Things to do
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Casa de la Música
Open-air steps beside the church serve as the town's concert hall, with salsa and son bands from evening until late and dancers taking the terrace. Entry is charged at the gate for the main act, while the steps above stay free. Sound carries across the plaza, which matters when choosing a casa particular nearby.
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Museo Romántico
A sugar family's mansion on the Plaza Mayor holds their furniture, porcelain and frescoed ceilings, room by room as the household left it. Its balcony over the square is the reason many climb the stairs. Visits are short, guides expect to lead, and photography carries a separate charge.
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Playa Ancón
Twelve kilometres south of the cobbles, a sand spit runs out into the Caribbean with calm shallow water and coral heads offshore. Hotels take the middle stretch, and the quieter sand lies at either end. Sandflies bite hardest at dawn and dusk, and the bici-taxi or horse-cart ride out takes close to an hour.
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Plaza Mayor
White balustrades, royal palms and four small gardens make up the square the sugar barons built, ringed by the Iglesia de la Santísima Trinidad and three of the town museums. Steps beside the church fill at dusk when the bands set up. Early morning has the cobbles and the pastel facades without a crowd.
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Topes de Collantes
Pine forest and coffee farms cover the Escambray range above the coast, cut by trails to the Caburní and Vegas Grandes waterfalls and high enough to feel noticeably cooler. Access to the main routes is ticketed and guided, arranged in town the day before. The track up is rough, jeep transfers are standard, and the falls shrink through the dry season.
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Valle de los Ingenios
Beyond the ridge east of town lies a plain of ruined sugar mills, slave barracks and the manor houses that grew rich on them, listed by UNESCO alongside the old streets. The Manaca Iznaga tower, climbed for the view over the cane, once carried the bells that ordered the working day. A tourist train runs the valley erratically, which leaves taxis and bicycles as the dependable way round.