Cienfuegos
It's not clear what Batista's brother had in mind when he erected this modern concrete giant on Punta Gorda in the 1950s, though making money was probably the prime motivation. Still, the Jagua is a jolly good hotel – airy and surprisingly plush with modern common areas hung with revolving avant-garde art. Upper rooms (there are seven floors) are best.
The hotel complex also has a spa, souvenir shop, cabaret and one of Cuba's finest swimming pools (25m long and excellent for lap-swimming).
1.7 MILES
Sharing French and Italian influences, this theater on the northern side of Parque José Martí is grand from the outside (look for the gold-leafed mosaics…
0.06 MILES
Just when you thought Cienfuegos' eclectic architecture couldn't get any more eclectic, you reach the southern end of Punta Gorda where, with a sharp…
Palacio Ferrer – Museo de las Artes
1.64 MILES
On the western side of Parque José Martí, this riveting neoclassical building (1918) was lovingly restored in time for Cienfuegos' 200th anniversary in…
21.58 MILES
El Nicho, an outlying segment of the Topes de Collantes Natural Park, is the name of a beautiful waterfall on the Río Hanabanilla and the protected zone…
0.99 MILES
Keep heading south on Paseo del Prado and the street becomes the Malecón as it cuts alongside one of the world's finest natural bays, offering exquisite…
8.14 MILES
The 94-hectare botanic garden, 17km east of Cienfuegos, is Cuba's oldest, established in 1901. (Decades later the botanical garden in Havana used its…
Castillo de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles de Jagua
4.04 MILES
Predating the city of Cienfuegos by nearly a century, this fort, to the west of the mouth of Bahía de Cienfuegos, was designed by José Tontete in 1738 and…
5.03 MILES
Laguna Guanaroca is a mangrove-rimmed saline lake southeast of Cienfuegos. It's second only to Las Salinas on the Península de Zapata as a bird magnet,…
0.06 MILES
Just when you thought Cienfuegos' eclectic architecture couldn't get any more eclectic, you reach the southern end of Punta Gorda where, with a sharp…
0.16 MILES
This park near the Club Cienfuegos at the beginning of the Punta Gorda Peninsula is festooned with a motley collection of modern sculptures.
0.33 MILES
Lovers come to watch the sunset amid sea-framed greenery at the gazebo on the extreme southern tip of this park. The bar is also popular with local police…
0.99 MILES
Keep heading south on Paseo del Prado and the street becomes the Malecón as it cuts alongside one of the world's finest natural bays, offering exquisite…
1.59 MILES
Before you hit the Malecón, at the intersection of Av 54 and Paseo del Prado you can pay your respects to this life-sized likeness of the Cienfuegos-born…
1.61 MILES
On the southeastern corner of Parque José Martí stands the city's oldest building, once the residence of city founder Louis D'Clouet and now a souvenir…
1.61 MILES
Most of Parque José Martí's south side is dominated by this grandiose, silvery-gray building where the provincial government (Poder Popular Provincial)…
1.61 MILES
Poorly presented, slightly grubby museum on the south side of Parque José Martí that proffers a microcosm of Cienfuegos' history including a few…