This garden's cool, misty microclimate fosters species of bromeliads, orchids, anthuriums, tree ferns and other subtropical flora you won't encounter in the Cuban lowlands. While parts of the garden are used as a living lab, the setting is refreshingly organic and unstructured. Bring a picnic and stop here for a relaxed breather before or after climbing the well-trodden path up to La Gran Piedra. The lovely caretakers who live on the grounds welcome visitors during daylight hours.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
Castillo de San Pedro de la Roca del Morro
15.4 MILES
A Unesco World Heritage site since 1997, the San Pedro fort sits impregnably atop a 60m-high promontory at the entrance to Santiago harbor, 10km southwest…
11.78 MILES
The museum inside the Cuartel Moncada is the best in town and one of the best in Cuba. Sometimes gory exhibits catalogue the details of the 1953 attack by…
13.19 MILES
Nestled peacefully on the city's western extremity, the Cementerio Santa Ifigenia is second only to Havana's Necrópolis Cristóbal Colón in its importance…
Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción
12.44 MILES
Santiago's most important church is stunning both inside and out. There has been a cathedral on this site since the city's inception in the 1520s, though…
11.8 MILES
Santiago's famous Moncada Barracks, a crenelated art deco building completed in 1938, is now synonymous with one of history's greatest failed putsches…
Museo de Ambiente Histórico Cubano
12.47 MILES
The oldest house still standing in Cuba, this arresting early colonial abode dating from 1522 was the official residence of the island's first governor,…
12.63 MILES
This gorgeous yellow colonial-style building houses a museum detailing the underground struggle against Batista in the 1950s. It's a fascinating, if…
1.44 MILES
The hub of the Unesco World Heritage site bestowed in 2000 upon the First Coffee Plantations in the Southeast of Cuba is this impressive two-story stone…
Nearby Santiago de Cuba Province attractions
0.78 MILES
It's worth huffing and puffing the 459 stone steps to the summit of La Gran Piedra at 1234m. The huge rock on top measures 51m long and 25m high and…
1.44 MILES
The hub of the Unesco World Heritage site bestowed in 2000 upon the First Coffee Plantations in the Southeast of Cuba is this impressive two-story stone…
4.78 MILES
The oddest in a plethora of bizarre attractions in Parque Baconao, this Cuban Jurassic Park mixes giant Apatosauruses with concrete cavemen and women, no…
4. Museo Nacional de Transporte Terrestre
4.83 MILES
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5.36 MILES
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6. Comunidad Artística El Verraco
8.48 MILES
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9.31 MILES
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10.4 MILES
Future American president Teddy Roosevelt forged his reputation on this small hillock where, flanked by the immortal rough riders, he supposedly led a…