Insight Guides: Puerto Rico

How To Use This E-Book

Getting around the e-book

This Insight Guide e-book is designed to give you inspiration for your visit to Puerto Rico, as well as comprehensive planning advice to make sure you have the best travel experience. The guide begins with our selection of Top Attractions, as well as our Editors Choice categories of activities and experiences. Detailed features on history, people and culture paint a vivid portrait of contemporary life in Puerto Rico. The extensive Places chapters give a complete guide to all the sights and areas worth visiting. The Travel Tips provide full information on getting around, activities from culture to shopping to sport, plus a wealth of practical information to help you plan your trip.

In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.

Maps

All key attractions and sights in Puerto Rico are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map] just tap this to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.

Images

Youll find hundreds of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of Puerto Rico. Simply double-tap on an image to see it full-screen.

About Insight Guides

Insight Guides have more than 40 years experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce 400 full-colour titles, in both print and digital form, covering more than 200 destinations across the globe, in a variety of formats to meet your different needs.

Insight Guides are written by local authors, whose expertise is evident in the extensive historical and cultural background features. Each destination is carefully researched by regional experts to ensure our guides provide the very latest information. All the reviews in Insight Guides are independent; we strive to maintain an impartial view. Our reviews are carefully selected to guide you to the best places to eat, go out and shop, so you can be confident that when we say a place is special, we really mean it.

2015 Apa Digital (CH) AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd

Puerto Ricos Top 10 Attractions

From Indian heritage sites to colonial gems, and sandy beaches to extraordinary ecological sites, here is a rundown of Puerto Ricos most spectacular attractions.

Top Attraction 1

Old San Juan . On a spit of land jutting out into the sea is this beautifully preserved Spanish colonial city, colorfully decorated in pastel shades with cobbled streets, enticing bars and restaurants, quirky shops and atmospheric hotels. It is guarded by fortresses built to protect this jewel in the Spanish Empire. For more information,

iStock

Top Attraction 2

Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan . This converted hospital in Santurce houses works by well-known Puerto Rican artists dating back to the 17th century, as well as regional and international works. For more information,

Glyn Genin/Apa Publications

Top Attraction 3

Ro Camuy Cave Park . One of the most dramatic subterranean cave systems yet discovered lies in this park. Trains take passengers between caves and sinkholes that have taken the Camuy River millions of years to erode. For more information,

Glyn Genin/Apa Publications

Top Attraction 4

El Yunque . More than 100 billion gallons of rain falls here every year, making it the perfect habitat for 26 endemic animal species. For more information,

Glyn Genin/Apa Publications

Top Attraction 5

Playa Flamenco , Culebra . This is a perfect, uncrowded, half-moon beach of white sand and translucent turquoise water, totally unspoilt by tourism after decades of occupation by the US Navy. For more information,

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Top Attraction 6

Phosphorescent Bay , Vieques . Known for its glowing waters, the high concentration of bioluminescence is generated by microscopic organisms in the water. Take a boat trip out into the bay to agitate the trillions of dinoflagellates, and watch them light up. For more information,

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Top Attraction 7

Arecibo Observatory . Sitting in the heart of the karst country, a region of archetypal limestone erosion, Arecibo has the largest single-dish radio telescope in the world. It has been silently scanning the universe, making maps of distant solar systems, and listening for messages from other planets since 1960. For more information,

Glyn Genin/Apa Publications

Top Attraction 8

Tibes Indian Ceremonial Park . One of the Caribbeans most important Amerindian archeological sites. Visit the museum to find out more about the Amerindian peoples. For more information,

Glyn Genin/Apa Publications

Top Attraction 9

Las Cabezas de San Juan . On the far northeastern tip of the island, this nature reserve comprises an incredible diversity of landscapes, with beaches, lagoons, mangrove forest, and coral reefs among them. For more information, .