Cienfuegos

Introducing Cienfuegos

Big enough to offer art, entertainment and action but small enough to retain charm, Cienfuegos is a manageable city of cool colonnaded buildings that was recently bestowed with a Unesco World Heritage site listing. A lovely curve of water that opens into the Caribbean Sea, the serene Bahía de Cienfuegos is largely responsible for the city's 'pearl of the south' nickname and Punta Gorda, the thin knife of land that slices into its southern waters, contains some of Cuba's prettiest casas particulares. Easily reached either by bus or car from Habana via the Autopista, Cienfuegos retains a palpable French flavor and with its touched up buildings and congenial hustle-free street-life it provides visitors a glimpse of Cuban culture at its most intimate.

While the city's 19th-century architecture and tranquil seaside setting help create a pleasant atmosphere, the churn of outlying industry does not. Ringing the Bahía de Cienfuegos is a giant shipyard, the bulk of Cuba's shrimp fishing fleet, a nitrogen fertilizer factory, a cement works, an oil refinery, a thermoelectric plant and the ghostlike dome of Cuba's only (unfinished) nuclear power station (the plan was abandoned in the early '90s when Soviet money dried up). Fortunately for travelers, the pollution has yet to penetrate the city center.

Last updated: Oct 20, 2009