Dominican Republic Travel Guide

The countrys roller-coaster past is writ large in the physical design of its towns and cities. Santo Domingos Zona Colonial exudes romance with its beautifully restored monasteries and cobblestone streets along which conquistadors once roamed. The crumbling gingerbread homes of Puerto Plata and Santiago remain from more prosperous eras, and scars from decades of misrule are marked by monuments where today people gather to celebrate. New communities have arisen only a few kilometers from the ruins where Christopher Columbus strode and where the indigenous Tano people left traces of their presence carved onto rock walls.

People & Culture

The social glue of the DR is the all-night merengue that blasts from colmados (combined corner stores and bars), and this is true everywhere from the capital Santo Domingo to crumbling San Pedro de Macoris to Puerto Plata, where waves crash over the Malecn. Dominicans greatly appreciate their down time and really know how to party, as can be seen at Carnival celebrations held throughout the country and at each town's own distinctive fiesta. These events are windows into the culture, so take the chance to join the fun and elaborate feasts.

Bike riders on a joyride | B CRUZ/SHUTTERSTOCK

By Ashley Harrell, Writer

The idyllic beaches and all-included rum cocktails have their place, but for me, the DR is about other things: the wizened men puffing cigars and slapping down dominoes by the fire atop Pico Duarte, or dancing the merengue inside the crumbling ruins of the New Worlds first monastery. Ive never felt so inspired as when I zipped through desert hills on a scooter, past grazing goats and drying laundry, headed for a faraway fishing village where an ambitious expat started a kitesurfing school.

Take a walk through history in the oldest city in the New World. With its cobblestone streets and beautifully restored mansions, churches and forts, many converted into evocative museums and restaurants, its easy to imagine landmark quarter as the seat of Spains 16th-century empire. But the past and present coexist rather gracefully here: follow in the footsteps of pirates and conquistadors one moment, the next pop into a 4D movie theater or shop selling CDs from the latest Dominican merengue star.