Dominican Republic

Photo: Palm trees on a beach

A lush line of palm trees stands sentinel on an isolated Dominican Republic beach.

Photograph by Raul Touzon

The D.R., as its many hip and sun-happy devotees call it, is not the Caribbean's most visited destination for nothing. • Sharing the island of Hispaniola with impoverished Haiti, Dominicans are blessed with an extraordinary richness of both history and natural beauty. • Santo Domingo, the capital, is the oldest city in the New World, and its Zona Colonial is home to the first cathedral built in the Americas. • Its sugared beaches are lapped by turquoise waters. • Spectacular waterfalls split wildlife-rich rain forests. • Baseball remains the national obsession.

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