VIÑALES GUIDE, WHAT TO DO IN THE RURAL CUBA

Viñales, a small town in western Cuba famous for its tobacco plantations and where the most common means of transport is still the horse and mule carriage. The perfect place to disconnect from Varadero tourism, enjoy nature and learn more about the rural atmosphere of Cuba, the one that has not yet been contaminated by our cameras and smart phones.

Well, nothing is further from reality! It is true that many carriages are seen and that the environment, with the characteristic mogotes, create an illusion in your mind of having reached an authentic place. But friend, you just have to take two steps to the main street and approach the central square to understand that here also the mass tourism monster.

But to be fair, it is also true that if you go out to explore the rest of the valley, the landscape changes completely and instead of finding yourself extremely extroverted hustlers now they are farmers more reserved working in their work.

Is it worth a visit to Viñales? Starting from that base, Viñales is worth it. It has little things that surprised us positively and, if you can dodge the diarrhea that affects 90% of foreigners here, you probably have a very nice memory of this small town in the province of Pinar del Río.

Tip: this free tour takes you to know the city center and a tobacco factory! It's free, although remember to leave a good tip!

We stayed a total of 4 nights with the intention of making excursions every day, the options are many and varied in Viñales, but with 3 of the 4 we were with the stomach affected by the viruses, we ended up in a half idiot routine to get up, have a lemon juice (with bottled water!), go out to breakfast, go back to the accommodation, read, play with the dogs, talk to the hosts, go for a little walk, watch the storm from the porch of the home, watch the sunset and go out for a drink ...

Although we took advantage of a day that our body gave us barracks to visit the Viñales Valley and a few surrounding attractions.

Next we tell you what it is what you can see and do in Viñales and the most interesting excursions:

We rented a taxi and made a half-day routine (3 hours) to visit the main points of interest from the Viñales Valley:

Cave of the Indian. The Viñales Valley is a karst area bored by lots of caves, the best prepared for your visit is without a doubt this one. It is a cave with an underground river that is visited first on foot and then mounted on a boat. There is 1 km open to the public and it is quite impressive! Admission costs 5 CUC.

Palenque of the Maroons. It is another cave that has been used to put a beach bar at the entrance. We only saw it from the outside, being very close to the road and we saved the 1 CUC. The surroundings are beautiful.

Mural of Prehistory. One way pot, to fool us. This huge mural has been painted on the rock slope of the mogote Pita and represents the evolution of man. There are different figures, both men and animals, all in full color. The entrance costs 3 CUC, although it can be seen quite well from the outside.

Viewpoint of the Los Jazmines Hotel. We do not know if it is the best viewpoint over the valley, but it does have beautiful views. It's free

Veguero's house. It is one of the most famous tobacco plantations. Depending on the season of the year you will see it with some plants or others (for what they told us in summer, corn is planted and in winter tobacco). The beautiful thing is the warehouse where they have drying the tobacco leaves and the demonstration of the manufacture of cigars. Obviously you can buy there a pack of 10 cigars for 10 CUC.

As we say, to take this tour it takes about 3 hours by taxi, for which we pay 25 CUC. They are fixed prices, although you can probably negotiate.

There is an alternative to the taxi and it is the hop on hop off bus that has a circular route stopping at the most important attractions, it costs 5 CUC and we did not see it at all interesting because the passing frequency was not high, although if you travel alone maybe not It is a bad option.

There are excursions both on foot and by bicycle to the heart of the Viñales Valley that will allow you to enjoy the beautiful landscapes more calmly and with more time. Some plantations are visited and you can learn more about the local flora and fauna. The bike tours will also take you to the places of greatest interest, such as those we told you in the previous point.

You can do them on your own, renting a bike and preparing the route well (do not forget to download any offline maps app like maps.me), or following wikiloc maps (check out these, see if you dare! ); or hiring her in some agency. Surely in the house where you stay they will offer them, if not, in the square there are several places that hire them.

In Viñales it is very typical to make horseback riding, however we prefer to stay out of the way.

Although the town is not large, there are many cafes and restaurants where you can try Cuban food. As we always say, it is best to try several and diversify your expenses. At night there is usually live music in some garitos and the mojitos run like water!

If you have free time during the day, take the opportunity to take a walk around the town on foot, at sunset it is good time. Although if your idea is to hit a good kick, it is best that you leave very early!

There are two excursions to the beach from Viñales, Cayo Jutías and Cayo Levisa. The first one is the most accessible from Viñales and can be a perfect day trip. The price for transportation is 15 CUC per person round trip and you can hire it at any of the agencies in the main square (in front of the supermarket).

More info on the blog of our friends Carles and Silvia

Cayo Levisa is less accessible, since it is not connected to land by road and you will have to arrive by boat. The agencies sell the bus transport + ferry and food package for 39 CUC (if you only want a sandwich) or 47 CUC (if you want a buffet). We tried to negotiate but it was difficult to lower these prices.

It can also be done for free if you get a taxi to the jetty, although according to what we understand, the price of the round trip ferry is 23 CUC (eye, we could not verify it).

More info on the blog of our friends Carles and Silvia