By far the top Cuban destinations include Trinidad. Together with obvious Habana, rural Vinales and several “cayos” this region is a must on the itinerary of the most travelers. Why is that?

Trinidad is located on the Caribbean side of the island, more or less 3 hours colectivo driving south from Habana. Looking at different possibilities of spending time around there it seems 3 nights are absolute minimum. The beautiful and nostalgic old town (ok, there is no new town…) is an attraction itself. Endless opportunities for street photography with enormous load of colors and street dynamics. For bars and restaurants hunters the town offers unlimited occasions. Indeed Trinidad is crowded with tourists which means in some more popular places the patience and queuing need to be accounted for in the evenings. Unless going on the streets before 7am when Trinidad is all for you only.

Trinidad is a place where Latin dance lovers (like salsa, son etc) will be lacking sleep at nights. Many restaurants offer live music and the choice is great. The iconic place of course is Casa de la Música. Located centrally in the heart of the Old Town it attracts thousands of people every night. On top of the wide stairs which by the way are attractive place to sit there is an open roof bar and scene. Every day there is a live music show presenting different styles of the Cuban music. You do not need to wait long to see people starting to dance between the tables. Of course the majority of visitors are tourists but local people are frequent guests as well. The admittance is 2CUC and the standard range of drinks is offered (including famous chanchanchara).

If bored with crowded streets why not to borrow a scooter and spend some time riding around? There is a rental agency in the center having few scooters for about 25CUC a day. The process goes smoothly, not much formalities but the time flies distinctively slower (mind this is a state owned agency). We have been even exposed to some extra service resulting from the entrepreneurial character of the agent. As you are aware Cuba faces serious issues with petrol supplies. On the day we rented the bike there was no fuel around Trinidad. The guy took the plastic tube, left for few minutes and came back with 5 liters of fuel which was more than enough for a day.

Having a scooty it is lovely and easy to explore the near beaches. Many people recommend the nearest La Boca. I must say it’s nothing special and the beach itself is not attractive to stay there. By the way it is located next to the river, not necessarily clean…However, La Boca is on the seaside road to Playa Ancon so anyway you will visit it.

On the way down to Playa Ancon there are many beautiful and isolated small wild beaches offering some opportunities of enjoying sun and clean turquoise water. It seems the locals know that as well. “Our” little beach has suddenly been populated with 6 Cubans driving in with the 70 years old Jeep. They immediately went to the sea, stood in the circle and started degustación of the rum. Steadily they started to sing and obviously enjoyed the time. That was really fun!

Playa Ancon is more touristic place with many beach restaurants and close to big old fashioned hotels. However, the playa offers opportunity of endless walk down to the end of the peninsula (5 km) where the beach is not much visited.

Trinidad can be reached back via small village of Casilda. Good opportunity to see a provincial and sleepy place with no tourists. If hungry go straight to the first restaurant at the beginning of the village – Restaurante la Piragua. By far the best in town. The place is dedicated for buses with tourist groups so do not accept the regular price list and negotiate in a friendly way (30-40% down for more fancy food like a lovely langosta is pretty sure).

One of the most popular attractions in the area is Valle de los Ingenios. The place famous for sugar cane farming where some old colonial farm residences are to be visited. The best way to visit is go by scooter. However, it is also popular to take the old touristic train which departs around 8am from Trinidad station. It stops several times and allows to pay a visit to some places where Manaca Iznaga with the famous tower is by far the most interesting.

Unfortunately the other stops are not so excited (like the old and inactive sugar factory which is the symbol of the Castro’s genial talent to destroy everything). The overall train trip takes 7 hours so it’s not the most efficient way to visit the valley.

There are much more things to do around Trinidad. Even spending a week there would not be the punishment. This would allow to explore the nearest parks with waterfalls, take some horse riding or walking tours, visit Cienfuegos and simply to enjoy time in the beautiful old Cuban town filled with the salsa vibrant rhythms.