We will meet at the hotel in Miami for our pre-travel briefing. Discuss the details of the travel itinerary and receive your travel documents. Get all the details of the places to go and all the relevant information about your trip.

Early in the morning, we take our flight to Havana.

Havana, capital of the Republic, is the largest city in the country, its main port and its economic and cultural center. It is also known as Villa de San Cristobal de La Habana, founded in 1514 by Spanish conquistador Diego Velázquez de Cuellar as one of the first seven villages in Cuba. Its historic center was declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1982.

As we arrive at Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, we are welcomed by the guide and the driver who will accompany us on the tour.

We go on a panoramic tour of modern Havana with a stop at the Plaza de la Revolucion (Revolution Square). Here, we find the Monument to José Martí, el Maestro, one of the most important figures of Cuban history and leader in the independence war against Spain.

In Havana, we stay in highly comfortable rooms in private houses, located in the exclusive neighborhoods.

You will have the rest of the afternoon free to stroll around the city and you will have dinner on your own. Your guide will be happy to provide recommendations.

After breakfast we travel to the Valley of Viñales, 190 km from Havana. Here, a National Park of the same name has been declared a natural heritage site. The area has very fertile lands, where the famous Cuban tobacco is grown and harvested. Upon arriving, we make a stop at the Los Jazmines observation point, where one can take in the impressive views of the natural environment. We will have lunch at the restaurant Paladar Campestre “El Campesino.”

We will visit a tobacco grower, where we will enjoy a welcome cocktail and a cigar, along with important insight into the tobacco culture. We will get to know the process of the tobacco production and we will tour tobacco plantations on the farm.

People to People

Visit a tobacco farm and get to know its owners and employees. We will learn about their lifestyle and work.

Next, we visit the Mural of Prehistory, painted by contemporary artists and farmers on the side of a “mogote,” the rock formation typical of this Valley–a wooded hill 120 meters high. Then we go to La Cueva del Indio, a cave complex where we tour interesting geological formations and an underground gallery, with a stretch of subterraneous river that we navigate on powerboats.

Return to Havana.  Dine at a private restaurant in the city.

After breakfast, we tour the Historical Center of Old Havana, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO (1982). Visit the main plazas (squares): Plaza Vieja, Plaza de San Francisco de Asis, Plaza de Armas and Plaza de la Catedral. We will enjoy a coffee tasting at El Escorial and a visit to the Engraving Workshop “La Catedral” and the studio of painter Nelson Dominguez.

People to People

Meet the famous artist and his helpers, and receive a detailed explanation of his project.

Lunch at Restaurante “La Moneda Cubana” in La Habana Vieja (Old Havana)

Enjoy a scenic drive that will take you around the National Capitol (monumental work of the Twentieth Century and former home of the legislature in Cuba before 1959), the Gran Teatro de la Habana (a baroque architectural wonder that serves as the main house for the world-famous Cuban National Ballet), Parque Central, the Central Park and the Paseo del Prado (first walk outside the walls of the old city, which opened in the late eighteenth century and it is considered to be a true Cuban architectural jewel).

In the evening, dine at Restaurant “Rejoneo.”  You will be traveling to the restaurant in classic American cars of the 50s, going through emblematic areas of the city such as the Malecon and 5th Avenue, with its imposing mansions.

After breakfast, we travel to Cienfuegos.

Cienfuegos is known as “La Perla del Sur,” Pearl of the South, for its distinctive architecture full of French influence.

We will go through the city center, visiting the Teatro Tomas Terry,  a National Monument. This theater is one of the finest eclectic buildings of the city.

People to People

Visit the “Benny Moré” Conservatory. Spend time with students and alumni, and participate in demonstrations of their musical knowledge. Learn the details about art education in this institution.

After the Conservatory, we visit the Palacio de Valle, a former mansion of a wealthy citizen of Cienfuegos, which is one of the symbols of the city for its unusual architecture. It is located in the exclusive zone of Punta Gorda, surrounded by the waters of the beautiful bay. We have lunch at their restaurant.

Trinidad

After lunch, we travel to Trinidad.

This city is perhaps one of the best preserved colonial cities not only in Cuba but also in Latin America, and was inducted in the List of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in 1988.  It is next to the Valley of the Sugar Mills (Valle de los Ingenios),  an area where the Cuban sugar industry thrived in the mid-nineteenth century.

The sugar production, which enriched the owners of these mills in both Trinidad and the Valley, enabled them to build mansions and palaces that are now the pride of the Cuban culture.

We stay in private homes tonight.

Dinner t at the Paladar “El Dorado.”

Breakfast in the house.

We leave for a walking city tour in Trinidad.  Stroll through the historic center of the city with a visit to the Museum of Architecture, in an old house, which manifests the values, features and themes that characterized the development of local architectural culture during the colonial period. Visit a tobacco factory where we can see the handiwork of the workers who make the famous cigars.

Lunch at the Paladar Bella Trinidad. We also visit La Casa del Alfarero (The Potter’s House) represented by the Santander family, which has been in the field of ceramics for more than 100 years.

People to People

Share with those who work in all kinds of crafts, turning clay into works of art of all sizes and finishing them in an natural wood oven.

Special seafood dinner in the evening at Restaurant “El Galeon” in Casilda,” a fishing village just 3 km from the city, the ancient trading port for this area.

After breakfast, we travel to Havana, passing through the city of Santa Clara for a panoramic tour of the city center and visit to the memorial and final resting place of Che Guevara.

People to People
Visit to Los Luthiers musical workshop where you can appreciate the music performed on instruments that date from the eighteenth century. Enjoy an intimate view of the process of creating musical instruments.

Buffet Lunch at Los Caneyes.

Once in Havana, our accommodations will be in private homes.

Farewell dinner at the restaurant “Cafe Laurent.”