The Vuelta Abajo region, stretching west and south of Pinar del Río city, is the reason the province exists on the traveler's map. This is where Cuba's best tobacco grows — the raw material for Cohiba, Montecristo, and the other Havanas that have been sought after by smokers for centuries. The red-earth fields and thatched drying barns are one of the iconic sights of western Cuba.
You can drive through the tobacco country easily on your own, stopping at farms to watch the work — leaf sorting, hanging in the barns, the whole careful process that takes a year from planting to finished wrapper leaf. The municipality of San Juan y Martínez, about 20 kilometres southwest of Pinar del Río city, is considered the heart of the finest growing land. Farmers are generally open to visitors, and many will roll a cigar for you on the spot, though the transaction is cash-only and operates outside the official export receipt system.