Vinales Travel Guide, Cuba

Located 40 km from Pinar del Rio, Vinales and the nearby valley are some of the most sought attractions in Cuba and a destination that makes for a perfect day trip. Weekend is especially crowded as people flock to the beautiful place so the best time to visit all the attractions is in the morning when the streets are less crowded.

You can choose to have a self guided tour or go for an organized tour offered by the various tour companies. You can easily sign up for a tour from your hotel.

Why is Vinales considered a top attraction? Well it has many assets but the most important is the fact that it lies in the hearth of a tobacco-growing region and you can see the whole process of making the famous Cuban cigars. The starting point is at Casa del Verguero where the raw material produced and prepare then you can go to the de-vining station where leaves are sorted then rolled into cigars. The final stop is a shop where you can buy what you have seen prepared: a perfect souvenir for your friends back home.

Vinales as a town is not an attraction in itself; it’s more the surrounding area that people come here fro. More precisely the Vinales Valley that offers magnificent views of the mogotes: types of hills that were formed thousands of years ago by erosion. They come in different shapes and sizes and it is the variety that makes them so beautiful. The valley is a great spot for outdoor activities like hiking, bird watching, rock climbing, hiking and more.

The activities and the marvelous views make this place to be considered by many a great spot, one of the greatest in Cuba, no wonder it was declared a National Natural Monument.

There are few places in the world where you can see hills so divided from one another as if they were pawns on a chess board. Climbing each of them is a challenge but being so different you are tempted to go up each of them without getting bored.

Talking about variety, there are many caves around too and they are among the favorite attraction. Taking a tour on an extensive cave system is extremely fun, you visit part of them on foot and then you get on a boat and continue the journey on water till the exit. The view in the caves is breathtaking and there are quite some stalagmite and stalactite to be seen.

The LA Cueva del Indio is a highly touristic place and you should expect big crowds if you want to visit it.

Not the same can be said though about Las Cuevas del Santo Tomas which is left much more in its original state and not so easy to visit, but the place is favored by those who are into spelunking.

Back in town you can visit Casa de Caridad Botanical Gardens if don’t have enough time to visit the surrounding area. You can see many types of plants here; medicinal plants, all types of trees, flowers etc.

With its beautiful surroundings, caves, mogotes and tobacco plains, Vinales makes for a top Cuban attraction.