Pinar del Rio is known as the land of the best Tobacco in the world. Famous its beautiful landscapes and the great views of its Viñales Valley from the Los Jazmines lookout point, the visitor will find in this colorful province the best locations for diving at Maria La Gorda or Cayo Levisa and nature related visits in La Moka ecologic resort.
At about 150 Km West of Havana City this colourful province is located .It is a land with plenty of fertile soils, water springs, rivers and rain forest areas in which there is an exclusive flora and fauna and there are multiple possibilities of exploring caverns and caves or hike in valleys and mountains. Pinar del Rio city, the capital of the province, was the first settlement established in the region, near the Guama river and originally surrounded by extensive pine woods. Its architecture is distinctive and its XIX century eclecticism is significant. Samples can be admired in the City Hall, the Cathedral and the House of Cavaruiz. Francisco Guash’s Mansion is very peculiar, its design incorporated influences that go from Egyptian to Gothic , this house is today the Museum of Natural Sciences. There are other cultural institutions like the Jose Jacinto Milanes Theatre (1838) and the Provincial History Museum (1874). From mountain sceneries like the Viñales Valley, unique in America and declared a World Heritage site by Unesco in 1999, to the Cordillera de Guaniguanico range of mountains, where the Sierra del Rosario can be found, this Sierra is considered a Reserve of the Biosphere ,and has the highest point in the west of Cuba , Pan de Guajaibon with 669 Mt over the sea level. Soroa, considered Cuba’s rainbow, invites to enjoy its waterfall and its Orchids gardens with more than 700 species. Nature and humans have managed to mix in the Complejo Las Terrazas , a place without comparison in Cuba, where the arts and the artisans, have found the perfect scenery. From this place there are paths that guide the visitors through the forest to the old French coffee plantations the historical sites. Cannot describe Pinar del Rio without writing about it unique sea bottoms and the wonderful offshore islets. Places like Cayo Levisa, Cayo Jutia and Cayo Paraiso , that allow the visitor to get in touch with the virgin nature, white sands and coral reefs, ideal for the practice of snorkelling and diving or the Maria La Gorda International Diving Centre with warm and transparent waters and 54 diving sites, ideal for the practice of any nautical activity from diving to submarine photographing. The nature of this territory is privileged with many contrasts. Mountains with an exuberant vegetation that alternate with the fertile soils of Vueltabajo .Its amazing to admire them whilst the plantations of the best tobacco if the world grow. To visit this province and share a tradition, that has left the plantations to become an art, from the selection of the leaves, until the final elaboration of the Habanos, make Pinar del Rio the soul of a culture of colour and aroma.
