This distinctive, slate-blue building was built in 1838 for the wealthy del Junco family and since 1980 has housed a collection of artifacts, photographs, memorabilia and tools—some of them gruesome—chronicling the sugar and slave industries, on which the city's wealth was built. 

This museum is a perfectly preserved 19th-century natural-medicine pharmacy that looks out onto the Parque de Libertad through large stained glass windows. The pharmacy closed its doors in 1964, and has been preserved exactly as it was on that day, down to the huge, ornate cash register; the log book with handwritten recipes for each prescription; the rolls of brown paper to wrap the glass bottles that were individually filled and labeled; and the ceiling-high, handsome wood-and-glass cases holding hundreds of decorative porcelain jars. There are guided tours to the distillery behind the shop, where the pharmacists manufactured their world-famous trademark syrups and tonics. 

Canimar River is a Natural Park and a river, one of the deepest in Cuba, where you can sail and enjoy the exuberant vegetation and the rich fauna of the cliffs around it. The park invites visitors to enjoy its peaceful natural beauty with horse or boat rides or fishing and snorkeling excursions. The river flows into the bay of Matanzas next to the Morrillo Castle, built in 1720.

Monserrat Heights is a pleasant park that's also the site of La Ermita de Monserrat, a handsome, Colonial-Spanish style church. Built in 1875, the church is a shrine to the patron saint of Catalonians who immigrated to Cuba. This viewpoint has a spectacular view of the city and the bay, and the opposite direction is of the Yumuri River valley. There is also a snack bar in the park where you can refresh yourself.