Cuba Guide
Varadero and Matanzas
Museo Varadero
Address: The beach end of Calle 57
Opening time: Daily 10am–7pm
Price: $1CUC
Detailing the history of Varadero, with rooms on sport and wildlife thrown in as well, the Museo Varadero housed in a wooden 1920s Varadero residence, contains a small collection of disparately connected exhibits of varying degrees of interest. Downstairs, the history display features one room full of antique furniture and another packed with unrelated odds and ends, including some Amerindian burial site remains, a model depicting "important historical places in Varadero", such as the Mansión Xanadú, and a cauldron used by rebel troops in Cárdenas during the Second War of Independence. Upstairs is a poorly presented set of stuffed animals, representing a small cross-section of Cuba's fauna. Next door to this are photographs and memorabilia of some of Cuba's sporting greats and a few early twentieth-century photographs of the straight-faced aristocratic members of the local sailing club, El Club Náutico de Varadero. The most memorable photo is a panoramic shot of the Varadero beachfront taken in 1929, the magnificent old mansions lining the shore testament to an era of bygone opulence. The upstairs balcony affords an attractive view of the beachfront.