Cuba - a portrait of an island
A highlights tour of the Caribbean’s largest island
Discover the rhythms of Cuba’s lively culture, natural beauty, revolutionary history and colonial heritage on this cross-island tour. Choose to travel in the company of a private guide and driver or, for the more adventurous, hire a car and enjoy the flexibility to travel around Cuba at your own pace.
4 nights Havana • 1 night Cienfuegos • 1 night Trinidad • 1 night Camagüey • 2 nights Santiago • 1 night Baracoa • 1 night Havana
Day 1: Havana
Upon arrival in Cuba’s capital you’ll be met and transferred to your hotel in Old Havana.
Day 2: Havana
A visit to one of Havana’s famous tobacco factories is followed by a panoramic tour that reveals Havana, the Caribbean’s largest and most vivacious city. You’ll find American Chevvies, faded Spanish buildings, revolutionary squares and city-wide murals of Castro and Guevara - drive along the Malecón to Revolution Square and stroll through Old Havana’s narrow alleyways. In the evening transfer in a classic 50s car along the Quinta Avenida to dinner in the upper class residential area of Miramar.
Day 3: Viñales
Drive along the ‘Tobacco Route’ to Pinar del Rio. Visit the house of a Veguero (tobacco farmer) and take a short photo stop at Mirador Los Jazmines which overlooks the beautiful Viñales Valley - famous for its limestone formations, Mogotes. Visit the "Prehistoric Wall" and discover an Indian cave by boat before heading back to Havana.
Day 4: Hemingway’s Havana
Visit to Hemingway’s former residence Finca Vigia and the fisherman’s village Cojimar, backdrop of Hemingway’s Nobel Prize winning novel "The Old Man and the Sea". Lunch at Hemingway’s favourite restaurant ‘La Terraza’ and have a ‘Papa’ Hemingway’s famous Daiquiri creation in the author’s old haunt "La Floridita". On Sundays this tour is replaced by a trip on the nostalgic 1920’s Hershey Train.
Day 5: Cienfuegos
Travel via the notorious Bay of Pigs to Cienfuegos, settled by the French in the early 19th century. Their influence can still be seen in the wide boulevards and gracious colonial buildings.
Day 6: Trinidad
In the morning, head to Santa Clara to see the Che Guevara Monument. Continue to Trinidad - a UNESCO World Heritage site with unique colonial architecture. Enjoy a walking tour through the main square passing mansions of former sugar barons and visit the Romantic Museum at Palacio Brunet.
Day 7: Camagüey
Head to Sugar Mill Valley and visit the hacienda of the sugar baron Iznaga with its slave tower. Continue through the green sugar cane plantations to the provincial capital Camagüey, city of the "Tinajones".
Day 8: Santiago
Travel to Bayamo where the fight for freedom from the Spanish crown began, the pilgrim´s church El Cobre in the Sierra Maestra mountains and on to Santiago, a melting pot of different cultures.
Day 9: Santiago
A walking tour will highlight the major sights including Parque Cespedes, Carnival Museum and Casa Velasquez. Visit the cemetery Santa Ifigenia as well as Revolution Square and the Moncada barracks attacked by Fidel Castro in 1953. Take a ferry to the island of Cayo Granma in the Bay of Santiago for lunch followed by a visit to the fortress El Morro.
Day 10: Baracoa
It’s an early start for the trip to the city of Guantanamo (a stronghold of the Afro-Cuban Santeria and Haitian Voodoo cult), continue through a desert-like cactus landscape over scenic green mountains via the breathtaking La Farola Pass to Baracoa, where Columbus once landed. Visit the Matachin museum and enjoy a walking tour of the old colonial town, including a visit to the cathedral Nuestra Senora de Asuncion.
Day 11: Baracoa
Discover the tropical region surrounding Baracoa on a morning tour and enjoy a boat tour on the Rio Toa before continuing along a winding and bumpy coastal road towards Moa and Holguin or back over the mountain pass La Farola to Santiago for an evening flight back to Havana.
Day 12: Depart
Time for last-minute sightseeing or shopping before heading to the airport for your flight back to the UK.
More Cuba tours
Click here for our 7-day Best of Central & Western Cuba tour designed to showcase the country’s colonial roots and unspoilt landscapes. An adventure that will take you from Havana to the picturesque valley of Viñales, historic Cienfuegos, charming Trinidad and flowery beach paradise of idyllic Cayo Las Brujas.
Prices from
Self-drive prices from: £1,695 - £2,695 per person.
Private guided tour prices from: £3,295 - £4,195 per person.
Valid for travel: 01 November 2011 - 31 October 2012.
Includes: 11 nights B&B accommodation, transfers, domestic and international flights (self-drive includes car rental with a self-drive information pack - excursions are additional. Private guided tour offers the services of a driver and English speaking guide as well as additional meals and excursions as mentioned in the itinerary above).
Terms & Conditions: Prices are approximate based on low & high season and two people sharing a twin/double room. For a tailored up-to-the-minute quotation, call one of our Cuba specialists today.
To book, call 0845 643 6548
To book this travel offer, call one of our tailor-made travel experts now, quoting reference WEX102487.
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