40 Best Sights in Western Cuba, Cuba

Covering 35,000 square meters, this hillside botanical garden is a wild tangle of flowering vines, fragrant gingers, waist-high begonias and epiphyte-laden trees growing out of rocks. The centerpiece is a tidy greenhouse filled with blooming orchids. Back in the 1940s, a wealthy Havana lawyer and orchid fancier hired a Japanese gardener to design this glorious garden in his daughter's memory. Stone pathways bordered by plant-covered rocky outcroppings wind uphill to a lookout. The footing is a little precarious and the garden is quite wild, but beautiful. Birds abound, so be sure to bring along binoculars. The garden is also a study center for budding botanists and there is an expert guide on hand.

Installed in a fantastical Moorish palace, dripping with carved stone griffins, this museum is even more fascinating for its outlandish architecture and quaint, old-fashioned displays than for its hodgepodge, natural history collection. Built by a wealthy doctor in 1909, this private residence was known as the Guasch Palace. After the Revolution, the doctor's son "gifted" the building to the state and it was officially renamed after a self-taught, 19th-century Cuban scientist named Tranquilino Sandalio de Noda. The exhibits include dusty dioramas of desiccated stuffed specimens, from antelope to zebra, plus an array of mounted animal heads on the walls. There's a room dedicated to butterfly and moth collections, and a shell collection is displayed in showcases held up by carved seahorses. The delightful surprise here is the interior garden where, amid Art Nouveau painted floor tiles, intricately carved wooden doors and tropical plants, a giant concrete model of a demonically grinning tyrannosaurus Rex reigns.

Pay the extra to bring in your camera; there are photo ops everywhere you look.

Across the street from the museum there are two side-by-side, brightly colored restaurants competing for lunch business.

The city's main, not-to-be-missed sight is this perfectly preserved, 19th-century natural-medicine pharmacy. Established in 1882 by Ernesto Triolet and his son-in-law, Juan Fermín de Figueroa, this gorgeous emporium looks out onto the Parque de Libertad through large stained glass windows. The pharmacy closed its doors in 1964, and has been preserved exactly as it was on that day, down to the huge, ornate cash register; the log book with handwritten recipes for each prescription; the rolls of brown paper to wrap the glass bottles that were individually filled and labeled; and the ceiling-high, handsome wood-and-glass cases holding hundreds of decorative porcelain jars. Guided tours take you to the distillery behind the shop, where the pharmacists manufactured their world-famous trademark syrups and tonics. Medicine bottles, embossed with the pharmacy's name, were made in Philadelphia and shipped to Cuba. Don't miss the bronze crocodile used to compress and calibrate the corks that, before the screw-top, sealed vials. The tour continues upstairs in the lavish living quarters of the owners—natural medicine was obviously a profitable business. An art gallery on the mezzanine floor showcases stained glass works—including small glass bird mobiles for sale—made by a studio that occupies the top floor.

This beautifully restored museum, housed in an elegant, colonnaded 1918 building, is worth a visit for its wide-ranging exhibits on everything from archeology to ethnology to numismatics to colonial weaponry. Perhaps most interesting is the re-creation of the original exhibition space, as it would have been presented 100 years ago, in a high-ceilinged hall with an upper, wooden gallery. Lots of natural light illuminates the quirky, Victorian-era potpourri of natural-history exhibits, from bugs, butterflies, polymitas (snails with multicolored shells), to preserved fleas in nuptial dress, viewed under a magnifying glass. Antique buttons and buckles, pen nibs, death masks, a Masonic lodge throne in the shape of a peacock—you never know what oddity you will come across. On the historical side, there are the usual photographs of Cárdenas heroes of the wars of independence and the Revolution and a gruesome reminder of the risks rebels took, in the form of the garotte used to strangle victims to death. The museum has a beautiful, bright inner courtyard displaying some lovely, early 19th-century furniture, as well as an ornate horse-drawn hearse.

Bird-watchers from all over the world flock to this national park in hopes of feasting their eyes on some 190 bird species, including 21 endemic species. Even if you're not a passionate birder, you can still enjoy watching a mass of wading birds—flamingos, wood storks, sandhill cranes—feeding here. The park forms about half of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve that also includes the Las Salinas Wildlife Sanctuary. The combined reserve covers 4,520 sq km (1,641 sq miles) encompassing mangroves, cactus, dry woods, savannahs, salt pans and forest, providing habitat for reptiles, mammals, and all those birds. It's a mecca for fly-fishermen and hikers, as well. Bird-watching platforms on the way out to Las Salinas offer a chance to see some of the endemic species, such as the eponymous Zapata Rail and Zapata Wren, along with the red, white, and blue tocororo—Cuba's national bird and the zunzuncito (Bee Hummingbird), the smallest bird in the world. The main access to the park is via Playa Larga at the head of the Bahía de los Cochinos. Check in at the park office in Playa Largo a day before you plan to visit the vast park, to plan which area you want to explore, pay your entrance fee (CUC$10), and make arrangements for hiring a guide (CUC$10).

Just east of Playa Girón, the sea has formed a series of natural pools by entering through underwater caves, creating the largest flooded cavern in Cuba. The bottom of sponge and coral is a polychromatic marvel, as are the many tropical fish. Experienced, well-equipped divers can follow a 25-meter (83-foot) tunnel through the limestone leading out to the sea. The on-site dive shop charges CUC$25 for a dive, including gear; and CUC$5 to rent snorkeling gear. There's no need for boats as the dive area is close. Night dives can also be arranged. The on-site restaurant is open until 5 and specializes in shrimp and lobster. There's a CUC$15 charge that includes lunch and drinks, and access to the natural pool. In spring, be prepared for roads covered with dead land crabs and their attendant vultures.

Recently restored on the outside, this massive, Neoclassical church with two ornate towers is famous for its interior frescoes. In front of the church, there is a huge ceiba tree with a heavy, metal bell hanging from one of the branches, commemorating the bells that were rung to call in slaves from the sugar plantations. On the ground below lies a large, antique metal gear from a sugar mill.

From the safety of wooden walkways, you can observe some 3,000 crocodiles in various stages of development at this breeding center-cum-tourist attraction. The original enterprise was the idea of Celia Sánchez, one of Fidel Castro's close companions and advisers, who was determined to restore the failing crocodile and caiman populations in the Cienaga Swamp. Today, buses crowd the parking lot bringing tour groups for the guided tour, which takes about 45 minutes. Along the way you can stroke a baby crocodile and have your photo taken cradling a three-year-old croc. The guides fill you in on such crocodilian factoids as: these naturally aggressive creatures can jump 1 meter (3 feet) high and run as fast as a horse for 80 meters (264 feet), reaching speeds of up to 60 kph (37 mph). So stay on the walkway! After visiting with the crocodiles, if you're not too sensitive, you can lunch on crocodile steaks at two on-site restaurants, La Boca and El Ranchón. The Ranchón is smaller and cheaper, and has live music to accompany your reptilian repast (CUC$10). The entrance fee to the breeding center includes a soft drink or glass of juice. Boat tours to the Laguna de Tesoro model village leave from a dock here.

Discovered in the 1960s, this cave contains aboriginal drawings of concentric circles and other pre-Columbian symbols, thought to be more than 3,000 years old. To get to the cave entrance, you must follow a shady path 300 meters (990 feet).

This spectacular and massive cave is named for the aboriginal Guanahatabey. Dripping with limestone formations, it's spooky enough to thrill even grown-ups. Visitors enter the cave through a narrow opening and follow a well-beaten, dimly lighted stone trail for 255 meters (842 feet), narrowing and widening until you reach a high-ceilinged grotto and an underground river. You board a boat here for a short cruise (300 meters [990 feet]) past illuminated stalagmites. The guide points a laser at shapes and if you really use your imagination you can just make out a champagne bottle, a skull, a crocodile, a sea horse, and even the Niña, Pinta, and Santa María. The boat takes you out of the cave through a narrow, vine-draped opening in the rock. Souvenir vendors await as you disembark. Don't miss the chance to have your photo taken atop Tomás, a huge, but placid, water buffalo. His handler will even lend you his straw hat so you can really look the part of a guajiro; a tip is expected.

This is a popular spot on the tour-bus circuit, so try to come early or late in the day for a chance to have the cave more to yourself.

About 60 km (38 miles) southeast of Nueva Gerona, this series of five coastal caves is famous for well-preserved, pre-Colombian wall paintings, sometimes referred to as "The Sistine Chapel of the Caribbean." Don't expect angels and human figures, but the colorful, geometric pictographs are intriguing. As the year proceeds, the sunlight that beams into the caves illuminates different parts of the aboriginal artwork, vestiges of the Ciboney culture, dating from around 900 BC, The Colony Puerto Sol hotel can arrange guides and visits to the site.

For a pleasant break from the beach, you can watch a troupe of acrobatic dolphins show off their tricks in a 35-minute show (CUC$20) and take photos (an extra CUC$5). If you want to dive in and swim with the dolphins, it costs an extra CUC$60. You can also have your photo taken with a dolphin in the background (CUC$5).

The dimly lighted, rough 140-meter (462-foot) tunnel piercing this mogote opens onto an eerily quiet open space ringed by high limestone rocks. There's a rather shabby replica of a Cimarron campsite with life-size figures of escaped slaves. But if you arrive before a tour group, it's quite peaceful here. The thatch-roof, outdoor bohío-style restaurant in this clearing has a huge brick oven to roast chicken and pork; a main course and dessert costs less than CUC$6. At the entrance to the cave, sheltered by the rock overhang is El Palanque de los Cimarrones, a popular disco/bar/restaurant that stays open late and all night on Saturday.

On a narrow side street south of the city center, this small distillery occupies a former rum factory. Just about every process is done by hand, from pouring the tiny guayabita berries into huge, wooden fermenting barrels, to bottle washing, to tapping corks into the bottles, to affixing the old-fashioned labels. Visitors can taste the finished product in the shop. The dry version, which ferments for three months, is a fiery blast of brandy; the sweet version is more like a plum eau de vie. A bottle costs around CUC$6. It's noisy, messy and often crowded with tour groups, but it's a glimpse of how a truly authentic Cuban product is still being produced.

It's not easy to find, so hire a pedal cab.

This traditional cigar factory, in a stately, colonnaded building that was the city jail until 1961, offers a more intimate visit than some of the major Havana cigar factories. You can watch a Montecristo in the making, as a guide explains the process. In a long, high-ceilinged hall, mostly young men—sporting trendy, shaved hair-dos—sit at old-fashioned, wooden tables, carefully destemming aged tobacco leaves, which look like thin strips of leather, then slowly rolling layers of different tobacco. The rolls are placed in plastic molds, pressed, then tested with an air compressor for the right consistency. You might hear the lector (reader) entertain the cigar rollers by reading newspaper articles from Granma or novels, but it's more likely you'll hear popular music from a radio. You purchase your ticket in the air-conditioned Casa del Habano across the street, where you can also buy cigars and souvenir humedors.

No cameras are allowed in the cigar factory.

At this casual farm-cum-zoo visitors can see two of Cuba's distinctive animals: the manjuarí, a primitive water creature with an alligator-like head and a fish body, and the jutía, a large-eared, muskrat-like tree rat, once prized for guajiro stews. Scattered around the farm yard there are deer, peacocks, rabbits, ducks, and guinea fowl. At the guarapa bar, you can buy a glass of fresh-pressed cane juice, with or without rum (CUC$2). The musical entertainment is provided by a caged Cuban Bullfinch, a small black bird, so prized for its song that Cubans organize bird-song competitions. There's no entrance fee to the farm but there are souvenir kiosks scattered around, and an open-air restaurant ($) mostly set up for tour-group buffets.

Once the property of the Hershey chocolate barons, Cuba's first electric railway was built in 1917 to haul sugarcane and workers to the sugar refinery. Now the quaint electric engine slowly pulls three passenger cars with wooden benches to a picturesque station in Matanzas, making many stops along the way. The ride usually takes about three to four hours to travel 95 km (60 miles). It's an interesting trip, but you can't be on a tight schedule, because the train isn't always on time and sometimes doesn't even get from Havana to Matanzas on the same day. The best train to take is the 12:21 pm train from the Casablanca station in Havana, or the 12:09 from Matanzas, but always check the most current schedule first. You buy the tickets on the train.

This architecturally eclectic church was built in 1870 by architect Daniel Delaglio, who also designed the city's emblematic Teatro Sauto. The church's Neoclassical symmetry is broken by a jumble of towers, turrets, domes, and cupolas. The bright yellow interior has rich, fluted columns behind the main altar.

South of Playa Larga, on the east side of the Bay of Pigs, lies this natural aquarium in a 61-meter-deep (201-foot-deep) cenote (a flooded sinkhole filled with multicolor fish that swim in from the bay via a subterranean passage). Diving through the banks of fish and the lush subaquatic vegetation is superb. There is no entrance fee—you walk along a short, shaded trail to the pool and dive in. There's a makeshift, on-site dive shop with tanks, as well as snorkeling gear to rent. If you plan on doing a lot of snorkeling and care about hygiene, bring along your own mask. You can also snorkel from the beach, across the road from the entrance to the cenote. La Casa del Pescador

(see Where to Eat, below)

is next to the cenote.

According to legend, Taíno aboriginals dumped gold and other loot in this lake to hide it from the Spanish. No treasure has ever been found, although Taíno relics have been recovered from the lake and are now displayed in the Museo Guamá. The museum is part of an impressive replica of a Taíno village on an island, complete with 32 life-size figures of Taínos going about their daily business, created by Cuban sculptor Rita Longa. The lake is stocked with largemouth bass for visiting fishermen who stay in the cabins dotted around the lake. Access to the museum is by boat, leaving from the Criadero de Cocodrilos dock. The outboard motorboats, some with sunshades, travel 4 km (2½ miles) along a canal into the lagoon. The boat trip takes about 30 minutes and costs CUC$12, including entrance to the museum. The first boat leaves at 9 am and the last one at 4 pm.

Across the massive rock face of Mogote Dos Hermanas, Diego Rivera disciple Leovigildo González (or the 25 farmers he directed) painted this immense—200 x 300 meters (660 x 990 feet)—luridly colored mural of prehistoric men and creatures, between 1959 and 1962. Commissioned by Fidel Castro, the painting is supposed to depict the evolutionary process in the Sierra de los Órganos.

No need to pay the entrance fee; you can see it just as well from the road.

Inspired by the diplomatic battle to repatriate Elián González, the five-year-old rescued off the coast of Florida in 1999, this museum, in a restored, neoclassical-style firehouse, is an ideological examination of the opposing Battle of Ideas between Cuba and the United States. Inaugurated in 2001 by Fidel Castro himself, the concept is a perfect example of how any threat to Cuba's sovereignty quickly becomes a rallying cry for unity in Cuba and grist for the propaganda mill. Other exhibits focus on the history of Cuba's battle to achieve and maintain its national sovereignty, displaying such wide-ranging "artifacts" as two English cannonballs fired in 1756, and the cross given to Elián by Reverend John Brown Campbell.

If you can read Spanish, the museum provides an excellent insight into the official Cuban mind-set.

There's a great view of the town and the harbor from the roof terrace.

Housed in one of Varadero's prettiest early 20th-century summer houses, built entirely of wood and painted sky blue with white trim, this collection chronicles Varadero's early days as a resort. Of special interest are photographs of Che and Fidel "taking" the Hotel Internacional after the Revolution.

In a rather shabby building, this small, eclectic collection displays odd objects and photographs that focus on local history, including antique farm tools. You'll see some stirrups, weapons, weights, locks and keys, and branding irons from Spanish colonial times, as well as personal objects that belonged to the museum's namesake, a top-ranked woman warrior who fought for Cuba's independence in the 19th century. A bronze bust of Captain Adela Azcuy herself stands on the street in front of this house, where she spent much of her life. The museum organizes two- to three-hour guided walking tours in the town of Viñales, CUC$8 per person. Make reservations for the tour the day before at the museum.

Propaganda aside, this museum celebrating "the first rout of Yankee imperialism in Latin America" is a sobering testament to the harsh social conditions that provoked the Revolution, especially in this historically poorest part of Cuba, where there were no schools or hospitals pre-Revolution. The main focus is on the counterrevolutionary events after 1959 leading up to the Bay of Pigs invasion, and the story of the invasion itself. Particularly affecting are the photos of fallen Cuban soldiers, accompanied by such personal effects as photos of their families or an old-fashioned fob watch. There's also a 15-minute film to watch. For military buffs, a restored British Hawker Sea Fury plane, used by the Cuban Air Force, stands guard at the museum entrance. For an extra CUC$2, you can hire a guide to elaborate on the exhibits.

This distinctive, slate-blue building with two tiers of graceful arcades recalls the city's mid-19th-century heyday. It was built in 1838 for the wealthy del Junco family and since 1980 has housed a collection of artifacts, photographs, memorabilia and tools—some of them gruesome—chronicling the sugar and slave industries, on which the city's wealth was built. For an extra CUC$5 you can take photos.

You can sightsee in one of the horse-drawn carriages (less than CUC$10) that wait for hire in the plaza facing the town's central park, which also has the oldest statue of Columbus in the New World (erected in 1858). Overlooking the statue, the mid-19th-century Catedral de la Inmaculada Concepción is oddly framed by two conical towers and is in desperate need of repair. However, the Neoclassical cathedral is known for its stained glass windows, best admired from inside. To enter, walk around the church to the back door at No. 359. Don't miss the tiny chapel in the conical tower at the northeast corner.