Personal guide

The Viñales valley is located in the Pinar del Rio region and is located to the west of the island, about 2,5 hours from Havana by car. The valley is surrounded by unique mountains that rise nearly 300 m (985 ft).

Viñales town consists mostly of one-story wooden houses with porches. The population is about 30.000.

Viñales is known for its lushness and the best tobacco in the world is produced here. This is the one that goes into the production of the best Cuban cigars. Due to its traditional tobacco-growing techniques, it was inscribed as a cultural landscape on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Tobacco and other crops are cultivated on the bottom of the valley, primarily by traditional agriculture techniques, which have survived unchanged for several centuries.

Viñales is also known for its deep stalactite caves witch you just have to explore, and the production of hight quality, tasty honey and coffee.

On April 17, 1961, 1.500 Cuban exiles opposed to Fidel Castro, launched what became a botched invasion at the Bay of Pigs (Bahía de Cochinos) on the southwest coast of Cuba. The invasion was financed and directed by the U.S. government.

Within six months of Castro's overthrow of Fulgencio Batista's dictatorship in Cuba in January 1959, relations between Castro's government and the United States began to deteriorate. And the new Cuban government confiscated private property, much of it owned by North American's.

The Bay of Pigs is a 12,5 miles (20 km) bay and the bay is named for the wild pigs that once inhabited the area. Bay of Pigs is home to a national park, freshwater cenotes, offshore diving sites, Cuba's largest crocodile farm and a museum devoted to the invasion in 1961.

It's a nice place to spend the day exploring both the coast and the history that surrounds this storied area. The museum dedicated to the Bay of Pigs invasion host fighter jets and tanks outside the entrance. Inside, there are exhibits dedicated to the history and events surrounding the invasion.

A few minutes from the museum there are attractive beaches with nice swimming areas. The snorkeling here is very good, with sponges and coral gardens. Divers can explore underwater shipwrecks and coral walls and have opportunities to spot moray eels and barracuda.

You can explore natural sinkholes known as cenotes in the surroundings, the best of which is Cueva de los Peces (Cave of Fishes). This cenote is 230 feet (70 m) deep and filled with a mixture of salt and freshwater where you can swim and snorkel.

Trinidad is maybe the most  beautiful and most authentic colonial city in Cuba. It is the capital of the province of Sancti Spíritus and is centrally located along the Cuba's south west coast. It is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage list due to its well-preserved historic center.

Trinidad was founded in 1514 by Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar. It prospered during the colonial era and for some time was Cuba's wealthiest city.

The center of Trinidad consists of beautiful candy-colored houses, with characteristic wrought-iron grilles in front of the windows and cobbled streets. Walking around in Trinidad is like walking in a museum.

Trinidad is Cuba in miniature with mountains, waterfalls, beaches and a beautiful country side with the nearby Valley de los Ingenios.. When you are walking around in Trinidad, you fell that the time you feel that time has stood still for the last three or four hundred years