national botanical garden

You can spend all day here . It's free if you go early and walk.At 9am they start charging and there is a constant supply of tourist trains to take you around which you might need in the heat of the day. There is only food and toilets at the entrance so be prepared ! There are plenty of places to get shade. We spent 4 hours here and it was fascinating in terms of all the birds butterflies, lizards and beautiful plants.

We spent several hours here. The museum was "underwhelming" with dingy, dark discussions of the flora and fauna. We paid for tour guide in English, but she was at lunch. We took the little train around the gardens, but our train guide seemed quite uninterested in her job, and she was very hard to understand. I really don't know what I saw. Thought we would stop at the orchid and butterfly gardens but we did not. We did stop at the Japanese Gardens, and these were exquisite.

We only had about an hour to see the garden before it closed, and because it began raining hard, we took the tram tour. The tour goes a bit fast for my taste (I like to look at all the plants!) but is good for a quick visit. They can arrange English interpretation if needed (they will look at your ticket and if you're a foreigner they'll ask what language you need), but they have to find someone to do it, so I tipped the guide. The Japanese garden is a quick stop, beautiful in its own right but the constant photography sessions for weddings and quinceaneras are a feature in their own right! One thing that impressed me about this section of the garden were the hundreds of tiny native Tolumnia variegata orchids that have taken up residence in the topiary Podocarpus trees. They'll flower in the dry season (Dec-March) so look out for them. If you're really into plants, make sure to visit for half or whole day to have time to walk through the forest reserve and see all the exhibit pavilions.

This is one of my favorite spots in Santo Domingo. It is peaceful and beautiful. A great place to take your family.

I've never been to a botanical garden where most of the exhibits are closed and the pathways are driveways so you have worry about being run over. I'd skip it.

be sure to take the train. You have to read the sign when you buy your tickets. Let the ticket taker know you want to have the guide speak English and they will accommodate. Just know that some words will be lost in translation. The train makes a 10 minutes stop at Japanese Garden, be sure to walk back later to really enjoy. Like many cultural institutions lack of funding shows in maintenance. Ladies bathroom does not have seats.

You could buy a ticket that gave you entry into the park, the small museum, and a train ride. I didn't take the train ride (walked around instead), though I did go into the museum. You get a guide (who spoke Spanish) that takes you through some exhibits that focused on the plants and wildlife of the Dominican Republic. Non-locals unfortunately have to pay a higher rate than locals, but it still was not too expensive (about $5 US if I recall correctly.)The gardens themselves were very neat. There was a large section of tropical forest, with some interpretive signs to identify trees, birds, etc. There was also an herb garden, and a more traditional garden near the entrance. It was a nice place to walk around for a while.

The park was beautiful and enormous. We took the train ride, but had to wait quite awhile before someone came out to operate the train. We were the only ones there, and usually I think they wait for more people. The train ride takes about half an hour, and they let you get off at the Japanese garden for 15 minutes. We gave our taxi driver a set time to come back, so by the time we waited for the train ride and completed the train ride, we really didn't have much time left to explore.This park is massive, so I would suggest getting your hands on a good map (perhaps before you go, I didn't really see any maps available in the park which was odd). Take the train ride, then decide which areas you would want to explore on foot. And eat a good meal before. There didn't look like there was much choice of food and you could easily spend hours here. Don't bother going into the museum.If I ever return to Santo Domingo, I would definitely like to come back here for a whole afternoon and spend the day here.

Going there for a stroll or Jog is always a pleasure. The vegetation makes is more interesting and less stressful. There are many people that go on a regular basis. There is a train ride which I suggest you take once to learn about the garden. The museum...well not the best use of your time! Stick to the outdoors!

A great thing to do, ride the train or walk through, Japanese gardens is stunning! Nice getaway from busy city, but not too far from downtown.

it´s an excellent option to go with the family, it´s a very well kept botanical garden and has a lot of different ecosystems, If you like to run or jog is also a nice place to do with more than 5 miles of treads

Interesting though simple summary of the different areas within the DR; an opportunity to wander in a quiet oasis in a loud city and truly beautiful and tranquil Japanese Garden. A small train is available to take visitors around the Botanical Garden on a schedule.

This is a beautiful place... you can get a quite time, forget about the sounds of the city and enjoy silence. you could even have a picnic here... enjoy!

This is a magnificent botanical garden. Great variety of tropical plants and endemic plants of the Dominican ecosystems. The park is enormous and it offers a great strolls inside and outside. It has just inaugurated a butterfly area. I love it.

It is refreshing to see such a large area protected in the big city. The grounds are well groomed with plants native to the area. A train ride takes you through a natural forest of different vegetation along a small creek bed. Feels like going through a jungle. Along the way you make one stop at the Japanese Garden which is nice but not spectacular. My favorite was seeing the different palm trees which the guide said there were 100 different species there. They also have a small museum which has glass windows showing the different areas and vegetation in the Dominican Republic. Price was $5.00 for entry, train ride and museum. Very reasonable. I must note that if you have not ate do not plan to eat there as the snack bar is not reliable and closes early so not food or drinks (bring your own). Also, they have an aquatic plant display that was not maintained so don't waste your efforts to go look at it. It said that it is to be renovated. mmmm manana (someday). Overall I do recommend going if you have the time to spend and want a taste of what the forest looks like and a good variety of different palms.