Cuba Travel Guide

Initially a cash cow for Spanish colonial masters, Cuba became a pleasure zone for US neocolonialists in the 20th century. A heady cocktail of gambling, rum and sex lured Americans during Prohibition, when movie stars and mobsters came to sample the wares of celebrity bartenders. Yet life is hard for the average Cuban. The welfare state is unsurpassed but material pleasures are few and far between. This Cuba travel guide covers a land where antique Russian fridges and American cars are held together with rubber bands and sticking plaster, and houses crumble into rubble-strewn alleyways. Residents still dust off their ornaments, polish their antiques and surgically scrub their floors and, when it comes to music and dance, their rhythm, skill and innovation make Cubans world leaders.

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Cuba Travel Guide Highlights
La Habana Vieja A UNESCO World Heritage Site for its massive fortresses and elegant Spanish colonial mansions.	Santa Clara Che Guevara's last resting place with dramatic monument and mausoleum.
Remedios Colonial town famed for its pre-Christmas parrandas, or carnival.	Bay of Pigs Site of the botched CIA-backed landing of counter-revolutionaries in 1961.
Camagüey Magnificent 18th-century churches and plazas characterise this colonial city.	Mariá La Gorda Pristine diving with virgin reefs, caves, wrecks and an abundance of sea life.
Santiago de Cuba The carnival queen and a vibrant musical city.	Viñales The valley is a UNESCO World Cultural Landscape for its steep-sided magotes.
Trinidad A UNESCO World Heritage Site, frozen in time with its cobbled streets and tiled roofs.	Las Terrazas Part of a biosphere reserve, with excellent hiking and birdwatching.