Bella Vista

First i suggest getting yourself a map of SD so you can choose when and where to go to and how do you choose to get there. Bella vista is a nice base to see the city and so is Gazue. Bella vista has nice surroundings and it is part of the modern Santo Domingo. Gazcue is and old and big neighborhood but very pleasant located west just outside of what might be considered as the old Santo Domingo (Ciudad nueva and Zona Colonial). Gazcue is about 10 mins away in car from Bella vista (about 4-5 km away). If you are planning on strolling around the city then i would pick Gazcue as base rather than Bella Vista. Zona Universitaria is next to gazcue and about 5 min away in car about 3 km from bella vista). You can stroll around the colonial zone without taking a tour. There are many officials from the national tourism authority walking around the colonial zone making sure everyone knows it way around in case you need some orientation around the sites so that can be the least of your worries in case you don't want to take a tour.

Juancarlos, the nice thing about the Bella Vista neighborhood is that it borders a section along the northern edge of the parque Mirador del Sur.

Its a huge long park that along the Anacaona Avenue in the Bella Vista sections the park gets a kind of New York City's central park along its edges or Miami. Simply because there is a row of very tall high rises that resemble those big north American cities.

Bella Vista is a nice area, very affluent (thus its "nice" characteristic). The only thing is that if you are here on a purely turistic purpose, its pretty inconvenient since most tourist spots are further east. For all other purposes, Bella Vista would be great. The Hotel Bella Vista gets great review among American businessmen and everytime some of my American business friends come to town for a business meeting, I always recommend them that hotel.

Good Luck on your next trip.

BTW, the crime here is still a tolerable levels. Just, realize that you are in a real and working metropolis with all that that implies, with the exception that its one of the safest metropolises of its kind. An example would be Kingston, Jamaica. Hardly a 1 million people metropolis and you carry your life in your hands there, literally. Here, its still peaceful with the exception of isolated incidents that get much press when high profile people are involved.

And based on Leonel's current plans and actions, he is very much interested in putting an end to the crime wave. Let's hope it works.

I used to live in Bella Vista and could not recommend a better area in the entire country. The Mirador del Sur (miles long and sooo beautiful - the ex-president Balguer used to go for walks there everyday) is not only an attraction... it is a REASON for living there. I found this area relatively soo safe, yet exciting - the Gaucarra Tienna (native caves turned discoteque) and underground restaurant are amazing.
It is central to everything and the number one bonus HIGHEST NUMBER OF POWER-ON HOURS!!! When everyone at school was complaining about not being able to shower, I was clean as a whistle!
Whatever you do - look around BEFORE you sign for an apartment. If you are staying in hotels, perfect. You can check out the entire city and ,move whenever you find something more optimal!
Best of luck to you - you are lucky to be moving to santo domingo. The people I met there, I will cherish always.

prinsess61 said:

I used to live in Bella Vista and could not recommend a better area in the entire country. The Mirador del Sur (miles long and sooo beautiful - the ex-president Balguer used to go for walks there everyday) is not only an attraction... it is a REASON for living there. I found this area relatively soo safe, yet exciting - the Gaucarra Tienna (native caves turned discoteque) and underground restaurant are amazing.
It is central to everything and the number one bonus HIGHEST NUMBER OF POWER-ON HOURS!!! When everyone at school was complaining about not being able to shower, I was clean as a whistle!
Whatever you do - look around BEFORE you sign for an apartment. If you are staying in hotels, perfect. You can check out the entire city and ,move whenever you find something more optimal!
Best of luck to you - you are lucky to be moving to santo domingo. The people I met there, I will cherish always.

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Did you moved to another part of the country or out of the country? If so, why did you move?

As I went to a private school there in highschool, I had to eventually return to Canada to play catch-up with Canadian legislated education necessities. I may not have been able to graduate had I stayed much longer, the programmes in school are just too different. My mother stayed on living in Santo Domingo for ten more years before relocating to Floridas Beaches for a little bit more oconvenience in lifestyle (ie. quicker to get things done, dating scene better for her there, etc.)
I go back to vacation and visit the country I love