Learn about the most important attractions in Vinales.

Vinales

Vinales is a small town and municipality in the north-central Pinar del Rio Province of Cuba.
The town consists mostly of one story wooden houses with porches. The municipality is dominated by low mountain ranges of Cordillera de Guaniguanico such as Sierra de los Organos. Typical outcrops known as mogotes complete the karstic character of the landscape.
Prior to European settlement, the area had been the home of a remnant Taino population swelled with runaway slaves.
The area was colonised at the beginning of the 1800s by tobacco growers from the Canary Islands, who settled in the Vuelta Abajo region.
The first settlement in Vinales is documented in 1871, in the form of a ranch belonging to Don Andres Hernandez Ramos.
The town was established in 1878 as a typical community, with church, school, hospital and recreation park.
Vinales is an agricultural area, where crops of fruit, vegetables, coffee and especially tobacco are grown with traditional methods. Fishing is also an important part of the area's economy.
Tourism centered on the Vinales Valley is developing, the area being protected by constitution since February 1976, and declared a national monument in October 1978. The Vinales Valley has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since November 1999, for the outstanding karst landscape and traditional agriculture as well as vernacular architecture, crafts and music.
Attractions in Vinales include the Museo Municipal, Casa de Caridad Botanical Gardens, Museo Paleontologico, Palenque (a Maroon village) and the nearby caves (Cueva del Indio, Cueva de Jose Miguel, Cueva de Santo Tomas) in Valle de Vinales National Park, which were refuges for runaway slaves. There is also a cave which doubles as a nightclub.
Casas particulares (private residences which have been tailored and licensed to operate as bed and breakfasts) offer accommodations to visitors year-round. There are also three hotels located a few kilometers outside of town, rated three stars: La Ermita, Los Jazmines, and Rancho Horizontes San Vicente. The campismo Dos Hermanas comprises 54 cabins (available to tourists), a swimming pool and restaurant.

Attractions

- Caverna del Arroyo
- Cueva de los Portales
- Cueva del Cura
- Prehistoric Mural
- Cueva del Indio
- Vinales National Park