The Taínos believed the god of happiness hung out on El Yunque, which is no doubt why hiking through the rainforest to this 1065m (3500ft) peak leaves travelers basking in the glow of well being, personal achievement, sore muscles and callused feet. The mountain is part of the Luquillo range and gives its name to the surrounding forest reserve, otherwise ostentatiously named the Caribbean National Forest. Tourist authorities are fond of promoting the reserve as the only tropical forest in the US national park system.There are more than 400 tree and fern species in the 11,200 ha (28,000 acre) reserve, most of them growing like crazy in the hothouse conditions created when sopping clouds blown in by the Atlantic winds dump their load on the Luquillo range. There are 13 well-maintained hiking trails in the reserve, ranging from leisurely 15-minute prances along sealed paths to a trek to the peak of El Yunque. You might not see the Taíno spirit up top, but on a clear day you may bag an eyeful of the Virgin Islands.If you stretch your legs in the rainforest, you'll hear the sing-song of the coquí frog (Puerto Rico's national emblem), see miniature orchids, get to play in waterfalls and maybe even glimpse the rare Puerto Rican parrot. El Yunque is less than an hour drive from San Juan, and there's road access to the reserve.Luquillo Beach, not far from the El Yunque turnoff, is a popular seaside outing. The water is millpond flat, making it ideal for children, and though the slew of food and souvenir stalls mean this is no getaway, Luqillo's wide stretch of sand is still a picturesque picnic and dip spot.

Nearly half a billion dollars have been spent preserving the colonial core of Puerto Rico's second city, and it's not only architecture buffs who declare the money well spent. The heart of Ponce dates from the late 17th century and has been declared a national treasure. It consists of plazas and churches and highly decorative colonial homes, some glorious fountains and what may well be the funkiest fire station in the world. One of the reasons Ponce is so easy on the eye is that an early city regulation required that street corners be chamfered (curved), making it easier for carriages to pass and to carry wooden houses from one site to another.Ponce is a fraction inland on the central southern coast, and the locals are a breed apart from their brash northern cousins. They are justifiably proud of their civic heritage, the centerpiece of which is the stately Cathedral of our Lady of Guadeloupe that looms over the Plaza Las Delicias. The city's reputation as a center of cultural excellence comes in the modern form of the Ponce Museum of Art, the best in the Caribbean, and is enhanced by the Museum of the History of Ponce and the Puerto Rican Music Museum. If you're a sucker for a vista, the plexiglass Cruceta el Vigia just north of the center looks over Ponce to the sea. Eagle eyes might be able to pick out La Guancha, Ponce's boardwalk and beach area just south of the city. The swimming isn't great, but the social scene is buzzing.The excellent Tibes Indian Ceremonial Center, a reconstructed Arawak village on an Amerindian archaeological site is about 15 minutes north of the town center. The 13 ha (32 acre) site was discovered in 1975 after hurricane rains uncovered pottery and only a small portion has so far been excavated. Access to the site is by guided tour only - it's a very interesting walk through a botanic garden, a reconstructed Arawak village, sporting grounds and the archaeological site where digging continues. The museum, though small, is well-presented and informative.

This jagged karst region in the northeast of Puerto Rico is littered with sinkholes and surreal limestone formations so you don't have to have completed Geography 101 to guess that this is prime spelunking territory. Over 200 caves have been discovered in the region, some capable of swallowing skyscrapers, and the Camuy River is one of the largest subterranean rivers in the world.Experienced cavers can get dirty and wet by climbing, scrambling, abseiling and swimming through the underground river system, but you have to know the difference between grappling and rappelling to contemplate entering this dangerous terrain. Mere mortals can get an antiseptic version of these thrills by riding a trolley-tram into a sinkhole and accessing Cueva Clara, which is graced with both stalagtites 'n' mites. From the safety of viewing platforms, you can glimpse the Camuy River as it flows past the 120m (400ft) deep Tres Pueblos Sinkhole.

This picturesque town set in the southwestern foothills of the Cordillera Central looks like it was lifted lock stock and barrel from Mediterranean Spain. It's Puerto Rico's oldest settlement outside San Juan, and it wears its flaky plaster heritage with charm and aplomb. There's nothing more taxing to do here than take a genteel stroll through the town's two plazas, admire the courtly townhouses graced with gingerbread trim and poke your nose in the Church of Porta Coeli ('Gate of Heaven'). The latter was built by Dominican monks in 1606, and its august career includes a stint in the 19th century as the town jail.San Germán is close to Phosphorescent Bay, where you can prove you're inhabiting the body electric, and Boquerón Beach, one of Puerto Rico's most gorgeous strands.

The capital of Puerto Rico is a spirited modern metropolis with high-rise beach strips, a major commercial center and a justly famous historic colonial core. It dates from the early 16th century, making it the second-oldest city in the Americas (after granddaddy Cuzco, Peru). Today it's the engine of the island's economic and political life and the cultural beachhead for US influence in the Caribbean.For an old timer, San Juan can seem pretty spry - nothing like strips of high-rise hotels and heaps of hardbodies littered about the beaches to make a town look young. Even Old San Juan seems strangely fresh and so well-preserved given that it's getting on 500 years old. Many Caribbean adventurers never make it past San Juan: there's a lot to be said for being able to lay a towel down on an unmistakably white Caribbean beach while having the culture and quaintness of a historic city and the convenience of a modern metropolis just minutes away. But if daytripping appeals to you, the capital also makes a good base from which to explore the compact island.