Cuba · Provincia de Matanzas
Where to Stay in Matanzas, Provincia de Matanzas
Matanzas, the City of Bridges, stands on the Bay of Matanzas on the northern shore of Cuba, a provincial capital of three rivers east of Havana.
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Where to stay in Matanzas
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The bridges decide the walk. Rooms in the centre of Matanzas sit among the river crossings, within reach of the Museo Historico Provincial de Matanzas, the Museo de Arte de Matanzas, and the Galería Pedro Esquerré, which together make a compact day on foot. Three rivers cut the city.
A room here suits you if the museums, the crossings, and a provincial capital's ordinary streets are the point rather than a beach. Nothing in the centre stands far from a bridge, and the collections sit close enough together that one unhurried afternoon covers all three of them. Out toward the water, San Severino Castle holds the shore, and beds on that side trade the crossings for the open Bay of Matanzas and the fort's ground.
Varadero is 32 kilometres away. Anyone staying in Matanzas for the resort accepts a short run along the coast in exchange for a town with museums of its own and the Victoria de Girón Stadium at its edge. Havana sits 102 kilometres west, which puts the city within reach of both the capital and the resort without being either of them.
About Matanzas
Bridges give the city its name.
What is Matanzas known for?
Matanzas is built across three rivers and crosses them so often that the name City of Bridges stuck, while the Bay of Matanzas fronts the whole arrangement and the town keeps a standing reputation for its poets and for Afro-Cuban folklore. San Severino Castle holds the bay. Varadero lies 32 kilometres off, which leaves Matanzas the closest town to the resort and a working counterweight to it.
What are the main landmarks in Matanzas?
San Severino Castle is the oldest name on the list. The fort stands over the Bay of Matanzas, and inland from it the city keeps three collections, the Museo Historico Provincial de Matanzas for the record of the province, the Museo de Arte de Matanzas for its art, and the Galería Pedro Esquerré alongside them. A stadium follows the museums.
Victoria de Girón Stadium draws the crowds the museums do not, while the bridges over the three rivers remain the emblem the city is named for.
What is the history of Matanzas?
The founding year is 1693. Matanzas begins on the Bay of Matanzas, on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, and a sheltered bay 102 kilometres from Havana was reason enough for a town and, in time, for the fort set to watch it. San Severino Castle came for the bay.
Defence and trade shaped the early city, and the three rivers running through it fixed the pattern of quarters and crossings that the name City of Bridges later recorded. The water did the rest. Culture followed.
The city built a name for its poets and for Afro-Cuban folklore, and that standing is why a provincial capital of this size carries the Museo de Arte de Matanzas, the Galería Pedro Esquerré, and the Museo Historico Provincial de Matanzas at once. Varadero lies 32 kilometres along the coast, and the resort's presence left Matanzas as the closest town to it, a working city beside a holiday one. The Victoria de Girón Stadium belongs to the later city.
Through all of it the bay and the rivers stayed the fixed points, and the bridges kept being built across them.
Where is Matanzas?
Three rivers reach the bay. Matanzas stands on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, where those rivers come down to the Bay of Matanzas, and the municipality spreads across roughly 317 square kilometres of that coastal ground. Havana lies 102 kilometres west.
Varadero is much nearer, 32 kilometres along the same shore.
What is the climate of Matanzas?
The bay does the cooling. Matanzas sits in the tropics on the northern shore of the island, so air off the Bay of Matanzas takes the edge from afternoons that would otherwise sit heavier, and the rain keeps to its season instead of falling through the year. Humid months come.
Shade stays close to the water.
How do you get to Matanzas?
Varadero is 32 kilometres off. The coast road along the northern shore ties Matanzas to the resort in one direction and to Havana, 102 kilometres away, in the other, which makes the city an easy stop rather than a detour. Buses use that same road.
Once across the first bridge, the museums of the centre lie a walk apart.
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Updated August 2026