Page 96 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Cuba

94 ❯❯ Cuba Area by Area

Luxury hotels line the beach at Varadero
Santa Clara
Varadero
4 6
MAP H3 • Teatro de la Caridad,
MAP F2
The beach here, at Cuba’s top resort, Parque Vidal 3: (45) 20 5548; open
offers plenty of water sports, but 9am–4pm Mon–Sat; adm
shade is in short supply. Away Known as the “city of the heroic
from the beach, regional attractions guerrilla,” Santa Clara is an indus-
include hiking and scuba diving. trial and univer sity town from where,
Golfers are also catered for at the in 1958, Che Guevara led the final
18-hole course at Mansión Xanadú battle to topple Batista (see p37).
(see p131). Most hotels in the area Visitors flock to sites asso ciated with
are large, all-inclusive resorts, but the battle, such as the Tren Blindado
visitors can also choose from a (a derailed armored train) and the
handful of smaller options. Complejo Escultórico Ernesto Che
Guevara (see p97). Also of interest
is the fresco ed ceiling of the Teatro
de la Caridad (Charity Theater).
Cayos de Villa Clara
7
MAP J1
These islands lie 45 miles (72 km)
from the mainland, to which they
are connected by a very narrow
pedraplén (causeway). The calm
peacock-blue sea is protected by a
coral reef and is ideal for swimming
and snorkeling – the deeper waters
Palacio del Valle, Cienfuegos beyond the reef offer diving. Cata-
maran and sport-fishing excur sions
Cienfuegos
5 depart from a marina.
MAP G3
Set on the shores of a bay, Cienfuegos
was founded in 1819, when French MANJUARÍ
settlers laid out a grid around the This primitive fish from the ante -
Plaza de Armas, now Plaza Martí. diluvian dawn evolved at least 270
The Paseo del Prado slopes down to million years ago, about the time the
the Punta Gorda district, where Art first reptiles crawled out of the seas.
Nouveau and mid-20th-century Growing to 6 ft (2 m) long, it has an
Modernist homes can be rented. A elongated snout like a crocodile’s.
Its scaly skin is covered with natural
highlight of any visit is a meal at oil. Endemic to Cuba, the dark green
Palacio del Valle, a mansion decor- fish inhabits the Zapata swamps.
ated in Moorish fashion (see p99).

Eyewitness Travel – Top 10 series LAYERS PRINTED:
Two-column, 8.5pt grid “UK” LAYER
(SourceReport v.1.9)
092-095_Top_10_Cuba.indd 94 08/08/2016 09:52
Date 24th June 2015
Size 100mm x 191mm