A Day in Vinales, Cuba

Vinales is an absolute must-visit if travelling in Cuba. My one regret of the trip was that we spent just a day and a night here, as there’s so much to see and do and it’s such a beautiful place. The small town is traditional Cuba to a T, with two main streets lined with colourful colonial houses and restaurants, while horse and carts slope along the roads. It reminded me a fair bit of Isla Holbox in Mexico. Its classically Cuban and relatively untouched, yet caters well for tourists too.

Vinales is also the gateway to the incredible Valle de Vinales - a valley boasting magnificent views, home to miles of farmland, tobacco plantations, coffee farms, and even Cuba’s largest cave system - Cuevas de Santo Tomas (which sadly we didn’t get chance to visit).

Luckily we did manage to see a lot of the sights, as we paid for a four hour horse trek through the valley - probably the most entertaining four hours of the whole trip! I had a beautiful, spirited grey horse called Palomar, while Pete was riding the very lazy Lucerno. The instructor gave him a stick whip to get him going a bit and i’ll never forget the way that horse jumped every time he growled ‘Lucerrrrrrrno’.

We cantered through farmland and dusty tracks until we reached a huge tobacco plantation where we tied up the horses and got taught about how the best cuban cigars are made - Cohibas. It’s a fascinating process which takes nine months in total, and having tried one for ourselves, you can honestly taste the quality.

Vinales Town Centre

Next up we carried on to a coffee plantation to learn about how the coffee is made there, also learning about a delicious local rum in the process. La Occidental Guayabita del Pinar is made from Guava and honey and tastes absolutely delicious, so of course I didn’t leave without a bottle. It was 20 pesos (about £15) which isn’t cheap - when you can get a bottle of Havana for about £3 - but I was assured it was a rare type of rum only available in Vinales, and it really did taste delicious.

We ended the trek in the Valle de Silencio (Valley of Silence), a stunning, peaceful place where all you can hear are the sounds of birds, crickets and horses. After tying our horses up we cooled off in the lake, which, although murky, was perfect for swimming in. It was such a lovely place to relax and watch the sunset before riding back and enjoying a beer before bed. It would have been great to have explored the town’s bars and restaurants a little more, but with a six hour collectivo journey ahead the following morning, an early night called.

If I could do the trip again I would probably spend three full days here, doing more of the excursions like visiting the famous caves.