2 Best Sights in Western Cuba, Cuba

Jardín Botanico Orquideario Soroa

Fodor's choice

Covering 35,000 square meters, this hillside botanical garden is a wild tangle of flowering vines, fragrant gingers, waist-high begonias and epiphyte-laden trees growing out of rocks. The centerpiece is a tidy greenhouse filled with blooming orchids. Back in the 1940s, a wealthy Havana lawyer and orchid fancier hired a Japanese gardener to design this glorious garden in his daughter's memory. Stone pathways bordered by plant-covered rocky outcroppings wind uphill to a lookout. The footing is a little precarious and the garden is quite wild, but beautiful. Birds abound, so be sure to bring along binoculars. The garden is also a study center for budding botanists and there is an expert guide on hand.

Garden Fodor's Choice
Carretera de Soroa, Km 7, Soroa, Artemisa, Cuba
4852–3871
Sights Details
Rate Includes: Entrance fee CUC$3, additional CUC$1 to bring camera or CUC$2 to bring in a video camera, Daily 8:30--4:30

Jardín Botanico de las Hermanas Caridad y Carmen Miranda

This slightly oddball, 100-year-old garden surrounds a farmhouse on the northern edge of town. It was started by a man, whose daughters both lived here into their nineties and created an idiosyncratic world for themselves. Billows of bougainvillea blossoms, flowering shrubs, and fruit trees are populated by dolls and toys, mostly threadbare now and even a little macabre in places. It's not terribly tidy but it is interesting, with chickens clucking around and gardeners at work. After a stroll through the shady garden, you can sit on wicker chairs and sample some fruits. The house is full of antique furniture and photos, which a grand-neice of the sisters will happily show you.
Garden Free
Valle de Viñales, Pinar del Río, 22400, Cuba
4879--6274
Sights Details
Rate Includes: Donations accepted, Daily 8--7