Over four days more than 1 million people are expected to visit Old San Juan for the San Sebastián Festival. With that amount of visitors, getting to the San Sebastian Festival needs a bit of planning. Luckily the organizers have had a couple of years to fine tune logistics and have developed a well planned, pretty smooth operation.
Your best arrival option- the special buses
Probably 90% of visitors get to the San Sebastian festival use the buses are set up to continually go from the Sagrado Corazón urban train station in Santurce and the Hiram Bithorn Stadium in Hato Rey to Old San Juan. This is the most efficient and fun way to get there and back. A dedicated lane is set up for these air conditioned school buses that lets them bypass traffic lights, traffic jams and more. They leave in convoys and enjoy a police escort all the way to Old San Juan. There’s usually a lot of enthusiasm on the trip so don’t be surprised if there’s music and singing all the way there. The drop off and pick up points in Old San Juan are on the north (arrival) and south (departure) of the Capitol building. A short walk gets you to Plaza Colón (10 minutes). Wheelchair accessible transportation is available
Bus Operating hours:
- Thursday 15: 2:00 p.m. – 2:00 a.m.
- Friday 16: 2:00 p.m. – 2:00 a.m.
- Saturday 17: 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 a.m.
- Sunday 18: 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 a.m.
Ticket sales at Sagrado Corazón and Hiram Bithorn departure points will end at 8:30 p.m. The last bus will depart Old San Juan at 2:00 a.m. Transportation cost is just $5.00. You’ll get a wristband to board going there and back. You can pay with cash, cards, ATH, and ATH Móvil.
Parking at Hiram Bithorn Stadium
This stadium has 3,000 spaces available from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. at a cost of $10.00 per vehicle. It fills up fast so get there early if you plan on taking a car. Sagrado Corazón station has no parking so it’s best to get there on the train if you can, or take a taxi, uber, lyft or have someone drop you off.
Sagrado Corazón station: https://goo.gl/maps/zbXjYEsQKkXmcGMLA
Hiram Bithorn Stadium: https://goo.gl/maps/nzHJSBSWtdwDsMF59
Take the Urban Train to Sagrado Corazón
The Urban Train will operate from 5:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. incoming to the Sagrado Corazón station, where you can board the special bus service. After 11:30 p.m., it will continue operating outbound toward Bayamón with stops at all system stations. Service will be free.
Get there by Ferry from Cataño
Another fun option to get to Old San Juan is taking the ferry from Cataño on the other side of the bay. A special schedule has been set up and there will be three vessels operating. In the morning and early afternoon lines should be light, but as the day progresses they’ll get longer. Cost is just $4.00 round trip.
Ferry Operating hours:
- Thursday 15: 5:30 a.m. – 1:00 a.m.
- Friday 16: 5:30 a.m. – 1:00 a.m.
- Saturday 17: 7:30 a.m. – 1:00 a.m.
- Sunday 18: 7:30 a.m. – 1:00 a.m.
Ferry Terminal: https://goo.gl/maps/aHW26oHNArYRnPby9
Uber and Lyft
If you use Uber and Lyft to get to the San Sebastian Festival you’re going to have to walk a bit. Uber will drop you off at the Escambrón Parking lot and Lyft will do the same across the street at the Muñoz River Park. It will take you about 30 minutes on foot to get to Old San Juan. Departure pick up is at the same locations.
Taxis
During the Festival taxis are allowed access to a special lane all the way to the Hacienda area next to the cruise ship piers on Old San Juan bay. From this point you can reach Old San Juan on foot in 15 minutes.
Driving to Old San Juan
Over the years the organizers have discouraged people from taking their car into Old San Juan. Once the limited parking lots are full they close off access to private vehicles, usually early afternoon. So, if you want to try your luck, remember the very early bird gets the parking spot.
Get there early
The best piece of advice we can give you to make sure you enjoy your experience is to get there early, particularly on the Saturday and Sunday, the most popular days.
