Rough Guides - The Rough Guide to the Dominican Republic

This Rough Guide is one of a new generation of informative and easy-to-use travel-guide ebooks that guarantees you make the most of your trip. An essential tool for pre-trip planning, it also makes a great travel companion when youre on the road.

From the .

Detailed area maps feature in the guide chapters and are also listed in the , accessible from the table of contents. Depending on your hardware, you can double-tap on the maps to see larger-scale versions, or select different scales. There are also thumbnails below more detailed maps in these cases, you can opt to zoom left/top or zoom right/bottom or view the full map. The screen-lock function on your device is recommended when viewing enlarged maps. Make sure you have the latest software updates, too.

Throughout the guide, weve flagged up our favourite places a perfectly sited hotel, an atmospheric caf, a special restaurant with the author pick icon . You can select your own favourites and create a personalized itinerary by bookmarking the sights, venues and activities that are of interest, giving you the quickest possible access to everything you ll need for your time away.

The mystery, but also part of the appeal, of the Dominican Republic is that this lush, vibrant and geographically diverse country is not more popular with independent travellers. As the Caribbeans top holiday destination, it attracts millions of package tourists to its stunning white-sand, palm-fringed beaches, but its so full of lesser-known coastal, highland and even desert attractions that its also ideal for getting off the beaten track. After all, flight prices to the DR, as its commonly known, are among the lowest in the region and getting around this relatively small but surprisingly mountainous country by public transport is not only cheap and easy, once you get the hang of it, but it can be fun as well. Packing yourself into a crowded minibus full of locals may not be everyones idea of a good time but you wont find a quicker way of getting a taste of the close-knit, gregarious Dominican sense of community. Even the remotest corners of the DR are connected by bus, while finding affordable accommodation is no problem either, with increasing numbers of rental rooms, hostels and gorgeous guesthouses.

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As well as the hundreds of pristine beaches along the DRs 1500km coastline, you can count on 166km of coral reefs and 325 square kilometres of mangroves.