: Old San Juan, PR Walking Tour

April 13, 2023

Budget-Friendly DIY Cruise Excursion: Old San Juan, PR Walking Tour

On our Eastern Caribbean cruise with Royal Caribbean, one of the port stops was San Juan, Puerto Rico. We had 7.5 hours at this stop, there were no Royal Caribbean partnered excursions that stood out to us but that did not stop us from having an amazing time. We mapped out a DIY walking tour prior to our vacation here and it played out even more amazing than we had imagined. This gorgeous sightseeing 5km/3.1mi (not including your walk in the stops) walk covered key landmarks and also makes stops at delicious places to dine.

Enlarged map of our tour

A. Pier 4 (Cruise Drop)

The cruise drop is at a beautiful location that has immediate access to essential needs with a Walgreens right across the street. There are also other familiar luxury brand fashion stores and fast food chains in the area.

B. Catedral Basilica Menor de San Juan Bautista, 151 C. del Cristo, San Juan, 00902, Puerto Rico

This Roman Catholic cathedral is situated about a 15 minute walk from the cruise pier. The roads are narrow through this walk from here and have elevation so be sure to have good walking shoes and keep an eye out on the cars.

C. Castillo San Felipe del Morro 501 C. Norzagaray, San Juan, 00901, Puerto Rico

This fortress is a 12 minute walk from the cathedral and overlooks the entrance to the San Juan Bay. This fort is the largest built by Spain in the Caribbean in 1787 to protect this city from attacks from the sea. This fort took over 250 years to build and has survived through many wars. There are still cannons, buildings and other structures that still stand in this fortress making this a great place to visit not only for the history fan but also for those looking for gorgeous views of San Juan Bay and beyond to the Atlantic Ocean. Walking up to the entrance was one of our favourite parts of this landmark, it was a massive, open grass field which was beautiful to walk through. The admission was $10 USD, be sure to bring a credit card as they did not accept cash.

D. Castillo San Cristobal 501 C. Norzagaray, San Juan, 00901, Puerto Rico

This landmark is about a 20 minute walk from the fortress. This sister fort was made in 1790 to protect the city from land attacks. Your admission ticket purchased for Castillo San Felipe del Morro also includes access to this fort too.

E. Los Yeyos Restaurant, 353 C. de San Francisco, San Juan, 00901, Puerto Rico

This Puerto Rican restaurant is a quick 5 minute walk from Castillo San Cristobal. Los Yeyos has a bar and about a dozen tables of serviced dining. We had beef patties and a skirt steak mofongo. Both were outstandingly delicious, it was definitely one of the top highlights of this trip for us - we even printed out the picture of the mofongo for our album because it was that memorable! The patty was a nice mouthwatering appetizer but the mofongo is a must try; full of authentic flavor and the plantain used in the dish just melts in your mouth and pops with flavors.

Skirt Steak Mofongo

F. Plaza de Armas, San Juan, Puerto Rico

After our delicious dinner we headed to Plaza de Armas. This beautiful landmark is a 5 minute walk from the Los Yeyos restaurant. The area has buildings that date back to Spanish colonial times when it was designed as the city's main town square where you will find great photo ops and government buildings. There are many cafes and bakeries in the area, keep in mind that most close before the evening so be sure to pay a visit before it gets dark.

G. I Love PR sign., San Juan, Puerto Rico

The scenic walk back was about a 12 minute walk from Plaza de Armas. We decided to take our picture here at the end of the journey later into the evening as it was less crowded than it was earlier in the day. This is a cute landmark you can see right at your departure of the ship and is a nice photo as a memory keepsake of this beautiful city.