Vinales was my first stop on my Cuban tour.  I was sad to leave Havana, but excited to see more of Cuba. Vinales is about three hours from Havana.

Vinales is situated in a national park and, according to Lonely Planet, is one of Cuba’s most magnificent natural settings.  It is a pretty town and I liked it a lot.  There are many attractions in Vinales.  This is my list of things to do!

1. Go for a hike

Hiking around Vinales

Hiking is a popular activity in Vinales and it is easy to do.  We walked straight out of town and into a beautiful valley with a guide.  We walked through farms and caves. We saw tobacco and coffee growing among other things.

Tobacco Farm

Rolling a cigar

We went to a demonstration in one of the farmer’s houses of what they do with the tobacco and coffee once they harvest it. He rolled cigars straight from the tobacco leaves right in front of us, and we all had a smoke! My first Cuban cigar. At least I can tick that off the list now! He was also selling them directly so I used this as a good opportunity to buy some as they didn’t have any packaging or labels that could identify them as being from Cuba.

My first Cuban cigar!

Practical Information
This tour was a bargain at only 5 pesos.

2. Walk through the Cueva del Indio (caves)

Cueva del Indio is the main tourist attraction in the area. Lonely Planet describes it as a ‘shameless tourist trap’, but I thought it was actually quite nice although small.

It is near Vinales and surrounded by beautiful lush countryside. It was an ancient indigenous dwelling and now there are guided tours through it (in English or Spanish). The caves are well lit and I could have a good look around.  The first part is walking, and then there is a motorboat ride.  The motorboat ride ruined it a bit because of the roaring of the engines.  However, I still enjoyed it.

Practical Information
Cave entry and tour 5 pesos

3. Lounge on a beach

Enjoying a nearby beach with a packed lunch from our home stay

Vinales isn’t on the coast, and it was about an hour drive to visit a nearby beach.  It was worth the effort though!

It was gorgeous. White sand and clear blue water, just like all Caribbean beaches should look. We laid around for a couple of hours chatting, drinking and having the occasional swim. A great way to spend an afternoon!

Practical Information
Beach entry 5 pesos

4. View a prehistoric mural

Prehistoric mural

Just outside of town, I saw a Prehistoric mural. By prehistoric, I mean it displays prehistoric dinosaurs not that it is that old. It is massive on the side of a cliff.  It took like five years or something for a team of people to paint. I think they could have found something better to do with their time!!

5. Go out dancing!

One of the evenings, we went to the main square which is really the only place to go out. There was horrible 90’s metal coming out of one of the bars so we picked the other. It had a one dollar cover charge but there was a cool Cuban band playing in a big courtyard. It was awesome. Here we drunk more mojitos and Cuba Libres. After my drinking in Guatemala I am in pretty good condition for it.

The dancing was amazing. There were many locals who were salsa-ering away and looking unbelievable.  I was ready to fly back to Guatemala and take some salsa classes so I could join them!

6. Home stays

With Charlotte and our host mum

Vinales is a great place to do a home stay – an accommodation option which is a great way to see Cuba.

Charlotte and I stayed with a lovely family and had a great room with private ensuite and even hot water so I was very happy. The whole family seem fascinated by us and wanted to talk. It meant that I was able to practice my Spanish, although lots of neighbours dropped by wanting to practice their English.

We were fed well at our home stay!!

Homestays can also include food, and we were very well fed at this place!  After checking in on the first day, we had our first home stay meal – rolls and fruit salad. Unfortunately my fruit salad consisted of only papaya and pineapple – the two fruits I can’t stand. When our host mother saw that I wasn’t eating them, she went and made me a different fruit salad with different fruit. She was very sweet.

Our dinners were out for control! It was unbelievable how much food they gave us. The table was covered with food – soups, deserts, rice, chicken, salad, chips and other things for just the two of us! The nice lady also made us many great mojitos and we sat outside relaxing and enjoying life. Heavenly!

We were also able to get take away lunch boxes.  It was a great experience, great accommodation and great food all rolled into one.  I highly recommend it.

Practical Information
Casa Tamargo, calle Rafael Trejo No. 30, phone: 796066

Vinales is an excellent place to got to see more of Cuba.  I enjoyed my stop here a lot.  Next stop? Playa Maria la Gorda for some beach time!