Cuba Top Things To See
• Enjoy wonderful views of this UNESCO World Heritage Site, from the rooftop bar of Old Havana's Museo Nacional de Historia Natural.
• Wander around the Castillo de la Real Fuerza. The oldest of Havana's three forts is still standing because it was to all intents and purposes built in the wrong place.
• Take a tour of the Capitolio in Havana's centre. Built by a dictator to mimic Washington DC's Capitol (though the detailing on Havana's version is finer), it housed a puppet parliament until the Revolution.
• Visit the Museo de la Revolución for a historical context of modern Cuba. Outside is the Granma, a cabin cruiser built for 12 people. In 1956, 80 exiled rebels (Castro and Ché among them) came perilously close to sinking the overcrowded yacht, as they sought to return to Cuba.
• Head for Pinar del Río, arguably Cuba's most beautiful province. The outstanding feature must be the mogotes (oddly rounded limestone mountains, covered in lush vegetation). The caves here, notably the Cueva del Indio, are well worth a visit, with stalactites and stalagmites and underground rivers.
• Visit revolutionary Santa Clara, and the monument, museum and mausoleum of Ché Guevara. His body was only returned from Bolivia in 1997, 30 years after his capture and execution. In 1959, he and 300 rebels defeated 3,000 of Batista's troops here, leading to the dictator's flight just days later.
• Feel the history in colonial Trinidad, founded in 1514. Locals ride horses down cobbled streets past houses painted in pastel colours. Elegant mansions are now museums in this UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• Enjoy great views of the Valley of the Sugar Mills (Valle de los Ingenios) from the Torre de Manaca Iznaga (50m/165ft), an old slave watch tower.
• See the country's best musicians and dancers at work in Santiago de Cuba. Visit the Museo Emilio Bacardí, which contains the rum magnate's collection of antiques and fine art, and the Moncada Barracks, where Castro launched an abortive uprising in 1953. The Castillo del Morro is now a museum of piracy.
Further information: Websites for most museums and monuments can be found through the government's web portals, www.cnpc.cult.cu and www.ohch.cu.
See Contact Addresses for further tourist information.
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