www.cubacasas.net •|• Remedios [Villa Clara]

Elsewhere in the central region

... short for San Juan de Los Remedios. Its historic centre, the eight city founded by the Spanish conquistadores on the island (1515), built by the rich settlers who then moved north to found Santa Clara. Remedios was declared a National Monument in 1980.

Only town to have two churches in its centre : Nuestra Señora del Buen Viaje and the Parroquia Mayor. It is a really quite a beautiful town, full of cultural events, icons and memories from its rich past.

Each December 24 — after the childrens' own fireworks event earlier in the month —, the town explodes in folly during the annual Parrandas, a parade of huge floats from various barrios along with non-stop fireworks during the whole night. Like Rio in the 30's.

In 2009, the government refurbished the lovely central plaza and its cultural icons. By the end of the year, the Casa de la Cultura, the Mascotte Hotel and the Ruben Martinez Villena Teatro had all been restored and re-opened.

DISTANCES Caibarién, 10 Camaguey, 257 Cayo Las Brujas, 58 Cayo Santa Maria, 73 Cienfuegos, 101 Holguin, 455 La Habana, 300 Moron, 107 Pinar del Rio, 439 Sagua la Grande, 90 San José del Lago, 84 Santa Clara, 45 Trinidad, 158 Yaguajay, 46 (Museo Camilo Cienfuegos)

MAPS & LINKS

Map - Town center with photos, some casa locations

Map - Coast, Cayeria Norte to Cayo Santa Maria

Map - Regular town map

Remedios web pages on culture

Map - North Coast from Sagua to Cayo Santa Maria

Schedule - National train to Santa Clara

Schedule - Local train Santa Clara - Remedios

Schedule - Viazul Bus to Santa Clara

Island-wide bus skeds : San Juan de los Remedios

Currency exchange rates

All that's natural in Villa Clara province

Las Parrandas (Xmas Fireworks Folly) in 2006

POPULATION 45,706 (2007) in regional township (Municipio)

RESTAURANTS / BARS
Near the Museo del Vapor, towards Caibarien, the Curujey in a farm setting; in town the Louvre (restaured in 2009) now has a more cosmopolitan atmosphere, right on main square; the Taberna de Ave Maria is the new restaurant of the renovated Mascotte; its menu includes El Pollo Parrandero and the Ajiaco Lucumí considered by many as Cuba's national dish. Its new bar La Fonda by a fountain is said to remind of a local tradition during the pirate era when the plunderers came here to quench their thirst; La Fe and Driver's Bar (local, in Cuban pesos)

SERVICES
Hotel Mascotte on central plaza was charming, had been modernized, but the chain decided to do it again. Most original critics now agree it was for the better. Tel (42) 39-51-44 By the time the summer of 2010 rolls in, the town's newest hotel, the Barselona should have opened, right by the Casa de la Cultura..

TRANSPORTATION
Viazul busses from Havana to/from Santa Clara costs 19,44. The schedule of Rutas 16 and 24 :

La Habana >

Santa Clara

Santa Clara >

La Habana

dep. 08h40

arr. 12h10

dep. 03h15

arr. 06h55

09h30

13h15

08h20

12h05

15h00

18h45

17h30

21h00

22h00

01h45

Daily Giron Bus Service
Local guaguas are always full on the Giron bus lines 4x daily to Caibarién, twice per day to Santa Clara (7h10 and 12h40, except Sat.) and use the Urbano Bus terminal. Taxis run to/fro Santa Clara for 15 to 20cuc (3 adults max.); the Cubatur taxis in Santa Clara run on a preset fare of 33cuc.

The local station master told us there is a train that goes Caibarien-Remedios-Santa Clara passing here at 4h20 (in the morn, Norm), arriving Santa Clara at 6h50 and returning here at 17h35 arriving 20h. It is said it goes on to Sagua la Grande from Santa Clara. Could be a nice one-day excursion.

**A quiet Sunday in Remedios - Slideshow**
Click on first, click to advance.






All photos © sogestour

Jose Marti's bust sits in middle of one of the loveliest town plazas in the country : Plaza Isabel II.

The Museo de Musica Alejandro Garcia Caturla, symbol of the town's vast cultural heritage © sogestour •]• Main " sit & enjoy" place in town, El Louvre does not show works of art but snacks and drinks © sogestour

A huge engineering feat, the Pedraplen de la Cayeria Norte or causeway (2cuc per to car to enter, same to leave) is 48 kilometers long of asphalt crossing about 35 bridges over the Cayeria Norte including Las Brujas, Ensenachos and at its end, Cayo Santa Maria and Perla Blanca beach, shadeless and deserted.

Steam train rides are offered from the old Marcelo Salado sugar mill nearby on the way to Caibarien; now a sugar museum ©

ASTRO BUSSES FROM LA HABANA
Astro Bus Line (new Yutong aircon busses) service from La Habana (Terminal at Plaza de la Revolucion) :
• Habana - Caibarién : Daily leaving 10:45 am passing by here at 16h and ending its ride at Caibarien 15 minutes later.
• Habana - Zulueta : Every 2nd day leaves at 11:40 am passes through Remedios around 17:00 then goes on to Zulueta, 15 km further.
• Habana - Yaguajay : Daily, leaves early at 06:00 passes through Remedios at 11h and ends the ride some 46 km further.
• Habana - Chambas : Daily, leaves the capital at midnight, goes through here at 05:20. Return leaves Chambas at 09:30, goes by here on demand and gets back to the capital at 17:20. N.B. the Chambas and Yaguajay routes cannot be reserved in advance as busses go through remedios only on request (ie, if passengers on board so wish). Fares 16-20 cuc one-way per adult. Info confirmed 180309

SEE.KNOW.DO
• Centro Histórico Urbano de la ciudad de Remedios : declared Cuban Monumento Nacional since 1980, the historical center spreads over 45 hectares and numbers some 64 blocks of which 29 have patrimonial value of the first order • Plaza Marti (Plaza Isabel II) is made up of three smaller placetas (Parque de la Libertad with a statue of marble imported from Carrara, Italia, Plaza de las Madres and Plaza de las Actividades). Right by, sits the famous Iglesia Parroquial Mayor de San Juan Bautista : stunning, filled with well-preserved gold icons, it is an absolute must-see. Its local guide (if closed, enter from the back) has been giving visits for at least 50 years. Please make a donation • Museo de Música Alejandro Garcia Caturla (Parque Marti No 5) dedicated to the memory of this extraordinary local persona (google it). Besides having been a great musician, he was a political reformer, criminal expert who was gunned down in 1940. Among his 11 children and numerous grand-childs, two attained music fame : Teresa with the Afro Cuban All Stars, Ibrahim Ferrer, etc and Fabian, bassist with Omara Portuondo and others.

• Museo Municipal Francisco Javier Balmaseda (calle Maceo 56) : its 9 show rooms are dedicated to the 480 years of local history from founding fathers to recent heroes • Museo de las Parrandas Remedianas (Maximo Goméz No 71), first museum dedicated to PopArt in Cuba, it tells all about the year-end, annual 185-year old parrandas • Galeria de Arte Carlos Enriquez (Parque Marti No 2) run by the FBC (Fondo de Bienes culturales) on main plaza central : paintings by local artists (Fernando Betancourt, Amaury García, Justo González, etc) and Cuban artists on tour • Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Buen Viaje • Museo del Vapor (halfway to Caibarien) dedicated to, as name says, the venerable steam locomotives; located in tiny village of Reforma where lies the Marcelo Salado sugar mill. One can visit and — with luck and enough passengers — take a short train ride • Artex Boutique, near Hotel Mascotte has music, clothing, souvenirs and — a nice new item available all over the country — shower curtains (7,50cuc) showing enlarged Cuban art work.

EVENINGS
• There's almost always something going on in Casa de Cultura Agustin J Crespo corner Peña and Pastora • Built in 1923, the classical Spanish-style three-storey Teatro Ruben Martinez Villena (calle Pastora) can welcome up to 400 spectators for ballet, theater (local groups include Teatro Guiñol Rabindranath Tagore or Grupo Teatro Irrumpe) and classical music concerts on tour • There are Trova shows in the one corner of the main square close to the Estatua de la Libertad • Near the Casa de Cultura on Peña, the chess players room (jugadores de ajedrez) easy to find, open air with a large portrait of Capablanca (left) : challenge a lonely player • Las Leyendas since 2003 has been serving drinks and music • La Casa de la UNEAC holds literary events and readings of historical novels • Founded in 1949 under the name America Nacional, the Ciné-Teatro Remedios does not serve up theater plays anymore but can welcome up to 616 cinema aficionados.

EXCURSIONS
• Going North, take the 2-cuc pedraplen (13 km away after Caibarien) and drive over Buena Vista bay and its Cayo Cobos, Cayo Las Brujas, Cayo Borracho, Cayo Ensenachos and the last and largest, Cayo Santa Maria (beaches, all-inclusive hotels and fauna and flora refuges) Map here. • Going West, take the scenic, empty and lovely road called Costalera Norte to Yaguajay, site of the great Museo Camilo Cienfuegos. 80 bucolic km's there and back • Going East, discover, 57k away the nature of Sierra Guamuhaya where thermal waters and health treatments abound at Villa San Jose del Lago (photo left, 84 km east of here near Mayajigua) on lovely grounds around small placid lake from 30 to 63cuc per person per day, with or without meals for the room.

PLAYAS
On the Cayeria Norte : Megano lies on Cayo Ensenachos, Las Brujas ("The Witches") which some say is the loveliest in Cuba, above, as seen from the hotel's lookout/bar), Perla Blanca (shadeless, at the very end of the pedraplen), Santa Maria (details on that cayo's many beaches here). Best bet (and only choice, really) for enjoying a beach without going through an all-inclusive hotel (charging 25-25 cuc for the day) is to drive to Las Brujas airport, turn left after the runway, then left at Las Salinas sign at fork and you will find the aforementioned Las Salinas beach. Not nice, really but go past the dock at left and you will be on Playa Las Brujas with the resort's famous tower/restaurant at its 1-km end. Make provisions of snacks at the airport snack bar. photo © sogestour

CASAS WE RECOMMEND
V = suggested by webbies and travelers. Check by phone or in person. All casas ask the same rates : on average, 20 (low season) to 25cuc per bedroom (2 adults max.), breakfasts 3cuc, dinners 7-8cuc. ••• Children 16 and under may share parents' bedroom at no charge only if there is an additional bed available. Mention the age of your children when making the reservation. Comments and suggestions webmaster @cubacasas.net

BOOK BY PHONE
• From Canada and the USA : 011 53 (add phone # preceded by 42 for Remedios).

• From Europe, Great Britain, Scandinavia and Mexico : 00 53 (add phone # preceded by 42 for Remedios).

BOOK BY EMAIL : Click on logo to open a message addressed to that casa in your email application; or right-click to copy address showing at bottom of browser window. Spanish vocabulary here.

Click on photos at right to reach each casa's page and description. Locate some casas on this map.

See all casas in sequence.

Click above logo to see next.

EL CHALET
Two aircon bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms.
Calle Brigadier González # 29, entre José A. Peña y Independencia, one block from main square, Plaza Isabel II. Tel. (42) 39-65-38