Pinar del Río city is compact and easy to explore in a day. The main sights are clustered around Calle Martí, the arcaded central boulevard where the Cathedral of San Rosendo and the Museo Provincial de Historia face each other across the street. The Fábrica de Tabacos Francisco Donatién offers one of the better cigar factory tours outside Havana and sells properly certified export cigars.
But the real draw is outside the city. The Vuelta Abajo tobacco region stretches south and west — red-earth fields and thatched drying barns that produce what many consider the world's finest cigar tobacco. A drive through San Juan y Martínez lets you visit working farms and watch the leaf being prepared. And Viñales, 25 kilometres north, is one of the most beautiful valleys in Cuba — worth at least a full day.