The remarkably well-restored Museo Farmaceútico was originally founded in 1882 by Ernest Triolet from Nancy (France) who married into the Figuero family, leading lights in Cuba’s pharmacy profession. In the shop, faience vases and porcelain importe..

Buildings dating from the late 19C and early 20C surround this majestically proportioned square. At its centre, benches invite visitors to sit in the shade, and the glorieta (bandstand) sometimes hosts the municipal band. At the entrance to the squ..

To the right on emerging from the cathedral, on the corner of Calle 27, stands this theatre (1889), named after a sugar magnate of Venezuelan origin. Its neo-Classical façade is the product of restoration, but the auditorium is unchanged, its rows of..

Around 20km from the city centre lies the island’s oldest botanical garden. Established at the beginning of the 20C by American sugar magnate Edwin Atkins, this vast estate became Harvard University’s tropical research institute in 1919. Covering 96h..

From the faded yet picturesque port of Caibarién, the pedraplén causeway defies logic. This audacious 48km-long roadway on 40 bridges crosses the waves to a string of cayos (islands) scattered across the crystal waters. This archipelago is the id..

Built between 1740 and 1808, this large ochre residence was the home of Spanish count Nicolás de la Cruz Brunet. Today it houses the Museo Romántico . This important collection of 19C furniture and decorative arts recreates an aristocratic Cuban int..

Built in 1828 by a planter whose fortune was ill-gotten, this palace is as beautiful as its owner was unscrupulous. A fine example of architecture for aristocratic patrons, it is embellished with Italian-inspired frescoes. This well-proportioned buil..

5km from Trinidad, stop at mirador de la Loma for a first look at the verdant Sierra del Escambray, where Che Guevara did valiant deeds from 1958 to 1965. 100km long, its highest point is the 1 140m-high San Juan peak. Though of modest altitude, it i..

This palace now houses the Museo de Arte Colonial . This large 18C private residence with window grilles and balconies in wrought iron was the first two-storey house in Sancti Spíritus. 19C furniture from the region is displayed in its rooms, recrea..

This old colonial quarter of Sancti Spíritus is centred on the streets between Calle Panchito Jiménez and the Río Yayabo river. Its colourful little houses roofed with renovated tiles and its paved streets are reminiscent of Trinidad, but less touris..

Cayo Coco is the most popular spot in this archipelago of 400 islands called the “king’s gardens” (jardines del rey). The royal epithet is accurate; everything needed for the dream holiday is here. Long sandy beaches, palm trees lapped by emerald and..

The road cuts through a mangrove swamp before reaching Cayo Guillermo. The smaller scale (13km2) of this island makes it more convivial than neighbouring Cayo Coco (370km2). It only has 5km of beaches but offers excellent fishing. From Playa Pilar ,..

This dreamlike beach dotted with coconut trees remains accessible to the locals. It has a good grill restaurant. Its idyllic delights are best experienced in the solitude of early morning.

To reach Baracoa by the overland route, visitors travel along a mountain road called La Farola . Prior to its construction during the 1960s, a major technical feat, the town was only accessible by sea. The route crosses the Sierra del Purial , ri..

A Unesco World Heritage site, Parque Humboldt offers visitors the chance to wander among orchids. This reserve is a rich mix of ecosystems: virgin forest, lagoon, mangroves and a variety of flora and fauna largely endemic to the region.

On the left behind the Cayo Piedra watch post, 24km of pot-holed rocky track leads to Punta del Este, a wild region terminating at its magnificent white sandy beach. This idyllic place remains for the moment deserted, but developers are planning to b..

A road from La Fé leads directly to Playa Larga (“broad beach”), 12.5km from the park entrance. This superb 15km-long beach is as unspoilt as that of Punta del Este.

Cayo Lardo del Sur concludes the string of islets lying to the east of Isla de la Juventud , but the last of these cayos ranks first in terms of beauty of its beaches, running uninterruptedly for 25km along its southern shore. The turquoise waters..

It’s worth pausing at nos 117-119 Calle Obispo to admire the Casa de Obispo (bishop’s house). Among other curiosities, the house has an historic letterbox ( buzón ) set into its façade in the form of a Greek mask, its mouth receiving deposited corres..

Note the wrought-iron balconies and columns embellishing the Baroque facade of this palace, built at the southeast corner of the square in 1741. The seat of the Royal treasury from 1796, it became the main post office in the early 19C, then the Havan..