If you're staying in San Juan, you can get around on foot or by bus, taxi, and hotel shuttle. Old San Juan, the original city, contains carefully preserved examples of 16th- and 17th-century Spanish colonial architecture. Designated a U.S. National Historic Zone in 1950, it is full of shops, open-air cafés, tree-shaded squares, monuments, and people. In "new" San Juan, you'll need to resort to taxis, buses, públicos (public cars), or a rental car to reach the points of interest. Avenida Muñoz Rivera, Avenida Ponce de León, and Avenida Fernández Juncos are the main thoroughfares that cross Puerta de Tierra, east of Old San Juan, to the business and tourist districts of Santurce, Condado, and Isla Verde.

Puerto Rico's 3,500 square miles (9,065 square kilometers) are a lot of land to explore. Although you can get from town to town via público, it's not the best way to travel unless your Spanish is good and you know exactly where you're going. You'll do better if you rent a car. Roads in Puerto Rico are generally well marked (just keep in mind that distances are posted in kilometers and speed limits in miles per hour). Make sure to buy a good road map.