Travel & tourism in Cuba, Travel guide to Cuba, provinces of Cuba, hotels, restaurants, bars and nightlife in Cuba

'Arguably Latin America's best-preserved city, Havana is one of the oldest, grandest and safest cities in the Americas, and packs a cultural punch well beyond its size [.] Havana glories in its history, has a dynamic cultural life and thrives on the gregarious personality of its inhabitants, 'los habaneros'. This is a city pulsing with energy that will sweep you up and hold you captive until long after you leave.'
Time Out Guide to Havana and Best of Cuba 2003

'Cayo Largo del Sur's 26km of glittering white sands, teeming coral reefs, and chain of fabulous all-inclusive resorts add up to a tropical paradise par excellence. What Cayo Largo del Sur is not, is Cuba.'
Lonely Planet Cuba 4th Edition

'Embellished by soaring pine trees and scattered with bulbous limestone cliffs that teeter like giant haystacks above the peaceful and well tended tobacco plantations. Parque National Viñales is one of Cuba's most magnificent natural settings.Despite drawing in day-trippers by the bus load, the areas well protected and spread-out natural attractions have somehow managed to avoid the frenzied tourist circus if other less managed resorts.'
Lonely Planet Cuba 4th Edition

'In all the beaches of Cuba the sand was made of grated silver, though in Varadero it was also mixed with diamond dust.'
A character in Robert Fernandez's Raining Backwards.
Varadero is Cubas' tourist Mecca with more than 60 hotels. Originally pitched exclusively at budget minded Canadians and Europeans the Cancun like peninsula is now moving up market with many of the newer developments offering 5 star luxury.

'Trinidad, the crown jewel of Cuba's colonial cities, no other city in Cuba is so well preserved or charming. The entire city is a national monument lent charms by its historical landmarks and its settings of great natural beauty, sitting astride a hill, where it catches the breezes and gazes out over the Caribbean against a backdrop of verdurous Sierra Escombray.'
Moon Handbook, Cuba 4th Edition

At the end of an exhilarating 50km causeway into the ocean which leaps from tiny cay to cay lie the picturesque Santa Maria and Cayo Las Brujas and miles of beautiful white sands. The focus of much recent hotel development this is the place to find some of the most luxurious accommodations in Cuba.

‘Boasting the finest beaches in Cuba and some of the finest jade colored waters, these beaches offer the finest beach experience for serious sun, sea and sun hounds who enjoy hotels with a little luxe.’
Moon Handbook, Cuba 4th Edition

'Guardalavaca's enduring popularity is based on a devastating mix of enviable tropical beaches, verdant green hills, and sheltered turquoise coral reefs. For many discerning travelers it leaves the more commercialized tourist resorts further west flailing hopelessly in the shade.'
Lonely Planet Cuba 4th Edition

Cuba’s most Caribbean City, Santiago de Cuba draws its influences as much from the East (Jamaica and Haiti) as from Havana. It is an older city than Havana and set between the indomitable Sierra Maestra and azure Caribbean has a location to rival any city. Famed for its central role in the revolution, carnival, music and rum the city exudes an independent spirit that is not to everyone’s liking (the hustle is omnipresent, the heat overpowering and pollution unpleasant) but which should be seen.

‘..the most beautiful land he had ever set eyes on’
Christopher Columbus in 1492 having set eyes on the coastline around Baracoa.‘Mystical, alluring..:Baracoa-a small windswept town perched improbably on Cuba’s eastern tip-is undoubtedly one of the island’s most rewarding travel destinations.’
Lonely Planet Cuba 4th Edition