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

Elsewhere in the central region

The city holds a special place in the heart of the descendants of barbubos (the bearded ones) as it was here that the famous attack on Batista's armoured train sealed the fate of the Revolución in the last days of 1958.

One can find here all of the mementos of this passage in the recent Cuban history (Monument to Martyrs, Memorial to the Che, Museum of the Tren blindado).

Today, the peaceful city's stable economy with its many light industries in the area is maintaining a high job quota and gives a sense of comfort, to visitors and foreign students joigning Cubans who have chosen one of the 22 Faculties of Universidad Marta Abreu to make up the local student population of 27,000 estudiantes.

The pedestrian bulevar shows off many hard-to-find products in its renovated tiendas. Its large fruit & vegetable market by the estadio de beisbol estadio also bears proof of a refreshing livelyhood.

The large and welcoming Parque Vidal will soon boast the largest store in Cuba along with a soon to be renovated Teatro de la Caridad and one of the loveliest museums on the island, Museo de Artes Decorativas.

Culture is expressed seemingly more freely, away from the habitual self-censorship in places like El Mejunje, La Marquesina and El Carishow unique show venues. Carpe Diem !

A mere 63 kilometers north by way of Remedios and Caibarien is the Cayeria Norte (the northern keys) with Cayo Santa Maria and some great beaches and all-inclusive resorts.

DISTANCES Caibarien + Cayeria Norte, 59 Camaguey, 269 Camajuani, 30 Cayo Ensenachos, 106 Cayo Las Brujas, 99 Cayo Santa Maria, 109 Cienfuegos, 61 Elguea, 111 Hanabanilla, 56 Holguin, 477 La Habana, 258 Manicaragua, 35 Pinar del Rio, 399 Remedios, 53 Sagua la Grande, 54 Santiago, 600 Sancti Spiritus, 85 Topes de Collantes, 60 Trinidad, 122

MAPS & LINKS

Map - City centro, attractions and casa locations

Map - Ciudad, all repartos (burroughs)

Map - The city area with roads in and out

Map - Santa Clara, North Coast to Cayo Santa Maria

Map - Cienfuegos to Caibarien and small towns

Viazul twice-daily bus schedule

Island-wide bus connections (horariodebuses.com/cu)

Train schedule for national routes

5-Day Weather Forecast (Wunderground)

All that's natural in Villa Clara province

CUC (Cuban Convertibles Pesos) to any currency

POPULATION 238,028 (2007)

SEE • DO • KNOW
• Parque Leoncio Vidal (heart of the ciudad, Biblioteca, Teatro, Ciné, Museos)
• Plaza del Carmen (a few blocks in straight line from Vidal Park : first mass in its Iglesia in 1689)
• Museo de Artes Decorativas (one of best run in Cuba : Empire, Baccarat, Art nouveau, Art déco)
• Teatro de la Caridad (marvel built in 1885, ceilings, history, stage instruments) reopened after major overhaul in July 2009
• Facing the city's only Casa del Tabaco — House of Cigars —, is the Fabrica de Tabacos Constantino Perez Carrodegua (Montecristo no 2, Partagas Grande, etc. Visits 9-11, 13h-15h, 2cuc, Spanish only spoken.)
• Galeria de Arte on Maximo Gomez by the Parque Vidal (showings by famous artists, one of must-see galeries of Cuba)
• Monumento a la Toma del Tren Blindado (5 mins. on foot from Parque Vidal : four train cars and the famous bulldozer)
• Loma del Capiro (Capiro Hill for views of thae valley like the Che had in 58)
• About 1,5 km from town centre, the vast museum plaza including Mausoleo de los Martires de la Revolucion as part of Plaza de la Revolucion which includes Memorial Ernesto Che (Cubano, Hermano, Ejemplo) Guevara a small museum with well documented and presented artefacts of the barbudo.

RESTAURANTS
1878 (superb patio, creole cuisine), El Dorado (cheap chicken, shows at night; right by : Pizzeria Pullman in pesos), Le Bulevar (multiple choices, student hangout), Los Tainos, Sabor Latino de Alfonso y Familia (10-12cuc, full meals : excellent)

SERVICES
Swimming pool at Villa La Granjita, on Carretera de Maleza, towards the airport 2,5km from center. 5cuc per person including a 3cuc drink. Havanautos 20-89-28, Medical 27-12-34, Transautos 20-58-95

TRANSPORTATION
Viazul Bus (see link above) Trinidad daily at 11, 3hrs, 8cuc; Varadero, daily at 5:25pm, 4hrs, 11cuc; Santiago, 3 daily, 11hrs, 33cuc Trains see link above

Parque Vidal, as seen from Museo de Artes Decorativos © sogestour •}• Servant as lamp at MAD © sogestour •}• On click, facade of El Mejunje, where lads, trans & gents gather on Saturday nights © sogestour (see Evenings below).

The glorieta, smack in center of Cuba's most enjoyable city park, Parque Vidal © Ellie Pritchard •}• On el bulevar, an old hotel used for no-cost public housing © sogestour

Marilyn in the Casa del Tabaco. The place is a bar, café, smoke room and boutique where tickets are sold for the cigar factory Fabrica de Tabacos Constantino Perez across the street © sogestour •}• El Bulevar (pedestrian) shows off an unusual — for Cuba — variety of products © sogestour

Universidad Marta Abreu founded in 1952 : 27,000 students of Science, whether Human, Agricultural, Computer or otherwise taught by 1,100 teachers (more than 50% Masters or Doctors), 22 Faculties and muchos estudiantes from abroad. Site. © MissMass, flickr.com •}• Dictator Batista's Tren blindado after Che and his men blew up the track on 28 Dec 1958 sealing the triumph of the Revolucion.

The pedestrian street, El bulevar brings together the comercial and artisan, ancient and modern, peso or cuc © sogestour •}• Que sean como el Che. Enlarge. © sogestour

Pelea de Gallos translates to Cockfight as painted by Cuban artista Yakira Gonzalez •}• Tren blindado attack by Che and his guerrilleros became legend when turned into a comic-book like album with collectible stamps. © sogestour

EVENINGS
• Teatro de la Caridad On July 15 2009 with the city's 320th anniversary, it has finally re-opened; dance, theater, ballet, opera, classical music, trovadores • El Mejunje at 12, calle Marta Abreu, in ruins of Hotel Oriental was founded in 1984 by Ramón Silverio and it is a unique place in Cuba with its graffiti-covered facade, relaxed staff and atmosphere sometimes deep and delicious, sometimes wild and scrumptious. Mueve te at El Mejunje. Watch a 1-min. clip of a drag queen on youtube here. Weekly fare : Tuesdays, Rockoteca, rock concerts; Wednesdays, theatre; Thursdays, Trovuntivitis; Fridays, Good Luck; Saturday nights are for gays and transexuals; Sunday afternoons for children; evenings : music. • La Marquesina (artist and intellectual hangout) • Piano Bar El Dorado (piano and songs) • El Carishow standup comic shows at 22h, then disco : 5cuc per couple.

EXCURSIONS
Presa Hanabanilla Dam, 50k away. Its namesake lake is considered by some as "the most beautiful in the world" with a hotel on-the-lake boasting a swimming pool, rooms at 24-30cuc with views, cruises to a nearby waterfall. Bass fishing is equal to none. Lake photo here. • The town of Remedios a nice 53 km ride north : two churches and a half-dozen museums, a casa de la Cultura, a lovely Teatro. See here • The Cayeria Norte with some nice beaches spread all the way to Cayo Santa Maria : take the 2-cuc pedraplen (3 km passed 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, resorts and fauna and flora refuges) Maps here.

In Steven Soderberg's Che El Argentino, a scene filmed on the streets of Santa Clara •]• Website graphics

SUGGESTED CUBACASAS
V = suggested by travelers or owners but not verified by the webmaestro. • Try to reserve at least one week ahead; you must reconfirm by phone 24 hours before arrival. Otherwise, your reservation may be cancelled. • 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 Santa Clara).

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

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 photos to see each casa's page and description. Map of town center here.

See casas in sequence.

Click logo to move to next casa.

FLORIDA CENTER
Two large aircon bedrooms, ensuite bathrooms
Calle Maestra Nicolasa (Candelaria) # 56, entre Colon y Maceo, 200 meters from Parque Vidal. Tel. (42) 20-81-61