Santo Domingo is the capital of the Dominican Republic and the oldest permanently inhabited European city in the Americas — founded in 1496 by Bartholomew Columbus (brother of Christopher) as La Nueva Isabela, renamed Santo Domingo in 1498, making it 526 years old and the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the Western Hemisphere. Santo Domingo (population 3.3 million metropolitan area) was the administrative capital of the Spanish Empire in the Americas for the first decades of colonisation — the Viceroyalty of New Spain was administered from here before the weight of colonial administration shifted to Mexico City; the first university in the Americas (Universidad de Santo Tomás de Aquino, founded 1538, now the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo); the first cathedral in the Americas (Catedral Primada de América, begun 1512, consecrated 1541); and the first stone fortress in the Americas (Fortaleza Ozama, 1502-1508) are all in Santo Domingo. The Zona Colonial (the historic colonial district of Santo Domingo, UNESCO World Heritage since 1990 — 10 square km of the oldest European urban fabric in the Americas, with over 300 colonial buildings from the 16th century, the cobblestone streets, the fortified walls and the imposing Spanish Renaissance and early Baroque architecture) is the primary tourist destination. Santo Domingo is simultaneously a vibrant, complex Caribbean capital with the Dominican merengue music (the national dance of the Dominican Republic, the fastest-tempo partner dance of the Caribbean, with its characteristic hip motion; invented in the Cibao valley north of the capital in the early 19th century), bachata (the heartbreak guitar genre from the rural Dominican Republic that has become one of the most popular Latin music genres globally), the cocina criolla dominicana (the distinctive Dominican cuisine with sancocho — the 7-meat stew — as the national dish), and the Presidente beer culture of the malecon.
The Catedral de Santa María la Menor (the Catedral Primada de América — the Primatial Cathedral of America; begun 1512, consecrated 1541, designed by the architect Luis de Moya and finished by Rodrigo de Liendo; the first cathedral built in the Americas and the first Primatial See in the New World) is the dominant monument of the Zona Colonial — a combination of Late Gothic and early Renaissance (Plateresque) styles; the bell tower was never completed (the story is that Christopher Columbus's tomb was inside until 1992 when his remains were moved to the Columbus Lighthouse memorial — though Spain disputes this; Seville claims the authentic Columbus remains); the ornate Gothic vaulting, the 14 chapels and the mahogany choir stalls.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Alcázar de Colón (the Palace of Diego Columbus, 1510-1514 — the residence of Diego Columbus, son of Christopher, and governor of the Spanish Indies; the two-story stone palace with 22 rooms facing the Río Ozama was the governmental seat of the Spanish Caribbean Empire; Diego and his wife María de Toledo (niece of the King of Aragon) held a court here that received every major figure of early colonial America; the palace is now a museum with period furnishings from the 16th century; the adjacent Plaza de España (the colonial square around which the palace, the old arsenal and the government buildings were arranged — the first planned colonial square in the Americas) is the social centre of the Zona Colonial.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideFortaleza Ozama (1502-1508 — the oldest fortress built by Europeans in the Americas, on the west bank of the Río Ozama where it meets the Caribbean; the Torre del Homenaje (the Tower of Homage, the 1502 keep — the oldest permanent European military structure in the Americas, and one of the few purely Gothic military towers in the New World) was built to defend the river entrance and served as a prison into the 20th century; the most famous prisoner: Sir Francis Drake was held here after his 1586 sack of Santo Domingo; the fortress is now a UNESCO monument and military museum with a panoramic view over the Ozama River.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideCalle Las Damas (the Street of the Ladies — the oldest paved street in the Americas, named for the ladies of María de Toledo's court who promenaded here in the 16th century; the street runs from the Alcázar de Colón north through the heart of the Zona Colonial past the Panteón Nacional (the former Jesuit church, now the mausoleum of Dominican national heroes), the Museum of the Dominian Houses, and the Casa del Cordón (1503 — the oldest surviving stone house in the Americas, with the cord of the Franciscan order carved over the door); the street is the finest colonial urban streetscape in the Caribbean.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideCalle El Conde (the main pedestrian street of the Zona Colonial — the social and commercial centre of Santo Domingo, closed to traffic) and the Dominican evening: sancocho (the seven-meat stew — the national dish of the Dominican Republic, with 7 different cuts of meat including chicken, pork, beef, goat and the parts no other dish uses, simmered with yuca, plantain, corn on the cob, auyama squash and yautía into a thick broth served with white rice and avocado; sancocho is always a Sunday and celebration dish — the most important meal in Dominican culture); the merengue and bachata bars of Avenida Miramar and the Zona Colonial.
The Faro a Colón (the Columbus Lighthouse, 1992 — built to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Columbus's 1492 arrival; a cross-shaped mausoleum 210 m long and 70 m wide, with a chapel containing the disputed tomb of Christopher Columbus (moved from the Cathedral in 1992; however, Seville Cathedral also claims authentic Columbus remains); when the lighthouse beams are activated (only on special occasions due to power costs), 157 searchlights project a cross into the sky visible from much of the Dominican Republic; the Pope John Paul II visited for the dedication; the lighthouse is surrounded by the Columbus Park and the adjacent Barrio Miramar.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideLos Tres Ojos (the Three Eyes — a system of three connected limestone caves with underground lakes, 8 km east of the Zona Colonial in the Parque Nacional Los Tres Ojos) is the most unusual natural attraction in Santo Domingo — the three water-filled sinkholes (the "eyes" of the title: the Lago de Aguas Saladas, the Lago de los Patos and the Lago de Aguas Sulfurosas) are connected by underground passages; visitors cross between caverns by small rowing boat on the underground lake; the blue-green water in the caverns, lit by skylight through the cave openings, the stalactites and the forest growing on the cave rims create one of the most unexpectedly beautiful natural environments near any Caribbean capital.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Malecón (the George Washington Avenue — the 9 km seafront promenade of Santo Domingo, stretching from the Port Authority to the Lido Hotel; the malecón is the social heart of Santo Domingo in the afternoon and evening: the palm trees, the Caribbean Sea, the cruise ship terminal, the luxury hotels and the street vendors selling piragua (shaved ice with fruit syrup), chimichurri sandwiches and cold Presidente beer; on Sunday afternoons the malecón is closed to traffic and becomes a promenade, cycling and roller-skating event; the Merengue Festival (the annual malecón merengue party in October, drawing 2 million people over a week) is the largest merengue event in the world.
La Atarazana (the old arsenal quarter adjacent to the Alcázar de Colón in the Zona Colonial — the 16th-century arsenal buildings now converted into restaurants and bars; the most atmospheric dining in the Zona Colonial, in 500-year-old stone buildings with 21st-century Caribbean kitchens); the chimichurri (not the Argentine sauce — the Dominican street sandwich: a thick roll filled with ground beef, tomato, onion, shredded cabbage and the Dominican mayonnaise/ketchup sauce, grilled on a flat-top; the definitive Dominican street food); and the mofongo dominicano (mashed green plantain with garlic and pork crackling — the Dominican version distinct from the Puerto Rican mofongo, often served with a broth or shrimp on top).
Punta Cana (280 km east of Santo Domingo by car or 45 min by domestic flight — the Caribbean's most-visited beach destination: 50 km of white sand and turquoise water on the easternmost tip of Hispaniola; the Bávaro beach strip has 70+ all-inclusive resorts (the largest concentration of all-inclusive hotels in the Caribbean) and the Hoyo Azul cenote (a 15 m deep circular cenote of perfect turquoise water at the Scape Park eco-adventure complex); for day-trippers from Santo Domingo, the Bayahibe area (150 km east, 2h drive) is the access point for the Isla Saona trip.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideIsla Saona (the largest island of the Parque Nacional del Este, accessible by speedboat from Bayahibe, 30 min — a tropical island of 110 km² at the southeastern tip of Hispaniola, partially within the Parque Nacional del Este; Christopher Columbus recorded landing here on his second voyage in 1494 and named it after his companion Nicolás de Ovando's hometown of Jávea in Spain; the island has no permanent residents, only park rangers; the beaches (Playa el Palmilla, Playa de los Pinos) are among the finest in the Caribbean; the natural swimming pool with starfish (the beach where starfish are visible in the shallow sandbar water is the standard highlight of the Saona trip).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Parque Nacional del Este (780 km² of protected land and sea on the southeastern Dominican Republic coast, including Isla Saona and the adjacent coral reef) has the finest coral reef ecosystem on the southern Dominican coast — the reef snorkelling (visibility 15-25 m, staghorn coral, brain coral, parrotfish, barracuda, the occasional Caribbean reef shark and the manatee (West Indian manatee, an endangered species with a small population in the Parque Nacional del Este lagoons, occasionally visible from the Saona boat route); the marine protected area status since 1975 means the reef is in relatively good condition compared to unprotected Caribbean reefs.
The return to Santo Domingo and the evening — the Museo del Amber Dominicano (the Dominican Republic is one of the world's two primary sources of amber (the other is the Baltic: the Dominican Republic and Mexico produce transparent amber often with preserved insects inside — the Dominican amber from the Cordillera Septentrional mountains north of Santiago is the most biologically interesting, with the finest inclusions); the Zona Colonial amber and larimar shops; then the evening merengue and bachata at a Zona Colonial bar — the live music starting at 9pm with the best professional bands is the finest Caribbean dance music experience available.