Walking through SD with luggage is not recommended for several reasons among which are:
- The city is big and it doesn't have a single place you can say "this is the center or downtown." There are signs pointings towards "Centro Ciudad" to the Duarte with Paris area, but in reality it was a long time ago when that was a sort of downtown for the city. Today the city has several areas that could be considered "downtown" and each area is dominated by one or two social classes, hence the experience you get in one is not the same as in another.
- The city has evolved to have several downtowns because of the relax nature towards urban codes. Despite you are going to the British Embassy, Dominican government offices are spread all over the city. Usually, government offices are in the "downtown" of a city, but alas SD doesn't one "downtown" area.
- The city isn't made for pedestrians. Sidewalk infrastructure is a mess, not even, tend to be less wide than in the UK, sometimes disappear either as it becomes part of some parking lot or in residential areas part or all of the sidewalk is used by the homeowners (illegally of course) forcing pedestrians to walk on the street. Having to go through this with luggage on hand multiply the difficulties. Sidewalks tend to be better along main avenues, but there is plenty on side streets and that's where things get interesting. Also, pedestrian crossing lights (which are few) are just there for show since no one follows them, not to mention many don't work.
- SD is hot not just because it's in the tropics, but it has a lot of cement buildings, sidewalks, asphalt streets, etc. All of that creates an extra layer of heat over the city that remains there well into the night. The city island heat effect can be felt if driving out of the city with the windows slightly down, especially in the evenings. As soon as you leave the built up area the air feels considerably cooler. If your time there coincides with the arrival of the Sahara dust, expect the city to be even hotter than normal. If you suffer from asthma or any respiratory diseases, expect symptoms to flare up more often due to the extra particles in the air.
The good news is that the British Embassy is on the same avenue of the main bus stop for Caribe Tours. If you arrive into the city via Caribe Tours, take an Uber or taxi from there to the embassy. It's a very easy and straight forward route.
If taking a taxi, always set the price before it leaves. Apolo Taxi (809 537 0000) is one of the more reputable ones. Taxi drivers will wait for you and go with you into the British Embassy if you tell them before hand. They will go to the airport from there, but again set the price before it leaves. Another tip is to remember the license plate of the taxi you are using, the name of the driver and any number of the unit.
