All-Inclusive Santo Domingo Day Trip from Punta Cana

CHRISTIAN AND Luis

THE BEST TOUR GUIDES AND DRIVER !! Christian and luis are seriously the best!!! They are so freienflt and make u feel welcomed!

Great day trip

Great experience. Great guide. Loved the church. Loved the farm and his family. Loved lunch. Learned and joyed so much. The plants, flavors , making coffee. Perfection.

Awesome

The most memorable part of the experience was learning everything about Santo Domingo’s colonial history and all the sights. I can’t wait to do this tour again.

Experience!!!

Alex and Barrie were magnifico!!! So much fun and informative about the Dominican Republic! They took care of us!

Good enough

I booked trip to Saona Island and Chevon but it was canceled one day before. We switched to Santo Domingo trip. It was great in general. The driver and tour guide were so nice and friendly. The only thing I really don’t like that they picked us up at 7ish by another transfer shuttle, then delayed/ arrangements until leaving at 10ish. It was so wasted time. After all, we came back at resort at 6:30pm, it was supposed to be earlier.

Took money, never turned up.

The company took our money, then sent a message saying the trip was no longer going ahead on the morning of the trip (after I reached out to them because there was no confirmed pickup time). I asked for a refund and they went silent - no response. I am from London. I would not trust this company. It really spoilt our experience of this country, such dishonesty and not the norm for this country. They took $140 USD.

Scam

We paid for a trip that never took place, we waited for hours for the ghost transport that never came , even when they requested information just simply never acknowledged it. I definitely do not recommend using this site for any activity whatsoever.

Tour guide was good but we would have enjoyed more English

Since we booked it asking for English, it was disappointing that our driver spoke very little English with 3 hours to get there and so we couldn't ask him questions. Then, our group was more Spanish speaking than English, so we felt that we missed a lot of the tour guide's talk because he had to speak in both languages with obviously Spanish being his favorite choice. The food was good and we got to see a lot. Be ready to walk a lot! I enjoyed the Cathedral visit & the cave the most.

Very Memorable Day

We enjoyed the sightseeing tour in an air-conditioned vehicle with a professional guide and a Dominican buffet lunch. We enjoyed visiting all the sites the First Cathedral of the America's, Columbus Alcazar. We like their first stopped to Los Tres Ojos, then to Catedral Primada de America, Alcazar de Colon, National Pantheon & Zona Colonial. It was a very enjoyable day.

Christine mcgill

Excellent trip out for able bodied. Tui rep described this as a tour of the capital which was firstly by coach then the majority of the visit by train. I specifically asked as our party had two people with motability issues. She insisted very little walking but this was indeed quite the opposite which did cause major problems due to length of walks and amount of steps involved. On the up side, the meal was exceptional and the staff superb. Our tour guide was fantastic and understood when we said we would have to wait outside some of the tour buildings . Again the Tui rep was only interested in taking cash off of guests rather than allowing us the full and proper itinerary to make an informed decision. Had we been able to access all of the trip and have had more free time to explore at leisure we would have given this a 5 star rating. Unfortunately due to misrepresentation again by our Tui rep we have sadly had to award only 3

Could have been great with a good guide

The trip is interesting but the organisation was a disaster. We first were brought from the hotel to a meeting point. The pick-up time was scheduled at 7h20 but the driver arrived at 7h45 There was an extra delay at the meeting point so that we finally left Punta Cana around 8h20. From then on the bus trips were OK. A serious problem however was the guide, a nice guy but not having a sufficient cultural level, neither a sufficient knowledge of English nor a sense of organisation. We were expecting a tour in Dutch, as was proposed on the website. We would easily have accepted a tour in English but we ended up in a group of which the majority spoke Spanish. After minutes of explanation in Spanish the guide added a few sentences in English, not being able answering questions or giving decent information. We moreover were requested to stay in group but we constantly had to wait at shops not leaving enough time to visit interesting buildings, like the one on the picture in your mail. We could even not get close to it. For learning the historical facts there fortunately exists Wikipedia, but we will not get a second opportunity to really visit colonial Santo Domingo.

An All-Day Look at the real Dominican Republic.

My day started at 6:50 am and I returned at about 6:45 pm. I was gone all day. The first two hours of the trip was waiting to go and being transferred from one bus to the other. You will spend a long time in the van, approximately two hours in each end of the tour. This was a 9 person tour in a small 12 person van. Make sure to eat breakfast as only lunch is provided. You’ll see a lot of things in Santo Domingo that is worth visiting, but you will not spend a long time at each location. You will also go from gift shop to gift shop, at least three total for us, where unfortunately we spent a good amount of time. The cave is worth visiting, however it is at the end of the tour. I was happy to do this tour however if you only have a few days in the Dominican Republic, seriously think on if you want to spend all day on this tour. Be sure to bring cash, a large bottle of water, and snacks are a good idea.

Great history

Our tour guide was very knowledgeable. Our tour hosted us on all the main attractions in Santo Domingo. The sights, museums and the history learned was amazing. Our lunch consisted of a Dominican feast, which included dancers dancing while we ate. Excellent excursion all the way around.

Good tour, wear comfy walking shoes!

Great tour to see all the sites of santo Domingo in a day trip. We had a few kids and old people on our tour that slowed us down, but the over all tour was great in my opinion. We got to see the culture of the city and our tour guy was young and up beat. I wouldn't recommend this tour for couples with small children or old people because it was a lot of walking.

"rush"

I enjoyed the trip. Only thing we rushed... I know don't have time to see everything, but I felt we wasting time at lunch time. And our team was old. Only 2 couple was younger, like us. I heard old peoples asked "when we go home". I think, better if let us know before the trip, how long it take, and we will walk a lot... etc. ( sorry for my English, my language is Hungarian )

How to waste a day!

Unfortunately this day trip did not match my expectations . I wished to visit the city and to learn about the culture of Santo Domingo, but instead of doing that, our guide ( Sweet David, how he wanted to be called) pushed us to buy in gifts shops and we spent more time in the bus than visiting the attractions ( alcazar, cathedral). The only positive point goes to Los 3 ojos, it is worthy to visit it ( better without any guide) . The guide was terrible, his English was very bad and if I knew about all of this I wouldn't have waisted my money in this excursion. Never again!

Its an all day tour have a good...

<p>Its an all day tour have a good breakfast before you leave the resort, the trip consist of walking and climbing steps, the tour guide we had was very good.</p>

We really enjoyed our day trip to...

<p>We really enjoyed our day trip to Santo Domingo. It is a very long day and was tiring but so worth it. Our guide Papa Jose did an excellent job and we appreciated his hard work. The bus is very small and we wished we weren't quite so crammed in and yet we still rate it overall a 5. The stops on the tour were interesting and we were impressed with what we saw. Most of all we loved the Three Lakes but be aware it is a steep climb with many stairs. We managed it and thought it was the highlight of the tour. Our lunch in Santo Domingo was very good and overall a very interesting day.</p>

Actually I am very frustrated with...

<p>Actually I am very frustrated with the company who is your representative in Punta Cana for this tour. First at all, my Expedia concierge in Grand Bahia Principe- Punta Cana called the company 5 days before the trip to confirm the tour, they said 7:00am, it was ok, so one day before I called to confirm again then they told me that they going to pick us up outside of the hotel, so I could not believe it, I said in the lobby , right?, he said outside of the hotel I asked why you are different, because for my understanding all tour buses wait for the clients in front of the lobby and not outside of the property. The problem was, that the first time call they did not say that, so they said only the time to pick it up and no more. The issue here is that the instructions were not clear, my question is, why this company wait for the clients outside of the hotel? that would happen if the client does not receive this information with the first call and waits in the lobby as is normal. When we left the hotel which is absurd, I asked the driver and he said that Grand Bahia Principe does not accept that his company enters their property, excuse? This is very confusing and not clear. What would have happened if I had not called a second time, would I lose our trip and our money?. Please try to solve this issue as soon as possible. Weak of communications and business. But let me say the good thing about the tour, we were 7 people 5 of us and another 2 people from another hotel the driver went inside to the hotel to take them. The tour was nice, it was good and very cultural day, so other of that the situation I mentioned above I recommend the tour if you would like to go away from the beach for one day!!.</p>

They skipped the tres ojos which was...

<p>They skipped the tres ojos which was the most exciting part of the tour description. Lunch was disgusting.</p>

The guide was knowledgable and...

<p>The guide was knowledgable and friendly, the driver safe, and the bus clean and comfortable. The tour was interesting and fun but about two hours shorter than the estimate. There was no stop at Los tres Ojos as promised in the itinerary. Also I expected that we would at least be able to get out and walk up to the Columbus lighthouse, but sadly no. The driver pulled over to the roadside and we were allowed only to take pictures from the bus, the same with the monument to the sugar cane workers. The walk through old Santo Domingo was interesting and pleasant. The lunch was tasty. Time for optional shopping does not mean that you will be allowed to browse in a group of shops but instead that you will be taken to a single shop. Finally the only site you will actually enter is the National Cathedral. Overall a pleasant day and a good overview of local history, but there would be much opportunity for improvement.</p>

Long Day!<br/> Our tour guide was...

<p>Long Day!<br/> Our tour guide was awful!<br/> He was in such a hurry we almost had to jog to keep up with him.<br/> He talked so fast so he could move on that is was very hard to understand him.<br/> Photo op's would have been nice, but no we had to keep moving.<br/> Would have loved to have spent sometime seeing the city.</p>

More about shopping and way too long...

<p>More about shopping and way too long a bus ride. Tour was not great either. Everything was rushed and we did not see much for the money we paid. It was a three hour bus ride from Punta Cana. The guy on the bus was not the tour guide.</p>

We booked this new tour the day...

<p>We booked this new tour the day after it was first posted, and went the following week, so all the kinks probably weren't worked out. We asked Viatour to refund the difference between the price of the group tour and the private tour, because we ended up getting the group tour. They were more than generous, and we only asked once, via email.</p> <p>Even in a bi-lingual group, the tour was still worth it. You should plan to go to Santo Domingo.</p> <p>If you sign up for the private tour, call at least 3 days in advance to confirm pickup time. It took us a day to figure out how to find a valid phone number for the tour operator. Hint - there are two area codes in Dominican Republic, 809 and 829. Viator provided us with a phone number whose area code was wrong.</p> <p>We definitely enjoyed the tour we got, which was a bi-lingual tour of 40 people. I'm not sure whether a private tou would have improved the experience that much. It was a good tour.</p>

mezzo mezzo

l’organisation était très correcte prise en charge à l’heure indiquée. guide très moyen ne parlant pas français

Seguridad y tranquilidad

Alex y Barry estuvieron excelente nos sentimos seguros y fueron puntuales y conocedores de datos curiosos

Excursión pobre

La excursión fue un poco "pobre" No vimos mucho de Santo Domingo, quizás se podría alargar un poco más. A la ida paramos en un sitio para ir al baño, donde aprovechan para meterte en tiendas, a la vuelta nos dijeron que íbamos a parar en un fábrica de cacao... Cual fue mi sorpresa, era la misma tienda de la ida.... En la excursión dicen "comida tipica dominicana".... La comida estaba normal, era comida... No típica del país. Me quedé con la sensación de que esta todo orientado para que compres y dejes propinas. La ventaja era la recogida y regresó al hotel. Mi Consejo no contrates esta excursión, es preferible ir por tú cuenta a visitar la ciudad.

Pra quem gosta de História

Saimos bem cedo de Punta Cana, para aproveitarmos o máximo de Santo Domingo. Nossa primeira Parada turística foi no parque Três Ojos, passeio imperdível. Na capital, visitamos também a rua mais antiga das Américas, a casa onde morou Cristovão Colombo, a 1ª catedral das Américas. Tivemos uma apresentação de dança típica no almoço que foi maravolhosa. Td muito bom. Eu recomendo!

Decepcionante excursión a Santo Domingo

Hemos hecho un viaje a Punta Cana con Travelplan. Al llegar al hotel nos ha recibido una persona de Travelplan para ofrecernos excursiones, diciendo que ellos eran muy buenos y que no reservaremos con otros. Nos han dicho que pasaríamos el día en Santo Domingo... mentira, a las tres de la tarde estábamos de vuelta. Solamente vimos la catedral,el Palacio de Colón y unos cenotes del lago de los tres ojos. Así que a las 6 de la tarde en el hotel.

Viaje a la capital

Viaje muy comercial perdiendo el tiempo en tiendas, pero esto parece que se repite en todos los viajes con destino a la capital. Una pena. Entiendo la pobreza del país pero bajo esa perspectiva no se solucionan los problemas, salvo el de los organizadores que cobran sus comisiones de gente aún más pobre. Una hipocresía cuando te explican los problemas de la gente y luego te dicen a quién les tienes que comprar y a quién no. A parte de perder mucho tiempo en esto, se quedó con explicaciones de cosas muy importantes que luego tuve que indagar más tarde por mi cuenta. También te hacen cambiarte tres veces de autobús con las consiguientes esperas en un trayecto ya de por sí largo. Una pena que la capital se quede en esto: en un lugar de compras de souvenirs de la gente que viene de los resorts de la playa.

tardanza

Me buscaron tarde en el hard rock cafe hotel y casino y me devolvieron de regreso en último lugar, luego de pasearme por varios hoteles de la zona de punta cana

Basicamente me mostraron donde comprar regalos

Primero nos recojieron en el hotel en una guagua, luego cambiamos a otra guagua pequeña que el aire era pesimo, parecia un sauna. No musica parecia un velorio e incomoda. El chofer se desvio del camino a comprar algo y llevarselo a un familiar.El guia eran tan gordo que casi no podia caminar pero se ocupó de mas que ver la capital que fueramos a comprar regalitos en pequeños chinchorros. El armuerzo no fue tan tipico y el local pequeño e incomodo. Dos y media largas horas de viaje. En general, un desastre !!

Cumplió regular

Al contratar el tour se va con la mentalidad de recoger a otros turistas en distintos hoteles por una hora, lo que no me esperaba es que al cambiar de vehículo para ir a Santo Domingo nos llevaron en una van pequeña con asientos supuestamente para dos personas pero apenas si entramos, muy incómodas las tres horas de ida y de regreso. El guía de turistas muy bien, a la hora de la comida no fuimos a un restaurante típico, ni había comida típica y mucho menos vimos bailables, simplemente nos dieron un bufete pequeño y nada más. El tour es muy largo y no da tiempo de entrar a ningún museo, eso sí, después de la comida te llevan a lugares para comprar Larimar y artesanías.

Einmal gesehen, reicht....

Die Tour an sich dauerte 4h bis wir endlich in Santa Domingo von Punta Cana aus waren... Ich würde nie wieder nach Santa Domingo fahren weil einmal reicht einfach vollkommen hin... Der Reiseleiter bemühte sich auf Deutsch alles zu erklären, was uns sehr schwer fiel ihn zu verstehen... Die Rücktour war der Oberhammer... Der Busfahrer war auf den Rückweg sowas von übermüdet und ihm fielen immer zu die Augen zu... Dabei sollte man doch bedenken was man für eine riesen Verantwortung gegenüber den mitreisenden hat... Der Bus war voll und da kann man sowas einfach nicht gewährleisten... Ich wäre am liebsten ausgestiegen und wäre mit Taxi nach Hause gefahren...

Viagem à origem das Américas

Estávamos em Punta Cana e fomos passar um dia em Santo Domingo. Uma viagem de aproximadamente 3 horas, mais vale a pena. Historicamente Santo Domingo é uma cidade fantástica. Lá encontramos o início de boa parte da colonização espanhola no caribe, que mais tarde, se espalhou por quase toda America do Sul.

DECEPTION TOTALE

Excursion pour vous prendre votre fric. Vous pensez découvrir l'histoire de ce pays poursuivez votre route. En achetant cette excursion j'ai demandé un guide français, zéro aucun guide français, le guide c'était des magnétophones qui faisaient la description sommaire de chaque pièce de la maison de Colomb (les objets présents dans les pièces) et idem dans la cathédrale. 1) Départ de l'hôtel a 7h20 direction une station d'essence pour un changement de véhicule, un temps afin d'attendre tous les clients, départ pour 2 heures de route. L'excursion n'a pas commencé qu'il vous emmène déjà dans leur boutique de souvenir afin de prendre votre argent, il est 11h30. A cette heure un samedi heure de pointe embouteillage partout dans le centre ville. 12h ""l'excursion"" commence. 2) Vous pensiez visité le phare vous le verrez depuis le bus. 3)On s'arrête devant le palais présidentiel pour ceux qui souhaite faire des photos devant une grille. 4) Direction la maison de Colomb bien sur pas de guide juste un magnéto visite très rapide. Les magnétos fonctionnent quand ils veulent pour certaine salle. Visite express l'accompagnateur ne s'assure pas que la visite soit fini qu'il est déjà parti. Bien sûr direction leurs boutiques de souvenir ou la bizarrement on n'a tout le temps du monde, on reste plus longtemps dans les boutiques que dans les lieux historiques. 5) Le restaurant l'accueil n'y est pas le service est express, nous avons été déplacé 3 fois changement de table, aucune découverte culinaire, pas de dessert, pas d'entrée, juste le plat de résistance. 6) Toujours au pas de course l'accompagnateur nous emmenait déjà dans une autre boutique quand quelqu'un lui fait remarqué que nous avions pas visité la cathédrale. Rebelote magnéto pour quelque explication. fin de la visite nous restons sur la place un temps vous serez abordé par des vendeurs de bijoux (les prix sont bien meilleur que ceux proposé dans les boutiques). Ensuite direction boutique encore ou là le temps ne compte plus bien sur. 7) Nous nous dirigeons vers le phare pour ceux qui veulent faire des photos mais de très loin. 8) Direction les grottes. 9) retour à Punta cana mais avant tout il faut remercier le chauffeur et comment en lui donnant un pourboire, et la MIRACLE l'accompagnateur parle le français, il est 18h00. Aucun pourboire des français présent dans cette excursion car tous déçus. Retour à la station de départ ou nous attendons un autre bus afin de dispatché les différents des hôtels. Enfin sur la route une passager d'origine hispanique rejoint le reste des passagers au fond pour raconter un histoire sur le chauffeur 'apparemment il serait violent avec les clients ' tout une histoire, le chauffeur entend cela commence à s'énervé disant ' qu'il peut perdre son travail etc..' arrivé au 1er hôtel tous les passagers sortent du bus par peur même ci il ne s'agi pas de leur hôtel, je fais de même. Au final je remonte dans le bus avec deux femmes qui essaye d'apaisé les choses, le chauffeur nous déposent à nos hôtels. je suis rentré à mon hôtel à 21h 30.

Es war ein wirklich toller Ausflug...

<p>Es war ein wirklich toller Ausflug nach Santo Domingo. Wir waren einen internationale Reisegruppe. Unser Guide Tony hat alles super erklärt, auch in Deutsch. Sehr empfehlenswert für Urlauber, die auch was über Land und Leute erfahren wollen.</p>

excelente dia de cultura

para los amantes de la cultura santo domingo es una excursion excelnte donde veras , los momuentos mas mencionados en el caribe y disfrutara de una gran excursion de mucha cultura.

muchas horas de viaje para que te dejen en un mercado

Muchas horas de viaje para que te paren dos veces en un mercado para compras, cada parada a mercado 35 minutos, este después el guia de ahi saca comisiones

Journée à Saint-Domingue

Belle visite de la ville avec un guide très sympa! On a commencé notre journée dans les grottes! De toute beauté...en fait ce sont des cénotes... après, visite de l'Alcazar de Colomb avec une foule d'explications toutes plus intéressante les unes que les autres....bon... j'adore l'histoire!!... visite de son mausolée aussi combiné à un phare toujours actif lunch dans un resto très bien, construit sur des ruines que l'on peut apercevoir sous le plancher de verre... aussi, démonstration de danse sur la bouteille! Visite de la cathédrale Notre Dame de l'Incarnation...première cathédrale du nouveau monde, avec là aussi beaucoup d'informations Pour terminer la journée, ballade dans le choo choo train qui nous fait arpenter le vieux quartier colonial de la ville... seul bémol, on a eu du temps pour faire des achats, mais dans un endroit très précis... et plus tard, lors de la balade, on nous a montré une rue piétonnière pleine de magasins et boutiques...on aurait préféré avoir notre temps libre là...

Une journée en mode course effrénée...

<p>Une journée en mode course effrénée !. C'est bien dommage, il faut penser autrement cette journée qui fait réveiller les gens très tôt pour en fin de compte, courir, courir et courir... Sans parler du guide qui vous oriente, gentiment certes, vers ce qui lui rapporte directement, du style le magasin où travaille son épouse, du magasin de bazar pour lequel on fait un énorme détour et on perd beaucoup de temps, où alors cet endroit sans intérêt par lequel on termine et dont l'arrêt a été négocié durant une vingtaine de minutes juste après avoir pris la route... Enfin, beaucoup de car et de complaisance qui rendent cette journée très discutable !!!.</p>

Nous avons vu ce qui était annoncé...

<p>Nous avons vu ce qui était annoncé dans le programme. Le ramassage était à l'heure, le restaurant était sympa et nous avons eu droit à une dégustation de produits dominicains lors du voyage retour. <br/> Toutefois, la description disait préparez-vous à marcher alors que nous n'avons que très peu arpenté les rues de la capitale. Je n'ai pas la sensation d'avoir vu le coeur de la ville ou d'avoir pu m'imprégner de l'ambiance. peut-être que la ville ne s'y prête pas <br/> Ensuite, il était dit cette excursion offre en option un temps libre pour faire des emplettes. En fait, cette excursion nous emmène 40 minutes dans un seul magasin hors de prix. On ne pensait pas avoir l'occasion d'acheter nos souvenirs ailleurs donc nous nous sommes décidés à acheter quelques bricoles qu'on retrouvait quasiment 50 moins cher à deux pas de notre hôtel. Très déçu de ce temps libre donc.</p>