Walking From Cruise Pier to Forts

[davidtheusername]

We were wanting to walk from the cruise pier to the two forts. It looks like it would be easy enough that there's no reason to pay for the cruise excursion. Has anyone done the walk and have any thoughts on it or advice for a nice path to take to get there?

[Ragdollbd]

There is a free Trolley that will take you up to the forts. I heard it was running again since the hurricane. You can walk back to the ship through the cobblestone roads as you can see the ship all the way from the fort.

[alfaeric]

We were wanting to walk from the cruise pier to the two forts. It looks like it would be easy enough that there's no reason to pay for the cruise excursion. Has anyone done the walk and have any thoughts on it or advice for a nice path to take to get there?

Done it many times- it's a nice walk. You can either walk though the city, or on the outside to one of San Juan's historic gates- which has a few ways to get up there, or ALL the way around on the water until it puts you on the side of the fort.

 

So it really depends on what you think nice is.

[not-enough-cruising]

I like the trolley up to the forts, as it’s a pretty good uphill incline the whole way, and walking back down; as someone said it’s an easy walk back with great views of the ships and the port area.

 

 

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[Stinger-pr]

There are a couple of ways you can go about this: San Cristobal is the closest to the piers and the largest (as in the amount of land it occupies) of the two. It has two entrances/exits; one is on the lower part through the parking lot (once you reach the corner where the fort stands, walk to the right to see the lot). The other (older) gate is on what essentially is the mid level where the main plaza is. To get here you keep walking straight uphill (and a quite taxing one it might be) instead of turning right at the corner.

 

This is where you would exit to walk over to El Morro fort. It's about a mile walk with some incline until you get near el Morro. Once there you can do two things: make your way down to the lowest level and return to the pier using the seaside walkway at the base of the fort that leads to Paseo de la Princesa and on to the pier or once you're done inside, exit the same way you entered the fort and make your way downhill through the city and take some of the sights and culture in.

 

You can also do it the other way around and enter through the lower level and walk over to San Cristobal which puts you much closer to the ships once you're all tired from all the walking. Either way, I don't recommend the trolleys unless you have mobility issues since getting a seat on one can sometimes be an exercise of extreme patience and consumes precious sightseeing time.

 

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[sdteacher]

Done it many times- it's a nice walk. You can either walk though the city, or on the outside to one of San Juan's historic gates- which has a few ways to get up there, or ALL the way around on the water until it puts you on the side of the fort.

 

 

 

So it really depends on what you think nice is.

 

 

 

We did the walk along the water to the El Morro fort. It was a beautiful walk and fairly easy to do. Our ship got into port so early (7 am) and by the time we got off and walked there, the fort was just about ready to open. After we walked around, then we walked to San Cristobal fort, which was really close to the ship. It was a great day and so easy to do on our own.

 

 

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[cardamon]

We've done both forts a few times . The comments above have done a great job describing the walk to each. I'll just add that it is very easy to walk downtown from either fort. The days goes so quickly!

[CruiserKris34]

Does anyone have a map or are there signs to the fort? Thx!

[themutis]

Here is a walking tour - there are 3 parts

 

http://www.puertoricodaytrips.com/old-san-juan-walking-tour-1/

[FamilyOfSix]

I like the trolley up to the forts, as it’s a pretty good uphill incline the whole way, and walking back down; as someone said it’s an easy walk back with great views of the ships and the port area.

 

 

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This is exactly what we're planning to do.

[Staying Focused]

Of the two forts, which has more to see/do? Better views?

 

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[60andhappy]

This is exactly what we're planning to do.

 

That's exactly what we did!

[Stinger-pr]

Of the two forts, which has more to see/do? Better views?

 

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El Morro is the more imposing of the two with more available levels to explore and a stunning view of the San Juan coastline. San Cristobal is bigger in the sense that it occupies more accres but the main part is smaller than El Morro. San Cristobal has better views of the city and has an awesome view towards the piers.

 

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