Pinar del Río, about 40 minutes by bus or taxi, is the nearest city and makes a worthwhile half-day excursion. The main draw is the Fábrica de Tabacos Francisco Donatién, where you can watch skilled rollers hand-rolling cigars in a working factory — a very different experience from the farm visits in the valley. The factory is not touristic; it is simply the place where most of the region's cigar production happens.
The city also has some of the best-preserved 19th-century architecture in western Cuba: eclectic facades with neo-Moorish and neoclassical elements on the main streets. The Casa Garay distillery, producers of the Guayabita del Pinar liqueur (a unique local rum flavoured with wild guava), also offers visits.