Tiny Trinidad with its colourful Spanish colonial homes and traffic-free historic centre is home to plenty of atmospheric bars, drinking spots and music venues. The city lends itself to a bar crawl with all the hotspots scattered not more than a few cobbled streets away from each other. Here’s our guide on where to dip into in this beautiful 500-year-old city.
Kick off your night with a traditional tipple. The Canchánchara is both a bar and a drink. Made with aguardiente (firewater), honey, and lime, it’s served in a rounded clay vessel and goes down very nicely on a humid night. It’s refreshing, sweet and unbelievably moreish. Its history is rooted in Cuba’s wars of independence in the 19th-century. Mambises – men fighting against the Spanish colonisers – drank the concoction for strength and vigour. You’ll find live music at alfresco Taberna La Canchánchara on Real del Jigüe Street; it’s a highlight for all those who visit Trinidad. Today you’ll find some bars in Cuba serving up canchánchara made with aged rum. But, a word of warning, too, some bars in Cuba are known to sell it made with vodka. Make sure you order the real deal!
Head for a glorious sunset on the rooftop bar of the restaurant El Criollo on Amargura Street. From its high terrace, the sloping, russet-red rooftops, green mountains and the yellow belltower of the 18th-century Convent of San Francisco, the tallest building in the city, can be seen. It’s a wonderful perch for a daiquiri or a mojito and there’s live music performed by a Cuban band, too.
Getting into the music? Swing by the time-trapped classic venue the Casa de la Trova inside a house with a courtyard garden. You’ll hear trovadores and can dance a twirl or two of salsa. Step it up a gear either on the wide stone steps next to the city’s main church – known as La Escalinata – with live music at night and alfresco dancing or check out the scene at the Casa de la Música (found at the top of the same steps). Hotting up the dancing scene even further is new kid on the block Rincón de la Salsa on Rosario Street. Filled with salsa dancing locals and visitors, it’s an unmissable spot to try out your footwork as well as sip some great value mojitos.
Your night could then go two ways. Fancy more dancing? Climb a small hill and then descend steep steps to Trinidad’s, even Cuba’s, most curious music spot – a club in a cave. Las Cuevas, aka Disco Ayala, is hot, sweaty, packed, pumped with disco lights and booming with reggaeton and other tunes. There’s nothing quite like dancing under stalactites, though, jampacked with dozens of other locals and curious visitors.
Less crowd and more chat? Head to Trinidad’s best-kept secret, Café El Mago. El Mago is a tiny spot inside a colonial house on San José Street with bags of character. El Mago’s walls are decorated in art, photos and vinyl. Order everything from a mojito to a huge smoothie for late-night vibes, cool tunes (a reggaeton- and reparto-free zone), and friendly staff. The best bit? You can come back for brunch the next day!
