A Good Walk: Ponce Centro
Start on the tree-lined Plaza de las Delicias (you'll find parking nearby on Calle Marina, Calle Isabel, and Calle Reina). Dominating it is the Catedral Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, dating from 1835. Across the street is Casa Armstrong-Poventud, home of the Institute of Culture's Ponce branch. Leaving Armstrong-Poventud, cross back to the plaza, circle south by the Alcaldía, and continue to the plaza's east side to visit the red-and-black-striped fire station, Parque de Bombas.
From the intersection of Calles Marina and Cristina, take Calle Cristina a block east to one of the city's first restoration projects, Teatro La Perla, at the corner of Calles Cristina and Mayor. One block north of the theater, at Calles Mayor and Isabel, is a former home that's now the Museo de la Historia de Ponce. A block east, at the corner of Calles Salud and Isabel, is the Museo de la Música Puertorriqueña. Four blocks west (you'll go by Plaza de las Delicias again; Calle Isabel will turn into Calle Reina) is the Casa Wiechers-Villaronga, a 1911 architectural masterpiece that's home to the Museo de la Arquitectura Ponceña. For more early-20th-century architecture, continue west on Calle Reina, where you'll see examples of casas criollas, wooden homes with spacious front balconies that were popular in the Caribbean during the early 1900s.
Timing
Although it's possible to see Ponce Centro in a single morning or afternoon, it's best to devote a full day and evening. Explore the streets and museums during daylight, and then head to the plaza at night, when the lion fountain and streetlamps are illuminated and townspeople are out on a stroll. With police officers on nearly every corner, this area is very safe to explore. Two of the city's most popular museums—Museo de la Arquitectura Ponceña and the Museo de la Música Puertorriqueña—are not air-conditioned, so they close early when the weather is hot. If you want to see these sites, make sure to arrive before 11 am. Also note, most of the museums in Ponce are closed Monday and Tuesday.
