Visit Viñales

Cuba's first town, cut off until 1965: cacao, coconut cooking and the flat-topped El Yunque.

Colourful colonial town frozen in time.

The Pearl of the South: a French-founded city of neoclassical squares on a bay, and the Tomas Terry theatre.

A maze of streets built to confuse pirates, clay tinajones jars and a ballet company.

Tobacco fields and limestone hills.

Visit Varadero, a resort town on Cuba's Hicacos Peninsula known for its pristine beaches and all-inclusive resorts. Stroll along Playa Varadero (a 20 km stretch of white sand with turquoise waters), explore the Cueva de Ambrosio (a limestone cave with pre-Columbian pictographs), and visit the Parque Josone (a lush garden park with a lake, paddle boats, and historic mansion).

Visit Santiago de Cuba, Cuba's second-largest city and cultural hub. Explore the historic Castillo de San Pedro de la Roca (a 17th-century fortress and UNESCO World Heritage site), experience the vibrant Carnaval de Santiago (one of Cuba's most famous festivals with parades and music), and see the Moncada Barracks (site of Fidel Castro's 1953 attack, now a museum).

A city built on water with no cars — gondolas, Byzantine mosaics, and getting happily lost in the back canals