©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd Cuba Havana p58 #_ Varadero & Artemisa & Matanzas p198 Villa Clara Valle de Viñales & Mayabeque p254 Ciego de Pinar del Río p144 Cienfuegos Ávila p173 p235 Trinidad & p301 Sancti Camagüey Spíritus Isla de la Juventud p316 Las (Special Municipality) p275 Tunas p335 Holguín p158 p346 Granma Guantánamo p371 Santiago p429 de Cuba p392 Brendan Sainsbury, Carolyn McCarthy PLAN YOUR TRIP ON THE ROAD Welcome to Cuba . 6 HAVANA . 58 Getting Around . 123 Cuba Map . 8 Outer Havana . 124 Downtown Havana . 62 Cuba’s Top 21 . 10 Playa & Sights . 62 Marianao . 124 Need to Know . 20 Festivals & Events . 86 Regla & First Time Cuba . 22 Tours . 86 Guanabacoa . 135 What’s New . 24 Courses . 87 Parque Lenin & Around . 136 If You Like… . 25 Sleeping . 88 Habana del Este . 139 Month by Month . 28 Eating . 98 Drinking & Itineraries . 32 Nightlife . 108 ARTEMISA & Outdoor Activities . 40 Entertainment . .113 MAYABEQUE Travel with Children . 49 Shopping . 117 PROVINCES . 144 Information . 120 Regions at a Glance . 51 Artemisa Getting There & Away . 121 Province . 146 GLEN PHOTO/SHUTTERSTOCK © GLEN PHOTO/SHUTTERSTOCK © DAYOWL/SHUTTERSTOCK TRINIDAD, P277 MAURIZIO DE MATTEI/SHUTTERSTOCK © MATTEI/SHUTTERSTOCK DE MAURIZIO HAVANA, P58 Contents San Antonio ISLA DE LA JUVENTUD San Juan y de los Baños . 146 (SPECIAL Martínez Artemisa . 147 MUNICIPALITY) . 158 & San Luis . 194 Soroa . 148 Península de Isla de la Guanahacabibes . 195 Las Terrazas . 151 Juventud . 160 Mayabeque Nueva Gerona . 160 Province . 154 VARADERO & East of Playa Nueva Gerona . 166 MATANZAS Jibacoa Area . 154 South of PROVINCE . 198 Jaruco . 156 Nueva Gerona . 167 Northern Surgidero The Southern Matanzas . 199 de Batabanó . 157 Military Zone . 168 Varadero . 200 Cayo Largo Varadero to del Sur . 168 Matanzas . 214 Matanzas . 215 VALLE DE VIÑALES Cárdenas . 223 & PINAR DEL RÍO San Miguel PROVINCE . 173 de los Baños & Around . 225 Valle de Viñales . 176 Península Viñales . 176 de Zapata . 227 Parque Nacional Central Australia Viñales . 183 & Around . 227 The Northern Boca de Guamá . 227 Coast . 185 Gran Parque Cayo Jutías . 185 Natural Puerto Montemar . 228 Esperanza . 186 Playa Larga . 230 Cayo Levisa . 186 Playa Girón . 231 San Diego de Los Baños & Around . 188 CIENFUEGOS San Diego de PROVINCE . 235 Los Baños . 188 Sierra de Güira . 189 Cienfuegos . 236 Pinar del Around Río Area . 189 Cienfuegos . 249 Pinar del Río . 189 Rancho Luna . 249 SANTA CLARA, P256 ON THE ROAD El Nicho . 250 Caribbean © PHOTOGRAPHER/SHUTTERSTOCK VARGA ZOLTAN Coast . 251 VILLA CLARA PROVINCE . 254 Santa Clara . 256 Embalse Hanabanilla . 265 Remedios . 266 Caibarién . 270 Cayerías HAVANA, P58 del Norte . 271 TRINIDAD & SANCTI SPÍRITUS © LTD/SHUTTERSTOCK IMAGES AWL PROVINCE . 275 Trinidad . 277 Playa Ancón & Around . 288 Valle de los Ingenios . 289 Topes de Collantes . 290 Sancti Spíritus . 293 Northern Sancti Spíritus . 299 CIEGO DE ÁVILA PROVINCE . 301 Ciego de Ávila . 303 Morón . 306 Around Morón . 309 Florencia . 310 Cayo Coco . 311 Cayo Guillermo . 314 CAYO COCO, P311 Contents UNDERSTAND CAMAGÜEY Gran Parque Cuba Today . 448 PROVINCE . 316 Nacional Sierra Maestra . 381 History . 450 Camagüey . 318 Manzanillo . 384 Food & Drink . 464 Florida . 330 Niquero . 387 Cuban Sierra del Parque Nacional Way of Life . 468 Chorrillo . 330 Desembarco Literature & Cayo Sabinal . 330 del Granma . 388 the Arts . 474 Playa Santa Marea del Architecture . 479 Portillo . 390 Lucía . 331 Music & Dance . 487 Playa los Cocos . 333 Landscape SANTIAGO & Wildlife . 493 LAS TUNAS DE CUBA PROVINCE . 335 PROVINCE . 392 Las Tunas . 336 Santiago de Cuba . 394 Puerto Padre . 341 Siboney . 419 SURVIVAL Punta La Gran GUIDE Covarrubias . 342 Piedra . 420 Playas la Parque Baconao . 421 Herradura, El Cobre . 424 Directory A–Z . 502 la Llanita & El Saltón . 425 Transportation . 513 las Bocas . 342 Chivirico Language . 522 & Around . 425 Glossary . 527 HOLGUÍN Pico Turquino PROVINCE . 346 Area . 427 Holguín . 347 Gibara . 357 GUANTÁNAMO Playa Pesquero PROVINCE . 429 SPECIAL FEATURES & Around . 360 Guantánamo . 431 Guardalavaca . 363 Outdoor activities South Coast . 435 guide . 40 Banes . 366 Punta de Maisí . 436 Sierra del Cristal . 368 3D illustrated walking Boca de Yumurí . 436 tour of Habana Vieja . 70 Cayo Saetía . 369 Baracoa . 437 Cuban food & drink Northwest feature . 464 of Baracoa . 444 GRANMA Cuban architecture PROVINCE . 371 Parque Nacional feature . 479 Alejandro Bayamo . 373 de Humboldt . 445 ©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd 32 DANM12/SHUTTERSTOCK © DANM12/SHUTTERSTOCK Plan Your Trip Itineraries S T R A I T S O F F L O R I D A HAVANA É #_ É Santa Viñales •# Clara•# •# É Cienfuegos É •# Trinidad Camagüey •# É Baracoa Bayamo •# É •# É •# Santiago C A R I B B E A N S E A de Cuba 18 DAYS The Classic Itinerary here to get to grips with the main neigh- It’s your first time in Cuba and you want borhoods of Habana Vieja, Centro Habana to see as many eye-opening sights and Vedado. as possible countrywide. Even better, Head west next to the bucolic bliss of you don’t mind a bit of road travel. Viñales for a couple of days of hiking, This itinerary ferries you between the caving and relaxing on a rocking chair on rival cities of Havana and Santiago, a sun-kissed colonial porch. Daily buses bagging most of the nation’s historical connect Viñales with French-flavored highlights on the way. Víazul buses link Cienfuegos, an architectural monument all of the following destinations. to 19th-century neoclassicism. After a night of Gallic style and Cuban music, Fall in love with classic Cuba in Havana, travel a couple of hours down the road to with its museums, forts, theaters and colonial Trinidad, with more museums rum. Three days is the bare minimum per head than anywhere else in Cuba. The 33 PLAN YOUR TRIP IT I NERAR I ES Havana (p58) casas particulares (homestays) resemble Laid-back Bayamo is where the revolu- historical monuments here, so stay three tion was ignited, and it has an equally nights. On the second day you can break sparky street festival should you be lucky from the history and choose between the enough to be there on a Saturday. Allow beach (Playa Ancón) or the natural world plenty of time for the cultural nexus of (Topes de Collantes). Santiago de Cuba, where seditious plans Santa Clara is a rite of passage for for rebellion have been routinely hatched. Che Guevara pilgrims visiting his mauso- The Cuartel Moncada, Cementerio Santa leum but also a great place for luxurious Ifigenia and Morro Castle will fill a busy private rooms and an upbeat nightlife. two days. Check out Club Mejunje and have a drink Save the best till last with a long, but in dive-bar La Marquesina. Further east, by no means arduous, journey over the Camagüey invites further investigation hills and far away to Baracoa for two with its maze of Catholic churches and days relaxing with the coconuts, chocolate giant tinajones (clay pots). and other tropical treats. 34 PLAN YOUR TRIP IT I NERAR I ES G U L F O F M E X I C O HAVANA Varadero #_ Matanzas •# É •# Las É •# Cárdenas Terrazas •# •# É San Miguel de los Baños É Viñales •# É Boca de Guamá •# É Ciénaga de •# É Zapata Ù#•# É •# Cienfuegos Playa Girón C A R I B B E A N S E A 35 FELIX LIPOV/SHUTTERSTOCK © LIPOV/SHUTTERSTOCK FELIX 1 WEEK Escape from Varadero Varadero has some cheap packages and is a PLAN YOUR TRIP popular gateway into Cuba, but once you’ve pacified your partner/kids and had your fill of the beach, what else is there for a curious Cuban adventurer to do? Plenty. Víazul or Conectando buses link the following places. Take a bus west, stopping off for lunch in IT Matanzas, where Cuban reality will hit you I like a sharp slap to the face. Investigate the NERAR Museo Farmaceútico, take a peep inside the Teatro Sauto and buy a unique handmade book I in Ediciones Vigía. For a slow approach to Ha- ES vana, get on the Hershey train and watch as the lush fields of Mayabeque Province glide by. Book a night in a fine colonial hotel in Havana and spend the next day admiring the copious sights of the old quarter, Habana Vieja. Essen- tial stops include the cathedral, the Museo de la Revolución and a stroll along the Malecón. The next day, head west to Las Terrazas, an eco-resort that seems a million miles from the clamorous capital (it’s actually only 55km). You can bathe and birdwatch at the same time in the Baños del San Juan and recuperate with a night in the Hotel Moka. An optional two- day extension of this itinerary lies further west in Viñales, a resplendent yet bucolic Unesco LISA STRACHAN /ALAMY © /ALAMY STRACHAN LISA World Heritage Site where you can decamp to a casa particular, eat some of the best roast pork in Cuba (the world?), go for a hike and then slump into a rocking chair on a rustic colonial porch. Going back east, keep on the green theme in Boca de Guamá, a reconstructed Taíno vil- lage and crocodile farm with boat trips to and around a tranquil lake. Procure a night or two of accommodations at a homestay in Playa Girón, where you can either dive or plan wild- life forays into the Ciénaga de Zapata. A cou- ple of hours east lies the city of Cienfuegos, an elegant last stopover with fine boutique hotels and sunset cruises on the bay. On the leg back to Varadero you can uncover a dustier, time-warped Cuba in half-ruined San Miguel de los Baños back in Matanzas Province, an erstwhile spa that harbors a grand abandoned hotel. Last stop before returning to Top: Beachfront hotel, Punta Gorda (p239) your Varadero sunbed is Cárdenas, home to Bottom: Eco-village, Las Terrazas (p151) three superb museums.