Day 1: Arrival at the airport, transfer, welcome drink and installation in your room, followed by a yoga session. Dinner at the hotel
The hotel: Hard Rock & Casino Punta Cana
You need to make the most of the early-morning wake-up call that jet lag inevitably brings when you're travelling east to west from Europe. So get up bright and early and head for one of the hotel's 13 pools, the choice is yours. It's already warm, the water is delicious, the sun is beating down and the birds are singing their island songs. Unless you prefer a jog. There's plenty to do here too, as the resort stretches over 129 hectares along an 800-metre stretch of white sandy beach. Coconut palms everywhere, real rivers and small lakes, wilderness areas left as God made them, but also 1,775 rooms and suitesThere are nine restaurants, all 'all inclusive' and all with incredibly generous buffets. You wouldn't want to leave this Hard Rock. Especially as, in addition to its 32 boutiques and its very hip nightclub, it houses the largest casino in the Caribbean: 482 tables and slot machines. As for the rest, there are tennis courts, a football pitch, bicycles, a stud farm, an 18-hole golf course and a gigantic spa. The decor has been kept sober, with the rock'n'roll feel only evident in the paintings of stars or various objects that once belonged to them: Santana's guitar, Cliff Richard's jacket, Madonna's limousine... For corporate stays, meetings and gala dinners, the Hard Rock offers giga halls all of which can be divided into sub-commission areas. To give you an idea, one of them can seat up to 2,800 people. That's all there is to it.
Boulevard Turistico del Este, Km 28. N° 74, Macao,
Municipio de Higüey, Punta Cana - Tel: +1 817 567 7516
Internet: hardrockhotelpuntacana.com
Day 2: Cultural and sporting safari day with Bavaro Runners Adventures: eco-village showing how sugar cane is extracted and cigars made, visit to the town of Higüey, then lunch in the rainforest. In the evening: dinner at the hotel and cabaret show at Coco Bongo.
Higüey - Between Lourdes and Fatima
An 80-metre-high arch depicting clasped hands, volumes that would no doubt not have displeased Le Corbusier or Niemeyer, splendid stained glass windows from Chartres and a stunning Basilica de Nuestra Senora de la Altagracia, decried for its aesthetics and built after an international competition launched in 1947. The prize-winners were A.J. Dunoyer de Segonzac and Pierre Dupré, two famous French architects who built the Basilica of Nuestra Senora de la Altagracia. daring, truly daringThe Basilica, built of reinforced concrete, celebrates the Virgin who, according to legend, appeared to a sick young girl in 1691. Inaugurated in 1971, the basilica can accommodate no fewer than 3,000 worshippers - everything has been planned for the annual pilgrimage on 21 January - and was visited by John Paul II in 1992. History does not record what the Holy Man, accustomed to the gilded baroque of the Vatican, felt about such audacity.
Scenes from everyday life - Large green immersion
We weren't expecting it, but it's a colourful guagua that awaits passengers, in other words a reinterpretation of the local buses with their sides totally open to the outside. It's fun and, above all, very airy, which is quite appropriate on this island where the sun beats down hard from morning onwards. The safari - that's a big word after all - in a guagua wends its way through a very dense, very green tropical forest, with here and there heads of coconut palms overhanging a jumble of exotic foliage.
The guagua bumps along improbable tracks, but above all it allows you to become one with the scenery you are travelling through. All the senses are involved It's the sounds, with the sounds of people and birdsong, but also the smells of humus, horses and, above all, the wind, which wafts between the passengers. To think that some groups make the mistake of opting for air-conditioned mini-buses... Cahin-caha, the bus arrives at lunchtime at the top of a mound overlooking the entire forest, where the agency had the good idea of building a large straw hut that can accommodate 300 people. This will be an opportunity to sample the simple Dominican cuisine, and above all the national dish, l'arroz con habichelaThe most adventurous can take advantage of the stopover to try their hand at a zip-line suspended over a very deep gorge. The more adventurous can take advantage of the stop to try their hand at a zip-line suspended above a very deep gorge, while the others can play with the squirrel monkeys, who are very mischievous and not at all wild.
And then, on the way home, there's Maria's farm. A very smiling Maria who entertains guests in her doll's house, painted in pinks and blues, and gives us an opportunity to discover the ordinary décor of the Dominican countryside. A real pleasure a tiny hut, a rocking chair in the corner and Maria, who's happy to explain how coffee and cocoa are harvested. So it's coffee for everyone. What a delight!
Runners Adventures Email: olivier@bavarorunners.com - Internet: www.runnersadventures.com
Day 3: Transfer to Altos de Chavon, then fast boat to the island of Saona. Lunch on the beach, return by catamaran.
Altos de Chavon - The very best
Villas - 1,500 in all - some the size of castles, a private police force, an international airport, two polo fields, three 18-hole golf courses, a marina with a host of yachts at moorings, around twenty restaurants and three hotels... This strange, ultra-reserved housing estate only welcomes the ultra-famous or the ultra-jet set. Perched on a promontory overlooking the Rio Chavon, Casa de Campo could basically be on any tropical island, so tenuous does it seem to belong to the Dominican Republic. It could even be in Italy, particularly with the folly of an American billionaire, Altos de Chavon, reproduction of a small Italian town of the XVIe It's an old town dating back to the 19th century, with all the cobbled streets and shady arcades you could wish for. There's even a small church visited by Michael Jackson and his wife Priscilla Presley and consecrated by Pope John Paul II, as well as a 5,000-seat Roman amphitheatre inaugurated by Frank Sinatra and which has seen many a beautiful person pass through its doors. It is one of the most visited sites on the island.
Saona - Stopover on an island paradise
As film fans know, certain scenes inApocalypse Now were shot on the green waters of the Rio Chavon... A mangrove ideal for a gentle ride up the river in a Mississippi-style paddleboat. Everything is slow, drenched in sunshine. You are barely distracted by a bird that has forgotten that there is no real hurry here. The ride lasts about an hour, before being replaced by another, more hair-raising style of boat, a "speed boat" that takes to the sea in less time than it takes to say it. An hour in the sun, an hour of jolts caused by the waves that we practically fly over. And then everything calms down; the boat slows down, the sea turns into a blue lagoonThe white sandy seabed is almost within reach.
So we couldn't resist diving into the water, which was barely waist deep. We barely grazed a starfish with skin so rough it looked like plastic. Fifteen minutes later, we docked on the island of Saona, which is part of the Eastern National Park, classed as a "World Heritage Site". UNESCO protected area. The beach is a paradise, bordered by a forest of coconut palms in the shade of which wooden tables have been set up. Champagne served chilled and lobster. The return trip to the beach-port of Bayahibe is on a large catamaran, where passengers learn to dance the bachata and merengué. It's light, light, so far from all the torpor of the world...
Day 4: Transfer to Santo Domingo and check-in at the Renaissance hotel. Lunch at the hotel and visit to the old town.
The hotel: Renaissance Santo Domingo Jaragua
This is one of the city's historic hotels... Well, it was, because nothing remains of the original 1947 building. Reopened in 1987, the establishment was completely rebuilt, then renovated in 2015. And it shows. From the open lobby to the colourful decoration of the rooms, everything is contemporary. Including the restaurant, Luna Tapas, which serves international dishes as well as tofu and quinoa with a Caribbean twist. As you'd expect, the clientele is fairly young and a bit geeky. Outside, in the gardens overlooking the Malecon, you can laze by the swimming pool, accompanied by the curious and highly sought-after private lounges with walls painted by local artists. The hotel also has its own casino. 300 rooms, spa, ten meeting rooms.
Ave George Washington, 367 - Tel: +1 809 221 2222 - Internet: renaissancesantodomingo.com
Day 5: Departure for the island of Cayo Levantado via Samana. Hike to the Limon waterfall and beach stop at Las Terrenas. Return to the hotel.
Samana Peninsula - Luxuriance and dream beaches
The Samana peninsula is beautiful! It has just about everything you could want from a Caribbean island holiday. Hills disappearing under thick tropical vegetation, villages in their natural state, marvellous beaches with just the right amount of coconut palms leaning over the white sand. Some 3,000 French expatriates here have understood this well, working in tourism and catering. But it's not to say hello to the French that the groups come here, but for a show that's far more seductive than the French, from January to mid-March, whale watching by stopping for lunch on the beach on the tiny island of Cayo Levantado, which also boasts heavenly beaches, as usual, one might be tempted to say.
Day 6: Free day for shopping and late afternoon transfer to Santo Domingo airport for the return flight.
Santo Domingo - The first stones of the two Americas
It's Sunday in Cathedral Square, otherwise known as Parque Colon. Santo Domingo, which had a wild party the night before, has a hangover. In the clubs and bistros, people danced the merengue; on the Malecon, the boulevard that runs along the Caribbean Sea, they made music with anything and everything. Rum, Cuba libre and beer... So this morning, the café terraces are covering their ears to muffle the sound of the bells ringing out in full flight. They've been ringing like that since 1540, the Basilica Menor de Santa Maria being the oldest cathedral in the Americas. By the way, almost everything here was the "first in America". Today, walking down Calle El Conde or Calle de Las Damas is like leafing through the first chapters in the history of an entire continent. As an aid to discovery, there is the remarkable Museo de las Casas Reales, housed in a house built in 1520, which presents, among other things, the epic story of Christopher Columbus; there is also one of the intact bastions of the very first city, but above all, there is the sublime house of Columbus's son, Diego, built in 1511, when Monseigneur was Viceroy of the New World and Governor of Las Indias. This beautiful house has been completely restored and refurnished in keeping with the period, and stands majestically above the river that divides the city in two, at the end of a huge esplanade. In the evenings, the cafés of the Plaza de Espana are a meeting place for young people, who spend their evenings there. With fanfare, as it should be.
THOSE INVOLVED IN THE OPERATION
TRANSPORT > (updated in August 2025) At the time, Air Europa offered a service to the Dominican Republic via Santo Domingo airport. The airline now offers a daily flight from Paris to Punta Cana, with a stopover in Madrid. The Madrid-Punta Cana flight is operated by Boeing B787s in two classes, business and economy, while the Paris-Madrid route is operated by Boeing B737-800s.
Tel: 01 77 37 27 17 - Website: aireuropa.com
ORGANISATION > Connect DMC > Boulevard Turistico del Este,
101. Edificio Gym, no. 22 - Tel: +1 809 959 05 05.
Email: sales@ctsdr.com - Internet: https://connecttravelservices.com
CUSTOMER > Company in the new technologies sector.
Group size > 500 people.
Operating time > 5 days.
Proposals > incentive.
INFORMATION > Republic Tourist Office
Dominicaine. 22, rue du Quatre Septembre, 75002 Paris.
Tel.: 01 43 12 91 91 - Internet: www.GoDominicanRepublic.com
GUIDES > Petit Fûté, Guide du Routard, Lonely Planet, Guide Evasion, Foot Print Gallimard.
