Must-see attractions in Dominican Republic

  • Catedral Primada de America (First Cathedral of the Americas), Zona Colonial (Colonial District, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, West Indies, Caribbean, Central America

    Catedral Primada de América

    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…

  • Centro León

    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…

  • Montaña Redonda

    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…

  • Museo Alcázar de Colón

    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…

  • 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,…

  • Playa Los Mino

    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…

  • Playa Grande

    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…

  • A young man diving off El Limon, the waterfall at Samana, Dominican Republic

    Cascada El Limón

    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…

  • Getting mentally ready for summer!.Here is another view of Playa Breman, next to Playa Rincón, in Northeastern Dominican Republic! The image is framed by a shallow cave dug out by a fresh water spring!

    Playa Rincón

    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…

  • Charles III gate with Tower of Homage in background, Fortaleza Ozama.

    Fortaleza Ozama

    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…

  • Faro a Colon, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

    Faro a Colón

    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…

  • Isla Saona

    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…

  • Containers for ingredients in colonial drugstore, Museo de las Casas Reales, Santo Domingo, Zona Colonial, Dominican Republic

    Museo de las Casas Reales

    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,…

  • Castillo del Cerro

    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…

  • Teleférico

    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…

  • Altos de Chavón

    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…

  • Parque Nacional Cotubanamá

    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…

  • Cueva del Puente

    Punta Cana & the Southeast

    Parque Nacional Cotubanamá has more than 400 caves, many of which contain Taíno pictographs (cave paintings) and petroglyphs (rock carvings)…

  • Dance Floor Movement

    Parque Central

    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…

  • Fuerte de San Felipe

    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…

  • Casa de Francia

    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…

  • Isla Catalina

    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…

  • Palacio Nacional

    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…

  • Playa Bonita

    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…

  • Jardín Botánico Nacional

    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…

  • Los Tres Ojos

    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…

  • Puerta del Conde

    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…

  • Parque Nacional Los Haitises

    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…

  • Casa Ponce de León

    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…

  • Parque Nacional El Choco

    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…

  • El Corral de los Indios

    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…

  • Haitian Market

    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…

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