First published: 17/06/22.

Little Lauren Travels 4.0

La Fortaleza And San Juan

La Fortaleza and San Juan (Inscribed)

La Fortaleza and San Juan by Els Slots

This is actually a two-part site, consisting of La Fortaleza and other fortifications that make up the San Juan National Historic Site, run by the US National Parks Service. La Fortaleza is currently a building used by the Puerto Rican government and can only be visited by an advance tour. In contrast, the other areas are open to visitors with standard hours — the grounds are free and open 24/7. To go inside the two forts (El Morro and San Cristobol), it’s a joint $10 ticket (or free for two guests if you have a US annual National Parks Pass.). The two forts are a 10-15 minute walk from each other.  Both are within ild town San Juan, which is pretty compact — you can cover most of it on foot in a few hours.  Cabs and Ubers are hard to find, and streets are often shut down for cultural events, so it’s much easier to walk.

With that background, the two forts included in the listing are your standard Spanish/Portuguese forts from the 1500s-1700s. They’re similar to several listed properties, including El Jadida in Morocco and fortifications in Ghana (as well as a number of tentative sites). The setting for the forts in Puerto Rico is stunning, and they are in very good condition since they were used by the US military until turned into a park. Visitors have a lot of access to wander around the forts and surrounding grounds.

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