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Dominican Republic
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La Altagracia Province
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Punta Cana
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Tours & Activities
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Historic City Tour of Santo Domingo
1 day
Instant confirmation
About this activity
The first stop in the capital will be at the Three Eyes National Park with underground caves and lagoons used by the Taino Indians, the Dominican Republic's original inhabitants. From there, you'll make a quick photo stop at the Columbus Lighthouse, built in 1992 on the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' landing in the New World. Then, you will be off to the oldest streets of the Western Hemisphere in Santo Domingo's Colonial Zone, a 16-square block neighborhood oozing with Dominican history and culture.
Your first peek at the Colonial Zone comes at the Columbus Palace. Completed in 1514, it was the home of Christopher Columbus's son, Diego. From the palace you will walk through the historic Plaza de Espana and on to Calle Las Damas, the first paved street of the New World. The ultimate destination is one of the most important sites in the Dominican Republic: the first cathedral of the New World.
Lunch will then be served at one of the top Dominican restaurants in Santo Domingo, known for it's excellent home style cooking and typical dance performances by the waiters and waitresses. After lunch, you'll pass by some of the modern areas of the capital and the National Palace, where the Dominican president and the highest level government officials have their offices. At the end the day, you will have some time to visit a spacious gift shop that sells nearly every Dominican keepsake imaginable. With this city tour to Santo Domingo, you'll experience the city's rich history and the daily life of everyday Dominicans in their capital of 3 million inhabitants.
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Your first peek at the Colonial Zone comes at the Columbus Palace. Completed in 1514, it was the home of Christopher Columbus's son, Diego. From the palace you will walk through the historic Plaza de Espana and on to Calle Las Damas, the first paved street of the New World. The ultimate destination is one of the most important sites in the Dominican Republic: the first cathedral of the New World.
Lunch will then be served at one of the top Dominican restaurants in Santo Domingo, known for it's excellent home style cooking and typical dance performances by the waiters and waitresses. After lunch, you'll pass by some of the modern areas of the capital and the National Palace, where the Dominican president and the highest level government officials have their offices. At the end the day, you will have some time to visit a spacious gift shop that sells nearly every Dominican keepsake imaginable. With this city tour to Santo Domingo, you'll experience the city's rich history and the daily life of everyday Dominicans in their capital of 3 million inhabitants.
Included
- National Park fees
- Lunch - Buffet lunch
- Light refreshments
- Driver/guide
- Professional art historian guide
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Entry/Admission - Calle de Las Damas
- Entry/Admission - The 3 Eyes National Park
- Entry/Admission - Zona Colonial
- Entry/Admission - Plaza de Espana (Plaza de Armas)
Not included
- Alcoholic drinks (available to purchase)
- DVD (available to purchase)
- Souvenir photos (available to purchase)
Additional
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Infant meals not included
- Refunds will not be issued if tour/activity is missed due to late or non-arrival of cruise ship
Features
Tourism
95%
Cultural
90%
Reviews
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This is more of a shopping trip than an historical tour. Based on talking with our Viator advisor, we expected to get some historical facts on our 3 hour ride to Santo Domingo. Instead, after 30 minutes we stopped at a country store with crude products for 20-30 minutes. When we arrived at the Three Eyes Park in Santo Domingo, we expected to be put in an all English tour as we had requested. Instead we were given a bi-lingual guide and left in our group of 11 people where everyone else were Spanish speaking. Gregory, our guide, gave few facts about the grotto except Indians lived here and it was under the sea level for many years. At the Columbus light house, we could only take exterior pictures and pictures thru the door but could not go inside as there was 'not enough time'. Drove by the Presidential Building and stopped at the Cathedral. We were given English headsets and 20 minutes to tour the inside. Heard nothing about it from Gregory. At lunch our Spanish tour members were very gracious and helped us get drinks etc. One from Chile said Gregory was not giving them any information either. After lunch, Gregory took us to three more stores before walking over to the old Spanish fort area. We got very little historical information from Gregory despite asking him for more after lunch. Here we stood in the plaza for 30 minutes, surrounded by street vendors, and took pictures of the wrong house before we were told which building was Diego Columbus's house. In all we had six shopping experiences on this trip. Skip it and get a real guide in Santo Domingo.