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.

Go next

 * Aguadilla
 * San Sebastián