Dominican Republic

Santo Domingo

First city of the New World and merengue. Here is when to go, what a day costs on site and what to see, then Okela composes your itinerary hour by hour.

When to visit Santo Domingo

Best months: January, February, March, April and December.

What to see in Santo Domingo

1. Zona Colonial (Calle Las Damas, Cathédrale)
   The cathedral, regarded as the oldest in the Americas, faces the parque Colón in a district where you walk through the earliest years of Spanish colonization.
2. Alcázar de Colón
   This is the first fortified European residence in the Americas, built for Diego Colón, son of Christopher Columbus, above the Ozama River.
3. Malecón
   The Malecón is the broad avenue running along the Caribbean Sea in Santo Domingo, and it is where the city comes to breathe.
4. Los Tres Ojos
   A large open-air limestone cave in Santo Domingo Este, where you walk down to clear lagoons surrounded by greenery.
5. Jardin botanique national
   This large green space in the north of the city takes you away from the noise of Santo Domingo into shaded paths and plant collections from the Caribbean and beyond.
6. Mercado Modelo
   This large covered market on the edge of the colonial zone gathers Dominican crafts and products under one roof.
7. Faro a Colón
   This vast cross-shaped monument is home to the mausoleum of Christopher Columbus.
8. Plage de Boca Chica (excursion)
   East of Santo Domingo, this is the beach where people from the capital go to swim at the weekend.

A sample itinerary for Santo Domingo, three days

Composed by Okela from the places in its database, with times. Yours takes your dates, pace and group into account.

Budget

Expect about €83 per person per day on site (accommodation, meals, transport and visits), depending on the comfort you choose. Okela shows the price of every step of your itinerary.

More destinations: Dominican Republic

Photo: Caribeanvybz, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.