Santo Domingo
The first stone of this cathedral, the oldest standing in the Western hemisphere, was set in 1514 by Diego Columbus, son of the great explorer (the ashes…
Santo Domingo
The first stone of this cathedral, the oldest standing in the Western hemisphere, was set in 1514 by Diego Columbus, son of the great explorer (the ashes…
Santiago
This large, modern museum, built with the tobacco wealth of the León Jimenez family, is a world-class institution with an impressive collection of…
Punta Cana & the Southeast
This dramatic mountaintop viewpoint has been discovered by the Instagram generation – Dominicanos flock here on weekends to take photos swinging in sky…
Santo Domingo
Designed in the Gothic-Mudéjar transitional style, this was the early-16th-century residence of Columbus’ son, Diego, and his wife, Doña María de Toledo…
Museo Memorial de la Resistencia Dominicana
Santo Domingo
For those interested in the details of one of the darkest periods of Dominican history, this austere memorial honors Dominicans who fought against the…
Casa Museo General Gregorio Luperón
Puerto Plata
The life and times of native-born son and independence leader Gregorio Luperón are impressively fleshed out inside this beautifully restored, pale-green,…
North Coast
This sweet little stretch of sand must be one of the DR's best village beaches, easily accessible from the road under Bahía Blanca. White sand, a green…
North Coast
A long, broad, tawny beach with aquamarine water on one side and a thick fringe of palm trees on the other. Stark white cliffs jut out into the ocean in…
Las Terrenas
Tucked away in surprisingly rough landscape, surrounded by peaks covered in lush greenery, is the 52m-high El Limón waterfall. A beautiful swimming hole…
Reserva Antropológica Cuevas del Pomier
Dominican Republic
Visiting this reserve is like reading a history book written in stone. There are 57 limestone caves in the area 10km north of San Cristóbal, five of which…
Las Galeras
Pitch-perfect Playa Rincón, with soft, nearly white sand and multihued water good for swimming, stretches an uninterrupted 3km – enough for every day…
Santo Domingo
This is the New World's oldest colonial military edifice. The site, at the meeting of the Río Ozama and Caribbean, was selected by Fray Nicolás de Ovando…
Santo Domingo
Resembling a cross between a Soviet-era apartment block and a Las Vegas–style ancient Mayan ruin, this massive monument is worth visiting for its…
Punta Cana & the Southeast
There’s a reason why boatloads of tourists descend upon this island every day. The powdery, white-sand beach doesn’t seem real from afar, and a dip in the…
Santo Domingo
Built in the Renaissance style during the 16th century, this building was the longtime seat of Spanish authority for the Caribbean region, housing the…
Ojos Indígenas Ecological Park & Reserve
Bávaro & Punta Cana
Though development may eventually cover every inch of the Dominican coastline, for now there are still large areas of pristine coastal plains and mangrove…
Basilica de Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia
Punta Cana & the Southeast
From the outside, this basilica is a strange mixture of the sacred and the profane. A utilitarian concrete facade, not far removed from a military bunker,…
Dominican Republic
San Cristóbal's strangest sight, currently used as the National Penitentiary School, was built on Trujillo’s orders for himself and his family in 1947 (at…
Puerto Plata
A cable car takes visitors to the top of the enormous flat-topped Pico Isabel de Torres. On clear days there are spectacular views of the city and…
Punta Cana & the Southeast
While a trip to a faux-16th-century Italian-Spanish village created by a Paramount movie-set designer won’t exactly give you a window into Dominican…
Punta Cana & the Southeast
Much more than simply Isla Saona, which is all that most people see on a group tour, the Parque Nacional Cotubanamá (formerly known as Parque Nacional del…
Punta Cana & the Southeast
Parque Nacional Cotubanamá has more than 400 caves, many of which contain Taíno pictographs (cave paintings) and petroglyphs (rock carvings)…
North Coast
Notable for the 50m clock tower designed by French engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel. Imported from France in 1895, the tower deteriorated until 1997 when…
Puerto Plata
Located right on the bay, at the western end of the Malecón, the fort is the only remnant of Puerto Plata’s early colonial days. Built in the mid-16th…
Santo Domingo
This was originally the residence of Hernán Cortés, conqueror of the Aztecs in present-day central Mexico. It was in this building that Cortés is believed…
Punta Cana & the Southeast
In the 15th century, pirates including Francis Drake would lurk around Isla Catalina, waiting to pounce on Spanish ships sailing to and from Santo Domingo…
Museo Jamas El Olvido Será tu Recuerdo
Dominican Republic
In the home of local resident José Miguel Ventura Medina, known to some as ‘El Hippi,’ this museum has a name translating literally to ‘Forgetfulness will…
Santo Domingo
The Dominican seat of government, which occupies most of a city block, was designed by Italian architect Guido D’Alessandro and inaugurated in 1947. Built…
Las Terrenas
A getaway from a getaway, the appropriately named Playa Bonita (Pretty Beach) is only a few kilometers west of Las Terrenas. It's not without…
Monumento Natural Dunas de las Calderas
Dominican Republic
This protected reserve, part of the Península de las Salinas, is 20 sq km of gray-brown sand mounds, some as high as 12m. A guided tour (in Spanish)…
Parque Nacional Submarino La Caleta
Punta Cana & the Southeast
This underwater park is the resting place of several shipwrecks, incuding the Hickory, a salvage ship that was scuttled in 1984, the year the park was…
Santo Domingo
The lush grounds span 2 sq km and include vast areas devoted to aquatic plants, orchids, bromeliads, ferns, palm trees, a Japanese garden and much more…
Santo Domingo
Consisting of three humid caverns with dark blue lagoons connected by stalactite-filled passages, this site is lovely if you show up early to beat the…
Parque Nacional Lago Enriquillo & Isla Cabritos
Dominican Republic
This park comprises Lago Enriquillo, an enormous saltwater lake 40m below sea level, and Isla Cabritos, the island at its center which supports various…
Santo Domingo
This gate is named for the Count of Peñalba, Bernardo de Meneses y Bracamonte, who led the successful defense of Santo Domingo against 13,000 invading…
Punta Cana & the Southeast
Around 9km west of Sabana de la Mar, Parque Nacional Los Haitises is certainly the best reason to visit this small bayside town. Its name means ‘land of…
Punta Cana & the Southeast
Just east of the two-lane highway linking Higüey to Boca de Yuma, outside the small town of San Rafael del Yuma, is a fine rural Dominican town surrounded…
Cabarete
The famous caves of Parque Nacional El Choco are ensconced in the foothills of the Cordillera Septentrional, among 77 sq km of pastureland, lagoon, jungle…
Dominican Republic
Sometimes referred to as ‘the Stonehenge of the Dominican Republic,’ this pre-Colombian site – one of the few in the Antilles – doesn't quite live up to…
Dominican Republic
The Haitian market is impossible to miss: just stay on the main road through town until you run into it. Vendors lay their goods out on the ground, shaded…