Trinidad is the most popular tourist town outside of the capital and the peaceful 70’000 people place is indeed a refreshing change after the densely populated central Havana. The Unesco site is a former Spanish settlement and has been extremely well preserved, with very little changes since … 150 years.
What’s even more impressing, is that a town of such small size has not succumbed to the busloads of tourists arriving every day. You can see this in many other countries, where popular historic little towns are just too small to absorb all the tourist groups and soon turn into accumulation of gift-shops, cafes and travel agencies. In Trinidad you will have no problem “travelling back in time”, walking over its cobblestone streets in the morning, greeting a cowboy galloping past, buying a 5cent “espresso” at a street window or grabbing a bread from the uncle pulling his cart through the streets.
We settled down for five nights in the modern casa of a very charming Swiss-Cuban couple and limited our explorations to mornings and evenings, avoiding the very strong sun and most of the tour groups.
The beautiful little main square has two distinct churches, very popular photo and postcard theme. And in the evening the area becomes lively with music in various bars and restaurants.
Trinidad’s main attraction lies in its atmosphere and harmonic architecture. It’s however not a place for museum enthusiasts. We tried the recommended “best” museum out of the few and quickly browsed through the unappealing artifacts on the lower floors, fast forwarding to the only highlight of the museum, the stunning view from its roof (cf. title photo).
If you cant live without a museum, rather explore the various restaurants, which seem to have borrowed the real treasures.
For photographers however Trinidad is a great playground. In particular during sunset, you get a nice shot at every corner.
