Central Cuba
We’ve compiled the best of the best in Central Cuba - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
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1. Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Merced
Originally erected in 1748, this church was reconstructed in 1848, repaired after a fire in 1906, and renovated yet again in 1998. The clock on its facade was the city's first public timepiece, made in Barcelona in 1773; its current machinery was imported from the United States in 1901. The church's interior has massive square columns and a vaulted ceiling decorated with faded art nouveau frescoes dating from 1915. The painted wooden altar was made in 1909 to replace one destroyed by the 1906 fire, but the paintings on the walls around it date from the 18th and 19th centuries. To the right of the altar is the Santo Sepulcro (Holy Sepulchre): a Christ figure in a glass casket that was made in 1762 using the silver from 23,000 Mexican coins donated by parishioners. It's carried out of the cathedral and back every Good Friday in a religious procession that was prohibited for nearly four decades. The crypts beneath the altar have been partially excavated and converted into a tiny museum of tombs, icons, and other antiquities; it's not for the claustrophobic. If the church is closed, enter through the convent next door.
Calle Independencia y Av. Ignacio Agramonte, Camagüey, Camagüey, 70100, Cuba3229–2783Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free, Daily 8–11 and 4–5:30 -
2. Jardín Botánico Soledad
East of town lie Cienfuegos's expansive botanical gardens covering 94 hectares (232 acres) and containing more than 2,000 plant species, most of which are not native to Cuba. Created at the turn of the last century by U.S. sugar farmer Edwin Atkins, the garden was administered by Harvard University until 1961, when it was taken over by the Cuban Academy of Science. It includes palms, bamboos, and other tropical trees as well as medicinal plants and a forest reserve that's home to many native animals. Signage could be better here; a guide can point out what you're seeing, although not all speak English. Tips are greatly appreciated.
Cienfuegos, Cienfuegos, 55100, Cuba4354–5115Sight Details
Rate Includes: CUC$2.50, Mon.–Thurs. 8:30–5, Fri.–Sun 8:30–4:30 -
3. Mausoleo y Museo Ernesto "Che" Guevara
No matter what your politics, a visit to Santa Clara's most famous attraction is a must if you wish to understand modern Cuba's complex history. A massive bronze sculpture of iconic revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara looms over a site containing his tomb and a museum dedicated to his life. Exhibits under the statue—the entrance is around the back—chronicle Che's eventful life, from his happy childhood in Argentina, to his life-changing 1950's journey through South America chronicled in his own journals and the 2004 film The Motorcycle Diaries, to his 1967 assassination in Bolivia. Exhibits here primarily concentrate on his involvement in the Cuban Revolution. The cave-like mausoleum next door holds the remains of Che and 16 others who fought and died with him in the mountains of Bolivia—they weren't discovered and identified by forensic anthropologists until 1997, and the remains didn't arrive in Cuba until 1998. This is hallowed ground to the lines of Cubans who file through, and proper hushed decorum is required. Photography is permitted outside the complex but not inside.
southwestern end of Calle Rafael Trista, Santa Clara, Villa Clara, 50100, Cuba4220–5878Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free, Tues.–Sun. 9:30–5:30 -
4. Museo de la Lucha Contra Bandidos
This mouthful of a name translates as the "Museum of the Fight Against Bandits." Those so-called bandits were fighters who waged guerrilla warfare—with a little help from their friends at the CIA—from the Sierra de Escambray for the first six years of Castro's Revolutionary government. The museum documents that struggle and their defeat. Doctrinaire exhibits aside, this is Trinidad's most famous landmark, and it adorns postcards, brochures, and T-shirts. The tall, yellow bell tower is all that remains of the original 18th-century Convento de San Francisco, a Franciscan monastery. You can climb the tower for a sweeping view of the city.
Calle Fernando Hernández (Cristo) y Calle Piro Guinart (Boca), Trinidad, Sancti Spíritus, 62600, Cuba4199–4121Sight Details
Rate Includes: CUC$2, Tues.–Sun. 9–5 -
5. Palacio de Valle
The most impressive of Punta Gorda's mansions is the Palacio de Valle, which was built in 1917 by the sugar baron Asisclo del Valle. It's a stunning, sumptuous structure full of ornate relief work, crystal chandeliers, hand-painted tiles, Italian-marble columns, French windows, and carved Cuban hardwoods. Though the mansion's design is eclectic, its foremost inspiration was the Alhambra—the Moorish palace in southern Spain. It now houses the city's best restaurant on the ground floor and a rooftop bar that's the perfect spot from which to watch the sun set.
Av. 0 y Calle 37, Cienfuegos, Cienfuegos, 55100, Cuba4355–1003Sight Details
Rate Includes: CUC$1, Daily 10–10 -
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6. Playa Pilar
Cayo Guillermo’s nicest beach—and many visitors rank it as their favorite in Cuba—was named after Hemingway's old fishing boat. Stretching along the key's northwest end, the pink-sand beach is backed by dunes and is fairly isolated, although you should expect to see a lot of day visitors from hotels around both Cayos Guillermo and Coco. A couple of ranchónes—informal, thatch-roof eating places—serve lunch, and a few entrepreneurial types rent beach chairs for CUC$2. Amenities: food and drink; toilets. Best for: solitude; swimming; walking.
Cayo Guillermo, Ciego de Ávila, Cuba
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