A country · 79 places · 14 regions

Cuba, all of it.

79 curated places across 14 regions — photographed, mapped, and noted with the season each is best in.

Varadero · via Wikimedia Commons

The 4 biggest regions — Havana Province, Matanzas Province, Sancti Spíritus Province and Pinar del Río Province — read below as chapters, with 10 more waiting past them.

Chapter I · Havana Province · 27 places

Havana Province

The historic colonial core of Havana is a dense grid of plazas, baroque churches, and pastel townhouses that trace the city's founding in the sixteenth century. Its restored streets and crumbling grandeur draw visitors into everyday Cuban life.

Old Havana

Havana Province, Cuba

✦ November to April · $$

National Museum of Fine Arts of Havana

Havana Province, Cuba

✦ November–April · $

El Templete

Havana Province, Cuba

✦ November–April · $

All 27 places in Havana Province →

via Wikimedia Commons

Chapter II · Matanzas Province · 6 places

Matanzas Province

Varadero occupies a narrow 22-kilometre peninsula on Cuba's north coast that supports one of the longest stretches of uninterrupted white-sand Caribbean beach in the region. The peninsula is primarily developed with all-inclusive resort complexes, making it the centre of Cuba's international tourism industry. The western end of the peninsula contains the Reserva Ecológica de Varahicacos, protecting native dry forest, cave systems with pre-Columbian pictographs, and a 500-year-old cactus.

✦ November to April · $$

Meet Varadero All 6 places in Matanzas Province →

Chapter III · Sancti Spíritus Province · 6 places

Sancti Spíritus Province

A ribbon of pale sand on a peninsula just south of colonial Trinidad, considered the finest beach on Cuba's southern coast. Visitors split their time between the historic town and the water, cycling the flat road between the two. Dive operators run trips to reefs and small cays offshore.

Playa Ancón

Sancti Spíritus Province, Cuba

✦ November to April; combine with Trinidad in the cooler months · $

Topes de Collantes

Sancti Spíritus Province, Cuba

✦ December to April for cooler, drier hiking conditions · $

Trinidad and the Valley de los Ingenios

Sancti Spíritus Province, Cuba

✦ December–April · $$

All 6 places in Sancti Spíritus Province →

via Wikimedia Commons

Chapter IV · Pinar del Río Province · 4 places

Pinar del Río Province

A remote dive outpost at the far western tip of Cuba, facing the sheltered waters of the Bahía de Corrientes. Coral walls and abundant black coral start close to shore, making it one of the country's premier diving bases. There is little here beyond a small hotel, a dive center, and a long, calm beach.

✦ December to April for the best visibility and calm seas · $$

Meet María la Gorda All 4 places in Pinar del Río Province →