San Juan Expensive
Mofongo is the dish to seek out. Skip the cruise-terminal restaurants and eat in Santurce, where La Placita turns into an open-air party on Thursday and Friday nights.
Budget travel in Puerto Rico
What a visitor's money does in Puerto Rico: every guide rated from very cheap to very expensive, cheapest first, then the things that cost travellers money without buying anything — the ATM, the taxi, the SIM.
Expensive average across 1 guide · 5 is very cheap
Money
US Dollar (USD) · 1 EUR = 1.15 USD · 1 GBP = 1.34 USD
Puerto Rico is a US territory and uses the dollar, so no exchange is needed from the US. Tipping follows US convention at 18-20%, and prices exclude sales tax.
ATMs
Avoid: standalone ATMs in Condado and Old San Juan bars
Use: Banco Popular, FirstBank, Oriental Bank
Puerto Rico uses the US dollar, so this is a surcharge problem rather than an exchange one — bar machines charge $5 or more.
Getting around
A short ride in San Juan: $8–16 across town — middling
From the airport: San Juan airport to Condado $12–20, or a fixed $20 by taxi
Cheaper than the white taxis, which run on fixed zone rates from the airport.
City by city, cheapest first
The cost rating is this site's own, for a visitor, from the guides' authors and the corrections readers send in. The general rules — the conversion prompt, shoulder season, the airport taxi — are in budget travel tips.
