By Public Transportation in Santo Domingo

Public transit is not one of Santo Domingo's strong points. A system of local buses called gua-guas runs through the city. They're less than wonderful, walking being so much more enjoyable. Should you want to brave them—and, yes, they will get you out to Juan Dolio and Boca Chica beaches for a fraction of what a taxi costs—your hotel staffers will be able to tell you where the nearest stops are.

Similarly, there are publicos, beat-up old cars that drive the main drags picking up as many people as they can squeeze into a regular size car—seven, eight, or more. Even though it may not seem too bad, if you're one of the first ones in, as it goes along it will get progressively more crowded until you will want to jump out, no matter where you are.

A brand-new metro is scheduled to begin service at this writing in late 2008, though it will have only a handful of stops to begin with (and none in the Zona Colonial).