Known as the “Island of Enchantment”, Puerto Rico is one of those countries that has something for everyone. It ticks all the boxes for a picture-perfect Caribbean island holiday, with beautiful beaches that could compete with any in the world. But there’s more to this tropical island than just sun, sea and sand…
There are a hoarde of easily accessible diving and snorkelling spots along the coast lines, plus numerous places to hire kayaks, jetskis and boats. For those interested in nature and conservation the bioluminescent bays are a must, and if you’re outdoorsy there are 28,000² acres of El Yunque National Rainforest to explore.
For culture vultures, the Spanish-American influence in Puerto Rico makes for a fun melting pot of culture. There’s an abundance of heritage to learn about, as well as some tasty local dishes to sample.
Adrenaline junkies will love the ziplining and adventure parks dotted across the island, and for those wanting something a little tamer, there are plenty of charming cities worth visiting.
Obviously, there’s the capital, San Juan (home to the country’s largest colony of feral cats). But outside of this I’d definitely recommend taking a trip to Puerto Rico’s second capital, Ponce. It offers a distinctly different feel from its big brother, despite being just an hour away.
The municipality of Ponce is Puerto Rico’s southern jewel, with one of its many nicknames being “La Perla del Sur” (the pearl of the south). Ponce’s actual name gives away its Spanish roots: the great-grandson of Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce De León founded the hamlet from which the city later sprung.
Though the people of Ponce – also know as Ponceños – are not afraid of modernity and are keen to keep up with the times by developing hotels, casinos and malls, there is an abundance of buildings from different historical periods scattered throughout the city.
These buildings are what I loved so much about Ponce. They add a touch of colour to the corners of a city that would otherwise be grey and undistinguished.
One of the most notable buildings in Ponce is the Parque de Bombas, a red and black striped historic fire station. It was built in the town’s plaza in the Spanish architectural style of immigrants from Cataluña. Nowadays though it’s a museum and tribute to the bravery of its firefighters, closely guarded by colourful lion statues (another nickname for the city is “Ciudad de los Leones”, or city of the lions).
Other buildings around Ponce’s main plaza include the Casa Alcaldía (Ponce City Hall), which is the oldest colonial building in the city, dating back to the 1840s. And the Armstrong-Poventud Residence is a great example of the neoclassical architectural heritage of the island. The architecture of Ponce really is beautiful:
But don’t be fooled by the colonial style glamour shown in these photos – there are plenty of neighborhoods in Ponce that aren’t so affluent, which look somewhat run-down, dilapidated and almost shanty-esque.
There was still plenty of colour lining the streets though, in the form of pastel-painted concrete apartment blocks and multi-coloured murals:
We spent a lovely day exploring Ponce, despite the weather being a bit grey and clammy. On the two-hour drive back to the hotel in Levittown however, the heavy dark clouds that had been looming burst open, refreshing the muggy air. Just as quickly as the downpour started though, it stopped, paving the way for a breath-taking sunset.
It rounded off our trip to picturesque Ponce nicely.
Wow this looks amazing hun, the piccys are fantastic thanks for sharing 🙂 x
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Ahhh thank you – all my pics are taken on a Samsung Galaxy S6 x
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Looks like I need to go to Puerto Rico just for the street art, I love the coloured apartments as well x
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Imagine the shoots you could do over there Ana – so many gorgeous backdrops! x
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Haha yes I know it would be a dream shoot for me. It is actually quite similar to buildings in Madeira where my family are from, I just love brightly coloured buildings x
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I’ve never been to Madeira, but will have to add it to the list of places to go 😉 x
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wow i love how bright and cheerful it all looks , all the buildings have their own unique style
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That’s one of the things I liked about it too Lisa – none of the houses were the same, all different styles and colours (not like new build estates in the UK that all have the same look out the front!) x
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Amazing pictures, looks like such a lovely place. I love the idea of ziplining and of course scuba diving there would be amazing x
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The ziplining at Toro Verde was amazing, I definitely recommend it! X
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What amazing photos, I would love to visit Puerto Rico one day, it is certainly a beautiful and colourful place x
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I hope you get to visit it one day! x
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So beautiful! love all the colours it’s amazing
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Thanks Sue – it’s a pretty town, you should definitely visit if you’re ever in Puerto Rico 🙂 x
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What a gorgeous place! I love all the colours in these pictures x
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It’s such a bright and colour town! x
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Amazing photos!! I feel like I am there – beautiful post!! Never been there before but would love you x
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Ahhh thanks so much Donna – I hope you make it there one day, it’s an amazing island with so much to see and do x
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Wow, what beautiful colours! I would love to visit this part of the world.
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Wow first I didn’t know Ponce was the second capital, second, they really have clean and colourful surroundings
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Yes, it’s the biggest city outside of San Juan – have you been to Puerto Rico Shoshana? x
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This looks amazing. Awesome pictures
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I am loving the art and architecture so much in this! Thank you. I want to go see it for myself. Heard so many great things about Puerto Rico
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I hope you make it over there yourself one day! x
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Stunning photos! You’re whetting my appetite for Puerto Rico with all these lovely posts!
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Amazingly stunning photos I really loving the look of place sounds like a great place to visit
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Wow Ponce looks such a pretty place to visit. I love how bright and colourful the building are, especially the orange one.
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Yeah, they’re so bright aren’t they! x
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I would love to visit puerto rico one day.
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Wow it does look like a great place to visit especially if the beaches are as good as you say.
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Love the look of the sea in Puerto Rico, I have a thing about beaches X
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Me too! Can’t beat a nice white sandy beach 😍 x
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One day I would love to visit here! I love any where like this, where there is so much vibrance!
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I love those Lions. I once saw a load of toads in a city and it was awesome. The sculptures are fab!
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The images are stunning, I’d love to visit!
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Thank you so much! x
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Puerto Rico is a beautiful country, I haven’t personally been there but would love to go.
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What a stunning view of that place. Puerto Rico really sounds amazing. I would love to travel with my hubby here after my pregnancy.
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What a fabulous place and your pictures really capture the beauty. I love the vibrant houses, so much fun
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It sounds like a really interesting place to explore, I love going off the tourist path.
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You travel to so many amazing places in the world and always take stunning photographs!
Love the pastel buildings in Puerto Rico :))
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Thanks lovely! I wish I could do more travelling, but funds and full time work are hindering me slightly… still need to do Bulgaria! X
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I absolutely love the bold colours of the ‘city of lions’! Puerto Rico has been on my wish list ever since a few of my friends visited it couple of years back. Wish it wasn’t so far from where I live 😦 Have you been to other Caribbean islands and do you think you’d recommend Puerto Rico as one of the best to visit ?
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Thanks for your comment Medha – it was a beautiful town, even the rundown areas were still pretty ❤ I have been to the Bahamas, Cuba and Puerto Rico – the Bahamas is very different, Cuba and Puerto Rico are similar. I must say though, I much preferred Puerto Rico – it's a diverse island with something for everyone x
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Wonderful ^_^ i like all the pictures and especially the lions
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Thanks Emy! x
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Love all these colours! Thats our favourite thing about travelling that side of the world, always manage to find beautiful towns with all these colours!
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Yeah I totally agree Natalia – most Caribbean towns are really colourful, and that’s what I love about them, they’re so different to our towns back home in the UK! x
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I’d love to get to Puerto Rico one day, it got so much bad press after the Zika outbreak. Ponce looks so colourful, but yes you can see it’s run down in some areas from your photos. Still, an interesting neighbourhood and island, thanks for sharing!
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You’re right Lisa, it did get a lot of bad press – I actually visited just before all of that, but I still had a fantastic time there, and of course, obviously didn’t contract the virus! 😉 I would recommend it to anyone though! x
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S0 beautiful! I love the vibrancy of the buildings and those colourful lion statues are really cool! What was your favourite part of Puerto Rico as a whole?
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It’s hard to pick just one part of such a diverse island! I loved so much of it – the people, the food, the colourful cities, the wide and winding roads, the street art, the history, the culture… The list goes on! x
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Those colours!! Love the mailbox too. Great pictures!
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Thanks Shaun! x
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I didn’t realize the Carribean has so much more to offer than beaches! I definitely did not know about its culture and history! It definitely has a South American vibe to it!
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Yeah, I agree Justine – but is it a South America vibe or do parts of South America have a Caribbean vibe? Because when I visited Colombia, I thought the city of Cartagena (on the Caribbean coast) was completely different to other parts of the country… It’s an interesting question which I don’t know the answer to! x
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What a cultural eye opener. I love the red and black fire station and the lions are so cool too! I love statue art.
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Me too Angela! x
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I Didn’t get a chance to go to Puerto Rico (Although definitely on my list) when I traveled through Central America however there seems to be a similar theme in building types and colors through the region. There are so many places throughout Central America where towns seems so vibrant due to the colors of their colonial building yet walk a few blocks and your into rundown townships, ghettos and you really get to see the contrast in what that town is really like.
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This is so true Amit – I have found the same in other Caribbean coastal towns I’ve been to as well, such as Cartagena and Santa Marta in Colombia. It’s so interesting to see the different architecture types when travelling x
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I love that, how diverse architecture is around the world but at the same time you can recognise it from what region they’re from…like if you’re in Asia you know those buildings are Asian…and the same for Europe and Latin countries ….just another thing to love about traveling 😁😁
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It looks like a dream place to visit. I love nature and these pictures are clearly attractive. Also, being the lover of art, the architecture of the building and those amazing wall paintings are damn good!
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Yes, Ponce is a good place for those that love art and architecture 🙂 x
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Wow the pastel colors are so stunning! I’ve never heard of this place quite honestly and I love the difference it is compared to strongly colored buildings. I feel like I could get lost in this dreamy town!
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Never been to Puerto Rico but would love to think that some day I will get to travel there. It looks like my kind of place with all that amazing colour everywhere. My insta and my blog would be spoiled for choice what with colourful lions and amazing street art.
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It would be great if you could go there one day Kathryn – image all the fashion photoshoots you could do with all the street art! x
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puerto rico is such a beautiful place! i hope to go there one day with my family. i love it!
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Fingers crossed you get there one day! x
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Wow what an unreal place. Your photos are lovely… I need to go!
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I am in love with all the vibrant colours, especially that fabulous orange house! I’ll have to add ziplining on my to-do list when I visit!
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Looks really beautiful here by just look at your photos!! Vibrant colors indeed!!
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I can’t help but think about the current state of Puerto Rico as I read this. The people there have really suffered so much and have not gotten the help that they deserve. It’s such a beautiful place.
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Ponce has some amazing things to see. I love the colors especially the oranges and the greens. This is indeed a gorgeous place to take beautiful photos. Thanks for sharing these amazing colors and photos.
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The buildings and whole city is beautiful. But what i admire most are those colorful lion statues. They got different personality 🙂
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I have never been to Puerto Rico and it is certainly in my bucket list. Glad I came across this article to introduce me about Ponce. I love how the color of the buildings, light pastel color which make neighborhood so stunning and fun. Great for IG picture too. Parque de Bombas really get my attention very much because of the unique strips!
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With all your great pictures this place seems so vibrant and energetic, yet historical. This seems to be a perfect adventure and place to explore and learn.
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Thanks for your comment Eliza 🙂 it was a really interesting city x
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Honestly, aside for the food, I travel to experience the colors of the culture (which includes all the pastel colors of the buildings, walls, etc!)
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You sound just like me Gigi – food and culture 🙂 x
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One of the most fantastic things about the Caribbean are the breath taking colours! You’ve done a fantastic job of capturing the beauty of this part of the world! 🙂
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Thanks for your kind comment Emily 🙂 I love this part of the world, so it’s easy to photograph x
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Your stunning photography highlights how magical Puerto Rico is. The colour on the apartments, the beautiful culture and the amazing skylines. It looks truly magical.
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Thanks for such a kind comment Elizabeth – Puerto Rico is a special country, that;s for sure! x
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I absolutely love how bright and beautiful all the colors are! I would so much love to visit here someday!
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It’s fab isn’t it – when the buildings are all bright and colourful, even on agrey day it still seems happy and cheerful 🙂 x
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I just love all the colors! You can really feel the culture vibrancy and life through their art and architecture.
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Yeah, I totally agree x
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Oh wow this place it amazing! So much color and character ❤ I'd love to visit!
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Have you ever visited Puerto Rico before Candice? If not, I definitely recommend it x
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My father was born in Ponce. I must say you did a beautiful job at capturing it’s beauty.
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Oh really?! Have you ever been there yourself Cia? x
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Sadly I have not. I have family that still reside there that I have never had the chance to me. It has always been on the top of my bucket list.
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Well i hope you make it over to visit them one day 😊 it’s such a beautiful city, as you can see 😉
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