In the course of running around the Old San Juan area in the rain, mr_chelledun and I popped into Fuerte San Cristobal. We had already finished with Fuerte de San Felipe del Morro (El Morro), which I consider to be the island’s must-see fort. Final verdict? San Cristobal has some interesting displays to offer, but if you think a fort is a fort is a fort and wish to limit yourself to one such site, see El Morro instead.

Know Before You Go
Along with El Morro and various portions of the Old San Juan city walls, San Cristobal falls under the control of the United States National Park Service. It sits a short walk from the cruise ship harbor, making it a common choice for massive groups to visit on shore excursions. In other words – arrive early. The fort is open from 9:00 a.m. to either 5:00 or 6:00 p.m., depending on the time of year.

A combined ticket to San Cristobal and El Morro costs $5.00, quite a deal in the Caribbean world of overpriced tourist attractions. Individually each fort costs $3.00. Children fifteen and under are free. Do NOT fall into the trap of visiting this fort via a cruise ship excursion at a 900% mark up – it is so easy to get to and explore on your own!

Exploring San Cristobal
San Cristobal does not seem particularly impressive upon first glance. It had random cars parked in front of it the day we visited and lacked the awe factor of El Morro, which is set apart from the rest of the town. I never did get a decent picture of the front of San Cristobal. Upon entering, though, we began to get a better sense of history.

San Cristobal was, we learned, the largest fort built by the Spanish to protect their “New World” colonies. It has an interesting history of military action and construction enhancements spanning from 1519 to 1949 when it was finally declared a historic site. In fact, San Cristobal was used as an American military base as recently as WWII. Today, visitors to the fort can climb around it and explore its caverns at will. We saw the chapel, sentry box, and Plaza De Armas where day to day life was lived within the fort’s walls. Huge cannons can still be seen in the plaza. The structure is large and allows for lots of climbing around and weaving in and out of small rooms. Keep an eye on your kids, provided that you like them.

The fort had quite a few displays set up during our visit. Various military uniforms could be viewed through glass cases. An interactive map gave kids some buttons to work, although admittedly not all the buttons worked. Some general history display material was identical to that seen at El Morro. We learned through the displays that the fort is currently under renovation to restore it to its original appearance. It seemed to be getting a fresh coat of paint, lightening up the overall appearance of the fort. I’m not sure how I feel about this. I kind of like my forts dingy, aged, and dripping with historical significance, personally. I wish the park service would make only repairs necessary for visitor safety and to keep the fort from falling down and leave the rest to nature. The new look seems a bit too sanitized for such a historical place.

Facilities
One positive of the extensive fort rehab is the shockingly clean and modern restroom facilities. I almost cried for joy, as we had been unsuccessfully toilet searching for several hours. A small gift shop sells the essential souvenirs including stuffed monkeys, Puerto Rican candy guaranteed to tear your crowns out, and San Cristobal postcards. We found the fort staff to be friendly and helpful. A female employee gave us restaurant recommendations and everyone was generally smiley.

Overall…
San Cristobal is a very nice site. I'm glad we visited during our two days in San Juan. Despite the many interesting events that have occurred at the fort, though, I didn’t feel a real sense of history while I was there. Maybe this can be blamed on the extremely nice and modern bathrooms. I did get some good photos and enjoyed my time at the fort, so I do recommend a stop in at San Cristobal. If you are crunched for time, though, pay a visit to El Morro instead.

*Other Sites to See...
Old San Juan
El Morro

Recommended: Yes

Best Time to Travel Here: Dec - Feb