Guantánamo

Baracoa's founding in 1511 makes it Cuba's oldest continuously settled Spanish city, and for a time its first capital, before the seat of colonial power shifted west. Its isolation — cut off from the rest of Cuba by mountains and reachable only by boat for centuries — meant it developed largely on its own terms, and that separateness only ended in 1965 with the completion of La Farola, a spectacular mountain road cut through the Sierra del Purial that remains a striking drive in its own right. The town's small colonial core, centred on a modest main square and three historic forts (one now a hotel, another a restaurant), reflects its long history as a genuinely different, harder-to-reach corner of Cuba.

Centuries of relative isolation gave Baracoa a cuisine distinct from the rest of Cuba, built around coconut and cacao rather than the pork-and-rice staples found elsewhere on the island — dishes like cucurucho (a coconut, honey and fruit cone wrapped in palm leaf) and cacao-based stews are specific to this corner of the country. Baracoa remains Cuba's centre of chocolate production, and a dedicated museum and factory near the town centre walks visitors through the process from cacao pod to finished bar, with tastings included — a genuinely different food experience from anywhere else in Cuba.

El Yunque, a flat-topped mountain rising sharply behind Baracoa, is visible from nearly everywhere in town and functions as the region's natural landmark and a popular half-day hike, rewarding the climb with views over the coast and surrounding forest. The wider region sits within the Cuchillas del Toa UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, genuine rainforest holding some of Cuba's richest biodiversity; boat trips up the Toa and Yumurí rivers reach dense forest largely inaccessible by road, and Playa Maguana, a short drive up the coast, gives Baracoa its own quiet, undeveloped beach.