6 Best Sights in Eastern Cuba, Cuba

If you're up to the ascent, exactly 456 steps lead up to the Loma de la Cruz, a hill named for the large white cross that has graced it since 1790.

Pace yourself—you'll find landings every 50 steps or so—and bring water. The climb up can get hot.

From here you have a lovely view of Holguín and the surrounding limestone hills. There are also artisan shops and a snack bar.

The Casa Natal Calixto García contains some of the belongings of General Calixto García, a local patriot. It's worth a visit if you're an aficionado of Cuban history, and you can learn more about the Ten Years' War here.

This museum, a Moorish-style structure with beautiful ceramic tile work, contains a decent natural-history collection with preserved specimens of 11 Cuban ecosystems. Be sure to check out the Polymita snail-shell collection from Baracoa.

The museum, in the former Casino Español at the plaza's northern end, contains an exhibit of pre-Columbian artifacts as well as displays on the Revolution and the province's role in it. Locally, the redbrick building is known as La Periquera ("the Parrot Cage"), because brightly dressed Spanish officers peered through its barred windows while the city was under siege by General García's troops in 1868.

Holguín's small historic district hugs this square, which is graced by large trees and a marble bust of Calixto García, a local general in the Ten Years' War (1868–78) for independence from Spain. It's lined with colonial buildings containing residences, small shops, the requisite Casa de la Trova (with frequent music performances), the Teatro Comandante Eddy Sunoi, and the Centro de Arte Salón Moncada, with its occasional painting and photography exhibits.

The square has a marble bust of local hero General Calixto García and his marble mausoleum. This broad socialist expanse is used for political rallies and other events. Look for the white colonial building containing the provincial Communist Party headquarters.