Museum buffs will find a bevy of opportunities around the Dominican Republic. Santo Domingo’s Colonial City—the first urban settlement in the New World—houses excellent museums providing insight into the Spanish colonial days—from the Alcázar de Colón palace to the Museo de las Casas Reales, where the royal court was housed. The city also boasts a museum complex at Plaza de la Cultura, showcasing history and modern art, while the latest offering in the city is all about Dominican chocolate. In Puerto Plata, you can learn about national heroes and precious stones, while Samaná offers an insightful small museum on its humpback whales, and Sosúa has a fascinating Jewish Museum. La Romana’s Altos de Chavón is home to the most comprehensive display on the Taino at the Regional Museum of Archeology.

Whether covering history, geography, precious stones, chocolate, baseball, rum, family life in the DR, or architecture, among other topics, there’s a museum to fit all ages and interests.