9 Best Sights in Eastern Cuba, Cuba

The main plaza, Parque Céspedes, is the best place to experience Manzanillo's unique sense of style. It's dominated by a central bandstand, with colorful, intricately painted tiles and a domed top. Many of the fine buildings surrounding the plaza are Moorish-inspired. You'll also find a café, an art gallery, shops, and the Casa de la Cultura, which has art exhibits, live-music shows, and other cultural events.

At times it seems that Santiago's main activity is the curious stare-down that takes place in Parque Céspedes between mojito-sipping tourists at the Hotel Casa Granda's café and white-hatted locals, who sit across the way. Long the central meeting place for santiagueros, this large plaza buzzes with sound and movement day and night. Musicians wander past and around its shady benches, which are occupied from early in the morning to late in the evening. At the park's center is a large bronze statue of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, whose Grito de Yara declared Cuba's independence from Spain in 1868 and began the Ten Years' War. Hurricane Sandy uprooted most of the park's trees in 2012; residents here patiently wait for the vegetation to grow back.

This park forms Baracoa's historic heart; local people refer to the triangle-shaped park as "Parque Central." Note the large bust of indigenous leader Hatuey—Cuba's first rebel—who fought against the Spanish and was burned at the stake for his audacity in 1512.

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.

Four blocks from Parque Céspedes, this long plaza—the city's former marketplace—is ringed with cafés, open-air restaurants, and 18th-century homes with noteworthy wooden balconies. It takes its name from the church overlooking its eastern end, the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores, which was renovated and turned into a concert hall. Several of the trees here were felled by Hurricane Sandy in 2012; it will be several years before the new plantings grow back.

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.

Just about every city on the island has a Revolution Square, a vast expanse of space and perhaps every community's most prominent marker of Cuban socialism. This one in the Reparto Sueño neighborhood was the site of Pope John Paul II's Mass celebrated here in Santiago. Towering above the plaza is the dramatic monument to Major General Antonio Maceo, one of the heroes of the wars of independence. It shows the general on his horse, going down in a battlefield portrayed by 23 steel machetes that rise from the ground around him.

For a memorable photo, visit this park, Santiago's third largest, at the edge of the Old City. Children ride in colorful carts pulled by goats—a pleasure formerly enjoyed in Parque Céspedes. This relaxed square, filled with families and sweets vendors, captures the rhythm of Santiago life. Most of the trees here were uprooted by 2012's Hurricane Sandy. Replanting has begun, but it will be some time before the park achieves its cool shadiness once again.

One of Bayamo's most peaceful spots is the Plaza del Himno, northwest of Parque Céspedes. The so-called anthem square is dominated by the Iglesia de San Salvador. First built in 1613 and rebuilt several times starting in 1740, the church is famous as the first place "La Bayamesa," Cuba's eventual national anthem, was sung in 1868. Its stone-and-wood interior has been restored, and it's open to visitors late in the afternoon, before the 5 pm mass.

The plaza is also the home of Casa de la Nacionalidad Cubana, the town's archives. It's not officially open to the public, but you can ask questions of the staff and maybe have a peek at the antique furniture and interior courtyard. A list of cultural events happening around town is usually posted here.

Southeast of the plaza is the Iglesia de San Juan Evangelista, a church that was partially destroyed in the 1869 fire but whose tower remains intact. The Retablo de los Héroes is a monument to Cuban independence fighters, from Céspedes to Celia Sánchez (who, in addition to being a revolutionary, was also Castro's lover and confidante).