Santo Domingo City Tour: A Day Trip From Punta Cana Covering Major Attractions

Discover the best of Santo Domingo in just one day! Explore historical attractions, natural wonders, and enjoy a delicious lunch in the Colonial Zone. Book your city tour now!

Duration: 8 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • The 3 Eyes National Park - The Dominican Republic’s Three Eyes National Park is a nature reserve and open-air limestone cave system with a series of crystal clear lakes known as the “eyes.” Located in the capital, Santo Domingo, just ten minutes by car from the popular Colonial Zone, the park provides a sweet respite from the hustle and bustle of the busy city. Along with a guided tour, these caves also offer deeper insights into the pre-colonial and ancestral origins of the Dominican Republic.
  • 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.
  • Columbus Lighthouse (Faro A Colon) - The Columbus Lighthouse is a cross-shaped monument made of reinforced concrete. Its dimensions are 680 feet (210 m) by 195 feet (59 m). There are 157 beams of light that emanate towards the sky from the structure and a rotating beam, which can be seen from space.
  • Alcazar de Colon - It is the only known residence of a member of the Christopher Columbus’s family, his first-born son Diego Columbus.
  • Basilica Cathedral of Santa Maria la Menor - The Cathedral of Santa Maria la Menor in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, is recognised as the Americas’ oldest Cathedral dating back to 1512. As the first Cathedral in the new world, it holds much significance, remaining one of the Dominican Republic’s most visited attractions and held in high regard throughout the Caribbean.
  • Zona Colonial - Is the oldest constantly inhabited city in all of “The Americas”. It is a small town nestled in the capital city of Santo Domingo on the most beautiful island in the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic.
  • Palacio National - The building stands on the grounds of the former Presidential Mansion (Mansión Presidencial), built during the United States military occupation of 1916-1924.
What's Included
  • Non-alcoholic beverages included
  • Lunch provided
  • In-vehicle air conditioning
Additional Information

Santo Domingo boasts a plethora of stunning monuments, historical sites, and natural niches. However, discerning which ones to explore in a single day necessitates a good understanding of the locale and strategic itinerary planning.

This perfect excursion for the time-limited voyager takes you to an array of prime destinations, encompassing Los Tres Ojos National Park, the Columbus Lighthouse, and the Santo Domingo city itself.

After experiencing the city’s major points of interest, the adventure goes on to the Colonial Zone, where a scrumptious lunch and further exploration await.

Location
The 3 Eyes National Park
Avenida Las Americas, Parque Nacional del Este
Cancellation Policy

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

Customer Ratings
4.3
(16 Ratings)
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1 star
Teresa_h
Jan 27, 2024
The guide was amazing ... - The guide was amazing The lunch not so good Enjoyed the trip it was longer than planned from pick up 1st to drop off last I spent 12 hours away.
Review provided by Viator
Nancy_d
Dec 27, 2023
Very nice - The experience was great once we arrived in Santo Domingo. The improvement I could see would have a guide telling us guests about the country side on the trip from Punta Cana to Santo Domingo. It is a long ride with no interaction.
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Catarinatham
Dec 1, 2023
Highly recommend - The tour is very organized and sight seeing is great. Visiting many landmarks and have enough leisure to tour around the site. Tour guide Mike was very nice and explain the history in details. Highly recommend
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Phillip_h
Oct 21, 2023
Honeymoon - Was a great trip it was definitely was hot. The thing we didn’t like was that there was no drinks given so make sure u bring snacks and drinks. Also the bus is very small and are packed in like sardines. This part was horrible. The places that was seen was definitely beautiful tho.
Review provided by Viator
Carmen_e
Oct 14, 2023
Wonderful Time - Learning the history of the of the 3 Eyes National Park, Columbus Lighthouse and Museum, Alcazar de Colon and the beautiful Basilica Cathedral of Santa Maria de Menor......A great experience visiting Santo Domingo and Punta Cana
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Jaime_c
Jul 8, 2024
Very brief tour - Long ride in a small van. I was expecting a little more from the tour. We saw the cenote . The lighthouse. We had lunch and we went to a museum and went shopping. That was it, I would have like see more historical thing like the first time went to Santo Domingo
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Dave_p
May 30, 2024
Beautiful historic city visit - Cenote at 3 eyes national park. The ice cream place werevouybfsvorutes. The guide was very knowledgeable. The only part that could have better was the morning pickup. We were bounced around to three different busses. Planning was not done right and initially people were crammed like sardines
Review provided by Viator
Michael_c
May 12, 2024
Definitely worth going. - The tour was good. A bit of a wait to get it actually started. Once we finally got going tour was good. The tour guide knew the city and gave excellent feedback to the experience. We have stayed in Santo Domingo before, but this time we got to see a different side. The food was good and the people in our group was fun to be around.
Review provided by Viator
Alex_g
Dec 22, 2023
Good but needs some improvements - The tour guide was informative, and we visited the attractions we wanted. The tour was missing some free time to hang around Santo Domingo’s main street - which we passed - and many felt it was a shame that we don’t have the opportunity to explore a bit more by ourselves (the guided walk in the city can be shortened). Aside from that, we felt that the driver can be a bit more friendlier and more courteous (we had to ask to lower his club-volume blasting music at 7am, and and had to ask for a bathroom stop, which surprisingly wasn’t planned in the long 3.5 hour drive back).
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Marco_y
Jul 8, 2024
Not worth it traveling from Punta Cana. - Long drive for a tour that is not great. We did not hit all of the points we were supposed to hit. We were supposed to stop at the Columbus Lighthouse and we just did a Drive by which it was disappointing as the spot look cool. The tour guide was nice, and polite, trying to hype the group up, but didn't share much history of Santo Domingo, or things to learn about the culture. After the first stop, we proceeded to stop at a designated shop to drink Mama Juana, which is all good and well, but It felt like he was getting hooked up by the store owner by bringing people to buy souvenirs at that specific shop. This happened one other time. Again nothing wrong with buying souvenirs, but I would much have rather him to tell us, we will meet at the plaza in X amount of minutes you go and explore and buy whatever rather than waste time in two different shops and wait for everyone to get their souvenirs. We spend a good chunk of the time wasted in Souvenir shops rather than exploring the old town or the city. The Old time was beautiful, but we did not spend enough time in it. We walked down by a couple streets, hit the cathedral and a plaza, and that was about it. Cathedral is beautiful, and the tour guide gave a pretty good history of it. All in all, if you are in Santo Domingo, and have nothing to do, and want to burn 3-4 hours, it is an ok tour. But I truly felt like during the Drive times between spots the Tour guide could have share more History about the Dominican Republic, traditions... He sat in the front talking to the driver. The Driver from the Transportation company was very nice, very polite.
Review provided by Viator
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up to 15 guests
1 Adult
September 2024
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