Terme de San Diego de los Banos

Termas de San Diego de los Baños in the Sierra del Rosario of Pinar del Río province is Cuba's most celebrated thermal resort — a facility with a documented history stretching to the 18th century, when the sulphurous springs at temperatures of 40–45°C became the preferred destination of Havana's colonial elite for rest and therapeutic bathing. The springs emerge from the limestone of the Sierra del Rosario UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, a landscape of extraordinary botanical diversity with over 900 plant species including the world's smallest bird, the bee hummingbird. The spa's colonial-era atmosphere, with its traditional Cuban architecture and unhurried pace, has survived the decades since the Revolution in a form recognisable to early 20th-century visitors. The Sierra del Rosario's magnificent cave systems (Cueva del Indio), tobacco plantations of the Vuelta Abajo (the world's finest tobacco-growing region) and the extraordinary biodiversity of the biosphere reserve make San Diego an exceptional complement to Havana-centred Cuban tourism.