I returned to Varadero in January 2014 to visit the Varadero City Museum. Some of you may know that Varadero has been a tourism destination since the 19th century with numerous upgraded hotels, holiday facilities and tourist promotions. In January 2014 I visited the Varadero Municipal Museum. The museum is an attraction you simply can’t afford to miss while in town. At just 1 CUC entrance fee, it’s worth your time and money and offers incredible insight into how Varadero turned from being a sandy peninsula on Cuba´s north coast to the mega resort it is today. There’s a small cafe inside and drinks and refreshments for sale in the main entrance (see photo). The Varadero Museum is easily accessible from all Varadero Hotels and is situated in the downtown area. Its also right next to the Varadero Car Rental office on 30th street so, if you’re picking up or dropping of your rent a car in Varadero then to kill some time its just a few minutes walk away.

I visited the two story wooden facility which displays an in depth history of Varadero and how it’s grown over these decades. I met the curator of the museum who informed me that it is one of the most recent tourism elements added to the many Varadero attractions and covers the 3 some decades from the late 70´s until today. It doesn’t only tell you all about the history of Varadero but also shows you images of development since the beginning until the present day. The museum has the furniture antiques of the past and also old maps which are also known as the first cartographic samples of the 16th century. It holds the history of the original peninsula of Hicacos, official documents and indigenous petro glyphs found in caves in the Matanzas region.

Old maps of the peninsula of Hicacos can be found in the halls of the building and also, pictographic reproductions of indigenous people found in the caves, you will also see some original documents of the history of Varadero. This Varadero centered museum exhibits several artifacts and information narrating the history of Varadero, these includes maps, personal effects, testimonials, documents and objects of historic importance, patriotic and significant figures that helped shape and build this city, they are all displayed inside the small unassuming wooden building of museum. If you are not enthralled by the contents of this Museum of Varadero, the architecture of the building should be enough for you to want to visit. The buildings architecture is based on vibrant colors of antique wood and other materials from tropical gardens; you can just admire the traditional architectural style the building was designed in.

After paying my insignificant 1CUC for entrance I was allowed to enter the Varadero Museum located on Calle 57 y Playa Varadero, Matanzas. Opening times are Tuesday through Saturday from 10.am till 5.pm. The photos that can be taken from the windows of Varadero museum are worth 1 CUC by themselves, the view is idyllic being an amazing seascape. The central location makes it one of the easiest and most interesting, fun places to visit while in town. It is situated just right of the beach and then next to the building is a small Cuban paladar restaurant which will feature in my next Varadero review. Honestly, if you get a chance to visit this Varadero museum, then it’s honestly worth the time to give you an idea how Varadero has evolved over the decades.