Trinidad City Guide - overview

One of the most visited towns in Cuba, Trinidad maintains a charming colonial atmosphere with its uneven cobbled streets, quiet plazas, churches, red tiled roofs, wooden shutters and wrought-iron grilles. Bicycles and horse-drawn carts bump along streets lined with untidy pastel-coloured houses, where open doors afford brief views of folk on rocking chairs and wooden birdcages, and the strains of salsa music drift out from cool courtyards where the intricate steps of the dance are practiced.

Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988, Trinidad has thankfully escaped the modern tourist infrastructure and large hotels usually accorded a popular destination and retains its welcoming and tranquil atmosphere. Surrounded by sugarcane plantations, and situated between the Topes de Collantes mountains and the Caribbean Sea, Trinidad's location also provides easy access to the beach, mountains and the beautiful surrounding countryside, where vestiges from the 18th and 19th centuries in the Valle de los Ingenios (Valley of the Sugar Mills) testify to a time of prosperity during the sugarcane boom.

Getting around: Trinidad is relatively easy to negotiate on foot and most attractions are in the historic hub, centred around the Plaza Mayor. Playa Ancón's beaches are serviced by Cubatur minibuses, usually from 8am to the evenings, running along Maceo. Taxis are available, as are car rental agencies, though streets can be somewhat confusing and are known by different names. A novel way to explore the area is on the Rumbos steam train, dating back to 1907, that travels to Valle de los Ingenios. The train leaves at 9.30am and returns at 2pm.