Trinidad - old colonial Cuba with a beach
Trinidad is one of Cuba's oldest cities dating from 1514, built on a hill just back from the sea to avoid pirates. The steep streets are cobbled and many of the houses are painted deep blues, ochre, mustard and terracotta.
Originally a backwater making a living from smuggling, the influx of French planters fleeing the Haitian slave rebellion changed the town. Sugar arrived. So did slaves, and money. The seven-storey Torre Ignaza which still stands at the top of the hill was used as a watchtower for town-dwelling plantation owners to oversee their slaves in the fields. But the land was overworked and reverted to scrub while the town suffered during the independence wars which devastated the sugar plantations. The focus of the trade moved west to Cienfuegos. The baroque church towers, Carrara marble floors, Spanish chandeliers and terracotta-tiled roofs of Trinidad's colonial centre reclined into a comfortable time-warp.
Like a faded dowager fallen on hard times, the city's remaining wealth is still on display, and not just in the architecture. Through the decorative ironwork protecting the large windows you can glimpse beautiful dark wood furniture and hand-painted Spanish tiles, even in many of the humbler dwellings. As elsewhere in Cuba, children play in the street. Young men work on Chevys and Oldsmobiles. Old men play chess and dominoes on their doorsteps. And dogs patrol their patches.
Trinidad is 462 kms from Havana - about 6 hours by bus or 4 hours by car, and there are no trains. Trinidad is a small town of 50,000 people and it doesn't take long to wander to the edge.
There is plenty to see, including a 1731 church, a tobacco factory and the Plaza Mayor. The centre has been well restored with UNESCO help and is vehicle free, with plenty of Salsa and Son clubs.
The main hotel close to Trinidad is the Motel Las Cuevas that charges around $30-50 pn. Also just outside town is the Motel Rio Canas with $20 rooms. Motel La Ronda is smaller, newly-restored and with rooms from $20-30. You would probably be better staying at nearby Playa Ancon or up the coast towards Cienfuegos —. There are also plenty of private flats and houses to rent — you'll get lots of offers in town for accommodation and paladars — small private restaurants. There are also several state-run tourist restaurants.
Trinidad is far more touristy than Sancti Spirtitus, but well worth a visit, especially if you combine it with a beach or diving break at Playa Ancon or along the coast. There is also good riding and hiking in the nearby hills — see Activities Cuba. Sancti Spritus and Cienfuegos are both reasonably close.
THIS IS A TOUR AROUND TRINIDAD
Trinidad is a "museum town" that was declared in 1988 a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and today offers travelers all the colonial atmosphere they could desire. To boot, plenty of other interesting sights await exploration in the hinterland.Among the many attractions of the Trinidad area are the fabulous beaches and diving posibilities of the Península de Ancón, the Valle de los Ingenios with its 19th-century sugar estates and the health resort town of Topes de Collantes.
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Sancti Spiritus became the provincial capital in 1975. Though not lacking in quaint colonial churches, squares, and streets, Sancti Spiritus is not promoted as a tourist center and it´s refreshingly free of visitors. It´s still mainly an agricultural market town for the surrounding region.
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