Insight Guides - Insight Guides Explore Cuba

How To Use This E-Book

This Explore Guide has been produced by the editors of Insight Guides, whose books have set the standard for visual travel guides since 1970. With top-quality photography and authoritative recommendations, these guidebooks bring you the very best routes and itineraries in the worlds most exciting destinations.

Best Routes

The routes in this book provide something to suit all budgets, tastes and trip lengths. As well as covering the destinations many classic attractions, the itineraries track lesser-known sights. The routes embrace a range of interests, so whether you are an art fan, a gourmet, a history buff or have kids to entertain, you will find an option to suit.

We recommend reading the whole of a route before setting out. This should help you to familiarise yourself with it and enable you to plan where to stop for refreshments options are shown in the Food and Drink box at the end of each tour.

Introduction

The routes are set in context by this introductory section, giving an overview of the destination to set the scene, plus background information on food and drink, shopping and more, while a succinct history timeline highlights the key events over the centuries.

Directory

Also supporting the routes is a Directory chapter, with a clearly organised AZ of practical information, our pick of where to stay while you are there and select restaurant listings; these eateries complement the more low-key cafs and restaurants that feature within the routes and are intended to offer a wider choice for evening dining. Also included here are some nightlife listings, and our recommendations for books and films about the destination.

Getting around the e-book

In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.

Maps

All key attractions and sights mentioned in the text are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map] just tap this to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.

Images

Youll find hundreds of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of the destination. Simply double-tap on an image to see it full-screen.

2018 Apa Digital (CH) AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd

Table of Contents

Recommended Routes For...

Art lovers

Havana (routes ) have art galleries, studios and street art installations to delight anyone seeking contemporary Cuban art.

Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications

Back to nature

Head to the protected forests and mountains of the Sierra Maestra () for a tropical natural wonderland.

Shutterstock

Beach enthusiasts

Cubas northern cays () fascinates divers and snorkelers.

iStock

Birdwatching

The Zapata peninsula ().

iStock

Escaping the crowds

Off the beaten track visit the Jardn Botnico Soledad outside Cienfuegos (), a pristine, undeveloped beach.

Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications

History buffs

Cubas 500-year history of struggle against oppression is showcased in the museums and plazas of Havana (routes ).

Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications

Music lovers

Cuban music can be heard everywhere but the best bars and clubs are in Havana (particularly Vedado; ).

SuperStock

Views

Nothing beats the mogotes and tobacco fields of Viales ().

Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications

Explore Cuba

Cubas varied natural beauty from mountain top to sea shore, its troubled history, elegant architecture, creative arts, and vibrant music and dance, combine to make this a fascinating, colorful and exciting island.

Cuba inspires emotion. This, the largest of the Caribbean islands, thrills the senses, befuddles the mind and tugs at the heart. It is a place of magic and romance, where the sun lights up the colors of the day and music and rum fill the night. Cubans are lively and warm, expressive, and affectionate. They follow ballet, baseball, and boxing; their children have more rhythm in their little fingers than most tourists acquire in a lifetime.

Drawn from many continents over several centuries with migrants mainly from Africa, Spain, and China, Cubans have created a culture which has influenced artists and musicians worldwide, yet this was achieved despite the isolation of the island after the 1959 Revolution and the US trade embargo since the 1960s.

Old Chevrolet car, Trinidad

Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications

Tourism is bringing an end to Cubas isolation as the country struggles to earn its keep. Cays where Hemingway fished undisturbed now host modern beach resorts along the formerly empty swathes of sand. Colonial mansions have been converted into boutique city hotels or museums. Tourists, however, are shielded from the harsh realities of life on the island, only rarely witnessing the blackouts, the fuel and water shortages, the inadequate food rations, the long lines, leaky roofs, and heavy-handed bureaucracy that are the daily hardships for the average Cuban.