The Best Museums and Historical Sights

Catedral de San Cristóbal and Plaza de la Catedral, Havana (tel. 7/861-7771): Havana's cathedral and the plaza it sits on are perhaps Old Havana's most distinctive historical sites. The twin towers and worn baroque facade of this ancient church are beautiful both by day and at night. The small plaza it fronts is an atmospheric cobblestone square surrounded by perfectly restored colonial-era buildings with shops, museums, galleries, and restaurants.

Museo de la Ciudad, Havana (tel. 7/861-6130): Old Havana's preeminent museum displays colonial-era art and artifacts. It's worth the price of admission alone to stroll the rooms, outdoor courtyards, and interior veranda of the former Palacio de los Capitanes Generales (Palace of the Captains Generals), which houses the museum.

Parque Histórico Morro y Cabaña, Havana (tel. 7/863-7063 for El Morro, and 7/862-0617 for La Cabaña): Across the harbor from Old Havana, the Morro & Cabaña Historic Park complex is comprised of two major forts charged with protecting Havana's narrow and strategic harbor entrance. There's a lighthouse, several museums, restored barracks, batteries of cannons, and a handful of restaurants to explore, and a nightly cañonazo (cannon blast) ceremony is held here.

Cementerio de Colón, Havana (tel. 7/832-1050): Columbus Cemetery is an impressive collection of mausoleums, crypts, family chapels and vaults, soaring sculptures, and ornate gravestones. All of the dead are laid to rest above ground, and you'll be awed by the surfeit of marble and sun-bleached alabaster. The whole thing is laid out in an orderly grid of streets.

Monumento Ernesto Che Guevara, Santa Clara (tel. 42/20-5878): Featuring a huge sculpture of the revolutionary hero overlooking a vast plaza, this place is deeply revered by Cubans. Underneath the statue is a museum with exhibits detailing the life and exploits of "El Che," as well as a mausoleum holding Guevara's remains and the tombstones of 37 other revolutionary fighters killed with Guevara in Bolivia.

Trinidad: The entire town of Trinidad qualifies as a historical site. The impeccably preserved relic -- several blocks square of perfect pastel-colored mansions, churches, and cobblestone streets -- is one of the greatest collections of colonial architecture to be found anywhere in the Americas. The star among Trinidad's colonial set pieces is the Museo Romántico (tel. 419/4363), in an 18th-century mansion right on the main square.

Plaza San Juan de Dios, Camagüey (tel. 32/29-1318): This dignified square is the highlight of Camagüey's colonial quarter, one of the largest in Cuba with more than a dozen 16th-, 17th-, and 18th-century colonial churches. Marked by cobblestones and colonial houses with red-tile roofs and iron window grilles, the understated plaza is home to a 17th-century baroque church and hospital of the order of San Juan de Dios.

Museo El Chorro de Maíta, Guardalavaca (tel. 24/3-0421): Guardalavaca is in the midst of the most important archaeological zone of Native American groups in Cuba. This small museum site is a Taíno burial ground from the late 15th and early 16th centuries, the biggest and finest American Indian cemetery discovered in Cuba. The very well-preserved remains of more than 100 members of the community reveal important clues about native groups after the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. The museum displays ceramics and objects found at the site.

Casa Velázquez (Museo de Ambiente Colonial Cubano), Santiago de Cuba (tel. 22/65-2652): Diego Velázquez founded the original seven villas in Cuba, and his 1515 mansion in Santiago de Cuba, the oldest house in the country and one of the oldest in the Americas, is still standing. Today it's a museum of colonial furnishings from the 16th to the 19th century. Individual pieces are splendid, but none manages to upstage the historical impact of the restored house itself.

Castillo El Morro, Santiago de Cuba (tel. 22/69-1569): Although nowhere near as expansive as its sister fort in Havana, this massive fortress is nonetheless quite impressive. You can almost feel a part of the history while walking the maze-like alleyways here, and the views are wonderful as well.