Landed and departed at the city’s own airport and what a small one it was. The smallest airport that I’ve been to in Cuba and the second smallest in the Caribbean. Cienfuegos is a port town sitting on its own large bay, connected to the ocean.



Took a taxi ride to the beach one day (20 minutes from the city) just to check it out. A nice beach with 2 small resorts.


Playa de Rancho Luna



I had a week to get to know the town. Cienfuegos has more than a few good restaurants, one of them being possibly the best restaurant I’ve eaten at in Cuba. The bar scene seemed fairly decent as well.



Anything one needed seemed available in the shops and neighbourhood private tiendas as long as you had the money. As with any Cuban place frequented by tourists, there was some begging and tourist scammin' going on but nothing to get too worked up about. With a good exchange rate, life was seemingly easy for a tourist for whatever I wanted to do. I could eat like a royal King for 25 CDN and beers in bars were the equivalent of $1.50. The town seemed to be well stocked in ice-cream and this kept me happy and chubby.


Fidel at home




Just like Havana, Cienfuegos has its own Prado and Malecon, which are connected to each other leading out to the Punta Gorda neighbourhood. The Prado part is especially long and the Malecon seemed to be broken up into 3 or so different sections. Punta Gorda has some fine looking buildings as does Parque Jose Martí. Some of that historic World Heritage UNESCO stuff about town.


Malecon

Old Mansion in Punta Gorda


Parque José Martí


The music scene had its usual Cuban traditional performers and classical guitarists but the real hot show in town was a Rock band called “Bouquet" whom I got to see live practically every other night. They have been around for some 20 years now and have a following of Cubans, Canadians and other tourists alike. In particular, a guy from Sweden really dug them a lot.

Rock band Bouquet

For a mid-sized Cuban city, I quite like Cienfuegos. It is nestled somewheres in-between Trinidad and Santa Clara, some 235 km south/east of Havana. Like the rest of Cuba, the pandemic, consistent power outages and other difficulties have really taken their toll but Cuba is far from finished and hopefully they are on the road to a sufficient recovery. I won’t comment for the locals, but as a tourist, nothing affected me greatly in any negative way to stop me visiting Cuba. Cuba can sometimes be a bit frustrating and odd but as we all know……..Cuba Es Unica!


Hermoso edificio and the town street choo-choo hop-on ride

Great pictures and details CW. Always nice to hear about the local music scene too. I have many fond memories of Cienfuegos and really should get back there soon.

Simon, Cienfuegos has a little bit of everything. I will rank it as one of my top 5 favourite Cuban cities.

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Here of some fotos of murals on homes in the "Distrito Creativo La Gloria" in Cienfuegos. A small groovy-looking part of town.

Nice photos. We flew into Cienfuegos but our hotel was in Trinidad which we did not initially realize. Trinidad is small but interesting. We heard good things about Cienfuegos but only saw the airport and bits of the town from the bus window. Maybe next time we will actually stay at the beach outside of Cienfuegos!

There are so many old cars and churches in Cuba. I will add to the collection of fotos of them out there.



Drag races near the malecon.


Kids in the field beside Estadio 5 de Septiembre.


Sundown at the pier Muelle Real.

Trip report flag added

My first Cuban baseball game was at Estadio 5 de Septiembre many years ago. Apparently, my girlfriend at the time, still has nightmares about the ladies washroom there.

Drag races? Old cars too or just motorcycles?

Would love to see a baseball game in Cuba.

The drag race just featured motorcycles. No old cars, but that would be a blast.

Simon, I have a feeling that stadium washrooms are on par with the washrooms that I encountered in bus terminals across the country. Gnarly!

My only Cuban baseball game was in Santiago over a dozen years ago. For some reason I remember it being early. Like before noon early. I went with a dude who used to post on TA Cuba forum. I think I was hung over and barely remember anything other than sitting in the Cuban's section rather than the section for tourists, if there is such a thing. Them Cubanos was plenty rowdy! I believe that the stadium in Santiago is called Estadio Guillermón Moncada. Strangely enough, there is another stadium just a few blocks away called Antonio Maceo Stadium. What the difference is between the 2, I have no idea.

The best things about Cienfuegos for me were, the Malecon, Prado, parque José Martí, the music, the milkshakes and a couple of real dandy restaurants.

Thanks for all the photos. We have been to Trinidad but not Cienfuegos. I know that there are a couple of beach resorts just outside of Cienfuegos. It’s on the bucket list!

If there was one let-down, it was that there was nowhere to rent a bicycle in Cienfuegos. In fact, the only place in Cuba that I have been able to rent a bike (from a proper shop) is in Havana, of course.

Those resorts just outside of Cienfuegos are 2 or 2.5 star at best.

It used to be fairly inexpensive to bring your own bike to Cuba. Now I think our airlines all charge around $75.

Yes I have a friend who used to take a bicycle to Cuba 2 or 3 times a year.
He doesn't anymore because of the cost.
Now he loads his bags full of clothes and tuna for the people he likes most.
Not sure when I will be back to Cienfuegos.
My biggest hope is that there will be direct flights to Havana from Canada next winter!

Photos look amazing! cannot wait to visit!

A bit of recent goings-ons regarding Cienfuegos.

As the sunset painted the sky in shades of gold and red, the celebration of the beginning of summer at Rancho Luna Beach came to an end, leaving a trail of joy and excitement. Visitors left with the promise of returning soon to enjoy all the beach has to offer.

A day at Rancho Luna Beach kicks off summer in Cienfuegos