Trinidad: a colonial gem
“UNESCO World Heritage site with colonial buildings and cobblestone streets.” That was the reason to visit Trinidad, according to the reviews I read. But having just spent 3 days in Havana Vieja – which is a UNESCO World Heritage site with colonial buildings and cobblestone streets – Rodolfo and I wondered if it was really worth the bus ride.
Upon arrival, we took a quick stroll from where we were staying to the central Plaza Mayor, and our doubts dissipated. This place was gorgeous.
While both Havana Vieja and Trinidad offer colorful, old-fashioned buildings, Havana is a city. There’s hustle, bustle, traffic and dirt mixed in with those vintage facades. Whereas our reward for visiting Trinidad was relaxation and a small town vibe.
The Plaza Mayor is quite small, but it offers postcard ready views from every angle. This pup and I had a little photoshoot, her imitating the bronze statues while I happily snapped away.
From there, I wound through the town’s backstreets. On this afternoon, Rodolfo had opted to take a nap (while I was very tempted to join him, I decided I would regret not taking these photos. I’m glad I did.), so I was alone. As with everywhere we went in Cuba I felt completely safe, but I did find myself the target of many an “I love you, lady.” Seriously, men, does that kind of stuff ever work for you?
In addition to the colonial buildings, Trinidad’s big draw is music. Salsa music tumbles out of bars and through plazas all over Cuba, but in Trinidad, life seems to revolve around it. Just off the Plaza Mayor, tourists flock to Casa de la Música (House of Music). These steps are empty by day, but at night, once the tables are taken, people grab a seat on the ground wherever they can and sip their mojitos while watching live music and dance performances.
In the end, of course, the place we’d wondered about visiting became our favorite. Many travelers to Cuba opt for all-inclusive package tours. As Trinidad isn’t in any package, the tourists who make their way here were like us: young, independent travelers looking to discover Cuban culture – and maybe enjoy a mojito or two. It was thanks to this that Rodolfo and I would have what turned out to be one of our best days in Cuba.
More in this series:
We’re going to…
Preparing for Cuba
Snapshots from Cuba
La Bodeguita del Medio: following Hemingway in Cuba
The heart of Havana Vieja
Communist Cuba: seeing it for ourselves
Our Havana tour
Cuba’s best beaches
Getting adventurous in Cuba
The casa particular: where to stay in Cuba
One day in Viñales
Wow, super quaint! Of course the cobblestones make everything look so much prettier. But I LOVE the colors.
Quaint is the perfect word.
Oh how I long to visit there now!!! What an awesome post and photos — I’m glad you didn’t let jetlag win.
You would love it. Luckily we’re only an hour ahead of Cuba, but the heat seriously zapped my energy and made me nap every afternoon…or I guess it could have been the 4km hike and swimming that had me tired out that day
Absolutely stunning. I adore your photos so much. When I go to Cuba I definitely want to explore more than Havana, and Trinidad has always been at the top of my list.:)
I have a question – How did you find the Spanish there? A lot of people here always say that Cuban Spanish is almost slurred together and that it’s quite tricky to understand sometimes. (This is coming from Mexican Spanish speakers.) How did you find it?
I did have to pay attention since people don’t enunciate much, and I also felt like many people spoke pretty quietly, but I didn’t find it that hard to understand. I think coming from Chile, pretty much anything else is understandable!
Beautiful place – great shots! I would love to linger over a drink in that plaza with the live music…
It’s a pretty special place to watch the sunset…and then stay all night since you’re on vacation, and you can.
Every time I see a post from Cuba I’m blown away. The colors and the cobblestone roads were great. Hope to make it soon…
I have become Cuba’s biggest cheerleader. I hope you can make it soon too!
Hi Emily,
Once again, you brought me back to some great memories of this beautiful town and country. Thanks for the lovely pictures and descriptions. can’t wait to hear more
Aww, you’re very welcome! I love that you’ve been so that you can relate to these posts.
LOL at the catcalls! I’ve found that the men in Latin America and the Caribbean are very… over-confident in that respect! I just keep on walking…
It was just such a surprise since the rest of the time I was with Rodolfo and therefore didn’t get any kind of catcalls or second looks. It was also really interesting that they would all talk to me in English and only sometimes switch to Spanish if I didn’t respond…clearly they know their main audience.
Fantastic shots which reminded me of such a nice time I had back in 2007: good food, relaxed atmosphere, nice people…excellent place to chill out.
We could have easily spent a week just relaxing. It’s definitely a chill out town but with plenty to do.
The photos remind me a lot of Central America, I have to get to Cuba soon!
I saw a post from someone the other day with pictures from Old San Juan that looked very similar too. Definitely a common look within the region.
Hey look! The city I got a heat stroke in.
I do love it there.
I went through your Cuba posts before we left and was bummed to see that you’d gotten sick. I can definitely see how though – Cuba is HOT!
Cuba is now in our top 5. Thanks for the inspiration!
You are very welcome! It was one of my top destinations for a long time, and it definitely lived up to the hype.
Looks a lot like some villages in Mexico…very quaint!
I can imagine finding somewhere like this in Mexico to just relax for a few days.
Looks amazing! So chilled out and quiet. Would love to go there!
It’s the perfect balance of chilled out but with plenty to do. Heaven!
I know you know, but I am so jealous of this trip!!
Maybe your next Central America trip should involve a little hop over to Cuba.
Love that picture of the dog! Great photos, overall though. I like your review and for reassuring me that off-the-beaten path Cuba isn’t as unsafe as one think. The colours just get you right? But those cobblestones look hard.
Totally safe! I have felt much less safe (but still fine) in many other places.
Ahhhh, Trinidad is on my very short list of places to see in Cuba! Thanks for affirming it is worth the bus ride!
Definitely! I had the same question about whether it would be worth the time, but I really feel like Trinidad deserves more press. It was the highlight of our trip.