Holiday in Santiago de los Caballeros

About Santiago de los Caballeros

Santiago de los Caballeros — short Santiago — is the second largest city in the Dominican Republic and the cultural heart of the Cibao Valley, the most fertile region in the Caribbean. While most tourists head straight to the beaches, Santiago offers an authentic Dominican experience away from mass tourism. The city is the center of Merengue music: This is where the rhythm was born that permeates the entire Caribbean. The Monumento a los Héroes de la Restauración — an impressive white monument on a hill — overlooks the entire city and the lush green Cibao Valley up to the mountains. The Centro León is one of the best museums in the Caribbean with an impressive collection of Dominican art, history, and ecology. The Calle del Sol is Santiago's vibrant main street with shops, restaurants, and the heartbeat of Dominican daily life. Santiago is also the center of the Dominican cigar industry — the second largest in the world after Cuba. Visitors can tour factories and buy hand-rolled cigars directly. The surrounding region offers rafting on the Río Yaque del Norte, the longest river in the Caribbean, and hiking in the Cordillera Central.