valle de los ingenios

It gives a good idea how people( plantation owners and slaves) lived in that period.train through the valley runs irregularly

Stopped here with a tour group, but I think we might have missed something. We walked through - literally through the house to see how they pressed sugar. Did not see anything historical here, but had to pass many vendors selling their wares.Yes, there was a tower, but we did not have time to climb to the top. Not much to see or do here.

Interesting to see what the rich sugar mill owners did in the past. Such as build this huge tower, so they could oversee what the slaves were up to.Historic landmark, but an hour is ample time to see the sights.

The train ride through this rural area was great, and the sites we saw from the train (houses, farm land, people) were more interesting than the sites we deliberately stopped at (tourist spots). The village square is crowded with locals trying to sell you stuff. The tower is worth a climb and the view is spectacular.

We went out for the day to a waterfall for a swim, enjoyed the whole trip with lovely views of the hills and countrside

I hired a taxi to take me out here from Trinidad one day because both the sugar and slave industries played such huge roles in Cuban history. I figured such a site would really be a great opportunity to see a historical location of both and learn something more. I was wrong. This place is only worth it to climb the tower and see the view. And a warning, that's a gut-wrenching activity if you're at all squeamish about heights! With some knowledge gained beforehand you'll know it was used by overseers and can imagine the sugar cane and slaves that could be spotted from the top in centuries past. Otherwise this site is just horrible. There is nothing educational. If you came in with no knowledge you would never know that it used to be the centre of a huge sugar estate and of it's horrible legacy of slavery. The former estate home is now just a restaurant and gift shop (with a sugar press out back, again, no historical context provided). On another note the vendors leading into and around the site are terrible. And don't get me wrong, I can respect people who are getting their hustle on... you want to try to get me into your restaurant, your taxi, sell me a product or a service? I can handle that type of hustle, it doesn't bother me AT ALL. But these folks have been turned practically into beggars by the busloads and busloads of excursion tours that pass through this place. They weren't just trying to sell me crocheted placemats. When I declined their offers to buy goods they were asking for anything they could think of I might have in my purse - foreign coins, candy, hand cream, lipstick... it was ridiculous. I even had one guy get mad at me when I wouldn't exchange the Canadian $5 bill (worth about average 3.80CUC at exchange rates I paid across the island) someone had given him for face value 5CUC. I traveled all over Cuba independently and never encountered Cubans behaving like this anywhere else. They mostly go about their business and only pay attention to you if you're part of their business, like everywhere else in the world. Does the bus tour culture create this vulturish environment? I climbed the tower and got the heck out of this surreal place as fast as I could.Either way, don't sacrifice ANY other worthwhile activity in the area to come here. I would never go back or recommend it unless you're in the area for a while and have time to explore everywhere and do a lot of activities. And then, only if you're going to climb the tower. Seriously.

Not far from the city of Cienfuegos, the visit to the tower was included in our tour schedule. The tower itself is well-preserved and fairly impressive for height and architecture, considering that the scope was to monitor the slaves at work in sugarcane fields. At the feet of the tower, there are little stands selling local craftmanship. When we've been there, the sunset light through the windows of the tower offered special, warm colours to our sight.

We avoided the tourist train and instead, booked a taxi for our Valley tor. We stopped at an archaeological site - a sugar plantation - and enjoyed the tour of the ruins, the restoration work, and the overall site.Try to see more of the Valley than just the tourist route. It's much more interesting that way, in my opinion.

This tour to the sugar plantations was very interesting even though the plantation is no longer working. Our guide was very informative and told us a lot about the history of Cuban sugar and the slave trade. Worth doing and only a half day trip.

We took the old train to see the valley - unfortunately not a steam train as the leaflet makes you believe. Otherwise a pleasant enough little trip with a couple of stops. Next time on horses - sure I would get a closer experience.

Wonderful to get out into the countryside and to understand the basis of the spanish settler wealth which built Trinidad and the sad story of the African slaves. most of the slave towers and sugar ranges burnt and destroyed when the slaves were liberated but some remain. The Escambray mountains are beautiful

29 CUC for about 5 hours with an excellent guide who spoke really good English and was happy to talk to us about life in Cuba & the possibilities for change in the future. The Valle and its history was very interesting and pretty too.

This place just breathes with atmosphere, as it happens with most of Cuba. But first - as a tourist, you have to pay 10 CUC for the half-working train (compared to few CUPs the locals pay on other trains) to get there, that's just rude. The ride is interesting, but once you get to the destination(s), you discover that there is only considerable piece of history - the tower, where you can climb for another 2 CUC. Then there's a "sugar-cane pressing device", but if you want to see/learn some real history, out of luck. You can buy some bed-sheets (seriously?), bananas, something to drink, the same postcards that are sold everywhere. Bottom line - you can learn more about the place from wikipedia, than by going there, which is really sad... Still, the trip alone was probably worth it, even without the main attractions.

We hired a driver for 20CUC. We stopped where ever we wanted and as long we wanted, I believe this is the best way to visit the valley, you can make the most of it. We really enjoyed the history of the valley, at the Manaca Iznaga so many sellers, some of them rather pushy, but the view well worth it from the tower. Once the train departed the whole place was only for us...huge benefit take hire a driver.At Mirador de la Loma del Puerto you can get lovely view again from a different angle. We also stopped at Guachinango, beautiful house one of the oldest hacienda, you can go for hourse riding/trekking here.

the trip from Trinidad to the valle isn't that promising at first? But then, nce you've passed the first hill and start going down into the valley, a most beautiful landscape unveils itself