San Juan travel guide

Getting around

Small yellow buses, or trolleys, run around the old city all day 0600-2200, free. They start from La Puntilla and Covadonga public car parks. There is also a trolley service in the Isla Verde beach area from Punta Las Marías. There is a city bus (guagua) service with a fixed charge of US$0.25 for standard route, US$0.50 for longer. They have special routes, sometimes against the normal direction of traffic, in which case the bus lanes are marked by yellow and white lines. Bus stops paradas have white and orange signs or yellow and black notices on lampposts. Up until the 1950s tramcars ran between Río Piedras and Old San Juan along Avenidas Ponce de León and Fernández Juncos. To this day directions are given by Paradas, or tram stops, so you have to find out where each one is.

Ins and outs

Getting there

Getting a taxi from the airport is your best bet; buses from the airport to San Juan and back are complicated. There is a despatch desk for públicos at the airport.