Trinidad (pop. 38,000), the crown jewel of Cuba’s colonial cities, is 67 kilometers southwest of Sancti Spíritus and 80 kilometers east of Cienfuegos. It was the fourth of the seven cities founded by Diego de Velázquez in 1514. No other city in Cuba is so well preserved or so charming. The entire city is a national monument lent charms by its historical landmarks and its setting of great natural beauty, sitting astride a hill, where it catches the breezes and gazes out over the Caribbean against a backdrop of verdurous Sierra Escambray.

Its narrow, unmarked cobbled streets are paved with stones (chinas pelonas) shipped across the Atlantic as ballast or taken from the nearby river. The maze of streets is lined with terra-cotta tile-roofed houses in soft pastel colors. Much of the architecture is neoclassical and baroque, with a Moorish flavor.

However, there are no great palaces as in Havana. The exquisite buildings are fronted by mahogany balustrades, fancy rejas of wrought iron and turned wooden rods, and massive wooden doors with postigos that open to let the breezes flow through cool, tile-floored rooms connected by double-swing half-doors (mamparas) topped by vitrales.

Mule-drawn carts and cowboys on horseback clip-clop through the cobbled streets. Laughing children chase hoops through the plazas. Old folks rock gently beneath shady verandas, serenaded by twittering songbirds in bamboo cages—a Trinidad tradition. At night the town is eerily still. Then the cool air flows downhill, the narrow alleys become refreshing channels, and it is a special joy to stroll the traffic-free streets that make the town feel even more adrift from the 20th century.

Trinidad is steeped in religiosity, both santería and Catholicism, and there is no shortage of Afro-Cuban religious practitioners and Catholic processions. Easter and Christmas are good times to visit.

Tourists are plentiful, and so are petty thieves and jiniteros hoping to separate you from your dollars. Child beggars work you for coins or chicle (chewing gum).

Getting to Trinidad

By Air: The Aeropuerto Alberto Delgado (tel. 0419/6393) is one kilometer south of town, off Paseo Agramonte. No scheduled air service was offered at last visit.

By Bus: Buses arrive and depart the Terminal de Ómnibus (Izquierda, esq. Piro Guinart, tel. 0419/6676). The ticket office for Astro and Víazul buses is open daily 7 a.m.–7 p.m. Astro buses depart Havana for Trinidad at 5:45 a.m. (CUC17 regular, CUC21 especial). Víazul (tel. 0419/4448) buses to Trinidad depart Havana at 8:15 a.m. and 1 p.m. (CUC25), and Varadero at 7:30 a.m. (CUC20).

By Train: The train station (tel. 0419/3348) is at the bottom of Lino Pérez; the ticket booth is open daily 8 a.m.–4 p.m. The only service at last visit was a daily train from Trinidad to Meyer.

By Car: Car rental agencies also offer taxi service, including Transauto (Lino Pérez, e/ Martí y Francisco Cadalia, tel. 0419/6633) and Gaviota (tel. 0419/6235), which offers a house-to-house taxi service between Havana and Trinidad (about CUC110). Other car rental agencies include Vía Rent-a-Car (tel. 0419/6388), at the airport; and Micar (tel. 0419/6192), at the Oro Negro gas station northeast of town on Fausto Pelayo. Another gas station is three kilometers southeast of Trinidad on the road to Casilda.

You can park at Casa López-Santander (CUC2 per night) and at the public parking on Vicente Suyama, esq. Girón.

Excursions: Cubatur (Maceo y Zerquera, tel. 0419/6314; daily 9 a.m.–9 p.m.) and Cubanacán (Martí, e/ Lino Pérez y Codahia, tel. 0419/4753) offer excursions. Gaviotatours (Frank País, e/ Piro Guinart y Bolívar, tel. 0419/6236) specializes in nature trips in the Sierra Escambray.