Matanzas is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas. Known for its poets, culture, and Afro-Cuban folklore, it is located on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, on the Bay of Matanzas, 90 kilometres (56 mi) east of the capital Havana and 32 kilometres (20 mi) west of the resort town of Varadero.
Matanzas is called the City of Bridges, for the seventeen bridges that cross the three rivers that traverse the city (Rio Yumuri, San Juan, and Canimar). For this reason it was referred to as the "Venice of Cuba." It was also called "La Atenas de Cuba" ("The Athens of Cuba") for its poets.
Matanzas is known as the birthplace of the music and dance traditions danzón and rumba.
The trip that Max planned for us kept our relative travel inexperience in mind. It gave us sufficient variety in terms of locales and points of interest to make the trip navigable yet interesting and at the same time, comfortable and relatively stress-free. As a long experienced traveller himself, he chose our hotel locations well so as to have many points of interest in each of our destinations well accessible. We were able to see and experience many points of interest in each city we found ourselves in without having to depend on taxi or transit services. We walked a great deal as was our choice. Intercity travel had some challenges but this was entirely out of Max’s control. We were able to get to where we needed to be without significant disruption. Overall, Max’s experience as a seasoned traveller himself served us in good stead. We had a well thought out itinerary and had a wonderful experience.
