S LA BOCA AND PENÍNSULA DE ANCÓN
S GRAN PARQUE NATURAL TOPES DE COLLANTES
Look for S to find recommended sights, activities, dining, and lodging.
S Complejo Histórico Comandante Camilo Cienfuegos: A moving tribute to one of the Revolution’s most popular figures, this off-the-beaten-track museum is a must-see on the revolutionary trail (click here).
S Trinidad’s Plaza Mayor: This is the most complete colonial town center outside Havana, with a fabulous yesteryear ambience and lively Afro-Cuban traditions (click here).
S La Boca and Península de Ancón: Close to Trinidad, Playa Ancón offers scintillating sands and excellent diving (click here).
S Valle de los Ingenios: Planted in sugarcane, this valley is noted for its ruined colonial sugar mills and is best explored on an antique steam train excursion. Stop at Torre de Manaca-Iznaga, a former sugar estate with a 43.5-meter-tall tower that can be climbed (click here).
S Gran Parque Natural Topes de Collantes: This national park hosts magnificent mountain hiking and bird-watching. It has horseback-riding excursions and waterfalls (click here).
No visit to Cuba is complete without a visit to Trinidad, Cuba’s best-preserved colonial city. Its unique combination of 18th-century architecture, breeze-swept hillside setting, and pickled-in-aspic way of life is irresistibly charming.
This UNESCO World Heritage Site lies both in the lee of the Sierra Escambray and within a 10-minute drive of Playa Ancón—the most beautiful beach along Cuba’s south shore. Although the Sierra Escambray lies mainly within the provinces of Cienfuegos and Santa Clara, most of the trails and accessible sites of interest lie within Sancti Spíritus’s Gran Parque Natural Topes de Collantes, most easily accessed from Trinidad. Trinidad grew to colonial wealth from sugar, and the nearby and scenic Valle de los Ingenios (Valley of the Sugar Mills) recalls that era.
The eponymous provincial capital struggles to compete but has its own colonial charms. To the north, rolling hills flow down towards the coastal plains, farmed in sugarcane and without beaches of noted appeal. The southern coastal plains are mostly inhospitably marshy, with few villages or roads, although bird-watchers are served by wetland reserves.
A week will barely suffice to enjoy this region, with the bulk of your time centered on Trinidad. The town itself needs two full days for exploring the colonial sites. However, the Trinidad experience is more about slowing down and immersing oneself in the local life, so a full week here should not be considered too much. Budget one day for an excursion to Gran Parque Natural Topes de Collantes to hike mountain trails and go birding. You’ll want beach time, too, so plan one day for sunning, snorkeling, and perhaps even scuba diving at Playa Ancón. If you prefer the company of Cubans, head to La Boca, where locals flock on weekends. A steam-train ride from Trinidad to the Valle de los Ingenios is also de rigueur.
The city of Sancti Spíritus deserves at least half a day’s exploration; you’ll be hard-pressed to find more than a full day’s worth of things to see and do. Bird-watchers might visit nearby Embalse Zaza, a vast wetland where the fishing for bass and tarpon is world-class.
The Autopista runs 15 kilometers north of the city and continues east for 20 kilometers before ending abruptly in the middle of nowhere, near the city of Jatibónico. The Circuito Norte cuts across the northern province inland of the coast, which has no beaches of appeal. Nature lovers, however, might get a thrill at Parque Nacional Caguanes, although there are no facilities and getting there is difficult. Interested in revolutionary history? The Complejo Histórico Comandante Camilo Cienfuegos, nearby at Yaguajay, is one of the better provincial museums.
Sancti Spíritus (pop. 100,000), 390 kilometers east of Havana, is laid out around a colonial core on a rise above the Río Yayabo. It straddles the Carretera Central, midway between Havana and Santiago.
The settlement of Espíritu Santo was founded in 1514 by Diego Velázquez and Fernández de Cordoba, who conquered the Yucatán. The city began life about six kilometers from its current position but was moved eight years later. The city prospered from cattle ranching and sugar.
In 1895, Winston Churchill arrived in Sancti Spíritus. He thought the city “a very second-rate place, and a most unhealthy place” (an epidemic of yellow fever and smallpox was raging). It has improved vastly since Churchill passed through. Quaint cobbled streets and venerable houses with iron filigree and wide doors for carriages attest to the city’s antiquity, aided by a restoration of much of the central core.
The Carretera Central enters town from the north as Bartolomé Masó (connecting the city to the Autopista) and passes down the town’s eastern side before arcing east for Ciego de Ávila.
Streets are laid out in a grid, running northwest-southeast and northeast-southwest. The most important east-west thoroughfare, Avenida de los Mártires, runs west from Bartolomé Masó to Plaza Serafín Sánchez (also called Plaza Central), the main square. Avenida Jesús Menéndez runs south from the plaza, crosses the river, and continues to Trinidad. The main street, Independencia, runs south from the square and divides the city into este (east) and oeste (west). Avenida de los Mártires divides the city into norte (north) and sur (south).
The town’s modest Parque Central was laid out in 1522 and named for Serafín Sánchez, a homegrown general in the War of Independence. It has none of the charm or grandeur of main plazas elsewhere in Cuba, although it is surrounded by neoclassical buildings, including the impressive biblioteca (library) on the west side and the Teatro Principal on the south side. The Museo Provincial General (tel. 041/32-7435, Mon.-Thurs. and Sat. 9am-5pm, Sun. 8am-noon, CUC1), next to the library, is full of antiques and has exhibits on local history, sport, music, and more. The Museo de Historia Natural (Máximo Gómez Sur #2, tel. 041/32-6365, Mon.-Thurs. and Sat. 9am-5pm, Sun. 8am-noon, CUC1), half a block south, has a motley collection of stuffed beasts, plus insects, seashells, and more.
To the northeast, the plaza extends one block along Independencia and opens into a tiny square with a statue of local hero Judas Martínez Moles (1861-1915).
This diminutive plaza, at the junction of Calle Jesús Menéndez and Honorato, honors a local general in the War of Independence but is pinned by a statue of Rudesindo Antonio García Rojo, an eminent doctor.
On the plaza’s south side, the Parroquial Mayor del Espíritu Santo (Agramonte Oeste #58, tel. 041/32-4855, Tues.-Sun. 9am-11am and 2pm-5pm) is well preserved. The church dates from 1680, though the triple-tiered bell tower and cupola are later additions. Relatively austere, it has minimal gilt work and an unimpressive altar, although the ornately carved roof features dropped gables carved and fitted in cross patterns and supporting a circular center. Climb the bell tower for a panoramic view.
The Farmacia de Medicinas Verdes (Máximo Gómez #38, tel. 041/32-4101, Mon.-Fri. 8am-noon and 2pm-6pm, Sat. 8am-noon), on the west side of the plaza, is full of old apothecary jars.
One block southwest, the ornate Palacio del Valle, which belonged to one of the wealthiest families in Cuba, houses the Museo de Arte Colonial (Plácido Sur #64, esq. Jesús Menéndez, tel. 041/32-5455, Tues.-Sat. 9:30am-5pm, Sun. 8am-noon, CUC2 entrance, CUC1 camera), furnished with period decor.
The quarter immediately south of the cathedral and east of Jesús Menéndez is the city’s oldest and quaintest. Here, Calle Llano and adjacent cobbled streets are closed to traffic and lined with quaint houses graced by fancy wrought-iron balconies, hanging lanterns, and wooden grills.
Calle Llano
Jesús Menéndez crosses the Río Yayabo via Puente Río Yayabo, a triple-arched bridge built in 1817 of stone and brick.
Overlooking the waterfront, the old Quinta de Santa Elena mansion today hosts the Casa de la Guayabera (Calle El Llano, esq. Calle Padre Quintero, Tues.-Sun. 10am-5pm, CUC1), a museum and tailor’s workshop opened in 2012 to celebrate the classic Cuban shirt, born hereabouts. The collection of 200-plus guayabera shirts includes those worn by Fidel and Raúl, ballerina Alicia Alonso, and ex-Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez. You can have your own shirt made here (up to CUC40 for men, allow two days; up to CUC70 for women, allow four days).
This small plaza (officially Parque Maceo), three blocks north of Plaza Serafín Sánchez, is graced by a simple church, the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Caridad. On the southeast corner, the Fundación de la Naturaleza y el Hombre (Calle Cruz Pérez #1, tel. 041/32-8342, funatss@enet.cu, Mon.-Fri. 10am-4pm, CUC0.50) is a museum that honors the 17,524-kilometer journey by a team of Cubans that paddled from the source of the Amazon to the Bahamas in dugout canoes in 1996. The eclectic miscellany displayed ranges from the dugout canoe to a copy of Hernán Cortés’s medieval suit of armor.
The Museo Casa Natal Serafín Sánchez (Céspedes Norte #112, e/ Frank País y Tirso Marín, tel. 041/32-7791, Tues.-Sat. 8:30am-5pm, Sun. 8am-noon, CUC0.50), one block south of the plaza, is where the patriot-hero was born. He is honored, too, at the Monumento Serafín Sánchez, a bronze bas-relief wall on the west side of the Plaza de la Revolución on Bartolomé Masó and Frank País, five blocks east of the museum.
The Casa de la Trova (Máximo Gómez Sur #26, tel. 041/32-8048, CUC1), on Plaza Honorato, features traditional performances Tuesday-Sunday 9pm-midnight and a peña Sunday 10am-2pm.
Known colloquially as “Karaoke,” Café Sandunga Artex (Mon. and Wed. 10pm-2am, Fri.-Sun. 10pm-3am, CUC1), above the Banco Financiero Internacional on the main plaza, draws youth for karaoke and music videos.
A new open-air hotspot is Quinta de Santa Elena (no tel., Calle El Llano esq. San Miguel), with live music ranging from cabaret (Sat.) to house music (Fri.) and even Mexican matinee (Sun. 5pm-8pm). And Casa de la Música (Calle San Miguel, tel. 041/32-4963, Fri.-Sun.) hosts live bands in its open-air patio overlooking the river.
Cabaret Los Laureles (Carretera Central, Km 383, tel. 041/32-7016), in the namesake hotel, has a disco Tuesday-Sunday at 10pm (CUC5 entrance, including drinks).
Bowling? Bolera (tel. 041/32-2339, 24 hours), on Roloff, three blocks south of Avenida de los Mártires, has bowling (CUC1 for 20 “bowls”) and pool tables.
The Feria Agropecuario (Carretera Central esq. Raimundo de Pisa) is one of Cuba’s major rodeo venues and a setting for regular musical shows.
Baseball is played October-May at Estadio Victoria del Girón, in Reparto Olivos.
The S Hostal Las Américas (Carretera Central #157 Sur, tel. 041/32-2984, hostallasamericas@yahoo.es, CUC25) wins hands down as best rental in town and is close to the bus station. This well-kept 1950s modernist home has a large TV lounge plus dining room, with three new rooms opening to a garden patio. Two spacious, cross-ventilated bedrooms in the house are delightful. Meals include a superb lamb special.
Downtown, I like the gay-friendly Hostal Colonial (Máximo Gómez #11 Sur e/ Cervantes y Honorato, tel. 041/33-4658, hectorluisparaiso64@gmail.com, CUC25-30), with four spacious, nicely furnished, air-conditioned rooms around a patio. The two upstairs rooms are modern additions with their own terrace.
Casa de María Teresa Lorenzo (Adolfo del Castillo #33 altos, e/ Av. de los Mártires y Valdina, tel. 041/32-4733, CUC15-20) offers two pleasing upstairs rooms with fans and modern hot-water bathrooms.
For a heart-of-affairs option, Casa de Ricardo Rodríguez (Independencia #28 altos, tel. 041/32-3029, CUC20) is a centenarian house on the northeast corner of the main plaza. It has a large lounge with a balcony. Two spacious upstairs rooms are simply furnished and have private bathrooms.
S Hotel E Plaza (tel. 041/32-7102, aloja.rijo@islazul.tur.co.cu, CUC38 s, CUC60 d low season, CUC47 s, CUC75 d high season including breakfast), on the east side of Parque Central, is now one of Cuba’s better urban hotels, with 27 handsomely furnished rooms with modern bathrooms. The small lobby bar is a nice spot to tipple, and the restaurant is above par.
Hotel E Plaza
S Hotel E del Rijo (Calle Honorato del Castillo #12, tel. 041/32-8588, aloja.rijo@islazul.tur.co.cu, CUC38 s, CUC60 d low season, CUC47 s, CUC75 d high season including breakfast), an 1818 neoclassical structure entered through soaring carriage doors, combines heaps of yesteryear ambience. Its 16 large rooms (including a suite) surround a patio and boast beamed ceilings, wrought-iron lamps, period art, and modern marble bathrooms.
Islazul’s Villa Los Laureles (Carretera Central, Km 383, tel. 041/36-1016, recepcion@loslaureles.co.cu, CUC24 s, CUC38 d low season, CUC28 s, CUC44 d high season) on Bartolomé Masó, about four kilometers north of town, offers 78 modest cabinas in meagerly landscaped grounds. All have satellite TV and modern bathrooms. Amenities include a swimming pool, restaurant, and cabaret. Slightly more upscale, nearby Villa Rancho Hatuey (Carretera Central, Km 382, tel. 041/32-8315, www.islazul.cu, CUC30 s, CUC48 d low season, CUC38 s, CUC60 d high season) has 74 rooms in two-story cabinas in contemporary Mediterranean style. It has a squash court and swimming pool.
The cream of the private restaurant crop is Restaurante El 19 (Máximo Gómez, tel. 041/33-1919, daily 11am-10pm), with efficient uniformed waitstaff, an airy colonial setting, and a creative menu that includes shellfish cream soup (CUC3), paella (CUC7.50), and pork loin with caramelized onions (CUC8).
Don your finest togs to dine at Hotel E Plaza’s S Restaurante Arcada (tel. 041/32-7102, daily 7:30pm-9:30pm), on the east side of Parque Central. Enjoy a candlelight dinner of chicken in beer with rice (CUC5), or pork mignon with creole onion sauce and sour orange (CUC8).
Romance under the stars? Choose the patio of the Hostal E del Rijo (Calle Honorato del Castillo #12, tel. 041/32-8588, daily 7:30am-10am, 11am-3pm, and 6pm-10:30pm). The food’s pretty good too, although the menu is limited. How about tuna with olive salad (CUC4), pork mignon with creole sauce (CUC9), and caramel pudding (CUC3)?
Mesón de la Plaza (Máximo Gómez #34, tel. 041/28546, daily 9am-10:45pm), opposite Hostal E del Rijo, is styled as a Spanish bodega, with rough-hewn tables and cowhide chairs. Try the garbanzo mesonero (garbanzos with bacon, pork, and sausage, CUC2) or ensalada de garbanzo (baked chickpeas, green peas, onions, and peppers, CUC1.50), plus ropa vieja (CUC5), washed down with sangria.
The town even has a pretty good (by Cuban standards) Chinese restaurant: Restaurante Shanghai (tel. 041/32-1061, daily noon-2:45pm and 7pm-10pm) on Independencia, 20 meters southeast of Plaza Sánchez.
The coolest shack in town is an old AN24 airplane, now converted into a restaurant: Mar y Cielo (tel. 041/33-2662, daily noon-9:45pm), in the Feria Agropecuaria. The criolla menu includes shrimp enchilada; all items are below CUC1.
You can buy produce at the mercado agropecuario (Independencia, esq. Honorato, Mon.-Sat. 7am-5:30pm, Sun. 7am-noon).
The post office (Independencia Sur #8, Mon.-Fri. 8am-4pm) is one block south of the main plaza; another branch (Bartolomé Masó #167, tel. 041/32-3420) has DHL service. Etecsa (Independencia, daily 8:30am-7pm), 50 meters south of Plaza Sánchez, has international telephone plus Internet service.
Banco Financiero Internacional (Independencia Sur #2) is on the southeast corner of Plaza Sánchez; Banco Popular is one block south. You can also change foreign currency at Cadeca (Independencia Sur #31). Most banks are open Monday-Friday 8am-3:30pm and Saturday 8am-1pm.
Hospital Provincial Camilo Cienfuegos (tel. 041/32-4017) is on Bartolomé Masó, opposite the Plaza de la Revolución. There’s a Farmacia (Independencia #123, tel. 041/32-4660, 24 hours) on Parque la Caridad, and Farmacia de Plantas Medicinales (Máximo Gómez Sur #40, tel. 041/32-4101, Mon.-Fri. 8am-noon and 2pm-6pm, Sat. 8am-noon) on Plaza Honorato.
The Consultoría Jurídica Internacional (Independencia #39 Altos Sur, e/ Ernesto Valdés Muñoz y Cervantes, tel. 041/32-8448, Mon.-Fri. 8am-12:30pm and 1:30pm-5:30pm) provides legal assistance.
The Terminal Provincial de Ómnibus (tel. 041/32-4142) is at the junction of Bartolomé Masó and the circunvalación, east of town. Víazul buses (tel. 041/32-4142, www.viazul.com) traveling Havana, Varadero, and Trinidad to/from Santiago de Cuba stop in Sancti Spíritus.
Local buses and camiones serve nearby towns from the Terminal Municipal (Calle Sánchez and Carlos Roloff, tel. 041/22162), one block south of Avenida de los Mártires.
The train station (Av. Jesús Menéndez, esq. 26 de Julio, tel. 041/32-9228 or 041/32-7914 for express trains) is 400 meters southwest of Puente Yayabo (ticket office open daily 8am-4pm, until 9pm when there are departures). Schedules change with too much regularity to list here.
Trains traveling between Havana and Santiago de Cuba stop at Guayos, 15 kilometers north of Sancti Spíritus. You should be in the front carriage of the train to alight at Guayos; taxis are available to Sancti Spíritus. If departing Sancti Spíritus to catch the especial you should buy your ticket at the rail station before departing for Guayos.
Tourist taxis are available on Plaza Serafín Sánchez.
Cubatur (tel. 041/32-8518, cubaturss@enet.cu), on the west side of Plaza Serafín Sánchez, offers excursions.
You can rent cars from Havanautos (tel. 0141/28403), in Hotel Los Laureles; Vía (tel. 041/33-6697), on Plaza Honorato; and Cubacar (tel. 041/32-8181), on Plaza Serafín Sánchez. There’s a Cupet gas station on the Carretera Central, about four kilometers north of downtown.
Six kilometers east of the city, Embalse Zaza is a huge lake studded with flooded forest and stocked with trout and bass. Marsh birds flock in from far and wide. Zaza is a favorite spot for bird-watchers and anglers.
Islazul’s Hotel Zaza (tel. 041/32-7015, recepcion.hzaza@islazul.ssp.tur.cu, CUC20 s, CUC33 d year-round including breakfast) is a faceless two-story hotel with 124 air-conditioned rooms, most with lake views. It looked deteriorated at my last visit. At least it has a swimming pool.
EcoTur (tel. 041/54-7419), in Sancti Spíritus, offers fishing (CUC80 pp, eight hours) November-March from Hotel Zaza.
The Circuito Norte coast road parallels the shore some miles inland, connecting Remedios (in Villa Clara Province) and Morón (in Ciego de Ávila Province).
The only sight of interest is in the town of Yaguajay, 40 kilometers east of Caibarién, where a five-meter-tall bronze statue of Camilo Cienfuegos stands one kilometer north of town. Within its base is a museum (Calle Eladio Carlata, tel. 041/55-2689, Mon.-Sat. 8am-4pm, Sun. 9am-1pm, CUC1) dedicated to the revolutionary commander and the battle he led here against Batista’s troops in the closing days of December 1958. It displays maps, armaments, models, etc. Camilo’s ridiculously stuffed horse is enshrined in a glass case.
replica of a tank at Complejo Histórico Comandante Camilo Cienfuegos
To the rear of the museum, the Mausoleo Frente Norte de las Villas has an eternal flame and marble tombs for Camilo’s troops. They’re surrounded by 24 palms symbolizing the date of liberation of Yaguajay. Schoolchildren are bused in each October 28 to toss “a flower for Camilo” into a moat on the anniversary of his death in a mysterious plane crash in 1959.
The hospital opposite the monument was formerly an army barracks, captured by Cienfuegos’s rebel army in 1958. A replica of a small tank (converted from a tractor) used in the assault stands outside.
Northeast of Yaguajay the sugarcane fields meld into the swampy coastal flats, now protected within a national park that harbors almost 200 species of fauna, including Cuba’s largest colony of Cuban cranes. Caves have subterranean galleries and pre-Columbian petroglyphs. Iguanas are found on Cayo Piedra. The park is part of the 313,503-hectare Reserva de la Biosfera Buenavista, enshrining 11 separate protected areas.
Access is via Mayijagua, about 15 kilometers east of Yaguajay. Getting there is another matter: The dirt road is fit for four-wheel drive only. EcoTur (Carretera Meneses-Yaguajay, Km 1.5, tel. 041/54-7417, ffauna@yag.co.cu) offers excursions.
Just east of Mayijagua, Islazul’s Villa San José del Lago (tel. 041/54-6108, fax 041/54-6290, reserve.loslagos@islazulssp.tur.co.cu, CUC22 s, CUC30 d low season, CUC23 s, CUC36 d high season) is a modest spa resort with a lagoon with pedal-boats and rowboats, plus three swimming pools (one with thermal water). The 30 simple air-conditioned cabinas have satellite TV and modern bathrooms. Massages and mud treatments are offered. It’s popular with Cubans and gets lively on weekends.
The road that leads southwest from Sancti Spíritus to Trinidad rises and dips along the foothills of the Alturas de Banao, whose sheer, barren crags remind me of the Scottish highlands.
From the village of Banao, 20 kilometers west of Sancti Spíritus, you can follow the valley of the Río Banao seven kilometers into the foothills, where a pristine 3,050-hectare swath is protected in the Reserva Ecológica Alturas de Banao (Banao Heights Ecological Reserve, tel. 041/39-9205, CUC4 entrance), also known as El Naranjal. The ecosystems include semideciduous forest, tropical moist forest, and cloud forest. The region is rich in flora, with more than 700 flowering plants (more than 100 are endemic), including over 60 orchid species. Banao is a paradise for bird-watchers.
The visitors center, elevation 1,620 meters, offers horseback riding (CUC5) and hikes (from CUC3) to caves and waterfalls. EcoTur (tel. 041/54-7419 or 07/641-0306, www.ecoturcuba.co.cu) offers ecotours. Drop-in visitors pay CUC5 entry (CUC10 with lunch).
The reserve has eight basic cabins (CUC10) with cold-water showers, plus a lovely thatched restaurant (daily 8am-3:30pm).
During the war to oust Batista, Che Guevara established his headquarters—Comandancia del Guerrillero Heróico—near the community of Gavilanes, in the heart of the mountains and reached by a dirt trail; the turnoff from the Trinidad road is at the hamlet of Las Brisas, five kilometers east of Banao. It’s a stiff hike (about 10 kilometers) from the trailhead, near Campismo Planta Cantú. There’s an obelisk at the comandancia.
Trinidad (pop. 38,000), the crown jewel of Cuba’s colonial cities, is 67 kilometers southwest of Sancti Spíritus and 80 kilometers east of Cienfuegos. It was the fourth of the seven cities founded by Diego de Velázquez in 1514. No other city in Cuba is so well preserved or so charming. The entire city is a national monument lent charms by its setting astride a hill, where it catches the breezes and gazes out over the Caribbean against a backdrop of verdurous Sierra Escambray.
Its narrow, unmarked cobbled streets are paved with river stones. The maze of streets is lined with terra-cotta tile-roofed houses in soft pastel colors. Much of the architecture is neoclassical and baroque, with a Moorish flavor. The exquisite buildings are fronted by mahogany balustrades and massive wooden doors with postigos that open to let the breezes flow through cool, tile-floored rooms connected by double-swing half-doors (mamparas) topped by vitrales.
Mule-drawn carts and cowboys on horseback clip-clop through the cobbled streets. Old folks rock gently beneath shady verandas, serenaded by twittering songbirds in bamboo cages—a Trinidad tradition. At night, cool air flows downhill, and it’s a special joy to stroll the traffic-free streets that make the town feel even more adrift from the 20th century.
Trinidad is steeped in Santería and Catholicism. Easter and Christmas are good times to visit.
The initial settlement, named Villa de la Santísima Trinidad, was founded in 1514 by Diego de Velázquez on a site settled by the Taíno, who panned for gold in nearby rivers. The Spanish established a lucrative (but short-lived) gold mine that lent vigor to the young township and the wharves of nearby Casilda. Hernán Cortés set up base in 1518 to provision his expedition to conquer the Aztec empire. Soon fleets bearing the spoils of Mexico gathered, eclipsing Trinidad’s meager mines.
Trinidad was far enough from the reach of Spanish authorities in Havana to develop a bustling smuggling trade. Its position on Cuba’s underbelly was also perfect for trade with Jamaica, the epicenter of the Caribbean slave trade. Trinidad also grew prosperous importing slaves, many of whom were put to work locally, stimulating the sugar trade. Money poured in from the proceeds of sugar grown in the Valle de los Ingenios. When the English occupied Cuba, in 1762-1763, Trinidad became a free port and prospered even further, entering its golden age.
Wealthy citizens built their sumptuous homes around the main square—Plaza Mayor—and along the adjoining streets. Pianos from Berlin; sumptuous furniture from France; linens, lattices, and silverware from Colombia were unloaded here. Language schools and academies were set up to prepare the children of the wealthy to complete their studies in Europe.
By the early 19th century, Cienfuegos, with its vastly superior harbor, began to surpass Casilda, which had begun silting up. Trinidad began a steady decline, hastened by tumult in the slave trade and new competition from more advanced estates elsewhere in Cuba. Isolated from the Cuban mainstream, by the turn of the 20th century Trinidad had foundered.
In the 1950s, Trinidad was declared a “jewel of colonial architecture.” A preservation law was passed. Development was prohibited and the city continued to stagnate in its own beauty. The construction of the Carretera Central on the north side of the Sierra Escambray had already stolen the through traffic, ensuring that Trinidad would be preserved in its past. The town was named a national monument in 1965. A restoration committee was established, and the historic core has been restored. In 1988 UNESCO named Trinidad a World Heritage Site.
Trinidad slopes uphill, to the northeast. The cobbled historical core (casco histórico) with most sites of interest takes up the upper quarter, bounded to the south by Calle Antonio Maceo and to the east by Calle Lino Pérez. At its heart is Plaza Mayor, at the top of Calle Simón Bolívar. Some streets end at T junctions, while others curl or bifurcate, one leading uphill while another drops sharply to another Y fork or right-angled bend. All this was meant to fool marauding pirates, but it does a pretty good job on visitors, too. The streets are each sloped in a slight V, with gutters in the center (according to legend, the city’s first governor had a right leg shorter than the other and could thereby be level when walking the streets by staying on the right-hand side). Many streets are closed to traffic by stone pillars and cannons stuck nose-first in the ground.
Below the touristed core, the streets are paved and laid out on a rough grid with Parque Céspedes at its center. The main street is Calle José Martí, which runs northwest-southeast. Calle Bolívar runs perpendicular northeast to Plaza Mayor. Calle Camilo Cienfuegos, one block southeast of Parque Céspedes, is the major northeast-southwest thoroughfare.
The Circuito Sur road from Cienfuegos bifurcates as it enters Trinidad: Calle Piro Guinart (to the left) leads to the historic core; Anastacio Cárdenas (to the right) skirts the southern end of town and connects with Camilo Cienfuegos (for Sancti Spíritus) and Paseo Agramonte (to Casilda and Playa Ancón).
Most streets have two names: a colonial name and a postrevolutionary name.
The graceful plaza lies at the heart of the original settlement. The park at its core is ringed with silver trellises, with wrought-iron benches beneath the shade of palms and hibiscus bowers. The plaza is adorned with neoclassical statues.
On the plaza’s northeast corner is the modest Iglesia Parroquial de la Santísima Trinidad (Mon.-Sat. 11am-12:30pm). The cathedral was rebuilt in 1894 on the spot where once stood the original parish church. Restored in 1996, it is more English than Spanish inside, with a Victorian-Gothic vaulted ceiling and altar carved from mahogany; there’s no baroque extravagance, although the carved statuary is intriguing, as is the 18th-century Cristo de la Vera Cruz (Christ of the True Cross).
On the northwest corner is Palacio Brunet, a beautifully preserved, two-story mansion dating from 1741 and housing the Museo Romántico (Calle Fernando Hernández Echerrí #52, esq. Calle Bolívar, tel. 041/99-4363, Tues.-Sun. 9am-5pm, entrance CUC2, cameras CUC2). The dozen rooms are filled with intriguing artwork and fabulous antiques. Note the solid carved-cedar ceiling, dating from 1770, and the mediopunto arches. Upstairs, step out onto the balcony to admire the view over the square. The stunning wrought-iron bed is the only heirloom of the Brunet family that originates from the house.
During his investigative sojourn in Cuba in 1801, German explorer Alexander von Humboldt stayed at the Casa Padrón, on the southwest corner of the plaza, at the corner of Bolívar and Martínez. It is now the Museo de Arqueología Guamuhaya (Bolívar #457, no tel., Tues.-Sat. 9am-5pm, CUC1), exhibiting a miscellany of stuffed fauna, pre-Columbian items, and colonial relics.
On the east side of the square, in the Casa de los Sánchez Iznaga, is the Museo de Arquitectura Colonial (tel. 041/99-3208, Mon.-Sat. 9am-5pm, CUC1, cameras CUC1), with displays and models relating to Trinidad’s architectural development.
One block downhill, the derelict building at the corner of Simón Bolívar and Izquierdo is the Palacio Iznaga, now being restored as a deluxe hotel.
Rising northwest of the plaza is the campanile of the Antiguo Convento de San Francisco de Asís. The torre (tower) and church are all that remain of the original convent, replaced by a baroque structure now housing the Museo de la Lucha Contra Los Bandidos (Museum of the Fight Against Outlaws, Calle Echerrí #59, esq. Pino Guinart, tel. 041/99-4121, daily 9am-5pm, CUC1), which traces the campaign against the counterrevolutionary guerrillas (called “bandits” by the Castro government) in the Sierra Escambray in the years following the Revolution. There are maps, photographs, a CIA radio transmitter, a small gunboat the CIA donated to the counter-Castro cause, plus parts of the U-2 spy plane shot down during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Another room is dedicated to the building’s religious history. Ascend the bell tower for views over the city.
Antiguo Convento de San Francisco de Asís
At the northeast corner of Plaza Mayor, immediately east of the cathedral, cobbled Calle Fernando Hernández (Cristo) leads past a wide staircase. At the base of the steps is a handsome ocher-colored house—the Mansión de los Conspiradores—with an ornately woodworked balcony. The house is so named because La Rosa Blanca (the secret organization against Spanish colonial rule) met here.
One block east on Cristo brings you to the triangular Plazuela de Segarta and Calle Jesús Menéndez, containing some of the oldest homes in the city, among them the Casa de la Trova, dating to 1777. Off the northeast corner of the plazuela is Calle Juan Manuel Márquez, featuring a trio of houses with wonderfully photogenic elevated galleries.
This charming triangular plaza (Piro Guinart y Villena), one block northwest of Plaza Mayor, has a calabash tree in the center. The tree, planted in December 2009, is the youngest in a succession of trees kept alive since 1514, the year the Spanish celebrated their first mass here. Catercorner to El Jigüe is the Ayuntamiento y Cárcel (Piro Guinart #302), the old town hall and jail, with a portion of the original stone-and-lime masonry exposed for view.
Immediately east, the Casa Templo de Santería Yemayá (Villena #59) features a Santería altar to Yemayá, orisha of water and maternity. Host santero Israel gives explanations.
This museum (Simón Bolívar #423, esq. Francisco Toro, tel. 041/99-4460, Sat.-Thurs. and every second Sun. 9am-5pm, entrance CUC2, cameras CUC1, videos CUC5), one block south of Plaza Mayor, occupies the Palacio Cantero. Once the home of the Cantero family, it had a fountain that spouted champagne for parties. The history of the city is revealed as you move through rooms dedicated to Trinidad’s culture, the Cantero family, and sugar production and Afro-Cuban culture. Other intriguing exhibits include stocks for holding slaves, a volanta (single axle horse-drawn carriage), and a scale model of the Andrei Vishinsky, which entered Trinidad harbor on April 17, 1960—the first Soviet ship to visit Cuba after the Revolution. A watchtower offers fine views.
colonial chandelier in Museo Histórico
Four blocks northwest of Plaza Mayor along Villena brings you to Plaza de Tres Cruces, a bare-earth area pinned by three wooden crosses that for several centuries have formed the terminus of Trinidad’s annual Easter procession. Note the houses with metal crosses on their exterior walls: They’re way-stops on the procession.
Trinidad’s main square today is six blocks southeast of Plaza Mayor, on Calle Martí and Lino Pérez. On the southwest side is the Iglesia de Paula, with the town hall catercorner.
One block northwest of the plaza is La Maqueta (Colón esq. Gutiérrez, Mon.-Sat. 9am-5pm, CUC1), a scale model of the city with every building shown to scale and in detail.
Follow Lino Pérez south five blocks to the former Antigua Cuartel de Dragones (dragoons’ barracks), built in 1844; it’s now the Academia de Artes Plásticas (Prolongación de Camilo Cienfuegos, tel. 041/99-4350, triart@hero.cult.cu, Mon.-Fri. 8am-5pm). It has seasonal exhibitions of students’ work. Although it’s not normally open to the public, guides are usually happy to show you the various talleres (workshops), from ceramics to computation. It hosts semester-long courses for foreigners.
The chess club, Casa de Jedrez (Lino Pérez #292), is on the east side of Parque Céspedes.
Trinidad is known for its local beverage, the canchánchara, made from aguardiente (raw rum), mineral water, honey, and lime. Try it at the atmospheric Taberna La Canchánchara (Rubén Martínez, esq. Girón, tel. 041/99-6231, daily 24 hours).
Local youth deliver their salsa moves at Casa de la Música (Juan Manuel Marquéz, e/ Bolívar y Menéndez, tel. 041/90-3414, CUC2), while music is also hosted on the steps northeast of Plaza Mayor.
For a uniquely memorable dancing experience, head to Disco Ayala (nightly 10:30pm-2am, CUC3 including one drink), in the caves immediately west of the Hotel Cubanacán Las Cuevas. Flashing lights amid the stalagmites and stalactites? Awesome!
The Hotel Cubanacán Las Cuevas (Calle General Lino Pérez final, tel. 041/99-6133) features a small cabaret nightly at 9:30pm (CUC3).
For more traditional fare, don’t miss the Palenque de los Congos Reales (Echerrí #146, esq. Jesús Menéndez, CUC1), which has a lively espectáculo afrocubano (daily 1:30pm-midnight). Musicians drift in to jam and locals whisk tourists onto the dance floor at Casa de la Trova (Echerrí #29, tel. 041/99-6445, daily 10am-1am, CUC1 after 8pm), one block east of Plaza Mayor. The Casa de la Cultura (Zerquera, esq. Ernest Valdes, tel. 041/99-4308, daily 8am-10pm, free) also hosts traditional music, as does Casa Fischer (Lino Pérez #312, e/ Cadahia y Martí, tel. 041/99-6486), which posts its weekly medley and hosts daily dance and drumming lessons (CUC5). The ruins of Teatro Brunet (Maceo #461, e/ Bolívar y Zerquera, daily 10am-midnight, CUC2) have an espectáculo campesino (peasant show) on Wednesday. Teatro Brunet also hosts percussion and dance lessons (Mon.-Sat. 4pm-8pm).
Trinidad has a tradition for madrugadas, early-morning performances of regional songs sung in the streets. Though rarely heard today, madrugadas highlight the town’s weeklong Semana de la Cultura in early January.
Every Easter during El Recorrido del Vía Crucis (The Way of the Cross), devout Catholics follow a route through the old city, stopping at 14 sites marked with crosses. The weeklong Festival de Semana Santa (Holy Week celebration) features street processions.
Local “horse whisperer” Julio Muñoz has a project, Proyecto Diana (Calle Martí #401, esq. Santiago Escobar, tel./fax 041/99-3673, www.diana.trinidadphoto.com) to make the world, or at least Cuba, a better place for horses. Despite rural Cuba still being an equine culture, care of horses leaves much to be desired. For example, when horses sicken they are often treated with home remedies that sometimes aggravate the horse’s condition, or they’re left to die because the owner lacks the means to treat the condition. And the traditional method of breaking in a horse causes pain and damage.
“Horse/whisperer” Julio Muñoz educates a National Geographic Expeditions group.
Julio started the project after his horse Diana died of colic, and he has since studied the methods of “horse-whisperer” Monty Roberts. He wants to change things by educating local farmers, farriers, and horse-owners. Donations of books, farriers’ tools and equipment, and equine medicines are requested.
For nine days during Christmas, Trinitarios enact Fiestas Navideñas, a street re-creation of Mary and Joseph’s journey by donkey. Each night the procession ends at a different house, with a fiesta for children.
Julio Muñoz, the local “horse whisperer,” offers guided horseback rides at Centro Ecuestre Diana (tel. 041/99-3673, www.casa.trinidadphoto.com), a farm about three kilometers north of town. Julio also offers riding lessons. A highlight is to watch him pacify and mount an untrained horse using “horse-whisperer” techniques. You can also lunch here on traditional campesino fare.
Horseback riding is also offered at Parque Nacional El Cubano (tel. 041/99-6611, daily 8am-4pm, CUC6.50 entrance including a drink), one kilometer west of Trinidad. Tour agencies in Trinidad handle bookings for horseback riding (CUC15) at Finca Dolores (tel. 041/99-6481), a rustic farm turned tourist attraction on the banks of the Río Guaurabo, two kilometers west of Trinidad. A representation of a traditional farm features an aviary, cockfights, milking, and other farm activities during folkloric shows.
All manner of arts and crafts are sold at the artisans markets held in Plazuelita Las Tres Palmitas and elsewhere around Plaza Mayor. For one-of-a-kind, hard-to-resist bas-relief carvings of old Trinitarios carved into antique door panels, head to Galería-Estudio Lázaro Niebla (Rasio #452, tel. 5294-0210, lazaroniebla@yahoo.es), next to the Restaurant Plaza Mayor. Lázaro also sells exquisite conceptual pieces (from CUC150). His wife, Leanys, is part of a 36-member lace-making cooperative. Another of my favorite places for quality art is the Galería de Mata Carlos (Piro Guinart #367, e/ Juan M. Márquez y Fernando H. Echerrí, tel. 041/99-4380), selling international quality collector’s pieces. Yudit Vidal is internationally acclaimed: Check her out at Galería Yudit Vidal (Rubén Martínez Villena #56, tel. 041/99-3490, www.yuditvidal.com).
Galería Licor Zayas (Calle Santo Domingo #27 e/ Reforma y Aguacate, tel. 5248-9761) sells beautiful hand-crafted silverwork.
For cigars and rum, head to Casa del Habano (Maceo, esq. Zerquera, tel. 041/99-6256, daily 9am-7pm).
The Casa de la Música (Juan Manuel Márquez, e/ Bolívar y Menéndez, tel. 041/99-3414) has a wide selection of CDs. Musical instruments can be bought at the Taller de Instrumentales Musicales (Menéndez #127-A, e/ Ernesto Valdés y Colón, tel. 041/99-3617), where bongos, timbales, etc. are made.
Much of the ceramic work sold locally is made at El Alfarero Casa Chichí (Andres Berro Macias #51, e/ Pepito Tey y Abel Santamaría, tel. 041/99-3146, daily 8am-8pm), where the Santander family carries on a tradition of pottery-making.
All properties listed are air-conditioned.
Trinidad has more than 400 casas particulares. Owners will call around to help you find a place if you don’t have a reservation.
My favorite by far is S Casa Colonial Muñoz (Calle Martí #401, esq. Santiago Escobar, tel./fax 041/99-3673, www.casa.trinidadphoto.com, CUC35), a venerable home built in 1800 and featured in National Geographic (Oct. 1999, p. 102). The timeworn house has period furnishings, including swords, old clocks, and centenary prints. Its three lofty-ceilinged bedrooms each have two double beds and fans, and modern, private bathrooms. Julio Muñoz, the English-speaking owner and a professional photographer, has added a bilevel duplex with two beds—one a king four-poster! Parking is secure. You can reserve by credit card. Beware: Some other casa particular owners pretend to be Julio Muñoz to steal his business, and jineteros are known to steer you to such houses for a commission.
Casa Colonial Muñoz
I enjoyed my stay with Julio’s neighbor at Casa de Nelson y Marilú (Santiago Escobar #172, e/ Frank País y Martí, tel. 041/99-2899, hostalmarilu@yahoo.es, CUC20-25), with three rooms, including a pleasant cross-ventilated rooftop chamber with a modern bathroom. Meals are served under an arbor on the rooftop terrace with rockers, hammock, and a plunge pool.
S Casa de Carlos Sotalongo (Calle Rubén Martínez Villena #33, tel. 041/99-4169, galinkapuig@gmail.com, CUC25), on the southeast corner of Plaza Mayor, is another atmospheric winner. Vast front doors open to a cavernous lounge with antiques, modern art, and a colonial tile floor. Local art critic Carlos Sotalongo rents two rooms with terra-cotta floors, metal-frame beds, and private hot-water bathrooms.
The antiquities are even more impressive at S Casa Sara Sanjuan Álvarez (Simón Bolívar #266, e/ Frank País y Martí, tel. 041/99-3997, CUC25), a well-kept, beautifully furnished colonial home that opens to an exquisite rose garden with rockers. Four rooms (two up, two down) have fans, refrigerators, and modern bathrooms. There’s secure parking.
Hostal Sandra y Victor (Antonio Maceo #613, e/ Piro Guinart y Pablo Pichs, tel. 041/99-6444, www.hostalsandra.com, CUC20), just 100 meters from the bus station, has three upstairs rooms with private bathrooms and hot water. A spacious lounge has rockers, and a delightful rooftop terrace features artistic ceramic walls and a bar.
Another amazing colonial option, S Casa Colonial El Patio (Ciro Redondo #274 e/ Juan M. Márquez y Fernando H. Echerrí, tel. 5359-2371, ssofiapg@yahoo.es, CUC30) was recently restored with aid of the historian’s office. It retains its original alfarje roof, exposed wall murals, and colonial tile floor. The rear garden patio is an exquisite space, and the two rented rooms are furnished with period pieces.
Lovely and intimate define Cubanacán’s Hotel E La Ronda (Calle Martí #239, e/ Lino Pérez y Colón, tel. 041/99-8538, www.hotelescubanacan.com, CUC107 s, CUC143 d low season, CUC128 s, CUC170 d high season), 50 meters west of Parque Céspedes. It opened in 2011 after a long restoration. Overlooking Parque Céspedes, this 1868 building offers 14 delightfully furnished air-conditioned rooms with a turn-of-the-20th-century retro feel. Alas, it’s vastly overpriced!
Spanish parador-style Mesón del Regidor (Simón Bolívar #20, tel. 041/99-6572, CUC80 s, CUC120 d), one block southwest of Plaza Mayor, with four rooms, was recently restored and is exquisite, albeit overpriced.
The 114 rooms at Hotel Cubanacán Las Cuevas (Calle General Lino Pérez final, tel. 041/99-6133, reservas@cuevas.co.cu, CUC77 s, CUC118 d, including breakfast), on the hillside above town, are vastly overpriced. It has a thatched restaurant and bar (the food is mediocre), a swimming pool, car rental, Internet, game room, and nightly cabaret. The hotel offers guided tours of Cueva La Maravillosa, a cavern full of dripstone formations, on its property.
Cubanacán’s overpriced riverside Horizontes MaDolores (tel. 041/99-6481, comercial@dolores.co.cu, CUC45 s, CUC70 d low season, CUC57 s, CUC82 d high season, including breakfast), two kilometers west of Trinidad, enjoys an appealing rustic setting and offers 19 modern rooms, plus 26 cabins. Criolla meals are served in a lovely thatched restaurant. It has a swimming pool and horseback rides.
The gorgeous S Iberostar Gran Hotel Trinidad (Martí 262, esq. Lino Pérez, tel. 041/99-6070, comercial@iberostar.trinidad.co.cu, from CUC165 s, CUC220 low season, CUC245 s, CUC380 d high season), on Parque Céspedes, is perhaps the finest urban hotel outside Havana. It mixes colonial elegance with sumptuous contemporary refinements. Highlights include a clubby cigar lounge, game room with pool table, and a chic bar and restaurant.
At press time, the derelict La Popa church was being integrated as the entrance to the new 44-room deluxe Hotel Pangea La Popa under construction atop the hill on the north side of town. It will be managed by a French company. Meanwhile, the Hostal Galería Trista (Juan Manuel Márquez esq. Ciro Redondo) will be more prosaic; this colonial mansion is being restored as an eight-room hostel by Aldaba, the commercial branch of the city historian’s office.
Most casas particulares provide meals.
Since 2011, the number of paladares has exploded; the following are the tip of the iceberg. By far the best meal in town is served at S Vista Gourmet (Callejón de Galdós e/ Ernesto Valdéz y Callejón de Gallegos, tel. 041/99-6700 or 5277-0905, tahiri_bolo@yahoo.es, daily noon-midnight), where owner and sommelier “Bolo” oversees an incredible rooftop alfresco buffet (CUC17, or CUC10 vegetarian) including hot plates and desserts. On the à la carte menu, try the lamb in Pernod or with Malta, or seafood mix with white wine. Plus you get fantastic views while a venerable violinist or crooner entertains.
For ambience, dine at Guitarra Mía (Jesús Menéndez #19 e/ Cienfuegos y Pérez, tel. 041/99-3452 or 5270-3174, restauranteguitarramia@yahoo.es, daily noon-midnight), owned by Pepito, son of famous guitarist Pepe López and decorated with guitars painted with Trinitario scenes. I enjoyed a superb tostones rellenos (stuffed plantain cups) with tuna served with squash shaped as a guitar.
Another stunner, Restaurante Museo 1514 (Simón Bolívar #515, e/ Juan M. Márquez y Fernando Echerrí, tel. 041/99-4255, daily noon-midnight) combines antique elegance—the silverware is something to behold—and delicious local cuisine. A fixed price (CUC14) includes dessert and coffee. Highlights are cream of cheese soup (CUC4), garlic pork steak (CUC12), the seafood mixed grill (CUC17), or lobster prepared any of 10 different ways. Live music is offered Tuesday-Saturday.
Of state-run restaurants, Restaurante Plaza Mayor (Zerquera, esq. Villena, tel. 041/99-6470, daily noon-10pm) offers a superb all-you-can-eat buffet, for which reason it’s often packed with tour groups.
Feeling flush? Then dress up to dine at the Restaurant Gourmet, in the Iberostar Gran Hotel Trinidad. The creative fare includes smoked salmon appetizer and such entrées as sautéed shrimp over spinach in white wine sauce, and candied tenderloin steak in red wine with mashed potatoes. You can purchase a buffet breakfast (7am-10am, CUC15), lunch (12:30pm-3pm), or dinner (7pm-10pm, CUC20 for appetizer and dessert, or CUC35 for three courses).
For ice cream, head to Dulce Crema (Antonio Maceo, e/ Bolívar y Zerquera, daily 10am-10pm) or Coppelia (Martí e/ Zerquera y Colón, tel. 041/99-6468, daily 8am-8:40pm). Dulcinea La Begonia (tel. 041/99-4287, daily 7am-10pm), opposite Dulce Crema, is the best café around, with espressos, cappuccinos, cakes, and pastries.
The best-stocked supermarket is Galería Comercial Universo (Martí, e/ Zerquera y Colón). You can buy produce at the mercado agropecuario (Pedro Zerquera, esq. Manuel Fajardo, Mon.-Sat. 8am-6pm, Sun. 8am-noon) and baked goods at the bakery at Simón Bolívar and Martí (7am-7pm).
Infotur (Izquierda e/ Bolívar y Guinart, tel. 041/99-8258, Mon.-Fri. 8:30am-6pm, Sat.-Sun. 8:30am-5pm) has a tourist information bureau opposite the bus terminal.
Banks include Bandec (Martí #264, e/ Colón y Zerquera), Banco Popular (Colón y Miguel Calzada), and Banco Financiero Internacional (Cienfuegos, esq. Martí). You can exchange currency at Cadeca (Martí #164, e/ Lino Pérez y Céspedes, Mon.-Fri. 8am-3pm).
The post office (Maceo #418, e/ Zerquera y Colón, tel. 041/99-2443) has DHL service. Etecsa (Lino Pérez y Francisco Pettersen, tel. 041/99-6020, daily 8:30am-7:30pm) has international phone and Internet service. Café Las Begonias (Maceo #473, esq. Bolívar, daily 9am-9pm) also has Internet service.
The Clínica Internacional (Lino Pérez #103, esq. Cárdenas, tel. 041/99-6492, 24 hours) has a pharmacy as well as a doctor and nurse on hand; it charges CUC25 per consultation and CUC50 for house calls.
The police station (Julio Cuevas Díaz #20, e/ Pedro Zerquera and Cárdenas, tel. 041/99-6900) is two blocks to the northeast.
Bufete Internacional (Frank País, esq. Colón, tel. 041/99-6489, notario@bufete.tdad.cyt.cu, Mon.-Fri. 8am-5pm) can assist with legal matters.
Buses arrive and depart the Terminal de Ómnibus (Izquierda, esq. Piro Guinart, tel. 041/99-6676). Víazul buses (tel. 041/99-4448, www.viazul.com, ticket office daily 7am-7pm) link Trinidad with Havana, Varadero, and Santiago de Cuba.
Transtur offers bus transfers between Trinidad and Cienfuegos (CUC6) and Havana (CUC25).
The train station (tel. 041/99-3348, ticket booth open daily 4:30am-5pm) is at the bottom of Lino Pérez. The only service at last visit was a daily commuter train to Casilda and to Meyer, in the Valle de los Ingenios.
Cubataxi (tel. 041/99-2340) provides taxi service. Coco-taxis (tel. 041/99-2214) cruise the streets (CUC1 minimum).
The Trinidad Bus Tour (CUC2) minibus departs Cubatur (Maceo y Zerquera) at 9am, 11am, 2pm, 4pm, and 6pm and runs to Playa Ancón.
For car rental, try Cubacar (Lino Pérez, e/ Martí y Francisco Cadalia, tel. 041/99-6633; and Bolívar, esq. Maceo, tel. 041/99-6257); Gaviota (tel. 041/99-6235), which offers house-to-house taxi service between Havana and Trinidad (about CUC110); or Vía (Frank País e/ Fidel Claro and Bolívar, tel. 041/99-6388).
The Oro Negro gas station is northeast of town on Fausto Pelayo. A Cupet gas station is south of town on the road to Casilda.
Cubatur (Maceo y Zerquera, tel. 041/99-6314), Cubanacán (Martí, e/ Lino Pérez y Cadahia, tel. 041/99-4753), and Havanatur (Calle Lino Pérez e/ Morón y Cadahia, tel. 041/99-6317) offer excursions. Paradiso (Lino Pérez, e/ Cadahia y Martí, tel. 041/99-6486, paradiso@sctd.artex.cu), in Casa Fischer, specializes in cultural tours, including a guided city tour (CUC10).
La Boca, five kilometers west of Trinidad, is a quaint fishing village with traditional tile-roofed bohíos and a single coastal road. It appeals for its pocket-scale beaches amid coral coves favored by Trinitarios on weekends. Casa Museo Alberto Delgado (tel. 01/5219-9801, Tues.-Sat. 9am-5pm, Sun. 9am-12:30pm, free), two kilometers east of La Boca, honors a Castroite killed during the counterrevolutionary war. It has his pistol, uniform, and some personal effects.
The coast extends south of La Boca to a small point beyond which the long narrow Península de Ancón curls east to Playa Ancón, enfolding a mangrove-lined lagoon—the Ensenada de Casilda. The four-kilometer-long beach has sugary white sand and turquoise waters, plus two all-inclusive hotels (you can buy day passes to use the facilities). During certain times of year a microscopic sea lice (agua mala or caribe) can cause infections.
Ancón’s offshore reefs have more than 30 dive spots, including sunken vessels. Cayo Blanco, nine kilometers southeast of Ancón, is famous for its kaleidoscopic corals and sponges.
Scuba diving is offered at Club Amigo Ancón (tel. 041/99-6120, CUC35 per dive), as is snorkeling (CUC10). Marina Marlin (tel. 041/99-6205, www.nauticamarlin.com) offers “seafari” excursions to Cayo Blanco (9am, CUC45), including snorkeling, fly-fishing (CUC280 up to six people), and deep-sea fishing (CUC300 up to four people).
Of two dozen casas particulares in La Boca, I like Hostal Vista al Mar (Calle Real #47, tel. 041/99-3716, CUC20-25), a simply furnished home overlooking the beach and rivermouth. Manolo, the owner, is a gracious and fun host. Choose from three rooms, two with private bathrooms; you can rent the whole house. It has parking.
S Hostal El Capitán (Playa La Boca #82, tel. 041/99-3055, captaincasanovatrinidad@yahoo.es, CUC20), 400 meters south of the village, sits above the coral shore. Nice! The two rooms are cross-ventilated and well-lit with louvered windows. Meals are served on a patio. It has parking.
Cubanacán’s Soviet-style all-inclusive Club Amigo Ancón (tel. 041/99-6123, reserva@ancon.co.cu, from CUC64 s, CUC98 d low season, CU69 s, CUC104 d high season) is a favorite of Canadian and European charter groups. It has 279 air-conditioned rooms, plus a huge swimming pool and scuba diving, but looked in need of a spruce up at my last visit
More intimate, Cubanacán’s Club Amigo Costa Sur (tel. 041/99-6174, reservas@costasur.co.cu, from CUC59 s, CUC92 d low season, CUC63 s, CUC96 d high season), is popular with German tour groups and has 112 pleasantly furnished rooms and 20 lovely bungalows with contemporary wrought-iron furnishings. There’s an intimacy here lacking at the other resorts.
The fanciest option is Brisas Trinidad del Mar (tel. 041/99-6500, reservas@brisastdad.co.cu, from CUC92 s, CUC146 d low season, from CUC125 s, CUC156 d high season), adjacent to Club Amigo Ancón. This neocolonial style low-rise is centered on a large freeform pool. The 241 rooms are spacious and have appealing bathrooms. Facilities include three restaurants, live entertainment, water sports, tennis, and even a sauna.
The Rancho Grill Caribe (no tel., daily 9am-10pm), above the coral shore between La Boca and Ancón, is a seafood grill.
The Trinidad Bus Tour runs to Playa Ancón. A taxi to/from Trinidad costs about CUC10 one-way.
Marina Marlin (tel. 041/99-6205, Eduardo@marlintdad.co.cu) has moorings, but it is not an international entry port. Bare-boat and skippered yachts and catamarans can be chartered here; reservations must be made prior to arrival in Cuba (from CUC300 per day up to eight people).
East of Trinidad, the Carretera de Sancti Spíritus drops into the Valle de los Ingenios, known more correctly as the Valle de San Luis. This UNESCO Cultural Heritage Site is named for the many sugar mills, or ingenios (43 at its peak), that sprang up over the centuries. The valley was Cuba’s most important sugar-producing region into the 19th century. Many of the mills and estate houses remain, mostly in ruin.
tower at Hacienda Iznaga
Sitio Histórico San Isidro is signed from the highway, about 10 kilometers east of Trinidad. It features a three-story campanile. It is slated to become a museum on the sugar industry.
Most notable is Sitio Histórico Guaímaro (daily 7am-7pm), about 20 kilometers east of Trinidad, which boasts restored wall murals. It has a chapel and well to the rear. Guaímaro is about 600 meters off the highway via a dirt road that continues 11 kilometers (to be attempted in dry season only) to Sitio Histórico San Pedro, a rural village of tumbledown wattle-and-daub huts with a couple of restored colonial homes.
You gain a vantage over the valley from the Mirador del Valle de los Ingenios (no tel., daily 8am-4pm), a café-restaurant about five kilometers east of Trinidad.
The quaint village of Iznaga is a picture-perfect gem with a prim little railway station. The village, 14 kilometers east of Trinidad, is most famous for Hacienda Iznaga (tel. 041/99-7241, daily 9am-5pm), built 1835-1845 by Alejo María del Carmen e Iznaga, once one of the wealthiest sugar planters in Cuba. The hacienda features a 43.5-meter-tall tower with seven levels, each smaller than the one beneath. You can ascend the 136 steps (CUC1).
The hacienda is now a restaurant. Lacework, a local specialty, is made and sold here.
You can ride horses at Casa Guachinango (no tel., daily 9am-5pm), three kilometers north of Iznaga; a one-hour ride leads to mineral springs good for bathing. This 200-year-old hacienda-turned-restaurant boasts a beautiful setting above the Río Ay.
A local commuter train departs Trinidad for Meyer via the Valle de los Ingenios at 5am and 5:20pm (CUC5). It stops at Iznaga and Guachinango. Trains depart Meyer for Trinidad at 6am and 6:10pm.
When in running condition, a 1907 steam train runs an excursion from Trinidad to Guachinango daily at 9:35am, with a lunch stop at Iznaga (CUC10; you pay for lunch separately). Tour agencies make reservations.
Five kilometers west of Trinidad, a turnoff from the coast road leads into the Sierra Escambray, whose slopes swathed in pines and ancient tree ferns, bamboo, and eucalyptus are tremendous for hiking and birding.
Gran Parque Natural Topes de Collantes is divided into a series of parks, administered by Gaviota (the Cuban military-run tourist entity). At its heart, at a refreshingly cool 790 meters, is Complejo Turístico Topes de Collantes (tel. 042/54-0330 or 042/54-0117, www.gaviota-grupo.com, daily 8am-7pm), the administrative and interpretative center at Topes de Collantes, 21 kilometers from Trinidad. Topes is dominated by a massive concrete structure—the Kurhotel—designed in 1936, when it served as a sanatorium for victims of tuberculosis. Following the Revolution, the disease was eradicated in Cuba. The complex was developed as a resort area in the late 1970s and now focuses on nature and health tourism. A guide is compulsory.
Check out the giant sundial outside the headquarters below the hotel.
Here also is the Museo de Arte Cubano Contemporáneo (tel. 043/54-0347, daily 8am-8pm, CUC2), in the former home of a Cuban senator; later it served as a “protocol” house for Communist Party members—where VIPs are housed during visits. Its four rooms of stunning art include works by Flora Fong, Esteban Leyra, and other big names in Cuban art.
The Casa de Café (7am-7pm), 400 meters south of the Kurhotel, is a delightfully rustic coffee shop selling locally grown coffee drinks. It has historic photos plus simple tools of the trade, and offers demonstrations of coffee production. A stone’s throw away, nip into the Plaza de las Memorias museum (Mon.-Sat. 8am-5pm) to learn about local history. Downhill 100 meters, La Casa de Elida and Casa del Artesano are recreations of typical country homes.
Caburní: This trail begins beside Villa Caburní, east of the Kurhotel, and zigzags steeply downhill and northeast two kilometers to Salto de Caburní (CUC90), a 75-meter-high waterfall (in dry season the falls can dry up), and (via separate trail) to the Jardin de Gigantes (CUC4), with towering trees.
Parque Codina: From the Casa de Café, Sendero La Batata (CUC4) leads west to a cave system with underground river and pools good for swimming. From La Batata, Sendero de Alfombra Mágico (CUC6) continues to Finca Codina, an erstwhile coffee estate that serves as a post for bird-watchers and hikers. Luncheons are laid on for tour groups, with roast suckling pig. After a couple of toddies, you may feel brave enough to wallow in a pool of medicinal mud. Codina has an orchid garden with trails that lead to waterfalls and caves.
Parque Guanayara: About 10 kilometers northwest of Topes, Parque Guanayara’s highlight is the Sendero Centinelas del Río Melodioso (CUC9), which follows the river to the Cascada El Rocío waterfall, where you can swim in a chilly pool.
Parque El Nicho: El Nicho, reached via the Sendero El Reino de las Aguas (CUC9), is perhaps the most beautiful site of all, with its spectacular cascades; a trail leads along the creek above the waterfalls. A four-wheel-drive vehicle is required to drive there via Crucecitas. Tour groups are often present; opt for an excursion. By car, it is much more easily accessed from the north, via Manicuragua, in Cienfuegos Province.
Camping (CUC6) is allowed at Vegas Grandes, accessed by trail (CUC9) from Topes.
The only casa particular for miles is Hostal Restaura El Mere (CUC20), a simple, almost rustic, house as you enter Topes. It has one no-frills, cross-ventilated rooftop room with a hot-water bathroom.
The massive Kurhotel Escambray (tel. 042/54-0180, from CUC35 s, CUC40 d low season, from CUC50 s, CUC48 d high season) has a Stalinist aesthetic and is reached via a stone staircase on a Siberian scale. The 210 air-conditioned rooms and 16 suites boast the essentials, including modern bathrooms. It has a modest restaurant, gyms, beauty salon, movie theater, and a thermal swimming pool where massage and therapeutic treatments are offered. But the overriding feel is eerily clinical. The hotel’s Villa Caburní (CUC23 s, CUC33 d low season, CUC27 s, CUC40 d high season) has apartment cabinas for up to four people.
Hotel Los Helechos (tel. 042/54-0330, from CUC29 s, CUC37 d low season, from CUC32 s, CUC45 d high season) hides in a cool valley below the Kurhotel. The shocking pink-and-green exterior belies a pleasing restoration inside, with bamboo decor in spacious air-conditioned rooms with satellite TVs and modern bathrooms. Take a room in the front; the rest are poorly lit. It has a swimming pool and bowling alley.
The traditional Restaurante Mi Retiro (no tel., daily 10am-9pm), on a hilltop overlooking a vale about three kilometers south of Topes, is limited to fried chicken or pork.
The only paladar is Restaurante Gran Nena (tel. 042/54-0338, daily 24 hours), a lovely place adjoining the museum. This historic building has patio dining and serves Cuban dishes and seafood, plus pasta.
The riverside Restaurante La Represa, below Casa de Elida, would be a lovely spot to dine alfresco, but the peace is shattered by speakers blasting reggaeton!
A camión runs between Topes and Trinidad. The road rises in a steep, potholed, badly eroded switchback that eventually drops to Manicaragua, on the northern slopes. Drive with utmost caution! Stop at Mirador de Hanabanilla, eight kilometers north of Topes, for the spectacular views over Embalse Hanabanilla; the roadside café (daily 7am-7pm) even has beers and cappuccinos.
All other routes through the mountains are suitable for four-wheel drive only.
Tour operators sell excursions by truck to Topes from Trinidad (CUC55). A taxi will cost CUC15 each way.