La Isabela

Columbus founded La Isabela on his second voyage in 1494, on a low headland above a bay on the north coast, and it was the first attempt at a permanent planned European settlement in the Americas. It failed quickly: disease, hunger, poor anchorage and conflict emptied it within five years and the survivors moved to the south coast to found Santo Domingo. What survives is a park of low stone foundations, the outline of a storehouse and a church, and a cemetery where both European and indigenous burials have been excavated. A small museum sets out what archaeology has established, and the site sits above a quiet bay with almost nobody else there.

What you actually see

• The building outlines - foundations of the storehouse, church and houses.
• The cemetery - excavated burials from the settlement's short life.
• The museum - the archaeological account of why it failed.
• The bay - the anchorage that proved too poor to keep the town alive.

When to go

November to April is drier and the coastal road easier. Mornings are cooler for walking the open site. It is quiet almost all year, which is part of the appeal.

Honest expectations

The site is a set of low foundations and takes an hour; without the museum first it means very little. In the 1950s an official of the Trujillo government, told to clean the site up before a visit by dignitaries, had much of the ruins bulldozed into the sea, which locals will tell you about. Signage is limited and mostly in Spanish. It is a long drive from the resort coast for a modest site.

Nearby

Luperón is nearby; Puerto Plata is an hour and a half east.