What to See in the Dominican Republic: Cities to Explore on Foot

The Dominican Republic occupies the eastern five-eighths of Hispaniola, sharing the Caribbean island with Haiti. It is a country of colonial history, lively music, distinctive food, baseball, mountains and varied landscapes—from the Atlantic coast and tropical lowlands to Pico Duarte, the Caribbean’s tallest mountain peak. Neywo offers free audio guides for 2 cities in the Dominican Republic, with 35 narrated places in total and 4 walking tours.

Things to do in the Dominican Republic

Discover Santo Domingo’s historic landmarks

Santo Domingo is the country’s capital and the place where the island’s long connection with European colonisation becomes especially visible. It became the site of the first permanent European settlement in the Americas after Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492.

Neywo’s Santo Domingo guide includes 32 narrated places. Among its key landmarks are Fortaleza Ozama, Monasterio de San Francisco, Alcázar de Colón and Basílica Catedral Metropolitana Santa María de la Encarnación. Together, they offer a way to explore the city through its military, religious and colonial history.

The country’s broader political story is more complicated than its early European settlement suggests. Independence from Spain was followed by annexation by Haiti, and independence was finally achieved in 1844 after the Dominican War of Independence. The following decades included civil wars, dictatorships, failed invasions by Haiti and a brief return to Spanish colonial rule. In the twentieth century, the country experienced a United States occupation and the long dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo before later moving towards representative democracy.

Explore Puerto Plata

For travellers searching for Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, the city offers a concentrated introduction to the country’s history, religion and landscape. Neywo’s Puerto Plata guide includes three narrated places: Fortaleza San Felipe, St. Philip the Apostle Cathedral and Pico Isabel de Torres.

Fortaleza San Felipe reflects the defensive history of the Caribbean coast. St. Philip the Apostle Cathedral brings a religious landmark into the route, while Pico Isabel de Torres adds the city’s mountainous setting to the experience. The three places show how Puerto Plata connects historic buildings with the surrounding natural landscape.

Listen for the country’s cultural blend

Dominican culture carries European, African and native Taíno influences. Indigenous peoples, including the Taíno, lived on Hispaniola before European contact and divided the island into five chiefdoms. Their presence remains part of the cultural history of a country whose customs and arts developed through several traditions.

Spanish is spoken by most people. Quisqueya, a word from the Ciguayo language meaning “mother of the lands”, is also used poetically as another name for the Dominican Republic.

Music is one of the clearest expressions of this blended culture. The country is internationally known for merengue, a lively, fast rhythm and style of dance music. Dominican visual art is associated with bright colours and vivid images, while the same combination of influences appears in the cuisine.

Try Dominican flavours

Dominican food has Spanish, Taíno and African roots. One breakfast dish combines eggs with mangú, made from mashed boiled plantain. Food is one of the most direct ways to encounter the country’s cultural mixture, bringing together ingredients and traditions shaped by its history.

Experience the country’s passion for baseball

Baseball holds a special place in Dominican life and is by far the country’s most popular sport. The Dominican Professional Baseball League has six teams, making the sport an important part of the country’s modern culture as well as its international identity.

Explore a country of contrasting landscapes

The Dominican Republic has the Atlantic Ocean to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the south, Haiti across its western land border and Puerto Rico to the east across the Mona Passage. Its geography changes noticeably over short distances.

Coastal and lowland areas have a tropical rainforest climate, while much of the Cibao region has a tropical savanna climate. Higher elevations are cooler, and protected valleys can be much hotter. The country includes both Pico Duarte, the Caribbean’s tallest mountain peak, and Lake Enriquillo, the Caribbean’s largest lake and lowest point.

Lake Enriquillo, in the southwest, is also home to the largest population of American crocodiles. The country’s natural diversity extends to its mammals: bats account for most of its native terrestrial mammal species. From mountains and valleys to coasts and lowlands, the landscape is shaped by elevation, climate and water.

Explore the Dominican Republic with Neywo

Download Neywo to explore the Dominican Republic through 4 walking tours covering 35 narrated places in 2 cities. The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, at your own pace, with no group and no schedule. Narration is available in 11 languages, so you can discover Santo Domingo and Puerto Plata while walking through the places themselves.