Puerto Plata Cable Car

Puerto Plata's cable car climbs nearly 800 metres from the city to the flat summit of Mount Isabel de Torres, and the change of world in ten minutes is the appeal: you leave a hot coastal city and arrive in cool cloud forest, where a Christ the Redeemer statue stands with arms open above botanical gardens of ferns, orchids and bromeliads. From the terrace the whole north coast unrolls - the old town's grid, the amber-trade harbour, the long line of beaches running east toward Sosua. It is one of the few aerial tramways in the Caribbean and remains the city's signature outing.

What you actually see

• The summit terrace view - the city, harbour and north-coast beaches below.
• The Christ statue - the mountaintop landmark and its gardens.
• The cloud-forest gardens - ferns, orchids and cooler mountain air.
• Puerto Plata old town - Victorian gingerbread houses and the amber museum below.

When to go

Go early on a clear day - cloud builds over the summit through the morning and can swallow the view entirely by afternoon, which is why the mountain is often capped in white. The drier winter months give the best odds. The cable car closes in high winds and on some Wednesdays for maintenance.

Honest expectations

The view is entirely weather-dependent and the summit genuinely does spend much of the time in cloud; ask at the base station what the top looks like before buying tickets. Queues build midday, especially on cruise-ship days. The gardens are pleasant rather than spectacular. The city below rewards a walk for its gingerbread architecture and amber museum, which visitors often skip.

Nearby

Puerto Plata's fortress and old town, the Damajagua waterfalls and Sosua and Cabarete beaches.