Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo de Guzmán
BeenDominican RepublicAw
📷 Jose Juan C· Public domainSanto Domingo: Cuna de América | Santo Domingo: Cradle of America
About
Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. As of 2022, the city center had a population of 1,029,110 while its metropolitan area, Greater Santo Domingo, had a population of 4,274,651. The city is coterminous with the boundaries of the Distrito Nacional (D.N.), itself bordered on three sides by Santo Domingo Province.
Wikipedia →Summary excerpted from the Wikipedia article Santo Domingo, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Text may be clipped or paraphrased to fit this page.
Why visit
Santo Domingo is the Caribbean's heavyweight old-city trip: the Colonial Zone, Catedral Primada de América, Alcázar de Colón, Ozama Fortress, Parque Colón, Malecón evenings, merengue and bachata, Dominican food, and easy beach escapes to Boca Chica or Juan Dolio. It is especially useful if you want Dominican culture beyond the resort coast.
When to avoid
Avoid hurricane-season peak from August to October if you need predictable travel, and expect hot, humid weather from May through September. In the Colonial Zone, use normal big-city awareness: watch bags, use registered taxis or rideshare at night, and keep valuables out of sight. December and January bring higher hotel prices and heavier traffic.
Dry season (Dec-Apr)
In Santo Domingo, the warm season usually means June through August. Use Santo Domingo with an eye to glare, heat, and the change between dry and rainy months. In Santo Domingo, alternate outdoor observation with interiors, especially where streets have little shade. For Santo Domingo, morning and evening are better for exposed walking; interiors should do more of the work in between.
Wet / hurricane season (May-Nov)
The cooler, drier, or less humid months can be the more comfortable period in Santo Domingo. Use the drier cooler months in Santo Domingo for longer walks and day trips. For Santo Domingo, ask whether weather or reduced services will limit walking, ferries, beaches, and day trips. In Santo Domingo, this is often a season for interiors, short walks, and slower observation rather than ambitious routing. In Santo Domingo, keep outdoor plans shorter, check hours carefully, and use a taxi or rideshare when weather or late returns make transit less attractive.
The next week in Santo Domingo
7-day forecast from Open-Meteo. UV badges flag days when sun protection matters (3 and above is moderate; 8 and above is risk territory for unprotected fair skin within 30 minutes).
Today
Drizzle
29° / 23°
0.9 mm
UV Very high
Sat
Drizzle
30° / 22°
2.6 mm
UV Very high
Sun
Showers
29° / 23°
3.7 mm
UV Very high
Mon
Showers
30° / 22°
4.6 mm
UV Very high
Tue
Drizzle
29° / 21°
0.9 mm
UV Very high
Wed
Drizzle
30°
In May 16
JFMAMJJASOND
Air quality
No monitoring station within 25 km.
Weather
34° / 21°
Typical high / low
2 mm rainfall this month
Daylight
13.0h
06:06 – 19:05local
Year-round climate
Monthly highs, lows, and rainfall (long-term averages, NASA POWER).
Airports near Santo Domingo
3 commercial airports within 100 km. Closest is La Isabela International Airport (JBQ) at 11 km.
Getting around Santo Domingo
Public-transit operators within 8 km of the city center. Click through to each operator’s site for routes, fares, and tickets.
Local transit operators
Operators and modes aggregated by TransitLand from individual transit-agency GTFS feeds. Route classifications (subway / tram / rail / bus / etc) come from each feed’s GTFS route_type codes.
Sister cities
Sources
This page blends public reference data, climate/elevation services, and personal notes. Travel requirements can change, so visa and entry details should be checked again before booking.
- Wikipedia →
Summary, canonical article, and some image fallbacks.
- Wikidata →
Population, area, image, coordinates, and linked identifiers where available.
- NASA POWER →
Monthly temperature and rainfall climatology.
- Open-Meteo historical weather →
1991-2020 temperature and precipitation cross-check for compact climate fields.
- Open-Elevation →
Coordinate-based elevation backfill.
- tz database →
Coordinate-based IANA timezone lookup.
- City flag source →
CC BY-SA 3.0, This vector image includes elements that have been taken or adapted from this file:.
- Site credits →
Global source notes, map tiles, flags, licenses, and attribution policy.