Old San Juan is the second oldest city in the americas. It dates back to 1521, more than 200 years earlier than the foundation of the United States. That said, do not expect the historic district of San Juan to be a modern, spacious and "smart" city. Most buildings are over 150 years old. The city has a cramped feeling with narrow roads and alleys but yet, there is an amazing amount of traffic that makes traffic jams neverending. The city was not built for cars, that's for sure.

Old San Juan is built in a section of a very small island, called Isleta de San Juan, that seems to be a kind of small moutain before. The highest part of the mountain is in the north side. There are no beaches in the Old City, but there is one at about 1 mile away. At the north of the city is the Atlantic Ocean. At the south, its the San Juan Bay.

The City layout is very staight forward although some streets might look like a big maze. Streets run paralell with the compass. Vertical streets go north/south, and horizontal streets go east/west. If you walk towards the bay - you can see cruise ships, etc- you're heading south. If you walk going up the hill, you're going north.

Because San Juan was a Spanish distribution center, the city was built around its ports. A 50+ feet wall surrounds the whole north and west side of the city, and part of it still stands in the southern and eastern side. It was built to protect the city from the pirates and corsairs in the 1600s. Many ships containing Gold and other goodies came from Spain, Peru,  Mexico, etc. so most of that goodness was in the city to be distributed among the colonies.

Buildings are sticked to each other. You can tell which is the end of a building by the painting of the other one, but not because there is a space bewteen them. That said, it is very hard to find a hotel with window rooms. I would say that 70% of all hotel rooms in Old San Juan do not have windows, putting aside the new Sheraton (former Wyndham) because it is a building that Wyndham built itself in a wide open space. But if you're staying in the smaller, old building hotels - which are more centric - you will probably end up with a very noisy room (with windows) or a very quiet and calm room (windowless).

Streets are very narrow, some of them still with cobblestone bricks. The city has started a restoration program where it plans to re-brick every street of Old San Juan. I expect this process to be finished by 2015. There are wide open spaces, called "Plazas" where people sit and relax. Its like a small park with trees around, but completely tiled. To name some, you may find people telling you about Plaza Colon, Plaza de Armas, Plaza Salvador Brau (or Barandilla) and Plaza San José. You can just sit there and relax as long as you want. Don't worry about security. Old San Juan is one of the most secured places in Puerto Rico.

Some interesting buildings are: El Morro, Castllo San Cristobal, La Fortaleza.