jardin botanico soledad de cienfuegos

Our guide was wonderfully engaging and impressive in the depth of her knowledge. Her genuine interest in her work and her love of the plants and birds here were very touching.The tour is short and I would have liked to see more of the property.

We only had 45 mins here as part of a group tour, but Roger our guide to the gardens made a great effort to give us a good taste of this fabulous place. We were introduced to native and introduced tree species, learned a little about the history of the gardens - and the problems they face - plus the development of agriculture in Cuba. We also saw many birds for such a short visit.I should imagine we could easily have spent a good half day here if the opportunity had arisen.

We arrived not knowing what to expect and were very pleasantly surprised. Entrance is 10 CUC ( 1CUC = 1 USD) . This gets you a guide also ( you can tip if you want) Yes, there are no manicured lawns ( hey, this is Cuba after all) I walked around in sandals and shorts and had no issues. No mosquitoes for us, since we were here in the dry season. Our guide, Tania, was extremely knowledgable, not only about the plants but birds as well. Plans, bamboo and larger trees are the focus here, but it is so large that we enjoyed seeing many species of flowers also.

We know a little about botany, but really expanded our knowledge on a walk with enthusiastic naturalist Aramis. He has bird calls on his cell phone, and he can dial them up. No lie. Also a nice little book store and a good place for coffee

Hire a guide! For 10 CUC you get a guided tour of 1 hour and if you go there on your own, you are missing out on a lot of qualified info. Our guide, Hermes, was really nice and knew everything about the birds and the trees.

We visited with our 3 year while driving ourselves from Cienfuegos to Trinidad and the Botanical gardens made an interesting stop off. It was not like any botanical garden we had visited before - there are no lawns or flower beds and not even many flowers. The emphasis is on bamboo and ferns and it is rather untamed. We were approached by a guide as soon as we arrived and felt slightly irritated that we were obliged to take a guided tour. However he turned out to be very informative bringing the place to life in way we'd have missed if exploring on our own. We saw butterflies, birds and lizards which he was also knowledgeable about. The paths are definitely not pushchair or wheelchair friendly and we recommend wearing sturdy shoes. The cafe was basic but good for a cold drink.

This was a bit wilder than we had bargained for and I would recommend wearing enclosed footwear. The garden is not the neat and tidy kind but has some amazing specimens of all kinds of palms and huge bamboo groves. There is a smallish cool greenhouse with some nice plants in. There is a bar and shop and you can get guided tours (we did it alone).

We visited on afternoon of 14th December 2014 and enjoyed a calm walk in these intriguing gardens, we had arrived by taxi and did not arrange for a guide but, as the Rough Guide advises, you can have a lovely time just wandering and taking in the ambience without being bombarded by information. Comments below regarding lack of labels on plants may arise because a very subtle label made of a sliver of bamboo is often attached to trees, easy to miss but enough detail for me when I got the hang of it, I may even apply this method to my garden in Scotland (where I also have bamboo growing). So I had just embarked on a discussion on endangered birds with one of the workers in the modest display cabin in my faltering Spanish when my impatient companions summoned me back to the taxi, we left too soon (but we did make it for a wonderful sunset at Playa Rancho Luna nearby).

You must have a guide to visit the grounds if not you will miss the whole experience. They speak very good English. This is a very interesting place. We have been here many times alone or with family members. you can bring a picnic along and have it on the grounds.There is variety of plants and trees from all over the world here.

Arrived with a private guide and there were coach loads everywhere and no english guides to be had - left soon afterwards to apply the antihystamine!

So the cigar factory tour was off the tour because it was a Sunday. Drat, not happy, because you come to Cuba to see cigars. But even though my dream had done up in smoke, the substitute visit to the Botanical gardens was a really good substitute and frankly who wants to see tobacco leaves rolled on a beautiful maidens thigh anyway?Roger the guide was a lovely man. Full of knowledge, delivered in a passionate way. We were shown a wide variety of trees from around the World, plus were lucky enough to see beautiful Hummingbirds and other birds. A real treat even if some members of our group were bitten to death by blood sucking mosquitos.

The botanical garden is beautiful, but not really a 'garden'. A jungle is more like it. We were wearing shorts and slippers and could not really walk around. I wish we would have worn long trousers, decent shoes and brought some insect-repellent.

Most plants and trees were imported from other countries. Native varieties to Cuba were fewer than I would have hoped for.

Suffice it to say that on a blazingly hot day the guide managed to keep 3 potentially grumpy teenagers engaged, interested and even amused for a good couple of hours. A lovely relaxing walk in te shade with excellent knowledgable guide and a handy bar at the end

We drove to this Jardin as it had been recommended by a few people. I must have missed something, as it was like walking in an overgrown wood - except that they are palms. Didn't see one flower - well almost. Hard underfoot, unless you stick to the path. You can wander for miles, so maybe it would have been good for a picnic - but it's just too hot for this sort of thing, for me anyway. Man washed our car whilst we were walking (tip expected of course :) Still had a nice time there though.