The award, and what it was
Travel Weekly's Readers' Choice Awards are voted by travel industry professionals. The ballot opens as a write-in over the summer, the leading names become finalists, and the finalist vote runs through the autumn before the results are announced in December. For 2018, the readers put the Dominican Republic first among Caribbean destinations.
"It is an honor for our country to be acknowledged by leading professionals in the travel industry," said Magaly Toribio, Marketing Advisor for the Dominican Republic Ministry of Tourism at the time. "We are proud to promote the distinct beauty and diversity of our country."
We keep the year on that award deliberately: it is a historical fact from 2018, not a current claim.
Why professionals rate it
Surrounded by the Atlantic to the north and the Caribbean to the south, the country has close to 1,000 miles of coastline, and the coasts are not interchangeable. The east is resort country. The south-east is Casa de Campo, Bayahibe and the National Park of the East. The north is Atlantic surf and kitesurfing. The Samana peninsula is green and quiet, with humpback whales in the bay each winter. Inland there are real mountains, rivers and waterfalls.
Then there is the part no landscape provides: merengue, carnival, Dominican cooking, and cigars, rum, chocolate, coffee, amber and larimar that are made here rather than imported for the gift shop.
History you can walk through
Santo Domingo's Zona Colonial is the oldest European city in the Americas and a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is an afternoon from the east coast resorts by road, and it is the single easiest way to make a beach holiday feel like a trip to a country. See the oldest city in America.
Where to start
If it is your first visit, the east coast is the softest landing: the most flights, the widest beaches and the largest choice of hotels. Read nine memorable things to do in Punta Cana for what is worth leaving the resort for, and ten best places in the Dominican Republic if you would rather build a route than a base.
Getting around
Transekur has provided private transportation nationwide since 2012. We monitor your flight, meet you inside arrivals with a tablet showing your name, and drive you straight to your address — with two hours of free waiting time after landing. Start with Punta Cana airport transfers.
