Cienfuegos is the only city in Cuba that was founded by the French. As a result, it feels a little different than other Cuban cities, with wider streets.
There are two main areas of interest to tourists; Pueblo Nuevo , the city centre; and Punta Gorda , a peninsula with lots of 's homes. It's a nice place to visit for a day or two, but after that, you might run out of things to do. This last bus arrives from Varadero heading for Trinidad at noon, and arrives from Trinidad heading for Varadero at pm it is missing from the Viazul website. Travellers heading east and wishing to catch the am Viazul bus from Trinidad to Santiago de Cuba can sometimes arrange for an early morning minivan through Viazul.
Ask at the bus station. There are two trains that run from Havana : a very slow daytime train every second day that returns the following day, and a somewhat faster late-evening train every second day that operates via Matanzas and returns overnight. Trains may also leave for Santa Clara very early in the morning and return in the evening, and leave for Santa Clara and Sancti Spiritus in the afternoon, returning the following morning.
Check that the trains are running in advance. The airline is a charter. Both the centre and Punta Gorda are easy of walk around, but are about 3km apart. They are joined by Calle 37 del Prado , which runs by the sea. If you don't fancy walking, the principle public transportation is coches or horse-drawn carts that seat 6 or 8 people. They go up and down Calle El Lobo is the only name I remember, but there are a few others, which are in close proximity blocks apart.
Before Cienfuegos had a reputation for teenage prostitutes. Girls would skip school to go to the airport three times a week for the flights from Canada and meet Canadian men. Beginning in the police cracked down on prostitution and now Cienfuegos has a reputation for the most vigorous anti-prostitution police patrolling in Cuba and there are no longer flights from Canada.
