Santo Domingo is a great place to vacation. It is a city full of nightlife, restaurants and shopping centers, nice people and always willing to help.

This is the first city founded by Europeans in America. It is the capital of the Dominican Republic and was founded in 1496 by Bartholomew Columbus. This city has the oldest cathedral in America which was consecrated by Pope Julius II in 1504.

The oldest part of town is known as the Colonial Zone, one of the most important tourist attractions in Santo Domingo and one of the most visited by tourists and foreigners.

The Colonial Zone extends from the north of the George Washington Avenue to East Avenue March 30th . The main streets of the Zona Colonial is the Calle Las Mercedes, Calle El Conde Street and Las Damas Street. This part of town with colonial buildings and cobbled streets and dilapidated great tourist attraction. Among the most popular sites and monuments we can find: the Alcázar de Colón, Museo de las Casas Reales, Altar of the Nation among others.

“Ciudad Trujillo” was the name of Santo Domingo from 1936 to 1961, due to a change made by the dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina. Today, Santo Domingo is the most important city of the Dominican Republic and is the largest city in the Caribbean followed by Havana.

The fun in Santo Domingo is very marked on specific places. The metropolitan area, colonial zone and the eastern part of Santo Domingo, better known as “Zona Oriental”, but Santo Domingo is a city characterized by the number of unique places for fun. If you are visiting the Dominican Republic, is a must to visit Santo Domingo and live the experience.

For shopping you basically have the whole city, but foreigners are very attracted to the Dominican culture and often visit the “Mercado Modelo” which is located in the bottom of Santo Domingo on the Mella Aveneu, near El Conde Street .

Nightlife

You can go to the center of the city (Avenida Abraham Lincoln, Gustavo Mejia Ricart, Roberto Pastoriza or on the Malecon) also you can Try La Venezuela on the East Side, there are to many discos and bars to spend time dancing, drinking and talking.

People-watching at the cafes and bars, many of them open air. Dancing Reggaeton, merengue, salsa, dembow, bachata and even rock until the day in night clubs and “discotecas”. There are some casinos in the center of the city for the players.

Most clubs in the Dominican Republic close at 2 am (by government law), but some have extended hours until 3 or 4 other until dawn. Here you can see a long list of clubs and bars in Santo Domingo and verify it’s schedule. If you are looking for something quiet, maybe a dinner or something you can see our list of restaurants in Santo Domingo where you can eat even drink alone with your partner or friends.

In short, if you are interested in knowing the best of Santo Domingo during the day and night, go to the colonial zone and take a few nights to visit the bars in the avenida Venezuela.