Must see attractions in Villa Clara Province

The end point of many a Che pilgrimage, this monument, mausoleum and museum complex is 2km west of Parque Vidal (via Rafael Tristá on Av de los Desfiles),…

One of the island's most interesting and oldest ecclesiastical buildings, Remedios' main church dates from around 1550, although much of the current…

A veritable alfresco theater named for Colonel Leoncio Vidal y Caro, who was killed here on March 23, 1896, Parque Vidal was encircled by twin sidewalks…

Santa Clara is peppered with comic book–style murals, the work of a local graphic artists' collective called Melaíto, which produces a monthly supplement…

Towards Remedios, 3km past the crab statue, lies this former sugar mill (decommissioned in 1998), which is now a museum. Of the four preserved sugar mills…

History was made at the site of this small boxcar museum on December 29, 1958, when Ernesto 'Che' Guevara and a band of 18 rifle-wielding revolutionaries…

Santa Clara's tobacco factory, one of Cuba's best, makes a quality range of Montecristos, Partagás and Romeo y Julieta cigars. Tours here are lo-fi…

Not actually a memorial to Señor Santamaría (Fidel's right-hand man at Moncada), but rather a small provincial museum quartered in former military…

Three blocks west of Parque Vidal, Santa Clara's cathedral was constructed amid huge controversy in 1923 after the demolition of the city's original…

Visiting this museum two blocks off Parque Martí is no substitute for the real-life revelry of Remedios' firework-driven Las Parrandas, but what the hell?…

Many are deceived by the relatively austere neoclassical facade, but toss CUC$1 to whoever is manning the door and you'll serendipitously discover why the…

Something of a sleeping beauty on Parque Vidal, this 18th-century mansion turned museum is packed with period furniture from a whole gamut of styles that…

You can forge your own way into what's left of Cayo Santa María's natural habitat in this fauna refuge. A small booth (sometimes unmanned) with various…

One of the area's oldest and oddest curiosities is this San Diego tanker, built in 1920 and wrecked in 1933 on the far side of Cayo Francés, just west of…

The city's oldest church is five blocks north of Parque Vidal. It was built in 1748, with a tower added in 1846. During the War of Independence it stood…

One of the few beaches left on Cayo Santa María not connected to a resort, Playa Las Gaviotas is located inside a nature reserve at the far east of the…

On Parque Martí (the only plaza in Cuba with two Catholic churches), the 18th-century Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Buen Viaje is in the middle of a long…

The entrance to Caibarién is guarded by a giant crustacean, the town's symbol, designed by Florencio Gelabert Pérez and erected in 1983.

Far more intimate and intricate a monument than its big brother on the other side of town, this statue in front of the Oficina de la Provincia (PCC) four…

Two blocks east of the Estatua Che y niño, a road to the right leads to Santa Clara's best lookout, the distinctive Loma del Capiro. The crest is marked…