Cuba Guide
Cienfuegos and Villa Clara
City transport
Much of what the town has to offer is within walking distance of the Parque Vidal. The main shopping street is within a block of the square, while many of the notable buildings and museums are on the square itself. Almost everything else you'll need or that's worth visiting is less than a ten-minute walk, the obvious exceptions being both bus stations and the Memorial al Che. To get between the Parque Vidal and two of the three major Santa Clara hotels, however, a taxi will be necessary and the best place to find one is at the taxi rank on Máximo Gómez between Parque Vidal and Boulevard. For the longer distances within the town, principally between the Plaza de la Revolución and the main square, there are a large number of bicitaxis and horse-drawn carriages on the street. There's a bicitaxi rank on Marta Abreu e/ Villuendas y J.B. Zayas, while the horse-drawn and motorcycle-carriages operate one-way on Marta Abreu (towards the bus terminal) and Rafael Tristá (towards Parque Vidal), as well as running on Cuba (away from Parque Vidal) and Colón (towards Parque Vidal) and up and down Maceo. In theory a ride should cost you no more than two pesos.
The bustling, pedestrianized stretch of Independencia between J.B. Zayas and Maceo changes its name to Boulevard. As with most Cuban towns and cities, Santa Clara is laid out on the block system, though there are no handily numbered or lettered streets so you'll need to remember at least a few street names. The most important arteries are Marta Abreu, a straight road connecting Parque Vidal with the Memorial al Che, and Independencia, linking the centre of town with the north and the Monumento a la Toma del Tren Blindado. Though it's less widespread here than in some cities, there are some streets here with both pre- and post-revolutionary names; where applicable, the old names have been given in brackets. For journeys beyond the city limits, go to the Terminal de Autos de Alquiler, opposite the Terminal de Omnibus Intermunicipal, where private taxis collect passengers travelling within the province.