The South Circuit is Our Point of Reference

AFTER A LONG TOUR THROUGHOUT THE NORTH CIRCUIT, EXCELENCIAS EMBARKS ON A NEW QUEST AROUND THE MAIN ISLAND. NOW, WE ARE SCOUTING THE SOUTH COAST. A PRIVATE QUEST TO KNOW BETTER CUBA'S WONDERS AND INSIGHTS. THE INTRODUCTION TO THE NINE-HUNDRED-MILES TOUR DI

We had already toured nineteen hundred miles. It was a long, but gratifying quest throughout the North Circuit. A road with different names connecting the Island in its northern side from beginning to end. From Punta de Maisi to Cabo de San Antonio, or viceversa.

The route length covers more than nine hundred miles. However, we sometimes took a lineal path. Other times we went back and forth; and we also went north, to go south afterwards. Summing up, the length of the tour tripled.

We spent a month in this tourist, cultural, and ethnographic trip —that's what it was— and we divided it in six stages due to its length. It is, nonetheless, a sort of pilgrimage we should embark on at least once in a lifetime, either in successive periods or throughout the years.

Excelencias embarks on a new quest to know the real Cuba. This time, we visit the south coast.

Contrary to the boreal, the south coastline of the Main Island is usually made of low-lying, muddy coast and it lacks a road that allows travelling from one end to the other.

The road network that leads to residential areas, natural areas, and coastal areas of this side of Cuba is mainly radial, roads that lead down from the “Mediterranean” cities and towns towards the Caribbean.

There are two long and beautiful sections with an extraordinary tourist and cultural development that can be toured lengthwise. One of them is on the eastern side of the nation; the other is in the central region. Both are our goals now.

The first of them starts in Punta de Maisi, Guantanamo province, goes through the southern side of Santiago de Cuba, and then Cauto Embarcadero, ending in Bayamo, Granma province.

The second route starts in Sancti Spiritus province, the city of Trinidad,

Leg One of the first season starts in Baracoa, goes down to Punta de Maisí, continues through the cities of Guantánamo and Santiago de Cuba; and ends with a climb up the Pico Turquino. Leg Two departs from Santiago de Cuba, travels along the Granma highway, goes down to Cabo Cruz and the Desembarco del Granma National Park, and then heads towards Manzanillo, the Cauto River and from there to Bayamo..

In the second season, Leg One opens in the city of Sancti Spíritus, continues towards Trinidad, climbs to Topes de Collantes and concludes in the city of Cienfuegos. Leg Two includes Cienfuegos, Playa Girón and Ciénaga de Zapata, from where we will go up to Varadero. And from there to Havana.

the capital city of Cienfuegos province, and ends in Giron, Cienaga de Zapata, which belong to Matanzas province. Afterwards, we go up to Varadero tourist resort just to end in Havana.

With different names, we have baptized both routes as our South Circuit. The trip, which is also tourist, cultural, and ethnographic, covers around nine hundred miles. We will do it in four stages and sixteen days. We can do it in some consecutive seasons or in different times of our lives.

It is an intriguing quest in car or recreational vehicle and you can embark on if your goal is to enjoy the country at will. We will visit the most famous tourist resorts in the south side of the country, the iconic and the emerging ones. We will also delve into that deep Cuba, which enlightens and defines the physical and human landscape of the Caribbean Key.