Orquideario Soroa

Soroa’s prize attraction is this orchid garden (tel. 085/2558; daily 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m.; CUC3 with obligatory guide; cameras CUC1, videos CUC2), which covers three hectares and claims to be the world’s second-largest. It was created in 1943 by Spaniard Tomás Felipe Camacho, who built the hilltop house—now a beer garden and mirador—and planted the craggy hillside with flowers. The garden offers views down the palm-tufted valley. The garden, nourished by the humid climate and maintained by the University of Pinar del Río, contains more than 20,000 plants representing over 700 species—250 of them indigenous to Cuba. Begonias flourish along with other ornamentals beneath the shade of tall palms and towering ephiphyte-clad trees, such as the aptly named elephant’s feet.