What is the Colonial City of Santo Domingo?
The first permanent European settlement in the New World, in UNESCO's words, and the only 15th-century colonial city in the Americas. After Columbus reached the island in 1492, Santo Domingo, founded in 1498, became the site of the first cathedral, hospital, customs house and university in the Americas.
UNESCO adds that its grid of streets became the model for almost every town planner in the New World. The Colonial City has been on the World Heritage List since 1990, with 106 ha inside the protected boundary.
What to see in the Colonial Zone
| Sight | What the Ministry of Tourism says |
|---|---|
| Catedral Primada de América | The oldest cathedral in the Americas |
| Calle Las Damas | The first paved street in the Americas |
| Fortaleza Ozama | The oldest European military structure in the New World |
| Ruins of San Francisco | The first monastery in the New World |
| Alcázar de Colón and the Museum of the Royal Houses | Named among the Colonial Zone's landmarks |
| Malecón (George Washington Avenue) | The seafront avenue along the Caribbean |
How do you get from Punta Cana to Santo Domingo by bus?
With Expreso Bávaro, from one of its two stations in Bávaro-Punta Cana: the Friusa crossroads, Cruce de Friusa, or the Verón crossroads, in Plaza Sitrabapu opposite Banco BHD. In Santo Domingo it stops at Calle Juan Sánchez Ramírez, on the corner of Avenida Máximo Gómez, and at Parque Enriquillo.
A single ticket costs DOP 400, so carry pesos; our guide to pesos or dollars in Punta Cana covers the exchange. The company sells no return tickets and nothing online or in advance, and it asks you to be at the station an hour before departure.
Its website does not publish departure times, so ask at the station or call the number it lists for each one. From Punta Cana airport, the company suggests a guagua or a taxi to the Friusa station.
How much is a taxi from Punta Cana to Santo Domingo?
The airport's 2024 long-distance sheet prices Santo Domingo at US$200 one way or US$260 return, for one to four people. Each extra passenger pays US$20.
For the same trip from your hotel rather than the terminal, agree the fare before you set off. The local fares from the airport are in our Punta Cana airport taxi guide.
How long does a day trip to Santo Domingo take?
Longer than the map suggests. Expreso Bávaro gives about 3 h each way, and it wants you at the station an hour before departure, so the bus takes close to eight hours of your day.
If you go, leave early and keep the evening free. The Verón crossroads, one of the two bus stations, is explained in our guide to Bávaro, Punta Cana or Cap Cana.
Santo Domingo at night, or back to Bávaro
We found no official page on the Colonial Zone after dark, so we list no bars there. What the Ministry of Tourism does point to is the Malecón, the seafront avenue along the Caribbean.
If you would rather be back for the party, the evening options are on our Bávaro nightlife page. The season returns in February 2027, with its nights on our 2027 season page.
