Viñales is famous in Cuba and worldwide for its tobacco plantations. We visited this area as the second leg of our trip to the country.

Day 3

After spending a few days in Havana, we headed to Viñales in the early morning to discover its wild landscapes and tobacco plantations. We were 8 people traveling in a big car, in which there were a couple of girls from the Canary Islands. The landscape on our way was filled with palm trees and hills although the animals along the road looked really hungry. We stopped for some breakfast on the way.

We did some horseback riding in the afternoon around the Viñales valley and its tobacco fields, which included an explanation by a farmer about the process of growing tobacco. Then, we strolled around the main square in Viñales, i.e the plaza José Martí.

Day 4

After enjoying breakfast at our ´casa particular´, we caught an early taxi heading to the beach in Cayo Jutías. Despite the road being very bumpy and the car pretty worn down, we finally made it. However, we didn´t swim because the weather was cloudy. We spent the afternoon with some other people we met on the beach and then headed back to Viñales.

Day 5

We returned to Havana for a few hours before catching our flight back to the US.

Trip details

–Accommodation in Viñales: we stayed at a pink ´casa particular´ owned by Ramoncito and Gladis, located a few minutes walk from the city center.

–Restaurants in Viñales:

*Paladar La Cabaña: I had a standard pork and chicken sandwich.

*1920:  we tried tostones, grilled roasted chicken, piña colada and flambé banana with strawberry icecream. 

*La Cuenca: we had a good dinner here with our Canarian friends.

Tips for next time:

* We were told that Paladar El Campesino and El Olivo were good places to eat in Viñales.

* Apparently, another good ‘casa particular’ to stay in was the one owned by Iris and Ángel (phone number: 48695495).