Vinales is a small agricultural town situated in Cuba. The beauty of Vinales Cuba is spread across the never-ending green fields surrounded by limestone hills mogotes. This place offers a rural vibe with traditional farming without any modern machinery. Oxen drawn carts will take you back to the older period.
Those small one-story wooden houses with porches look like the rural picture from the photo frame has come alive. Vinales Cuba has a tropical monsoon climate, with a long wet and hot season and a relatively short worm and dry season. From April to November is the wet season, specifically, from May to October.
Top 10 Things To Do In Vinales, Cuba
Here are the things that you should definitely try if you visit this place.
1. Mural de la Prehistoria Vinales
Yes, we know the name seems a little strange. Mural de la Prehistoria is a vast mural portrait of prehistoric scenes. It is portrayed or painted on a large rock, which is over 100 meters long. 18 people took four years to finish it in Vinales Cuba.
An entry fee of 3CUC needs to be paid, and you will also get a drink. In case the view is a little perpendicular to shoot. There is also a viewpoint on the roadside just before the main entrance. From here, you will get a good view of clicking pictures.
2. Jardin Botanico de Vinales – Botanical Garden
The botanical gardens of Vinales Cuba are more like long-winded overgrown backyard. Jardin Botanico de Vinales is built around a restaurant, and a casa particularly means private homestay with various types of plants and trees. If you are not so good with botanicals, I suggest you take a tour guide as the plants do not have signposts. The place was overwhelming for me though I am not that much a plant person.
3. A Tour Through The Valley of Vinales
Your Vinales Cuba tour list should have a tour through the valley of Vinales. In most cases, this is the only reason why people plan a trip here. The reason was the same for me, as well. Imagine a rural green valley with high limestone hills, and the locals call them “mogotes” with traditional farming communities with oxen-drawn carts, hidden caves. Yes, Vinales Cuba is this much mesmerizing.
Vinales is an agricultural area with different kinds of crops, vegetables, fruits, and also animals. You will find tiny chickens are running here and there with their chicks. Vinales is famous for its tobacco and coffee plantation. Due to all these reasons, Vinales Cuba Valley was declared as one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the year 1999.
You can explore the valley by yourself without a guide, but a guided tour will give you more essence of the place with its traditional vibe. Most of the casa particulars or private homestays offer professional tour guides who can speak English at the time you will arrive there. I will recommend you to take help from them.
4. Visit A Coffee Plantation
Experience how the coffee is made in an old-fashioned way and taste it. I am a coffee lover, so a coffee plantation was a must on my list. As I have been here, I will suggest you make a visit to the Corazón de Valle in Vinales Cuba. You can learn about the whole plantation process, along with the coffee-making process. Tasting the local coffee is something surreal. You also can buy coffee beans or ground coffee from here.
5. Visit a Tobacco Plantation
Visiting a traditional working tobacco plantation is another thing that you should try in Vinales Cuba. The Vinales Hop On Hop Off bus covers a couple of tobacco plantations. Along with coffee plantations, Corazón de Valle also has tobacco plantations. You will get to learn how tobacco is made traditionally without using any modern machinery. You can also buy cigars right from the farmers’ table. But before buying, check your country’s import restrictions in order to avoid a colossal custom duty bill.
6. A Trip on Vinales Hop On Hop Off bus
Vinales Hop On Hop Off bus drives around the best attractions of Vinales Cuba. You only need to spend 5 CUC. This is the easiest way to visit unique places for solo or independent travelers.
Mural de la Prehistoria, tobacco plantation, caves are some of the bus stops of Vinales Hop On Hop Off bus. It is not like the red double-decker buses that we find in major cities. But the bus driver is super helpful, and you will also get to see those small-town sites.
7. Explore Caves
The Vinales Cuba Valley is filled with caves. Some of the caves are for adventurous people, while some are accessible for all. Two caves are most popular from the long list, and they are Indian caves popular as Cueva del Indio and Palenque de Los Cimarrones. You can cover both the caves with beautiful countryside by the Vinales Hop On Hop Off bus.
Indian Cave popularly Cueva del Indio
Indian Cave known as Cueva del Indio is a short cave with only 200 meters of a walk and a 400 meters boat trip inside the cave. This cave ends with a gift shop.
Palenque de Los Cimarrones:
In the name of a runaway slave Cimarrones, who took shelter in this cave, the cave is named.
This cave is shorter than the Indian Cave, with a length of only 100 meters. It has a cave bar at the front, which is a perfect place for afternoon fun and cave parties.
8. Go For A Day Trip To Cayo Jutias Beach From Vinales
Cayo Jutias is 60km away from Vinales Cuba, and it will take around 1 hour roughly on-road making it a perfect option for a day trip. With the crystal clear blue water with stretched white sand, this place is a paradise for relaxation. The serenity and peacefulness of this beach are of another level. The beach mostly remains empty with a few locals.
9. A Day Trip to Cayo Levisa Island
No, you won’t run out of things to do in the Vinales Cuba. Here’s another amazing place to visit here if you want to explore the place to the fullest. The Cayo Levisa island is just a short trip away.
This place is stunning and is adorned with paradisiacal beaches. You can spend hours on the crystalline waters and explore the beaches with white sand that looks almost like silver. The large row of mangroves near the shores of the beach compliments the blue of the ocean and the white of the beach.
It’s a serene sight to see. In addition, the coral reef barrier is one of this location’s attractions. One of the best things to do at this place is to explore the rich underwater diversity of this place. A small boat trip to the coral reef is one of the best experiences.
10. Mogote Rock Climbing in Vinales Valley
This is a sleepy rural town. If you want a very calm and relaxing environment, Vinales Valley is a must-visit. However, rock climbing is the most important when it comes to finding things to do in Vinales Valley.
You’ll do the rock climbing on the inside of Mogote. No, there are no sky-high peaks for you to climb. But, this is a small hike up the larger rocks of the hill. And it’s undoubtedly worth the experience. This rock climbing experience attracts people worldwide and is one of the best things to do here.
A worth mentioning part for people who are into great rock climbing is the Mogote del Valle. It is also a place where you find the cave that has a pool inside. Many rock climbers find this place extremely refreshing.
Additional:
The place is a combination of natural beauty and ancient things. All the things as mentioned earlier are must things to do in Vinales Cuba. Here are some more for you to experience here. Hotel Jazmines has a public viewpoint, which will offer you a panoramic view of the tobacco and coffee plantations, green valley, mogotes hills. So much green and add on blues of the sky will soothe your eyes.
There are some excellent restaurants in Vinales Cuba that are great for relaxing. Some of them are listed below:
- El Bily
- Los Robertos
- Papis
- Cubar Bar and Restaurant