San Juan, PR Castillo San Cristobal Walking Tour

[MarineFam]

Wondering if this is something that is worth paying the $54 for a guided walking tour when it seems you can walk through it yourself. I may be mistaken and it takes you to off limit places. We have never been to PR so just wanted to get everyone's thoughts. Trying to get a site picture before booking opens for us tomorrow. I saw a Segway tour however I have injuries that have effected my balance that I believe would prevent me from doing that one. Thanks!

 

[JimGA]

Wondering if this is something that is worth paying the $54 for a guided walking tour when it seems you can walk through it yourself. I may be mistaken and it takes you to off limit places. We have never been to PR so just wanted to get everyone's thoughts. Trying to get a site picture before booking opens for us tomorrow. I saw a Segway tour however I have injuries that have effected my balance that I believe would prevent me from doing that one. Thanks!

The Forts in San Juan are real easy to do by yourself, self guided that is. They have signage around it that briefly explains what you are looking at.

If you are a history buff and really like have more in-depth information that the guided tour might be good for you.

But really easy and fun to do by yourself at your own pace, I like to take my time and take pictures and stuff like that and not be guided around.

 

[CPT Tripss]

DIY, entry is only $5, and look into the Ranger tours, a sample here - http://www.nps.gov/saju/planyourvis...ties-Program_English_14-15_-1-Autosaved-1.pdf

 

[DynamicDisneyDuo]

We took the tour. I don't think it was worth it, especially since it only costs $5 a person to get in on your own. You can get a little informational packet that tells you most of what the guide will tell you, I could tell ours was reading from it during his spiel.

 

[jrabbit]

You can walk to the forts - it's not a bad walk (Uphill to the forts from the port)

OR you can take the free trolley. The link is "old" but the information is still valid.

Larger route map

 

[MarineFam]

That's what I had figured. I am thinking with our larger group this would be much easier going it alone at our pace and much less money.

 

[MarineFam]

Thanks for the info everyone!

 

[poison ivy]

I posted this on another thread for San Juan.

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=52401033&postcount=4

touring is very easy. There are 2 Forts - El Morro and San Cristobal but we took our time and only explored San Cristobal.
they charge $3-$5 entrance fees and you can easily walk back to the ship from the Fort San Cristobal. It's only a few blocks and a light downhill trek.

 

[MarineFam]

I posted this on another thread for San Juan.

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=52401033&postcount=4

touring is very easy. There are 2 Forts - El Morro and San Cristobal but we took our time and only explored San Cristobal.
they charge $3-$5 entrance fees and you can easily walk back to the ship from the Fort San Cristobal. It's only a few blocks and a light downhill trek.

awesome Thanks!!!

 

[Simba One]

The only problem with the trolly is that Disney uses the Pan American Pier that is on the opposite side of the trolly piers. It's not an easy walk to the other side.

 

[jrabbit]

The only problem with the trolly is that Disney uses the Pan American Pier that is on the opposite side of the trolly piers. It's not an easy walk to the other side.

If San Juan is your embarkation or disembarkation port this is true. If OSJ is a port of call mid cruise, they usually dock in Old San Juan and the walk / trolley information is correct.

I think OP is doing an Eastern cruise on the Fantasy - so they should be docking on OSJ and not Pan American (where we started our Southern Caribbean cruise from in September).

I honestly do not remember how much our taxi ride from the hotel to the port was -- but it was minimal. If docking at Pan American - I would still take the taxi over to OSJ and not do the DCL excursion.

 

[DJmommy]

Check out a Fodor's tour guide book for Puerto Rico from your local library.

They have a historical walking tour of Old San Juan that was perfect for our family. We just did it last week. It starts at the pier and takes you all around the waterfront through the gate and to El Morro, the one fort and then leads you to the other fort San Cristobal with famous plazas, churches, fountains and other historic sites along the way. The end of the walking tour is just a few blocks away from the pier so it is perfect for cruisers.

Entrance fee of $5 for each person 16 and over gets you into both forts and you can beat the crowds by taking your walking tour first thing in the morning. Overall the walk took about 4 hours with us taking our time with lots of pictures along the way. It was perfect for our family and we thoroughly enjoyed Old San Juan in the morning without the throngs of cruise passengers that were on the streets when we were heading back to the ship.

Best and cheapest way to get a taste of San Juan $10 bucks for our family of 4 and uncrowded streets ( at least for the first 2 hours) Can't beat that.

 

[jrabbit]

Using a Guide Book - Great Idea.

I didn't think about a guide book because I knew that Rick Steves didn't have one for Puerto Rico. Gotta Expand my horizons (where's the DUH! Headsmacking Icon )

 

[melissarose]

Check out a Fodor's tour guide book for Puerto Rico from your local library.

They have a historical walking tour of Old San Juan that was perfect for our family. We just did it last week. It starts at the pier and takes you all around the waterfront through the gate and to El Morro, the one fort and then leads you to the other fort San Cristobal with famous plazas, churches, fountains and other historic sites along the way. The end of the walking tour is just a few blocks away from the pier so it is perfect for cruisers.

Entrance fee of $5 for each person 16 and over gets you into both forts and you can beat the crowds by taking your walking tour first thing in the morning. Overall the walk took about 4 hours with us taking our time with lots of pictures along the way. It was perfect for our family and we thoroughly enjoyed Old San Juan in the morning without the throngs of cruise passengers that were on the streets when we were heading back to the ship.

Best and cheapest way to get a taste of San Juan $10 bucks for our family of 4 and uncrowded streets ( at least for the first 2 hours) Can't beat that.

This sounds perfect!