Location: Santiago de Cuba
Top Things to do in Santiago de Cuba
Top 10 Things to do Good for a Rainy Day in Santiago de Cuba, Santiago de Cuba Province
Entertainment can be experienced in a variety of ways in Santiago de Cuba. Your ears may find comfort in the Casa de Las Tradiciones, a venue of the Trivoli neighborhood where Cuba's finest musicians gather for improvisation; your mouth, in Paladar Salon Tropical, where mainstays of the national cuisine arrive in generous portions; your eyes, in the Jardin de Los Helechos, home to a floral explosion of 90 types of orchids and 350 types of ferns.The gentile Tivolí district, some of Santiago de Cuba's most exciting ensembles, singers and soloists take turns improvising. Friday nights are reserved for straight-up, classic trova, à la Ñico Saquito and the like.
Restaurants in Santiago de Cuba
1. Casa de las Tradiciones
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 51 reviews
Reviewed By Wytham - Oxford, United Kingdom
Do not miss this place! Total heaven for music lovers. Small and intimate with different live bands starting at about 21:00. The place is a little out of the centre, but it makes for a very atmospheric walk there and back (even though the back- streets are dark and have lots of people hanging around they are completely safe: we walked to the venue and back on 3 consecutive nights and felt no threat whatsoever - quite the opposite- we loved It!). You have to pay 2 CUC to get in but it's really worth it, with good drinks service from friendly staff. The atmosphere was so wonderful with a good mixture of a few tourists and plenty of locals. If you want to dance, just do it! There are local male and female dancers to accompany you if you are by yourself or your partner is shy! This place was a highlight of our tour.
2. Diego Velazquez Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 297 reviews
Reviewed By 227ianc - London, United Kingdom
The museum is in fact two houses joined together. At the front is the oldest house in Santiago de Cuba - some say in Cuba itself, constructed from 1516 to 1530 for the governor Diego Velazquez, with historic Mudejar-style interiors; it is then connected to a later house at the rear to create a substantial museum which displays Cuban furniture and decorative arts from the 16th century onwards, in rooms which have been sensitively restored. Definitely worth visiting both for the architecture and for the collections on display. There is also a furnace previously used to make gold ingots. from a time when the building was used as a 'House of Transactions'. The assistants are helpful in explaining things, though generally in Spanish.
3. Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 284 reviews
Reviewed By Betula103 - Australia, null
Originally constructed in 1526 the cathedral has been destroyed by earthquake on four occasions, the last occasion being in 1932. It is architecturally imposing with two marble statues in the front and is also quite beautiful inside.
4. Casa de La Trova
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 242 reviews
Reviewed By 453aleksandars - Toronto, Canada
They say that there is no musician in Cuba that did not play here. There is matinee at 6 PM and evening show at 9 PM. I've been both. Crazy place. Fantastic music and everybody dancing. I Could go there every evening. Right in the center of Santiago.
5. Patio de Artex
6. Iris Jazz Club
7. casa Velasquez
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 99 reviews
Reviewed By Betula103 - Australia, null
This house in central Santiago de Cuba is possibly the oldest house in Cuba and dates from the very early 1500's. It now houses an outstanding museum with furnishings from the 16th to 19th centuries. I have already reviewed the museum itself in detail.
8. Estadio Guillermon Moncada
9. Emilio Bacardi Moreau Museum
10. Moncada Barracks
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 450 reviews
Reviewed By robbiefaulds
The failed attack on the Moncada barracks is considered the starting point of the revolution and as such is a must-see. Whilst half of the barracks main fortress is now a school (the whole military complex in the area has been turned over to better uses - medical facilities, education etc.) the museum section is still sizeable and covers a great deal of revolutionary history. As well as the usual military hardware, you can explore the causes of the revolution, full details of the attack (and aftermath) and the stories of those involved. If you have any interest in the Cuban revolution then a visit to the barracks is a must. Like all museums in Cuba it only costs one or two CUC to enter, plus five CUC for photos.
