Get FREE email communications from Fodor's Travel, covering must-see travel destinations, expert trip planning advice, and travel inspiration to fuel your passion.
We've compiled the best of the best in Cuba - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
East of town lies Playa Baragua, one of the area's few light-sand beaches. Not far from here, the road passes beneath a natural arch called the Túnel de los Alemanes (Germans' Tunnel) before ending 25 km (16 miles) east of Baracoa, at the Río Yumurí and the adjacent village of the same name. The river tumbles out of a steep canyon. Boats ferry passengers across the river and up into the canyon for nominal fees.
Just beyond the Laguna Itabo and the mouth of the Río Boca Ciega you'll find a small, but lively stretch of sand, mostly used by those staying at the nearby Hotel Blau Arenal. There's always something going on here such as salsa lessons or limbo competitions.
Locals will tell you that this is the best and prettiest beach of the Playas del Este, and it's certainly the liveliest, too, popular with both tourists and visiting habaneros. Here you'll find the Hotel Club Tropicoco and the Hotel Atlantico, behind the dunes. Think beachside restaurants, sun beds, massage tents, live Cuban music, water sports, and individual food vendors, selling everything from tamales to pizza and boxes of rice and beans.
Just 2 km (1 mile) east of Playa Tarará is a wide stretch of white sand, which marks the very beginning of the popular Playa de Santa María. Here you can rent sun beds or pedalos and enjoy the facilities of a simple beachside café. There's also on-sand dining, catered by the hotels located behind the dunes. It's busier than Bacuranao and Playa Tarará, but still quiet enough to find your own stretch of sand.
If you head farther east from Playa Boca Ciega, you'll come to the bustling town of Guanabo and its pretty golden-sand beach with calm clear waters. With its many bars, restaurants, shops, and horse and carriage--style taxis, Guanabo is a popular weekend getaway spot for local habaneros. This is also where you'll find the greatest concentration of casas particulares, which can often have better facilities than many of the area hotels. The beach has a relaxed vibe during the day, with inexpensive sail and pedal boats for rent, but it gets busier in the evenings with impromptu rum and dance parties.
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.
Santa Cruz del Norte, 10 km (6 miles) east of Playa Guanabo, is an industrial town that's home to Cuba's greatest distillery, the Ronería Santa Cruz, where the ubiquitous Havana Club rum is made. Don't let the offshore oil rigs or the less than pristine waters here deter you from continuing. Just 3 km (2 miles) east of Santa Cruz is the best and least spoiled of all of the beaches near Havana. Nestled between headlands at the mouth of the Río Jibacoa, its white sands are backed by cliffs that overlook crystal clear, aquamarine waters. Divers will appreciate the coral reefs here, while terrestrial types can follow hiking trails from the beach into the backcountry. The Breezes Hotel here is one of the finest beach hotels in Cuba.
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.
West of town, you'll find the lovely, dark-sand Playa Maguana, site of the Gaviota Villa Maguana hotel.
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.
West of Playa Esmeralda, along the Carretera Holguín–Guardalavaca (Holguín–Guardalavaca Highway) and enough to be outside the Guardalavaca orbit, is Playa Pesquero. This cove, whose shallow, clear waters and white sands are surrounded by greenery, is often referred to as the Costa Verde (Green Coast). If you stay in one of the resorts here, such as the Hotel Brisas Guardalavaca, consider renting a car for a day trip into the interior.
This superb 3-km (2-mile) white-sand strand is the only beach on the island with picture-perfect palm trees. All the hotels arrange ferry and bus shuttles to this sliver of a peninsula off Cayo Largo's western tip. The marina here, shared by all the hotels, has a restaurant and a bar and a full range of water sports, including diving, snorkeling, and boat rentals from kayaks to pedal boats to Hobie Cats. If the beach gets too crowded, you can arrange a boat to take you to nearby, deserted keys such as Cayo Rico and Cayo Iguana. For a taste of the best of Cayo Largo, without renouncing the cultural experience of Cuba, there are day-trip packages from Havana and Varadero that include a 40-minute flight, half a day and lunch on Playa Sirena, snorkeling the offshore reef, and a visit to Cayo Iguana.
Two km (1 mile) east of Bacuranao is a small stretch of white sand that's only accessible via a modern private residential area; tourists are welcome for a small fee. It's home to the 50-berth Marina Tarará/Club Naútica, site of the Old Man and the Sea Fishing Tournament every July. Here you can arrange boat rentals, yacht cruises, fishing trips, and diving or snorkeling excursions. There are also accommodations and a good restaurant at the Hotel Villa Armonía Tarará.
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.
So-called for its use as a drill field by colonial troops, this plaza was the city's administrative center and command post almost from the beginning. The statue in the center is of Manuel de Céspedes, hero of the Ten Years War, Cuba's first struggle for independence from Spain. Today, this is the city's most literary square; an army of erudite secondhand booksellers encircles it during the day.
Nearby is the Palacio de los Capitanes Generales, across from which are El Templete and the Castillo de la Real Fuerza. Note that there are often concerts in the plaza on Sunday evenings—events not to be missed.
On the northwestern corner of Plaza de Armas is the
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.
A little overwhelmed by passing traffic, this landmark square is the cultural hub of Matanzas, with the Matanzas Provincial Museum on one corner and the magnificent, neoclassical Sauto Theater (currently closed for restoration) taking up a whole side. In the middle of the square is the marble statue of an anonymous independence fighter known as El Soldado Desconocido (The Unknown Soldier). A couple of cafés face the theater and there's a modern art gallery (free) to browse.
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.
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.
This splendid cobbled square, surrounded by meticulously restored 18th- and 19th-century buildings (most still private homes), has been declared a national monument.
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
The plaza is also the home of
Southeast of the plaza is the
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.
What is now called the Old Square was originally Plaza Nueva (New Square), built as a popular alternative to Plaza de Armas, the military and government nerve center. Later called Plaza del Mercado (Market Square) as Havana's commercial hub, Plaza Vieja was the site of executions, processions, bullfights, and fiestas—all witnessed by Havana's wealthiest citizens, who looked on from their balconies. The original Carrara marble fountain surrounded by four dolphins was demolished in the 1930s when President Gerardo Machado (1871–1939) built an underground parking lot here. Today the square's surrounding structures vary wildly in condition, though all of them are noteworthy. Don't miss the splendid view west down Calle Brasil (Teniente Rey) to the Capitolio.
The impressive mansion on the square's southwestern corner is the
On the square's southeastern corner, the
On the square's western edge is the 1752
In the 18th-century
While wandering along San Ignacio, notice the faded "vapores cuba–españa" ("steamboats cuba–spain") sign on the wall inside the entryway of
The prison, built in 1926–31 by the dictator Gerardo Machado, is the area's most visited sight. Modeled on the famous high-security penitentiary in Joliet, Illinois, the presidio facilitated constant surveillance of up to 6,000 prisoners crammed into he doorless cells in four circular, five-tier buildings overseen from central watchtowers. The fifth block, where prisoners weren't allowed to speak, housed el comedor de tres mil silencios (the dining hall of 3,000 silences). German and Japanese prisoners of war were held here during World War II, and, most famously, Fidel Castro, his brother Raúl, and 24 fellow rebels were jailed here from October 1953 to May 1955 after the attack on the Moncada Barracks. Celebrity inmates, Castro and company were housed in the prison infirmary; their bunks are still in place, with photographs of each prisoner on the wall over the bed. Castro penned his now famous "La Historia me absolverá" ("History Will Absolve Me")—the defense speech for his trial for the Moncada attack and a manifesto of the cause against the dictator Fulgencio Batista—at the Presidio Modelo, which has been a museum since 1967.
Sign up for Travel Tips & News
Thank you for your interest!
