cuba

[harri8]

im going to cuba in march for a month and a half, where should i go, which are the best bits? any other tips?

[geofbob]

My wife and I spent 3 weeks in Cuba about 5 years ago. As well as Havana which is certainly worth the best part of a week, we visited Trinidad which has some of the finest Colonial architecture in Latin America; Sancti Spiritus, again Colonial, but quite untouristy; and Santa Clara, with great associations with the revolution and Che Guevara and where he is interred. One of the best excursions we made was from Trinidad, on an early morning workmans train, to Iznaga in the Valley of the Ingenios, a sugar cane area; At Iznaga is a 140 ft slave tower - from the top of which they used to keep an eye on the slaves working below. Nowadays it affords wonderful veiws of the surrounding plantations and farmland. One regret is that we didn't make it to Santiago de Cuba, which sounds great, and is very much associated with Cuban traditional music. You will also note that apart from Havana we did not stay on the coast - we're not too interested in beaches. Apart from 3 days at the beginning where we had to stay in one of Havana's great city-centre hotels, we stayed in private homes, which are easily found if you ask around. Once you find one to stay in, your host can usually recommend another at your next destination.