Lares
Lares is a municipality and town of Puerto Rico located in the western mountainous Cordillera Central region of the island. The town is most popularly known for the Grito de Lares, a failed 1868 uprising against the Spanish colonial rule which has become a landmark of Puerto Rico's history.
Understand
Lares is one of the municipalities in "La Montaña", the mountain. Its pueblo with the municipal buildings, a Roman Catholic church, and a main recreational plaza is a must-see. Agricultural tourism is beginning to take shape and there are many coffee farms and restored haciendas. Hacienda Lealtad is a restored hacienda where slaves and day laborers once labored in picking and processing coffee. Lares is one of the areas where a group of laborers fought Spanish rule (El Grito de Lares) and for that may be thought of as the birthplace of Puerto Rican nationalism. Lares is also where Heladería Lares is located. Founded in 1968, it is a famous ice-cream shop with the most unusual flavors for ice-cream: corn, avocado, and even rice and beans.
Get in
- San Juan: Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport
- Aguadilla: Rafael Hernández Airport
- Ponce: Mercedita Airport
From San Juan, take PR-22 West to PR-129 for a trip that is a little over 2 hours long.
From Aguadilla, there are three separate routes available.
From Ponce, take PR-10 to PR-135 to PR-129 for a ride that is about an hour and 10 minutes long.
Get around
A word of caution: if driving you are sharing the road with trucks, and locals. The mountain roads have steep descents and ascents, hairpin turns, and steep cliff drops are not always protected by railing. The roads may look like one-lane highways but are made to handle two-lane traffic.
See
- 1 Lares Pueblo (downtown Lares). See the historic Roman Catholic church, Spanish-style recreational plaza, and the municipal buildings surrounded by streets and shops.
You can drive around the pueblo or park your car and walk around the square and into the plaza. The Spanish law, which regulated life in Puerto Rico in the early 19th century, stated the plaza's purpose was for celebrations and festivities.
- 2 Plaza de la Revolución. A famous hours-long battle took place on September 23, 1868 when a group of residents fought Spanish rulers. Walk in the Plaza de la Revolución and take a picture with the monument that celebrates El Grito de Lares.
- 3 Mirador Mariana Bracetti (Mariana Bracetti Lookout), PR-111 (Ave. Los Patriotas) (Coming from the north coast, take PR-2 towards Lares, then take PR-129 to PR-111 (Avenida Los Patriotas). At the intersection with the large, colorful letters that spell L-A-R-E-S take a right turn onto the road to the lookout.), ☏ +1 939-308-0799.
Do
- 1 Hacienda Lealtad, ☏ +1 787-897-8181. It was once one of the largest coffee plantations on the western side of the island. It is now a restored private estate / museum and a venue for special functions. Tours are available by reservation only.
Buy
- 1 Heladería El Grito, 6 Cll Vilella, Barrio Pueblo, ☏ +1 787-608-0274. M-Th 8AM-8PM, F-Su 8AM-9PM. Souvenires are available at this ice-cream shop. It is steps away from the original Heladería Lares, with its unusual ice-cream flavors, and directly in front of Plaza de la Revolución. Interesing ice-cream flavors are available and the corn-flavored ice-cream is a favorite.
Eat
- 1 El Cepo Restaurante Mirador, Carretera 436, km 2.2, Barrio Espino, ☏ +1 939-235-6863, info@elceporest.com. Th-Su noon-10PM. Popular restaurant with an extensive menu including octopus salad, churrasco, ribeye, shrimp, hamburgers, and chicken. Reservations are available but not needed.
- 2 Heladería Lares, 10 Cll Vilella, Barrio Pueblo, ☏ +1 787-378-4288. Ice cream parlor. Find rice and beans, garlic, avocado and corn flavored-ice cream, along with regular ice-cream flavors, of course. There are two such shops on the same street, but this one is the original, founded by Salvador Barreto Soto in 1968.
- 3 Piragua, Lares Pueblo. Piragua is a refreshing shave ice flavored with fruit syrup. If you're lucky, you can find a Piragua seller pushing his colorful cart with a variety of flavors, before he packs up for the day.
Drink
Sleep
- 1 Hotel Libertad, 22 C. Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos, ☏ +1 787-487-7815, hotellibertad42@gmail.com. Local hotel in the urban zone.
- 2 Hacienda Lealtad, ☏ +1 787-897-8181. Restored coffee plantation, private estate, museum, AirBnb, and a venue for special functions. Tours are available by reservation only. AirBnb reservations are available by "superhost" Jan.