Chu Chu Colonial — Attraction in Santo Domingo

As a professional historian, I am wary of history-transportation gimmicks like trolleys and duckboat rides, but this little "train" did not disappoint.

This tour was an ideal way to see the city, especially after a long day of walking. Each train car sits eight to ten people. Unfortunately, train cars were not wheelchair accessible. A personalized audio tour played in each car and was available in seven language: Spanish, English, French, Portugues, Russian, Italian, and German. Additionally, catchy local music played between the narrative segments. A multilingual tour guide sat beside the audio tour player and answered additional questions as needed.

Tickets are $12USD, with a discount for paying in RD$. The ticket office is located underneath Colegio de Abogados la República Dominicana [Dominican Republic Law School] The train runs from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with 16 tours a day. This was the most consistent, reliable excursion I experienced during my entire trip to the Dominican Republic. I would...

I already saw the small train cruising through zona colonial a few times during the day and as I was taking a day off from excursions today I decided to give it a try even though I thought of it as a tourist trap since the first time. They advertise a tour of 45 minutes for RD$ 500 (RD$ 250 if you are dominican). Well, price wise it was correct - 45 minutes not really; it was more like 35 minutes and everything was played from a recorder where I assume some parts were skipped. The person on the english part of the train didn't even understand basic english - she replied the girl who asked a simple question in spanish that she doesn't understand it. Considering all facts I would rather do whatever day trip with ATA excursions than pay 25+% of it for a train cruising tour through...

So, I get there with wife and two kids at 12:45pm and the train had just left. I though it left ever hour on the hour so we asked when it was leaving again and they said an hour later.

So we left and came back at 1:30pm then the very unpleasant guy said they now had a private tour. I was disappointed and said why didn’t he tell me that when I went before and he just didn’t answer.

I decided to give it another try and came back at 3:15pm, saw the train there half full and thee guy said it was full. I said it wasn’t and he said you don’t see it but it is...then I said why he didn’t tell me to purchase the tickets in advance and just left...

One of the worst “service” experience I’ve had in my life!!! Just...