Cuba

The roof of the Hotel NH Parque Central in Havana Centro had spectacular sunset views of the Capitolio, the Gran Teatro de la Habana, Hotel Inglaterra, and Hotel Telgrafo on one side.

Spectacular sunset view of the Capitolio, the Gran Teatro de la Habana, Hotel Inglaterra, and Hotel Telgrafo.

The Catedral de San Cristóbal de la Habana, overlooking the Plaza de la Catedral in Old Havana Vieja, was built between 1748 and 1777 and is dominated by two unequal towers and framed by a baroque facade.

The Catedral de San Cristóbal de la Habana, overlooking the Plaza de la Catedral in Old Havana Vieja, is dominated by two unequal towers.

Mulatta dancers wearing next to nothing or sequined costumes and giant plumed headdresses parade and perform to the whole gamut of Latin-American music at the Tropicana in Havana.

Mulatta dancers wearing next to nothing or sequined costumes and giant plumed headdresses parade and perform at the Tropicana in Havana.

There is an excellent view of the Vinales Valley and mogotes from a lookout above the valley floor. Mogotes are rounded, tower-like limestone hills.

There is an excellent view of the Vinales Valley and mogotes from a lookout above the valley floor. Mogotes are rounded, tower-like limestone hills.

There is an excellent view over the Parque Jose Marti in Cienfuegos from the roof bar of the Hotel la Union. On the left with the red cupola is the Palacio de Gobierno; the blue building at the end of the park is the Palacio de Ferrer; to the right is the Teatro Tomas Terry; and to the far right with a red cupola is the Catedral de la Purisima Concepcion (Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception).

Parque Jose Marti in Cienfuegos - Palacio de Gobierno, Palacio de Ferrer, Teatro Tomas Terry, and Catedral de la Purisima Concepcion.

The Palacio Brunet, now the Museo Romantico, is a two-storey mansion in warm yellow stucco on Plaza Mayor in Trinidad de Cuba. The ground floor of the Palacio Brunet was built in 1740, and the upstairs was built in 1808. It was once owned by a sugar baron, but was converted into a museum in 1974. On the left with the yellow and green bell-tower is the former convent of San Francisco de Asís, now the Museo Nacional de la Lucha Contra Bandidos.

The yellow Palacio Brunet is located on Trimidad's Plaza Mayor. On the left is the Museo Nacional de la Lucha Contra Bandidos.

The Monumento Ernesto Che Guevara monument, mausoleum and museum complex, in Santa Clara is in a vast square guarded by a bronze statue of 'El Che.' The statue was erected in 1987 to mark the 20th anniversary of Guevara's murder in Bolivia. On the block to the right of Che is Che’s farewell letter to Fidel Castro in 1965 … “I feel that I have fulfilled the part of my duty that tied me to the Cuban Revolution in its territory, and I say good-bye to you, the comrades, your people, who are already mine. … Other nations of the world call for my modest efforts. … Ever onward to victory! Our country or death! I embrace you with all my revolutionary fervor. Che.”

The Monumento Ernesto Che Guevara monument, mausoleum and museum complex, in Santa Clara is in a vast square guarded by a bronze statue of 'El Che.'

The white sandy beach in front of Plaza America in Varadero leads to the Mansion Xanada.

The white sandy beach in front of Plaza America in Varadero leads to the Mansion Xanada.

Havana

The Parque Central area contains the Washington-like Capitolio Capital Building, the Gran Teatro de la Habana, the Fábrica de Tabacos Partagás building, and many hotels including the Hotel NH Parque Central, Hotel Telegrafo and Hotel Inglaterra. The Prado connecting Parque Central to the Malacon contains the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes and the Museo de la Revolución. The Museo de Bellas Artes in Havana Centro has an impressive collection of modern and contemporary Cuban paintings and sculpture by artists like Tomás Sánchez, Victor Manuel Garcia, Wilfredo Lam, Amelia Pelaez, and Raul Martinez.

Many of the baroque and neoclassic style buildings in Old Havana Vieja have been beautifully restored in the past few years. The Plaza de Armas is the most important Old Havana plaza with the Palacio de los Capitanes Generales now housing the Museo de la Ciudad (City Museum), and the Castillo de la Real Fuerza nearby. Other plazas to explore include the Plaza de la Catedral, the Plaza de San Francisco, and the Old Plaza Vieja. Ernest Hemingway famous places include the El Floridita bar for a Daiquiri, the Bodeguita del Medio for a mojito, and the Hotel Amdos Mundos.

Vedado is a Havana neighbourhood to the west of Havana Centro, containing the art deco Hotel Nacional, the Ministerio del Interior with the large Che Guevarra mural, and the Memorial Jose Marti. Farther on is the world famous Tropicana cabaret show.

Vinales Valley

The Vinales Valley, 200km southwest of Havana, is in Pinar del Río, Cuba's westernmost province where the best tobacco in the world is grown. It is also very picturesque with stunning karst hill formations, known locally as mogotes, riddled with caves.

Cienfuegos

Cienfuegos is a city of beautiful colonial buildings set on the serene Bahía de Cienfuegos, with Punta Gorda, the thin knife of land that slices into its southern waters. The Parque Jose Marti is surrounded by beautiful buildings like the Palacio de Ferrer; the Teatro Tomas Terry; and the Catedral de la Purisima Concepcion (Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception). The Jardin Botanico (Botanical Garden), just 18km from Cienfuegos, has more than 1500 different species of plants.

Trinidad de Cuba

Trinidad was one of Cuba’s most important centres for the slave trade and sugarcane industry in the early 1800s. Plaza Mayor is the hub of the old town with beautiful brightly painted colonial mansions, including the Palacio Brunet (Museo Romantico), and former convent of San Francisco de Asís (Museo Nacional de la Lucha Contra Bandidos), with a yellow and green bell-tower. Nearby is the Valle de los Ingenios (Valley of the Sugar Mills) with lime-green cane fields set against a bank of dark green mountains, and the wooded Sierra del Escambray Mountains.

Santa Clara

Come to Santa Clara to remember Che Guevara. There is a towering statue of Che Guevara at the Monumento Ernesto Che Guevara monument. The Monumento a la Toma del Tren Blindado boxcar museum marks the spot where Che Guevara’s men captured a 22-car armored train containing 350 heavily armed Batista troops. There is also a bronze statue of Che Guevara with a cigar in one hand and the Child of the Revolution in the other. Grand, mainly neoclassical public buildings like the Teatro La Caridad (Charity’s Theater) enclose the Parque Vidal.

Varadero

Varadero is a resort town in the province of Matanzas, Cuba, some 140 km east of Havana, boasting more than 20 km of white sandy beaches with clear turquoise warm water. In Matanzas, the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas 32 km from Varadero, the leafy main square Parque Libertad has a surprisingly interesting Pharmaceutical Museum, while the Plaza de la Vigia has some interesting buildings like the Teatro Sauto. The Bacunayagua Bridge to the west of Matanzas is the highest in Cuba, with a lovely valley view.