Cuba - Lonely Planet [7]
Return to beginning of chapter
Itineraries
* * *
CLASSIC ROUTES
CULTURE VULTURE
BEACHES
ROADS LESS TRAVELED
CUBA THROUGH THE BACK DOOR
THE MUSICAL TOUR
TAILORED TRIPS
BOOK TOUR
BIRD-WATCHING CUBA
ISLANDS IN THE ARCHIPELAGO
PARKS & RESERVES
* * *
CLASSIC ROUTES
CULTURE VULTURE Two to Three Weeks / Havana to Baracoa
Say a big warm buenos días to Cuba in Havana with its museums, forts, theaters and rum. Pinar del Río is tobacco country and its scenic highlight is Viñales, where farmers grow the stuff with skill and amor (love). On most itineraries these days is French-flavored Cienfuegos, an architectural monument to 19th-century neoclassicism. A couple of hours down the road is colonial Trinidad with more museums per head than anywhere else in Cuba. Santa Clara is a rite of passage for Che pilgrims but also great for smart private rooms and an upbeat nightlife. Further east, Camagüey is a confusing maze of Catholic churches and giant tinajones (clay pots). You can bypass Las Tunas, but you’d be foolish to miss gritty Holguín which is about as real as Cuba gets. Laid-back Bayamo is where the Revolution was first ignited, but the cultural nexus of Santiago de Cuba was where it was conceived. Save the best till last with a long but by no means arduous journey over the hills and far away to Baracoa for coconuts, chocolate and other tropical treats.
* * *
Cuba has certain rites of passage, cultural must-sees which condense the country’s confusing kaleidoscope of varied attractions into one succinct, easy-to-understand whole. This tour reigns in the highlights.
* * *
Return to beginning of chapter
BEACHES Two Weeks to One Month / Playa Santa María to Playa Paraíso
From the capital, colorful Playa Santa María is the most easily accessible beach, an exuberant mélange of makeshift fish barbecues, beach-volleyball tournaments and wandering troubadours. Tracking west it’s a toss-up between low-key Cayo Levisa and even lower-key Cayo Jutías, so why not throw the dice away and hit both. There’s a reason why Varadero boasts more tourists than any other resort in the Caribbean and 20km-long diamond-dust Playa Varadero might well be it. Few beaches adorn Cuba’s swampy south coast, making platinum blond Playa Ancón all the more gorgeous. Of the few remaining public beaches on Villa Clara’s Cayerías del Norte, Playa Las Salinas is a windswept classic. Guarding the biggest sand dunes on the archipelago, Playa Pilar is the one Cuban beach worthy of a ‘world top 10’ listing. Playa Santa Lucía competes with Varadero as the island’s longest beach (20km plus), but beats it hands down on the diving front. Postcard-perfect Playa Pesquero in Guardalavaca is paradise found for many, with a 933-room, five-star resort to match. White sand? What white sand? Granma’s southern coast is more Big Sur than Palm Beach, but the wildness of the setting adds romanticism to an evening walk on the beach at Marea del Portillo. It rains at least half the year on Playa Maguana, but when the sun breaks out, so do the locals, with their swimming costumes, snorkels and Baracoan sense of fun. If you’d rather leave your swimming costume at home, you’ll need to jump on a flight to Playa Paraíso Click here on the tiny island of Cayo Largo del Sur, where Cuba’s only nudist colony basks in almost perfect seclusion.
* * *
Beaches are the lifeblood of Cuba, providing the country with its innate beauty and its premier source of tourist income. Come and see what all the fuss is all about on this sandy sojourn around some of the archipelago’s best-served and most secluded coastal spots.
* * *
Return to beginning of chapter
ROADS LESS TRAVELED
CUBA THROUGH THE BACK DOOR One Month / Playas del Este to Siboney
Boycott Havana and head east to the beaches of Playas del Este, where private houses and picturesque sunsets abound, or leapfrog straight to Santa Cruz del Norte, a worthwhile base camp situated within hiking distance