San Juan

The fact that a sizeable portion of visitors to Puerto Rico never manages to go beyond San Juan should tell you something about the capital's charms. Sprawled around a bay to the north of the country, it's undeniably one of the Caribbean's gems.

True, fast food joints and high-rise hotels have shot up in recent years, but the city also has miles of spotless beaches, charismatic nightlife and - easily its most treasured possession - the captivating, beautifully-preserved Spanish old quarter, hugged safe within chunky city walls on a finger of land sidling into the Atlantic.

The way to see Old San Juan is simply to wander the narrow cobbled streets and allow it to reveal itself. Among courtyards, plazas and pastel-coloured colonial creations, your major discoveries will include mammoth El Morro fort, Gothic-inspired Catedral San Juan and early 16th-century Iglesia de San José, but there are dozens more.

As night falls, stroll the bay-side promenade of Paseo de la Princesa before getting acquainted with some of the quarter's atmospheric bars and pubs.

The best beaches are at Condado and Isla Verde, which is also where you'll find the poshest boutiques, the flashiest nightlife, the most elegant restaurants, and the casinos.

But before you get sidetracked beyond redemption, it's definitely also worth venturing out. To the east of San Juan lies an otherworldly party-in-nature experience at Piñones State Forest; the lush El Yunque rainforest; and gorgeous Luquillo Beach. To the west is the vast, lunar-like cave network at Rio Camuy Cave Park. You can't lose.