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Capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic
Photo: Patrick Flament, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Santo Domingo is the capital of the Dominican Republic, the oldest European city in the Americas, and the most developed city on the island of Hispaniola. The old city is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Elsewhere in the Dominican Republic, which is named after Santo Domingo, it's more common to just call this city "the capital" than to call it by its name.
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Santo Domingo was the first major European settlement in the New World. Christopher Columbus walked these streets! Check out the many examples of 15th and 16th century architecture in the Colonial Zone. Don't miss the Ozama Fort (built within Columbus's lifetime), the Alcazar de Colon, and the Cathedral, all dating to the early 1500s. You can also check beautiful churches and convents, such as the Iglesia Regina Angelorum and the Convento de los Dominicos. Don't miss the Panteon Nacional, where the national heroes are buried, in the Calle Las Damas, the New World's first (European) street! Also, walk up the Calle del Conde, a very old pedestrian shop-lined street that used to be the commercial heart of the city. This street leads to the Puerta del Conde, where the Dominican Republic proclaimed its independence from Haiti, and the Parque Independencia, where the country's founding fathers' remains are kept at the Altar de la Patria. On Sunday evenings, check out the Ruinas de San Francisco for live bands playing Merengue, Bachata, Salsa and Son, in a wonderful weekly show where both locals and tourists dance, drink and enjoy themselves. This would be an unforgettable experience! Also check out La Atarazana street after dark for a variety of romantic outdoor cafes with a spectacular view of the Alcazar and bay area. One such brasserie, Pat E Palo, has operated uninterrupted since 1505. Check out the house where Ponce DeLeon lived before he embarked upon his quest for the fountain of youth and ended up discovering Florida.
An important landmark because it is the first cathedral of the Americas. Construction began in 1514, and was finished in 1540.
Ozama Fortress
The oldest formal military construction still standing in the Americas. Cost of entrance is RD$200 per person and about RD$200 for a guide to take you. The guide is recommended because he will explain much of the historical background. The fortress itself is not very large, but within the perimeter you will find a large open area with a park and an exhibition of military vehicles and weapons, most of them relatively modern.
George Washington Avenue
This waterfront boulevard is home to several huge hotel/casino complexes and dozens of small restaurants, clubs and cafes. Go there to people watch, take a romantic carriage ride or just have a few beers. Site of many festivals and concerts throughout the year. Parallel to the Malecon you will find Avenida Independencia, a tree-lined street full of shops, bed and breakfasts and affordable restaurants with a nice mix of locals and tourists. For a unique dining experience check out Adrian Tropical, a traditional Dominican restaurant literally built on the water, then visit San Gil, the ruins of a colonial fort. The Malecon Center, located on the far end of the Malecon, is a new and still under occupied high-end shopping center/hotel/condo complex with a Botero sculpture out front that reportedly cost US$1 million.
This amazing complex is home to the National Theater and five museums, ranging from the dilapidated and mundane, to the crisp, modern Museo de Arte Moderno (Museum of Modern Art), the largest in the Caribbean and home to exhibits by artists from Jamaica, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and of course, the Dominican Republic. Other museums include the Museo de Historia Natural (Museum of Natural History), Museo del Hombre Dominicano (Museum of the Dominican Man) and Museo de Historia y Geografía (Museum of History and Geography). The entrance to the museums will cost RD$5-60 each (Sept 2017). If want a nice beautiful garden to read or talk this is your place also.
Find your way to the Parque Mirador Sur, an impressive park overlooking the coast. It is closed for cars on weekdays between 05:00 and 08:00, and on Sundays, enabling it to be filled with families playing with their children and exercising. Bike rentals are at your disposal. Also, you can visit the Botanical Garden, a vast, beautiful and lush park situated near one of Santo Domingo's most exclusive neighborhoods. There you can experience different ecosystems from a rainforest to a Japanese garden.
Referred to as Santo Domingo Oriental, this separate municipality is not very tourist-friendly. Fortunately, most of its attractions are very close to the Colonial Zone and easy to get to. Check out Los Tres Ojos, or Three Eyes, a series of open-roof caverns and underground lakes for the whole family to explore (with a local this part of Santo Domingo is the most poverty stricken and can be dangerous!). Check out the Santo Domingo Aquarium, a small but impressive showcase of the local aquatic life. If you're looking for some shopping, you can go to the Megacentro, Santo Domingo's largest shopping mall.
Columbus Lighthouse
A huge lighthouse and monument inaugurated in 1992, in time for the 500th anniversary of Columbus' first voyage to the Americas. It doubles as a museum. Its chambers display indigenous artifacts from around the Americas. According to the Dominican authorities, remains of Christopher Columbus are sheltered at the lighthouse. However, Spanish authorities have proved through DNA tests that the remains in the Cathedral of Seville are the real remains of Columbus.
Reloj de Sol
Most impressive and beautiful sight, built in 1753. It is one of the oldest sundials in the Americas.
If you want to see the cosmopolitan, upscale side of Santo Domingo, head to the Piantini and Naco neighborhoods. Streets like Gustavo Mejía Ricart and major avenues like Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill are lined with high end boutiques, shopping plazas, expensive cafes and restaurants offering a huge variety of international cuisines and just about anything money can buy, from cigar shops to Ferrari and Bentley dealerships. The Holiday Inn Hotel has opened in this area, which is very likely to bring much more tourism into what is the actual "downtown" of Santo Domingo. Don't miss Acropolis Center, an ultra-modern shopping center/office building where you will find everything from TGI Friday's to Prada. Just opened is Blue Mall, which has the most expensive shops in the city from Louis Vuitton, Ferragamo, Cartier, Tous & L'Occitane to more casuals like Zara and Adidas. Also just opened is Novo-centro which opened in a glass tower which was going to be a bank, but turned into a 2-story shopping center featuring a Fine Arts Cinema and some high end restaurants and gelaterias. Further away you can find Bella Vista Mall and Diamond Mall, two other big shopping malls in Santo Domingo. If you're looking for more open-air plazas lined with smaller boutiques, you should check out Plaza Andalucia. For bowling, you can go to the Plaza Bolera, which has had a face-lift. If you're in this area in the early afternoon, you should check out trendy cafes, restaurants, nightclubs, and bars.
Head of state location for the Dominican Republic. No entry, but the structure is very grandiose and warm-feeling with its orange hue.
Museo Alcázar de Colón
Visit this stunning villa, built in 1510 and retaining period furnishings and other items owned by Governor Diego Colón, first-born son of Christopher Columbus. As of March 2025, it's undergoing renovations.
Museo Naval de las Atarazanas
Located across the plaza from the Alcazar de Colon on Calle Atarazana, the oldest street in the Western Hemisphere.
Museo de las Casas Reales
Another great museum featuring collections depicting life in 16th-century Santo Domingo. It is walking distance from the Alcazar de Colon and the Naval Museum. In September 2025, under renovation
An impressive collection of amber stones.
Museo del Ron Dominicano
This museum holds all the history of rum making in Dominican Republic. In the front of the museum you will find all the Dominican rum for sale at reasonable prices. There is also a very nice bar inside where you can enjoy a nice drink of rum or any other drink you like. In the after hours it turns into a bar (read below).
Museo Memorial de la Resistencia Dominicana (Memorial Museum of the Dominican Resistance) presents an ample presentation of 20th-century history of the country, and the ordeals endured under the Trujillo regime.
Might be kind of cheesy, but it's almost like a living history museum of the DR's past. A collection of artifacts and writings regarding the Dominican Republic's founding father, Juan Pablo Duarte.
Museo del Hombre Dominicano
Museo de Arte Moderno
Museo Nacional de Historia y Geografia
As of April 202, it is closed for renovations.
Parque Mirador Sur
Parque Enriquillo
Parque Colón
This park is most popular among locals and visitors alike. It is a beautiful plaza which surrounds a monument of Columbus to which the park is named after. It is visited by people who would like to relax, families who come to enjoy the park with the kids and couples who enjoy the scenery and its wonderful restaurants. Because the park is very popular you will find plenty of vendors selling CDs of local music, hand made trinkets, rosaries and food. You will also find many tour guides hanging around ready to give anyone who wishes a guided tour of the cathedral and the colonial zone at a price. Taxis ready to take you anywhere will also be hanging around the park. A typical taxi fare within the city will rarely exceed RD$200, as of January 2012.
Parque Independencia
A cityfront coastal park running along the sea side of the busy street of Ave. George Washington. It is a nice and relaxing place for a walk. Along the road you can enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Caribbean sea, people hanging, and if you are by the Colonial Zone small kiosks selling goods and restaurants. There are many benches where you can sit and admire the view, from San Gil Fort to Plaza Juan Baron and Plaza Güibia.
Parque Zoológico Nacional Arq. Manuel Valverde Podestá
A cityfront coastal park running along the sea side of the busy street of Ave. George Washington. It is a nice and relaxing place for a walk. Along the road you can enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Caribbean sea, people hanging, and if you are by the Colonial Zone small kiosks selling goods and restaurants. There are many benches where you can sit and admire the view.
Jardín Botánico Dr. Rafael Ma. Moscoso
An amazing botanical garden, well kept and you can easily spend a few hours strolling around. There is also a Japanese garden and several pavillon dedicated to specific plant types.
Has some little idiosyncrasies like miniature houses and karst type scenery, but mostly just an urban greenspace.
If you want to try making chocolate or bar soap, this is a place for that, in addition to tours of a confectionary and buying sweet stuff.
Another aquarium, but all within the confines of a shopping mall (more gimmicky perhaps than the other one listed).
These beaches are in the community of Boca Chica, the city's premier beach destination and also quite a party zone. Also has a casino that used to be a famous hotel (the Hotel Hamaca) set up by Rafael Trujillo.
A unique, quality and "affordable" dining experience. There are three restaurants in the city, the coolest one is literally built on the water in the Malecon. Best known for its "Mofongo" dish. This plate is made out of mashed plantains.
A nice club with House music, where some well known DJs are invited. Students love this spot because of its spacious dance floor and popularity. It may be a bit costly than the other bars/clubs, make sure to call for entrance fee ahead of time.
Great rock music, nice decor, adult crowd. Sanchez #201.
The decor is definitely the best in the Colonial Zone highly selected electronic music, frequented by artists and publicists.
The daytime museum turns into a very cozy bar, offering a wide range of Caribbean rums to taste, as well as some of the best rum based cocktails in the city. Nice lounge music, beautiful patio.
Hostel exists within 17th-century UNESCO-listed heritage building and has courtyard, garden, bathtub-size outdoor pool, billiard table, games, lockers, and free breakfast. Plus a bar on site to get jolly on some rum before you listen to other hostel guests creak in their bunks all night.
Represents a chance to relive the experience of staying in a Spanish castle. Also has an outdoor pool and some nibbles for breakfast.
Suites in an otherwise fairly basic but comfortable complex. Have a coffee on the rooftop terrace.
This one really evokes the Spanish colonial feel both inside and outside as it sits beside the cathedral and plaza. Nice wood furnishings and restaurant and charm.
Excellent for the business traveller. Located in the center of the city, it offers a business center and wifi connection. Restaurant with 24-hour room service. There is a very nice pool/bar on the rooftop which offers a 360-degree view of the city.
Excellent accommodations in a former nunnery! Wrought iron beds, old world charm, and central to the colonial district.
Very chic and sleek, looks like a piece of slate. Has a rooftop pool and paid breakfast buffet option, plus restaurant and gym.
Stylish boutique hotel in the heart of Santo Domingo. It has an outdoor concept and combines rustic Dominican charm with modern touches. Amenities consist of an informal restaurant offering open-air dining, plus a low-key rooftop bar and terrace with sunloungers that provides stunning views of the city. There's also a rooftop hot tub.
George Washington Avenue, #500
Located near El Conde (shopping district), historic colonial buildings, and restaurants. Also across the street from the malecon (which is long sidewalk and sitting area in front of ocean).
Near the business district, conveniently located to the US Embassy and the US Consulate, ideal for business travellers. Comfortable rooms equipped with free wireless internet.
Big concrete complex on the malecon, with a pool and lots of palm trees. Restaurant/bar/breakfast buffet (extra charge).
Here's a place to splurge if you want to feel like an integral part of the colonial zone. It gives off that vibe being as it is a restored 16th-century building right in the thick of things. Lobby bar, restaurant, breakfast (extra), outdoor pool, walking distance to Ozama Fort and such.
Hilton brand brings out its big guns here with this glassy skyscraper punctuating the Santo Domingo cosmopolitan skyline area. It has a nice infinity pool about 1/3 of the way up, although the surroundings might make you wish you were looking at the hotel instead. Also features a free breakfast which is a plus. Has a gym too.
Nice formal-looking hotel tower here, interiors and individual rooms have a state of class as well. Has gym and upscale restaurant, and you can upgrade to have access to a club lounge with a breakfast. But the best part of the hotel is probably the elongated infinity pool.
This is like the golden goose in the Santo Domingo upscale commercial district. It is attached to the Blue Mall and has an infinity pool and rooftop restaurant/bar along with other Marriott-type luxuries. One of the glassiest places in town.
Like a micro-apartment with a garden and kitchenette. Bring earplugs to drown out the blaring music from the club next door.
Highrise complex with 1-3 bedroom apartments with patios and a pool.
Gruen Projects exhibits and promotes the work of Dominican artists, such as Hector Ledesma, Miguel Pineda, Leonardo Sanz, Joaquin Rosario, and Joel Gonell.
Condominio Centro Comercial Acropolis
Large mall with cinema, kid's amusement park, trampoline park, and indoor aquarium.
By ferry
There is ferry service to and from Mayaguez as well as San Juan, Puerto Rico. It costs around US$200 roundtrip and the overnight journey last 12 hours.
By cruise ship
Sansouci is a state-of-the-art terminal that holds up to 3800 passengers and luggage.
By bus
Santo Domingo is served by Expreso Bavaro and Caribe Tours from Punta Cana and by Caribe Tours from Sosua via Puerto Plata and Santiago de los Caballeros.
By metro
Santo Domingo has two operating metro lines: one a north-south axis under the Maximo Gomez avenue, going from Villa Mella to the Centro de los Heroes and the Malecon, passing by the National Theater…
On foot
Walking along major thoroughfares in Santo Domingo can prove quite challenging. First, drivers aren't very respectful of pedestrians, so you have to take extra care when trying to cross a street.
By taxi
Unlike most major metropolitan areas, there are very few roaming taxis in Santo Domingo. Even if you see one, it is best not to take a chance, it can be dangerous.
By rental car
All major US car rental firms are available at the airport, along with several local vendors offering everything from subcompacts to late model Hummers, Range Rovers and Land Cruisers.
By bus
Bus service in Santo Domingo is not very user-friendly and geared more towards locals getting to and from work.
By public car
You can identify a public car from a regular car because it will have a government seal on the windshield. Public cars usually go up and down a street.
By collective taxi
These collective taxis or “guaguas" as they are called by Dominicans, stick to a predetermined route (usually up and down a major avenue), picking up and dropping off passengers along the way - often…
By Teleférico
Like other Latin American cities before it (most notably Medellín) Santo Domingo has an aerial tramway linking some of the poverty stricken outer neighborhoods in the hills to the town center.
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