Cienfuegos, Cuba's "Pearl of the South"

Cienfuegos is sometimes described as the 'Pearl of the South', though I definitely think that title should go to Trinidad, it's definitely worth carving out a day or two of your itinerary to visit this little gem.

We stayed in a cute little casa in Punta Gorda, a gorgeous neighbourhood a couple of kilometres out of town with gorgeous sea views. We were able to just rock up without pre-booking, but if you do plan to do this be aware of hawkers hanging around on the main seafront strip, telling you that everything is sold out except the expensive boutique hotels on the end.

On our first afternoon we wondered into town to have look around. The colonial architecture is pretty and eclectic, but if I'm honest there's not a huge amount to see there. We did, however, manage to befriend a group of local artists after browsing their gallery down one of the side streets. We got talking by comparing tattoos and were then invited to play dominoes with them while sampling their extremely strong blend of coffee and rum! One of them spoke pretty good English so we were able to communicate well; it was a great experience to be able to talk and interact with local like-minded people in such a relaxed way. We had dinner in one of the restaurants in town (as two veggies our choice was always limited, so I don't really feel able to recommend anywhere) then bought a couple of cans of beer and had chilled chats sitting on a little jetty looking out into the marina.

The next day, feeling like we had seen most of what there was to see of the city, we took a little day trip to Rancho Luna. It's a gorgeous beach, and we spent the day sunning ourselves and swimming in the blue sea. There are a couple of hotel complexes and restaurants there, but we brought a couple of snacks and saved ourselves for a gorgeous meal back at our casa. I really would recommend doing this at least once while you're there, its great value for money and the casa owners tend to go all out.

Heading to Cuba? Check out the seven things I wish I'd known before my trip