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Cuba Travel Guide - Santiago de Cuba Attractions

During the last two decades, the city of Santiago de Cuba has developed the necessary infrastructure to foster the tourism of events and congresses, and ecotourism, the city being favored by a mountainous and seaworthy environment allowing hiking, nautical activities, cruising, and health tourism.

Santiago is a city to be strolled (carrying enough water, and protecting yourself from the harsh sun rays). Its rolling and narrow streets are full of history and music and almost every piece of land has some story to tell.

Particular sites of interest are the Santa Ifigenia cemetery, the Historic Mueseum 26 de Julio (former Moncada Barracks), and the Granjita Siboney. These all are places indissolubly and absolutely linked to the history of Cuba. Santiago also treasures the first open-sky copper mine in the American continent (El Cobre) and the first museum in the country (Emilio Bacardí). The Castillo de San Pedro de la Roca (El Morro), the Basílica del Cobre (where tribute is paid to the Virgin of the Charity of Copper (Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre, Patron Saint of Cuba), Cayo Granma in the center of the Bay, and the Baconao Park (Biosphere Reserve) all make for great excursions. This latter stretches from the city borders 50 Km of beaches, lakes, and mountain elevations, among which La Gran Piedra and the ruins of French coffee plantations are highlights.

For those who get to Santiago, there are diverse choices for accommodation in the city and the outskirts, from the classic Hotel Casa Granda to the comfortable Meliá Santiago and the hotels in the beach area (Bucanero, Villa Coral and the Sierra Maestra) spanning different categories and levels of comfort suitable for different tastes.

Besides the important and unique Festival of the Caribbean (Festival del Caribe), always held on the first week of July, there are other remarkable cultural activities such as the Aquatic Carnival (Carnaval Acuático) and the so famous Santiago Carnivals (Carnavales Santiagueros). This popular celebration is included within the three most ancient cultural events of the island. Particularly, the "Conga santiaguera" is an unforgettable show, either when it bustles along Trocha street or Enramada street. In Santiago, you can visit the Museum of the Carnival, featuring the history and most fascinating objects of these celebrations.

For history lovers, in Santiago you'll find the traces of numerous Cuban figures born in this land from the poet Jose María Heredia, to the rebel warrior Antonio Maceo (their birthplaces are now both themed museums). Other places of significant historic importance are: the Plaza de Marte (whose column of 20 meters celebrates the Independence of Cuba in 1902), the Bosque de los Héroes (Heros' Forest) honoring the Ché's guerrilla fighting in Bolivia, and the Museum of Secrecy (Museo de la Clandestinidad) featuring the main events of the urban guerrilla of the Movimiento 26 de julio supporting the Rebels in the Sierra, and the Maritime Promenade (Paseo Marítimo) bordering the harbor and that constitutes a conference of the Colonial and Eclectic Cuban architecture.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/destinations-articles/cuba-travel-guide-santiago-de-cuba-attractions-2355699.html

This overview of Santiago de Cuba's attractions was written by a Cuba travel expert from Cuba For Less, a specialist in fully customizable Cuba vacation packages.