Las Terrazas

The rural village is located in a mountain range build around a creek. As such the few roads are on separate levels and are therefore probably the origin of the name.
At the bottom of a village is a beautiful lake, surrounded by forest, reed and meadow, while the upper part of the village is dominated by Plattenbauten erected by the government to improve availability of housing.
The village is in easy day-trip distance from Havana, that’s why esp. on weekends and public holidays the village gets crowded with Cubans enjoying the lake and the booze. On these days the calm spirit gets lost and loud and drunk people may dominate the impression.

• Bus stationThe bus stop is inconveniently located at the northern lake which is a good kilometer to walk from Las Terrazas. There is a daily Viazul bus from Havana to Pinar del Rio continuing to Viñales that passes through Las Terrazas in the morning. The bus returns the same route in the afternoon.

A collectivo from Havana is likely 15 CUC per person (the taxi will continue with other passengers to Viñales) unless there’s at least four people going to Las Terrazas in which case it may be cheaper.

The town is easy to walk on foot. It's a good 1km to the bus station though.

• Coffee plantation ruinsThe ruins of the old coffee plantation where many slaves worked is now a beautiful garden. There’s a Casa del Campesino restaurant nearby.

• Rent a row-boatRow around Lago del San Juan and jump in the water if you feel like it as the Cubans do.

• Swim in the northern lakeHere’s where Cubans go for a swim. A water platform in the lake makes for extra fun. You can also rent row-boats and kayaks (2 CUC per hour).

Budget

There’s two restaurants catering mainly to Cubans:

• Unnamed RestaurantUpstairs is a restaurant serving basic creolian food as well as basic pasta. There’s also counter serving sandwiches and refreshments. Downstairs is a bar that also serves ice-cream.

• Unnamed RestaurantSlightly more expensive, but a great lakeside view, good food (esp. the fish) and great cocktails.

Mid-range

• El Romero RestaurantIncidentally this has the same menu as the La Berengena in Viñales. As such I assume they serve just a great vegetarian food.

Las Terrazas is a small village only and as such accommodation options are extremely limited, i.e. there’s only one hotel in the village.
There is not one official casa particular and while very a few people do rent out their house to foreigners, don't count on the availability of this and note that staying in non-official accommodation is illegal in Cuba.
There may be camping / bungalow options at the northern lake, but these probably also only cater to Cubans.

• Hotel MokaThe hotel rests on a wooded hillside overlooking the valley and small lake.

There’s no ETECSA office and in general no internet available.

• Soroa
• Viñales