Historical Santo Domingo Day Trip from Punta Cana: Explore America's Oldest City

Discover the rich history of Santo Domingo, the oldest city in the Americas, on a day trip from Punta Cana. Explore colonial monuments, visit the first cathedral of the new world, and enjoy panoramic views of the city. Lunch included!

Duration: 11 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Calle Las Damas - Calle Las Damas/ Street of the Ladies is the oldest street in the Americas. It is a beautiful street lined with historical buildings from the original settlement of Santo Domingo.was originally named Calle de la Fortaleza/ The street of Strength or Fortress when it was created in 1502 during the reign of Nicolás de Ovando. The street has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
What's Included
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off
  • Buffet lunch at Atarazana Restaurant with vegetarian options
  • Professional art historian guide
  • In-vehicle air conditioning
  • All-inclusive entry to the monuments with audio guide
  • Headsets with language selection at some monuments
What's Not Included
  • Gratuities
Additional Information

Experience the historical charm of the Americas’ oldest city, Santo Domingo! Join us in a walk down memory lane where the history of the Americas emerged. Explore the first cathedral of the new world, Diego Columbus Alcazar, stroll along the renowned Las Damas street, and discover other 5th century colonial monuments. Enjoy the picturesque view of downtown, the residential quarters, and the National Presidential Palace. Shop to your heart’s content at the vibrant local market. A lunch at a traditional Dominican restaurant is part of the package.

  • To enter the Cathedral, women and men must be covered to the elbows and knees
  • It is recommended that you wear comfortable walking shoes
  • It is recommended that you bring cash, a camera, sunscreen, and a hat
Location
Calle Las Damas
Calle Las Damas, Ciudad Colonial
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
3.8
(175 Ratings)
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1 star
Anonymous
Mar 19, 2024
First time visitor of the Dominican Republic - Reynaldo was an excellent tour guide and did a great job accommodating Spanish and English-speaking guests. We enjoyed all the elements on the tour including the lunch. We even stopped to address a medical issue of one guest and he handled it kindly. Totally recommend this to everyone who loves history and who loves to learn about the wonderful people of the DR. What an amazing island! PS our driver kept us safe and comfortable even though it was hot for us New Englanders.
Review provided by Viator
Wood2hodge2019
Aug 12, 2023
A cultural experience - Such a good trip, would definitely recommend. Yes it's a long transfer to the city but once there the sites are great and the tour guide fantastic. Translating into 3 languages each time. Lunch was lovely and we felt it was all value for money. Would definitely recommend and thank you
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Karla_zuniga
Mar 26, 2023
Great driver and guide gave us a fabulous experience - We did this tour to San Domingo from Punta de Cana. Jose Luis, our driver, was just fabulous and very concerned about making of our trip a pleasant one. When we arrived to 3 ojos we were introduced to Tito, our guide for the day, who was very knowledgeable, ready to answer all our questions, and concerned about our well-being. Overall I really recommend this tour. Full disclosure, we were 8 people and only my husband does not speak Spanish so the tour was mostly done in Spanish.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Shahira_p
Mar 11, 2023
Nice - We enjoyed this tour a lot. Only thing was the guide was talking a lot which was abit too much. He started talking the entire way and back which was abit too much.
Review provided by Viator
Larisa_s
Feb 7, 2023
Don’t skip this tour - It was a great tour which we thoroughly enjoyed. Starting with the pickup from the resort , tour guide, driver, activities and returning back to hotel everything was just great. The tour guide was speaking five different languages, and the information provided was fantastic. We stopped at the most important sites. The only thing I would probably change is to stop at the Columbus Lighthouse and actually walk there instead of presidential residence. Otherwise it was well thought through and incredibly informative
Review provided by Viator
Mbs5502015
Dec 8, 2021
Educational and fun! - Very educational and fun. Monchy, our tour guide and Enrique, our driver were funny. They're both very professional. I was particularly impressed with Monchy, he speaks i think 5 different languages. He also announced he got his renewal tour guide license same day we were doing the tour. Good for him! Ask for these 2 guys when you book this tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Vojtech_z
Apr 7, 2022
Good - The excursion was good, cannot say anything. The only thing I did not like was spending almost an hour in a gift shop. Better would be spending the time by walking through the city. And one day prior the trip nobody still informed me when and where the meeting point is. But apart from that all went well - visited national park, zona colonial, had a great lunch,... Would go again.
Review provided by Viator
Berthold_a
Feb 8, 2022
Travel back in time - Great tourguide. Lots of information in the bus about dominican life. Good explanation about the trip. Enoufh time to visit the 9 activities. Most fun the caves, dinner with local dance and colombus son's house
Review provided by Viator
Juanct83tk
May 31, 2022
Great day out - Enrique y Darío were great on the tour Enjoyed learning about the history of the Dominican Republic 🫡
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Ty3681yg
Feb 26, 2022
Below-average tour with the most unprofessional guide - I would have given 3/5 stars because of the guide's effort during the tour, but I'm bumping it down to 2/5 because of the guide's conduct post-tour. Pretty much what all the other reviewers said, it's a tour with 40 people, conducted in multiple languages. That was impressive, yet tedious at the same time. English felt like an after-thought all the time (I do understand Spanish, but my husband doesn't). It was too much to ask for from one person (guide) to effectively and efficiently run 40 people in 5 different languages. Regardless, I saw that before booking and was kind-of expecting and dreading it. I couldn't find semi-private tours, which I prefer, and private ones cost at least $500. The tour went from average to abysmal during drop-off. Passengers are dropped off in multiple locations. Our pick-up point was at San Juan mall in the morning, along with some other resorts. When we got to San Juan mall, the guide (K.C.) called several hotels, but didn't mention our AirBnBs. We didn't get off since he didn't call our condos. The other group asked him if we should get off because that's where we were picked up in the morning. He told them he doesn't know the condos/hotel, etc. Meanwhile, the bus kept driving up north. After the bus dropped more passengers at the 3rd location, I asked him what the plan is for us, and the other group. I explained it to him once again that we were picked up at San Juan earlier during the day. He had to audacity to say, I called for San Juan and you guys didn't get off. We informed him that since he didn't call our AirBnB (which should be on their list, like other tours we took), we didn't get off, but he was informed right away about this. He kept ignoring me afterwards. I tried to stay calm, and asked him to stop ignoring us. Clearly there was a miscommunication, however, we were trying to find a remedy for the situation. We didn't want to keep driving up north, further and further from our location. I was asking him if we should just get off and get an Uber. He kept deflecting and repeatedly said it wasn't his fault. The worst part, he gathered his stuff, and jumped off the bus after the final drop-off at Riu Macao, leaving us with the poor driver. I've never met a guide so unprofessional. The poor driver, Danny, kept apologizing to us and told us, between our limited Spanish and his limited English what the plan of action would be. He dropped us off at our condos, maneuvering the huge bus in the small streets. I have informed Sol Cana Tours about this. K.C. is very unprofessional. What a joke! If you can cough up for a private tour, do it. I should have. Maybe the guide wouldn't be condescending that we're not in huge hotels. If you only speak English, don't book this tour. This tour is clearly for French and German speakers.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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1 Adult
September 2024
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