787Map

The best museums in Puerto Rico

Ordered by every profile at once · 5 sights

Puerto Rico's museums range from two of the great art collections of the Caribbean, in Ponce and San Juan, to small museums of local history and historic houses. They are a good plan for a rainy day or the hottest hours, and a way to see the island beyond the coast.

This ranking orders them by every profile of places of interest at once: significance, appeal, access, learning, peace and comfort. Opening days vary and many close one or two days a week: check each museum's website before you go.

See them on the map
54321
  1. 1

    Museo de Arte de Ponce

    92/100
    Museum · Ponce · South coastNot verified: Scores estimated from public sources, pending an on-site check: they may change.

    One of the finest art museums in the Caribbean, founded by Luis A. Ferré, in a 1965 building by Edward Durell Stone with hexagonal galleries. Its European collection includes Flaming June, by Frederic Leighton.

    • Significance
    • Appeal
    • Learning
  2. 2

    Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico

    82/100
    Museum · San Juan · San Juan metroNot verified: Scores estimated from public sources, pending an on-site check: they may change.

    The largest art museum of the island, opened in 2000 in the former Municipal Hospital of Santurce: Puerto Rican art from the 17th century to today, from Campeche and Oller to contemporary artists, and a sculpture garden.

    • Significance
    • Appeal
    • Learning
  3. 3

    Casa Cautiño

    75/100
    Museum · Guayama · South coastNot verified: Scores estimated from public sources, pending an on-site check: they may change.

    A Creole house from 1887 on the plaza of Guayama, kept with its period furniture as a museum of how a wealthy family of the 19th century lived.

    • Significance
    • Appeal
    • Learning
  4. 4

    Museo de las Américas

    72/100
    Museum · San Juan · San Juan metroNot verified: Scores estimated from public sources, pending an on-site check: they may change.

    A museum of the popular arts and peoples of the Americas (Taíno, African heritage, crafts) inside the Cuartel de Ballajá, the monumental Spanish barracks finished in the 1860s next to El Morro.

    • Significance
    • Appeal
    • Learning
  5. 5

    Museo del Cemí

    70/100
    Museum · Jayuya · Central mountainsNot verified: Scores estimated from public sources, pending an on-site check: they may change.

    A small museum in Jayuya shaped like a giant cemí, the three-pointed Taíno idol, with indigenous artifacts. Next to it stands the Casa Canales.

    • Significance
    • Appeal
    • Learning

How this ranking is made

Every place has a score from 1 to 5 for each criterion, following a public rubric, and the score out of 100 combines them with the weights of the profile. Most scores are estimates from public sources; places marked “Verified” have been checked in person.

Read the methodology