Introduction 

The city's economy has been linked with sugar cane, leather and salted meat. Today it's a world heritage site dating back to the colonial times with cobblestone streets, balustred windows and monumental squares. 

Getting there and around 

To/from Havana :  

To/from Cienfuegos :  

To/from Camaguey :  

To/from Santiago de Cuba :  

To/from Varadero : 

Where to stay 

Luis Grau Mondero in Trinidad at Francisco J. Zerquera nr. 270, entre Maceo y Marti, tel. 3253. It's an old colonial house just 2 blocks away from the trafficfree old towncenter. Room (20 US$) with double bed, AC and fan OR room (15 US$) with double bed and fan. In both cases: shared bathroom, no private entrance, quiet and a brilliant breakfast and dinner (the best food we had during our whole Cuba trip).  

Hotel Las Cuevas is a bit out of town. They have a pool and a disco in a cave. You can use their pool as a non-guest (at least nobady ever asks). The disco is worth a visit (10 US$ including drinks and entrance). You don’t dance every day between stalagmites and stalagtites.   

Pipo Santander Marin, Maceo nr. 553  Piro Guinart y Santiago Escobar, tel. 3320. This is an excellent place close to the center. It's clean and the house has a nice patio. They charge 20 US$ for a room with fan and shower. Excellent food too.  

Elisa Margot Silva Ortiz, Calle Piro Guinart nr. 246. It’s a colonial house wich has two rooms available (each 15 US$). There is a shared bathroom and both rooms have no AC. Breakfast costs 2 US$, dinner 4 till 7 US$. Elisa is a friendly, elder lady who speaks only Spanish.   

Carmen Luisa Font Zerquera, Simon Bolivar nr. 506. Tel. 2343 Clean rooms (15 till 20 US$) with private bathroom (cold/hot water). House has a patio. They serve delicious food (paladar).  

Maria Luisa Pomares, Francisco Javier Zerquera nr. 362. Tel. 2164 Colonial house in the towncenter which has been in the family for generations. The family is charming and fun talk to. They have two clean rooms (15 US$ each). One room is situated on the 2nd floor and has a balcony, bathroom, three beds, fan and basic furniture. The other room on the groundfloor is more furnished and has one large bed but no bathroom. There is no private entrance. Breakfast costs 2 US$ and dinner 7 US$.  

Israel Ortega Lopez, Gustavo Izquierdo N° 124-A, e/ Piro Cuinart y Simon Bolivar, Tel 3025. 10 USD for two, 5 USD for dinner and 2 USD for breakfast. Run by a couple. Very nice room at the back of a patio (fan, private bathroom). Very quiet. Just opposite the bus-station (+/-100m), so easy to reach. And close to Parque Central. This is a "must do" (Jacky Cillen).  

Mrs Mercedes Albalat, Calle Josè Martì #330 e/Simon Bolivar y Zerquera (in the historic centre). Tel. 3350. Room: 8$, Breakfast: 2US$, Dinner (wonderful!): 5US$ (August 1999). Three rooms with fans. They are going to build private bathrooms in autumn. Nice and hospitable family. Nightwatch for the car (2US$). This house is quoted on the French Guide du Routard. (9/'99)  

Martha Puig Jiminez, Calle Francisco Cadahia No236 Entre Colon y Lino Perez U$15 a night for the double room and U$3 for a very good breakfast. Martha is a lovely, friendly lady who speaks excellent English. She’ll cook you a wonderful meal and direct you to some excellent paladares. If you have a car she’ll sort  out safe parking, she can organise laundry and is a mine of information on places to go and things to see. The house, which is very clean, has hot & cold water  and a beautiful terrace / courtyard, is perfectly located in a quiet street right in the centre of Trinidad. You can find it one block from Parque Cespedes between Maceo and Jose Marti. (’99)  

Neysi Hernández Campos, Calle José Marti No. 442, entre Piro Guinart y Santiago Escobar, tel. 3927, just one block from the busstation. Great service, excellent food, clean and nice rooms, shower c/h water, no AC but fan in all rooms. Maybe not the cheapest : $30/night for double room incuding two queens beds, $20/night for a room with one queens bed, all rooms with access to a nice living room. (’99)  

Carmen Moya Martinez, Piro Guinart No. 58 entre Pedro Zerguera y Clemente Paereira, tel. 3706 Private entrance, one bedroom with private bathroom, fan and a living room. 20US$ per day (There were three of us and they put in an extra bed at no extra charge). Garage parking was 3 US$ per day. Breakfast (3 US$

), dinner (7 US$) The meals are served in pleasant courtyard. The owner is a very sweet lady. (1/2000)  

Sr. Felix Bombino, Camilo Cienfuegos 414, tel. (0)419-2363 It is next to Plaza Santa Ana, a 10-minute walk for Plaza Mayor.  She teaches and he's the director of a small orphanage, they are very reliable and offer high quality food. Large and clean double room (15-20 US$) with independent entrance, bathroom, kitchen and a terrace. Breakfast (2 US$), dinner (3 US$) (april 2000)  

Sandra y Viktor Orbea Cerrillo , Calle Maceo N° 613A , e/ Piro Guinart (Boca) y Pablo Pichs (Guaurabo) Tel 53-419-4481. About 200 metres from the busstation, walking distance from centre. The renters are very kind people and are at your service whole the day. Two double rooms (15 US$ each). Other rooms are under construction. Shared bathroom with hot water,towels available. Roofterrace with rocking-chairs. Breakfast (3 US$), dinner (6.5 US$) (april 2000)  

Hostal Casa Munoz, Jesus Maria (josé Marti) #401 on the corner of Olvido (Santiago Escobar) street, tel. and fax 53 419 3673. Old colonial house with two guest rooms for up to 4 persons / 20 Dollars  per room per night / 3 Dollars per person for breakfast. Each room with private bathroom / shower (very new) / great private terrace. You should make reservation in advance - Mr. Munoz is booked very well and will send you by fax a detailed leaflet about his house, situation, general infos about Trinidad.. If occupied Mr. Munoz has other good recommondations. English Speaking and private parking. (10/2000)  

Yobel Felipe Perez, 260A Colon, Entre Jose Marti y Francisco Cadahia. Tel Trinidad (53 419) 3280 between 5pm-10pm. He has a beautiful, new, self-contained apartment to rent in central  Trinidad (just off Parque Central) with two bedrooms, own bathroom, kitchen, lounge and garden. The accomodation is flexible and he is able to rent either the complete apartment or individual rooms. Excellent food, along with fans (near future AC). Beautiful views from the roof. The young host speaks excellent English, offers guided tours of the town and area and will happily help you with everything FOC. The price is around $20 per room, or $35 for the apartment depending on the season and length of stay, plus meals at the usual prices. (06/2000).  

Mandy and Marilyn, Calle Camilo Cienfuegos #352 entre Pedro Fritze y Julio A. Mella (Esqina fabrica de cigarros) Trinidad, Cuba, tel 3777. We got a large room (1 double bed and 3 single beds) for US$20 a night including breakfast - AC and private bathroom with shower hot and cold, I think they also had a smaller room. We also had dinner there a few times for US$5 each with lots of seafood and vegetables. Very nice and friendly family, the daughter Marylin speaks some English, otherwise Spanish. They were able to organise trips to the nearby mountains and waterfall (Caburni') and a horse trek through the sugar plantations through people they knew. They also had lots of contacts in other places around Cuba for accomodation, etc. (Ariana Fattori 6/2000).  

What to do

Trinidad 

One day to visit Trinidad should be enough. In the morning it can be very crowded with tourists on excursion coming from Varadero and other beachcities. However, things quieten a lot in the afternoon and then it's nice to stroll around.   The main place is the Plaza Mayor which is traffic free. The top sites are:  

Also worth a visit are Museo Historico municipal, Museo de Arqueologica (Sunday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm, 1 US$), Museo de la lucha contra bandidos (Tuesday to Sunday, 9 am to 5 pm, 1 US$).  

Casa de la Trova : A café where Cuban groups play music.  

Grotto La Cueva Maravillosa : situated near the Horizontes Hotel Las Cuevas, this impressive cave is an archaeological museum. Opening hours and guide are unpredictable though. 

Around town 

Sugar mill valley (5 km from Trinidad) is an archeological cove containing ancient artifacts, ruins of sugar mills and mansions of the former landowners. Another landmark is the old Manacas-Iznagas slavetower which is the symbol of Trinidad. It's possible to go there by bike or stop when going to Sancti Spiritus.

In fact, only the slave tower Torre Iznaga is interesting (1 US$).  

There is an old train that goes from Trinidad to the valley. It must be a beautiful trip into the Sierra d’Escambray and even the station itself is worth a visit (old steam loco - very old wagons - very nice station-).  

Peninsula Ancon is at 12 km from Trinidad. It has a beach with first class accomodation and it gives divers the possibility of admiring the undersea world (snorkelling for 2 USD / 30 min). We hired a bike and did the coastal road via la Boca just till a local Cuban beach. Taxi to Ancon is about 12 US$.  

Topes de Collantes (20 km from Trinidad) is a town in the mountain "Sierra del Escrambay", well known for its health tourism, caves and coffee plantations. The best way to go there is by taxi (12 US$). Some drivers will refuse to take you there because their cars aren't able to climb up the mountain.  

There is a national parc (entrance : 6.5 US$). A must see for nature lovers !! Try to see "el Tocororoon" (national bird of Cuba) and "el Zunzuncito" (hummingbird). The walk to the Caburni falls is about an hour but you will be rewarded with a good swim at the end.  

Sancti Spiritus 

This town is at 70 km from Trinidad. It's not as good as Trinidad, so we skipped it.  

Go on to Camaguey   

For questions on Cuba  send an e-mail to Steven Buvens.

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