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The trip to the Valle de Los Ingenios takes place in an old steam train with a restored carriage. The steam engine is often broken, but the trip is just as enjoyable with the diesel locomotive. The smoke from the steam engine can be thick, so watch out if you already have breathing difficulties - however the diesel fumes are not pleasant experience either. It is a nice way to spend a day for those with difficulties walking. The train takes you through the valley to the small village of Iznaga, where there’s quite a large tower that was used to watch the sugar cane plantations in the area to make sure no slaves would try to escape. Nearby, there is a small restaurant and laundry market. The train continues later to Guachinango where it stops for a lunch break (although the restaurant is not that great and only serves chicken for ~US$8).
Valle de los Ingenios, also named Valley de los Ingenios or Valley of the Sugar Mills, is a series of three interconnected valleys about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) outside of Trinidad, Cuba. The three valleys, San Luis, Santa Rosa, and Meyer, were a centre for sugar production from the late 18th century until the late 19th century. At the peak of the industry in Cuba there were over fifty sugar cane mills in operation in the three valleys, with over 30,000 slaves working in the mills and on the sugar cane plantations that surrounded them.
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Behind the waterfall is a cave you can swim into. In summer times, it is recommended to take a swim in the water fall. Usually, also an improvised pub with few drinks is available.
Climb the hill behind the town to get a great view. As you walk up the hill you go through poorer neighbourhoods. You may be asked for clothes or trinkets by the local kids. Seems pretty safe during the day but be careful at night. As you exit the city you’ll also pass by the Disco Ayala, a discothèque in a cave near the top of this hill.
Open air location, where there is a small platform from which groups perform at night. Usually, there is salsa music, and great salsa dancers there enjoy the music and dance and perform with foreigners. It is great to enjoy a few drinks there as well.
A museum of mostly furniture from the colonial times.
Lucha Contra Bandidos
The museum is in a former convent close to the cathedral near the Plaza Mayor in the old colonial center. The War Against the Bandits was the 1961-1969 fought against U.S.-sponsored counterrevolutionaries, who hid out in the nearby mountains. If you do not read Spanish, the displays may be difficult to understand, but the piece of the American U-2 spy plane shot down speaks for itself. Also well worth the entrance fee is the mirador (view) from the convent's tower, reached by several flights of wooden stairs, which has superb views across the whole town.
The cathedral is beautiful inside and has a tower you can climb for a view.