Cuba Guide
Varadero and Matanzas
The Yumurí Valley
Hidden from view directly behind the hills that skirt the northern edges of Matanzas, the Yumurí Valley is the provincial capital's giant back garden, stretching westwards from the city into Havana province. Out of sight until you reach the edge of the valley itself, it's one of the most spectacular landscapes in the country, and it comes as quite a surprise to find it so close to the grimy city streets. There's a new scene around every corner, as the landscape changes from rolling pastures to fields of palm trees, and small forests merge into cultivated plots of banana, maize, tobacco and other crops.
The valley has remained relatively untouched by tourism, with its tiny villages few and far between. Though Yumurí Valley draws much of its appeal from being so unspoilt, this also means that there's no obvious way to explore it independently. Several minor roads allow you to cut through the centre of the landscape but you may as well just get off at any one of the stations on the Hershey train line and wander about.
For a more structured approach, head for the Rancho Gaviota, the only tourist-oriented stop in the valley, where you can eat a hearty Cuban meal and go horse riding. For the most breathtaking views of the valley, however, make your way to the bridge marking the Havana– Matanzas provincial border, the Puente Bacunayagua, 20km northwest along the Vía Blanca from Matanzas. At 112m high, this is the tallest bridge in Cuba, spanning the border between Havana and Matanzas province. Up the hill from here is the viewpoint, Mirador de Bacunayagua, where a snack bar looks out to the coastline and from where a trail leads down to the sea, a thirty-minute walk away by the side of a river.