The Cuban capital, the major tourist region of the largest Antillean Island, offers visitors a wide range of options for leisure, based on sun and beach programs, history, culture and nature.

In the latter modality, which is highly demanded by foreign vacationers, the city takes advantage of the National Botanic Garden of Cuba, which is considered a real tropical paradise on the Island.

The development of that site began in 1968, and the garden opened in 1994, covering 600 hectares, which are divided into geographical zones, special collections, exhibition halls, and recreational areas.

As part of the garden, 120 hectares are devoted to exhibit a representation of seven primary plant formations of plains and hills in Cuba, including coastal vegetation, dry mountains, forests, "mogotes" (round-top hills), palm trees, eastern Cuba forests and serpentine vegetation.

The garden also has an area devoted to tropical collections from Australia, Oceania, Asia, Africa, South America, Central America, the Antilles and Mexico.

The park's natural treasure includes live collections of over 4,000 species, as well as indoor facilities to exhibit different environments such as deserts, semi-deserts and tropical rainforests.

The facility also boasts the so-called Japanese Garden, which covers five hectares and is planted with vegetation from that Asian country.

That peculiar area also has a beautiful waterfall that can be watched from a lookout or from a tiled-floor terrace on the edge of the lake, which is inhabited by multicolor carps brought from Japan.

Another facility within the Botanic Garden is the ecological restaurant "El Bambú", which offers dozens of vegetable dishes, seasoned with aromatic plants cultivated on the site, and honey produced in local beehives.

The restaurant's gastronomic offer includes soups, sun-baked dishes, salads, typical desserts, natural juices and infusions, and fruit and honey ice creams.

Cuban traditional dishes and excellent tropical drinks and juices, made of fruit cultivated in the Botanic Garden, can be tasted at "El Ranchón" restaurant.

Research is a priority in the Botanic Garden's scientific residence, with excellent conditions to accommodate those who visit the facility for scientific purposes.

For all this, the National Botanic Garden of Cuba is a natural option that complements the many attractions of the Cuban capital, which has a centuries-old history and highlights the tourist potential of a city of over two million inhabitants, and visited by thousands of foreign vacationers every year.