53 Best Sights in Central Cuba, Cuba

If you can't be here during December for the annual holiday Parrandas celebrations, a visit to this interesting museum makes a nice consolation prize. The carnival-like parades punctuate Christmastime in Central Cuba, and Remedios does them up bigger and better than any city in the region. The city is divided into two neighborhoods—El Carmen and El Salvador—each of which creates its own floats, costumes, lanterns, and fireworks as part of an informal competition during the month-long festival that culminates on Christmas Eve. Though no winner is ever declared, most townspeople will tell you that not only does their neighborhood win every year, but the rest of Remedios isn't even good competition. The museum has photos, costumes, and floats from past Parrandas.

Set in the impressive Palacio Cantero, which was built by a sugar baron in 1830, the History Museum's displays trace the development of Trinidad from its founding by Diego Velázquez to the early years of the Revolutionary government. Two rooms are furnished with antiques, and elaborate murals cover some of the walls. A lookout platform atop the building's large tower affords a wonderful view. (The stairs look rickety, but are safe, although you probably won't want to negotiate their narrowness if you are claustrophobic.)

Rather than the stuff of Cupid's arrows, the romance in this museum's name refers to the one that Trinidad's prominent families had with their precious things. A great variety of antiques—most imported from Europe—fill the 14 rooms of this imposing mansion. Built in 1704, the house belonged to Count Burnet, though nearly all the antiques in it came from the homes of other families. Don't miss the view from the second-floor balcony.

Originally the city's central square, or Plaza de las Armas, this didn't become a proper park until 1912. Note the bronze statue of Agramonte on his steed at its center. In the park's southwestern corner is a 19th-century house that's now the Casa de la Trova, whose courtyard hosts performances by local musicians every day but Monday. The Neoclassical building to the north is the biblioteca (library); a few doors farther north is the Palacio Municipal (town hall), which was originally erected in 1730 but almost completely rebuilt in 1906; local artists often exhibit in its foyer. The royal palms that stand at each corner of the park were planted as surreptitious monuments to four freedom fighters executed by Spain during the War of Independence. You'll find the requisite tinajones here too.

Most of the important buildings of Cienfuegos surround the central Parque José Martí which contains an impressive marble statue, carved in 1902, of the Cuban revolutionary and intellectual for whom it was named. Near the park's western end is a tiny replica of the Arc de Triomphe, a nod to the city's French heritage, and just south of the Martí statue stands a domed kiosk, where the municipal band sometimes gives weekend concerts. East of the park, Avenida 54 is a pedestrian mall—lined with shops and restaurants—called El Boulevard.

The mountains around Topes de Collantes are covered with a mosaic of coffee farms and patches of forest that are protected within the Parque Natural Escambray. This nature preserve has several deep, lush valleys that are home to such birds as the Cuban parrot, the emerald hummingbird, and the trogon. Several trails lead to waterfalls; the most accessible is the Salto de Caburní, just a 2-km (1-mile) hike along a trail that starts at the Villa Caburní hotel, 2 km (1 mile) north of Topes de Collantes. The spectacular Salto de Rocío cascades down a rock face about 17 km (10 miles) north of Topes. Tours (the only way to visit) truck you to a point just 2 km (1 mile) from the falls. The grotto of La Batata, several kilometers west of Topes, has a river running out of it with a swimming hole; you can visit on a 7-km (4-mile) guided hike that passes a lookout point.

Most of the museums and monuments surround Santa Clara's central plaza. The streets that border it are closed to traffic, and locals gather here evenings and weekends, when concerts are often held in the kiosk or on the street in front of the Casa de la Cultura. On the park's northeast end stands the stately Palacio Provincial, built in 1912 to house the provincial government but now the city's library. Across the park from the library is the Palacio Municipal, or town hall, a structure dating from 1922. The Neoclassical building next to the Palacio Municipal was originally an elite social club but is now a government cultural center, the Casa de la Cultura; climb its marble staircase to the old ballroom, which is still lovely despite decades of neglect.

Sandwiched between the Bahía de Casilda and the sea is the peninsula's most appealing beach, with more than a mile of beige sand sloping into aquamarine water. The large Club Amigo Ancón and Brisas Trinidad del Mar hotels front this strand. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking; showers; toilets. Best for: sunset; swimming; walking.

The so-called "Englishman's Beach" has pale sand and is lined with sea-grape trees; it's the essence of tranquillity. The beach is visited almost exclusively by Cubans, who come on weekends and stay in rustic bungalows or camp; during the week, it's deserted. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking; toilets. Best for: solitude; sunset; swimming; walking

If you desire a wider—and perhaps even whiter—beach than Playa Santa Lucía, you can drive or take a taxi 4 km (2 mile) west to Playa los Cocos, next to the fishing village of La Boca. This idyllic swath of sun-bleached silica slopes into aquamarine waters at the mouth of the Bahía de Nuevitas, and is shaded by abundant cocos (coconut palms), hence its name. The lagoon behind La Boca is a feeding area for flamingos, which you may be able to spot on your way there. Amenities: none. Best for: solitude; sunrise.

The first beach on the peninsula is a short strand shaded by a few palm trees and cropped by rocky points. The ocean is littered with coral boulders, part of a colorful reef that wraps around the point to the east, making this the peninsula's best snorkeling beach. Amenities: food and drink; parking; water sports. Best for: solitude; snorkeling; sunset; swimming; walking.

The coast southeast of Cienfuegos has several nice beaches, the nearest of which is the public Playa Rancho Luna, a pale crescent flanked by rocky points 18 km (11 miles) southeast of town. All go by the name "Rancho Luna." It has various hotels, the largest of which is the Club Amigo Rancho Luna. An extensive coral reef wraps around the point directly to the west—you can rent snorkeling equipment at the Faro Luna Diving Center there. A smaller beach, also called Rancho Luna, lies just around the point to the east. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking; showers; water sports. Best for: snorkeling; sunset; swimming; walking.

Before the Revolution, the Workers Plaza was known as the Plaza de la Merced, after the church and convent that define its eastern edge. (Older people still refer to it by its former moniker.) A large mural of Che Guevara's eternally youthful visage stares past the ancient facade of La Merced in that distinctively Cuban juxtaposition of tradition and revolution. A kapok tree towers over the plaza's center, and in the southwest corner stands the stately La Popular, built in 1928 and the seat of a local cultural society.

This splendid cobbled square, surrounded by meticulously restored 18th- and 19th-century buildings (most still private homes), has been declared a national monument.

The heart of Trinidad's historic center gets our vote for Cuba's loveliest central plaza. This charming little park is dominated by royal palms and has cast-iron benches, ceramic urns, marble statues, and two brass greyhounds that were probably once cannons. It's surrounded by houses that once belonged to sugar barons and merchants, a few of which now contain museums. The square fills with life each evening as townspeople gather to chat with friends.

The heart of Sancti Spíritus is the Plaza Serafín Sánchez, a shady central park, roughly triangular in shape, and surrounded by an eclectic mix of 18th- and 19th-century architecture, including the town library and a museum with displays on the province's history. The park comes into its own as the sun goes down on the torrid afternoon and locals come out to chat and mingle.

On the northwest corner of Parque Vidal stands Santa Clara's principal theater, simple and linear on the outside, ornate and frescoed on the inside. The structure dates from 1885—tenor Enrico Caruso was among the early luminaries who performed here—and underwent a thorough restoration in 2009. Caridad means "charity" in Spanish, and proceeds in those early days went to fund projects for the poor. On the opposite side of the park is a statue of Marta Abreu, a 19th-century philanthropist who financed the theater's construction.

The city's principal theater was built in 1889 and named for Venezuelan millionaire Tomás Terry (1808–86) whose fortune funded its construction. If you can't come for a concert or dance performance, you can admire the painted ceilings, statues, and carved hardwoods for a small fee. The small café off the lobby is a perfect place to grab a bite on a hot afternoon.

On the north side of Santa Clara, just across the Río Cubanicay, is the armored military train that was carrying soldiers and weapons that was derailed by Che Guevara and a group of rebels on the morning of December 28, 1958—a decisive moment in the Cuban Revolution. Guevara's troops went on to take the city, cutting Havana off from the eastern half of the country, which prompted dictator Fulgencio Batista's flight from Cuba and Castro's victory—all in a matter of days. Several train cars, some containing displays, lie in the grass next to the tracks in memory of that battle; the bulldozer used to destroy the tracks stands on a nearby cement slab.