What to see in Cuba: 14 cities and landscapes you should visit

Cuba it is probably the great jewel of the Caribbean, a country with surprising nature and an exciting history.

Therefore it is not surprising that Christopher Columbus said of the island that it was the great paradise of the new world.

There are few countries with a history as interesting and transcendent for the world as Cuba.

Since the arrival of the ships of the Spanish Empire At the end of the 15th century until today, it has been an island on which the great empires have always set their eyes.

Por eso travel to Cuba It has always been a trip that we have had in mind.

But normally travelers who arrive in Cuba tend to limit themselves to visit Havana and some of the beaches, like Varadero.

After making a 15-day island car trip, we are clear that in Cuba there is much more than the typical tourist destinations.

If you are one of those who like to watch video content, We have a series of 6 episodes on our YouTube channel in which we show you all of Cuba.

Here we leave you the chapters so you can watch it, I'm sure you'll love it.

• 1 Havana
• 2 Bay of Pigs, Cienfuegos and El Nicho
• 3 Trinidad, the most beautiful city in Cuba
• 4 The Keys of Cuba
• 5 The West of Cuba where Columbus arrived – Holguín, Baracoa and Guantanamos
• 6 The Cuba of the Revolution – Santiago de Cuba, Camaguey and Santa Clara

Before we get started on the best places to visit in Cuba, here are some practical articles that can help you plan your trip.

Specifically, a guide with tips and two practical articles that tend to generate the most questions when visiting Cuba, because, to be honest, it's a bit pointless, as you'll see if you read them.

• Guide to traveling to Cuba
• How to have internet in Cuba?
• How does money work in Cuba?

Now yes, we are going to show you the best places that you can see on a trip to Cuba

Havana, the capital of Cuba

Havana is the great historical capital of the Caribbean since colonial times.

The place where Spain centralized all its power in America for the exchange of wealth between its colonies and the peninsula.

A city with a special charm that mixes history with an enormous cultural heritage.

Music, shows, fortresses and classic cars in a city that seems stuck in time.

Here we leave you an article where we tell you what the visit is like and the essential things to see in Havana.

• What to see in Havana

Santiago de Cuba, historic city

The other great historical city of Cuba is Santiago de Cuba, where the name of the country comes from.

There are two very famous historical figures who reflect the importance that the city had since its origin, it was founded by Diego Velazquez and its first mayor was lover.

That is why it is not surprising that in this city there is the Morro, one of the 29 fortresses that the Spanish empire built in the Caribbean

Cuban music was also born in this city, a city that due to its location was essential for all the empires that passed through here.

A city with one of the most beautiful squares in the country dominated by its cathedral.

Trinidad, the most beautiful city in Cuba

Trinidad is, in our opinion, the most beautiful city that you will be able to visit in Cuba.

Cuba has a problem and that is that a large part of the country's buildings are deteriorated, however Trinidad is the example of what all the cities in the country should be like.

An old town divided into several rings, full of well-restored buildings.

It is a true miracle that it is preserved in such good condition, but there is an explanation...

A city that, due to its location at the foot of the Tope de Collantes Natural Park, it was very easy to defend and at the same time it was hidden to avoid pirate attacks.

It is such an important city that we have prepared an article where we talk more about it.

Here you have extensive information with the best to see and visit in Trinidad.

Cienfuegos, a World Heritage City

Cienfuegos is undoubtedly one of the most colorful and striking cities to see in Cuba.

Declared Heritage for being the first example of an architectural complex representative of the ideas of modernity and order in the urban approach developed in the Latin America of the nineteenth century.

There are several essential sites that must be visited, such as the José Martí Central Park where the cathedral is located, which is very curious for having two towers of different heights or the building of the provincial popular power.

La Calle 37, popularly known as The Prado Walk, because it is inspired by the buildings that once existed on the famous avenue in Madrid.

Punta Gorda with its privileged location, which is originally where the first native populations were located.

And of course, the boardwalk, which connects Punta Gorda with the city and where every day you can see one of the most spectacular sunsets in the country.

The Keys, the beaches of Cuba

The Keys of Cuba are where some of the best beaches in the country are found..

Cuba It has one of the great coral reefs in the world and the area of The Keys It is located right at that point.

The best resorts of the country are found in this very particular area of ​​the island.

Cuba has several keys linked to the main island by a 22-kilometer scree that is a true engineering masterpiece.

The main keys are Cayo Coco, Cayo Guillermo, Roman Cay y Cayo Cruz.

Un mangrove landscape over a coral reef which, as it could not be otherwise, is full of nature.

Flamingos, pelicans, iguanas and giant snails are some of the animals that can be seen in Los Cayos.

Without a doubt, a paradise on the island of Cuba, if you want to spend a few days on the beach, forget about Varadero, this is the place.

Santa Clara, Che's land where he changed the history of Cuba

Santa Clara has been the great surprise of our trip through Cuba.

It caught us on the way, they had recommended we stop and we went for a bit to see what we found.

And it turns out that it is one of the cities with the most important modern history in Cuba.

Here is the famous armored train that Che Guevara derailed and would end up changing the course of the island.

The dictator Fulgencio Batista He sent this train loaded with weapons and troops to defeat Fidel Castro, who was in Santiago de Cuba, but while passing through Santa Clara the story took a turn.

Thanks to this act by Che, the dictatorship ended and the Fidel Revolution.

The figure of Che is so important in Santa Clara that his mausoleum is located here.

Viñales and Pinar del Río, where Cuba's finest tobacco is grown

Casa Particular in Viñales It is one of the most visited points in the island of cuba.

Its proximity to Havana means that most tourists spend a day visiting this beautiful area.

And the fact is that the west of Cuba and more specifically the province of Pinar del Río, which is where Viñales is located, is a very authentic area due to its vegetation and because it is where the best tobacco in Cuba is grown.

A very rural Cuba that keeps the authentic charm of the Cuban farm fields.

The most iconic photo of Viñales is the prehistoric mural, but everyone who visits the municipality usually also makes a getaway to Cayo Jutía or Cayo Levisa, two of the country's great paradises.

Holgín, Bariay and Gibara, the place where Christopher Columbus arrived

Holguin It is one of the great provinces of Cuba due to its past linked to Spanish navigators and one of the essential places to see in Cuba.

On one side is the city, and on the other, the province.

La Holguin cityKnown as the city of squares, has what is probably the most beautiful viewpoint towards a city in all of Cuba such as the Hill of La Cruz.

And in the province it is famous for being where Christopher Columbus landed after crossing the Atlantic in search of the Indies, although he only saw native houses and a dog.

He continued with his navigation and Gibara is where Columbus had his first contact with natives of the island of Cuba  and where he tried tobacco for the first time.

In addition, this same town is home to a great jewel of Cuba, the Cave of Silence.

Ciego de Ávila, a vision of Cuba's future

Ciego de Avila It is one of those cities that cross your path and, without realizing it, you become fond of them.

It is located in the middle of the island and very close to Los Cayos, connecting the east and west of the island.

If you travel by car, it is a city that you will pass through for sure.

We had only planned to stop for lunch and since we had time to spare we decided to go for a walk.

We found a street that seemed very representative of the possible future that an island can have.

A street with colonial buildings Perfectly renovated and colorful, an oasis among the decay of Cuba's buildings that made us dream of returning to the island one day and finding the entire country like this.

The day they achieve it, it will be one of the most beautiful countries in the world.

Camagüey, land of Agramonte and World Heritage Site

Camaguey It is another of those cities that surprised us.

We arrived when it was raining, it was pitch black, and honestly, our first impression wasn't good, but we figured it out the next morning.

It was a very important historical city where he was born Ignacio Agramonte, one of the most important historical figures in Cuba, so much so that he is represented on the 500 CUP bills.

And he was one of the first to rise up in search of independence from the Spanish.

Its historic center is declared Heritage awarded by the Unesco.

Cayo Saetía, a safari island and Cuba's hidden gem

If there is a place that has fascinated us on our trip, that is Cayo Saetia.

We are talking about a very special place, a key of about 32 square km that is almost like a safari island which has, in our opinion, the best beach we have seen in our 15 days of traveling through Cuba.

In this old hunting ground, in 1989 it was decided to release some animals that they had in the Havana zoo, and today it is a true Safari Park.

Animals such as zebras, buffaloes, ostriches and other animals characteristic of Africa live here in freedom with plenty of space for themselves.

The island also has a villa to stay in, which is decorated like a coffee village and at one end there is a restaurant next to the great beach of Cuba.

A small place but with absolutely crystal clear water between nature and corals.

In our opinion, Cayo Saetía is the great hidden gem of Cuba

Baracoa, the wildest Cuba

Casas Particulares Baracoa It is the city that best reflects what life is like on the eastern end of the island.

As you move away from Havana, you see how the landscape becomes increasingly wilder until you reach Baracoa, which is already the point with the most impressive nature in all of Cuba.

Among authentic forests of virgin palm trees is a city with a lot of charm, located in a privileged enclave.

One of the busiest areas Christopher Columbus and the sailors who followed him.

In fact, here is the great relic that is preserved from that time of the great navigators, a authentic cross that Christopher Columbus It was placed in each new territory it arrived at.

He placed them as a symbol of the conquest of the new world and the arrival of Christianity.

Guantanamo, the site of the United States naval base in Cuba

Guantánamo It is one of the most famous provinces of Cuba, especially outside the country.

If we asked anyone about GuantánamoObviously the first thing that would come to mind is the United States base how famous it became in the Iraq War for sending the prisoners there.

The city does not have anything special either, mainly because being so close to the naval base, the United States is prohibited from building any type of industry.

That is why it is one of the least developed areas of Cuba.

But this has two very curious and interesting aspects when you visit it.

The first and obvious one is to know why the base is there and what consequences it has; It is a part of the history of Cuba that is bleeding for the people that can still be experienced today.

And on the other hand, having not been able to build anything, the province is very virgin and truly spectacular, with desert roads next to the sea.

Bay of Pigs, crystal-clear waters in a historic location

La Bay of Pigs is one of the areas of Cuba with the most impressive waters in the country.

This bay bathed by Caribbean Sea It is, without a doubt, next to Cayo Saetía, where we have found more crystalline water.

Here there are two areas of impressive beaches such as Playa Larga and Playa Girón.

In addition to the The Bay of Pigs is where the Revolution had one of its great victories by managing to stop the American army in its attempt to overturn Fidel Castro's new regime.

Throughout the environment there are many memorial crosses as a tribute to those who fell in that battle.

On these roads one of those impressive natural phenomena also occurs, when millions of crabs enter land to ovulate crossing the roads that border the coast.

You can see the spectacular image of a completely red road due to the volume of crabs that flood it.

And if you like dive, This is one of the best places in Cuba.