The hook
A perfectly-preserved colonial town of pastel houses and cobbled streets that sugar wealth built and time forgot, where horses still clip through the lanes and music pours down the church steps each night.
01Why it's worth it
Trinidad, on Cuba's southern coast, is the country's colonial jewel: a small city that grew rich from sugar in the 18th and early 19th centuries and then, when the industry collapsed, was left largely untouched, so its historic core survives as one of the best-preserved colonial towns in the Americas, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its steep, rough cobblestone streets wind between brightly-painted single-storey houses with red-tiled roofs and wrought-iron window grilles, opening onto a lovely central plaza ringed by pastel mansions, churches, and a bell tower you can climb for rooftop views. The atmosphere is wonderfully unhurried, horse carts still clop through, artisans and cigar-rollers work in doorways, and each evening the town gathers on the steps beside the main square, the Casa de la Música, for live son and salsa under the stars. Just outside lie the Valley of the Sugar Mills, with its ruined plantations and a tower to climb, and the beach of Playa Ancón. Between its frozen-in-time beauty, its music, and its setting between mountains and sea, Trinidad is many travellers' favourite place in Cuba.
02How to experience it
Wander the cobbled streets and plaza, climb a tower for the rooftop views, and stay in a casa particular for home cooking and local warmth. Join the evening music on the steps by the square, and take trips to the Valley of the Sugar Mills and Playa Ancón beach. The drier months are most comfortable.