Colonial Santo Domingo Full-Day Tour from Punta Cana

The Three Eyes National Park (Los Tres Ojos)

The Three Eyes National Park, known locally as Los Tres Ojos, sits on the eastern edge of Santo Domingo and is the first stop of the day. It is an open-air system of limestone caves where the roof of ancient coral rock collapsed long ago, leaving clear lakes, the “eyes”, at the bottom of deep sinkholes. The Taíno, the first people of the island, used these caves for their ceremonies.

Stone stairs carved into the rock lead down into the caves, and our guide spends about 30 minutes with you on the paths between the lakes, where stalactites hang over water that turns from emerald to turquoise with the light. If you are searching for a Los Tres Ojos tour, this visit covers the main lakes and viewpoints. The descent has steps and the air is humid, so comfortable shoes help.

The Columbus Lighthouse and the National Palace

The Columbus Lighthouse, or Faro a Colón, is a vast cross-shaped monument on the east bank of the Ozama River, inaugurated in 1992 for the fifth centenary of the first European voyages to the Americas. Its long concrete walls enclose a chapel with a tomb said to hold the navigator's remains, and on special nights powerful lamps project a cross of light into the sky above the city.

Across the river, the National Palace of the Dominican Republic is the seat of the presidency, a neoclassical building completed in 1947 and faced with rose-coloured marble under a central dome. Both are photo stops of about ten minutes each, and together they show the monumental 20th-century face of the capital before you step back five centuries in the colonial streets.

The Malecón seafront and a Dominican lunch

The Malecón is the long seafront avenue of Santo Domingo, running for several kilometres along the Caribbean between the colonial port and the western districts, lined with palm trees, monuments and a broad sea-wall promenade. The coach stops here for about 15 minutes so you can take photos of the coast and stretch your legs in the sea breeze before lunch.

Lunch is a typical Dominican meal with soft drinks at a local restaurant, and a classic Dominican lunch usually means la bandera: rice, red beans and stewed meat or chicken, often served with fried plantain and salad. Allow about an hour. It is a relaxed pause in a long day and a real taste of everyday Dominican cooking, and it is the reason many guests choose a Santo Domingo city tour with lunch included.

The Colonial Zone and Colón Park

The Colonial Zone, or Ciudad Colonial, is the historic heart of Santo Domingo and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1990. Founded at the end of the 15th century on the west bank of the Ozama River, it was the first permanent European city in the Americas, and its grid of streets still holds the first cathedral, the first hospital and the first stone fortress built in the New World.

The guided walk starts at Colón Park, the shaded main square framed by the coral-stone Cathedral of Santa María la Menor. After about ten minutes of explanation you have roughly 30 minutes of free time to browse the shops around the square and along Calle El Conde, the pedestrian street, for amber, blue larimar jewellery, coffee and cocoa. If you wonder whether a Santo Domingo day trip is worth the long drive, this square is the answer.

Hospital San Nicolás de Bari, the National Pantheon and Calle Las Damas

A short walk away stand the ruins of the Hospital San Nicolás de Bari, begun in 1503 and considered the first hospital in the Americas. Its roofless walls and tall arches, now a favourite perch for pigeons, give a vivid idea of the scale of the early colonial city, and the guide spends about 15 minutes here explaining how it cared for sailors and settlers.

The National Pantheon, an 18th-century former Jesuit church with a sober neoclassical-Renaissance facade, holds the remains of the country's national heroes and is watched over by a ceremonial guard; you visit for about 20 minutes. The walk ends on Calle Las Damas, the oldest paved street in the New World, lined with colonial stone mansions and leading to the Ozama Fortress, with free time for photos before the drive back.