DISCOVER CUBA ITINERARY:
Day 1, Thursday, August 2nd: |
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| Miami | Overnight: Miami |
| Arrive in Miami. Transfer via complimentary hotel shuttle to your Miami airport area hotel. Dinner is on your own. | |
Day 2, Friday, August 3rd: |
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| Miami - Cuba (L) | Overnight: Havana |
| Depart Miami on your short flight to Cuba. Upon arrival at Jose Marti International Airport in Cuba, meet your Cuban host and full time experienced bilingual tour guide. Enjoy a guided orientation tour of Cuba's capital city. We explore the Cathedral de la Havana, built in baroque style in 1748 and learn about its preservation and continuous restoration. Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier described the building as "music turned to stone", words that still ring true today in the local culture. Along the way we will stop to take a group photo at the Plaza de la Revolucion. See the Greek Orthodox Church and the Scale Model of the city of Havana. Enjoy an included lunch at the Havana Harbor Side Terrace, El Templete Restaurant. Next, visit the Museo Fine Arts and explore the beautiful Museo de la Revelucion that displays documents and artifacts telling the country's history. The
museum is housed in the former presidential palace which housed Cuba's leaders from the 1920s until 1959. This building offers beautiful architecture, and an interior that was designed by Tiffany's of New York. Later, visit La Marketa de Havana in Old Havana, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This is a collective association of small craft workers where you will meet local merchants and artists. The evening is at your leisure. |
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Day 3, Saturday, August 4th: |
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| Havana - Terrazas Region of Vinales - Havana (B,L,D) | Overnight: Havana |
| Travel to Las Terrazas region of Vinales. The western province of Pinar del Rio is known for its stunning scenery, a landscape of prehistoric looking flat-top mountains or "mogotes," tobacco plantations, caves and rivers. Visit Las Terrazas, a small cooperative village that was set up in the 1960s to be self-sufficient. We will tour its local village called Rancho Curujey to learn about the self sustain successes in reforestation, historian preservation, environmental balance and a good life. Next we meet with local artists and craft workers in their homes and studios. Later we'll walk the incredible ruins of a French coffee plantation built in 1801. Next, take a boat ride to see the Prehistoric Painted Caves. Enjoy lunch at a local restaurant before seeing local tobacco fields and the Cathedral Church in Vinales. Later in the day we will visit the San Lazaro Church in El Rincon. This famous church is named after San Lazaro, the Saint of the Poor. Thousands of Cubans make the journey here every year on Dec. 17 with some pilgrims making the trek barefoot or dragging stones behind them. The church is run by nuns in whom Che Guevera was instrumental in organizing. Dinner tonight is at the famous Patio Restaurant El Aijibe. | |
Day 4, Sunday, August 5th: |
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| Havana - Trinidad (B,L,D) | Overnight: Trinidad |
| After breakfast we leave Havana behind and depart to Trinidad. Along the way we will drive through the beautiful province of Cienfuegos, Cuba's "Pearl of the South." Enjoy lunch at a local restaurant en route. Arrive in Cienfuegos, founded in 1819 by French settlers and currently one of Cuba's newest cities offering harmonious architecture and urban planning. Begin with a panoramic overview of its Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and visit the lush, fragrant Botanical Garden. Visit the Jagua Castle, the fortress of Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles de Jagua, finished in 1745. It is a solid component of the military architecture of the 18th century in Cuba. In the afternoon we continue our journey to Trinidad and check into our hotel in Trinidad for a two-night stay.
Enjoy a welcome cocktail. After dinner, it's time to dust off your dancing shoes and learn from the locals to dance the Salsa. This famous genre is descended from Cuban son, but also borrows heavily from other styles, particularly American jazz. |
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Day 5, Monday, August 6th: |
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| Trinidad (B, L, D) | Overnight: Trinidad |
| Today, enjoy a walking tour of Trinidad de Cuba, one on the oldest cities founded by the Spaniards in the West Indies and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was established in 1514 on orders of the conquistador Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar who traveled to Cuba with Columbus in 1493. After lunch at the La Palacio del Villa Restaurant we visit the Plaza Mayor, Museum of, Museum of the Romantic Era, the main town parish and other amazing sites, some dating back centuries. We also visit a sugar plantation and the mirador lookout over the Sugar Mill Valley, also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here sugar barons constructed their opulent countryside mansions. | |
Day 6, Tuesday, August 7th: |
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| Trinidad - Playa Giron - Havana (B,L) | Overnight: Havana |
| Check out of your hotel and bid farewell to Trinidad. As we drive back to Havana, stop at the town of Playa Giron. Here we tour the Bay of Pigs Museum that tells the story of the invasion and the infamous battle. This coastal region was the site of the historical 1961 clash between the CIA trained Cuban exiles and rebel forces, the event that defined U.S. Cuban relations for decades. You will see many historical artifacts, including a Sea Fury fighter aircraft, photos and maps, which outline each step of the failed plan. Today, we also visit a local school/daycare. Later arrive in Havana for a three-night stay. | |
Day 7, Wednesday, August 8th: |
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| Havana - Hemingway Farm - Cojimar (B,L,D) | Overnight: Havana |
| Today you are introduced to the world of Ernest Hemingway, truly an iconic figure with a visit to Hemingway's Farm, Finca La Vigia or "Lookout Farm." This beautiful property hosts the house where the Nobel Prize winner Ernest Hemingway lived with his wife Martha for 21 years. View the perfectly preserved home with all of the Hemingway personal belongings intact. You may walk the grounds and climb the stairs for the panoramic view from his study or view his yacht the Pilar boat which he used to patrol for Nazis in the Caribbean waters and featured in his novel "Islands in the Stream." Next, visit the picturesque Cojimar Fishing Village made famous by Hemingway's novel "Old Man in the Sea" that garnered Hemingway a Pulitzer Prize in 1953 as well as the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. Enjoy lunch at Las Terrazas Restaurant overlooking the water with great views of the emerald green sea. Onwards we venture just a stone's throw from the Capital, into the Guanabacoa Region rich with religious diversity; the region is best known for Santeria. This village has some of the finest colonial churches where locals worship both Catholic and Santeria saints. Visit the Museo de Guana-bacoa of Santeria Orishas and see exhibits on the fascinating Afro-Cuban culture. Visit the Partagas Cigar Factory, one of the oldest cigar brands in the world, established in Havana in 1845. Learn about the manufacturing of fine Cuban cigars and interact with the factory workers about the history and process. Dinner tonight is at the Cafe del Oriente Restaurant in Old Havana, one of the finest places to go for dinner in all of Cuba. | |
Day 8, Thursday, August 9th: |
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| Havana - (B,L,D) | Overnight: Havana |
| Today, visit the Callejon de Hamel, a street in central Havana where cultural rescue and expansion has been expressed through art by the artist Salvadore Gonzalez. His murals and sculptures have taken over entire buildings and fascades. Meet with local artists to learn more about this art form. See the Colon Cemetery, founded in 1876 and famous for is elaborate sculptures. This afternoon explore the Morro Castle, built in 1589, it protects the mouth of the Havana harbor, and is a beautiful fortress. Next visit the Cuban Literacy Museum and learn about a national effort to educate rural farmers and
families. A Farewell Dinner this evening on the outside patio at the La Barraca Restaurant. Here we enjoy authentic traditional Cuban cuisine and lively music |
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Day 9, Friday, August 10th: |
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| Havana - USA (B) | |
| Following breakfast at the hotel this morning, transfer to the airport for your flight back home with incredible memories of the sights, history, people and culture of Cuba! | |
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