Classic Cuba Escorted Journey.

Upon arrival, you will be met at the airport and transferred to our hotel in the heart of an attractive corner of Old Havana. We will enjoy a welcome dinner and live music together this evening.

After breakfast at the hotel, we check out and move on to visit our first Cuban UNESCO World Heritage Site at Viñales. Our first stop of the day will be at Las Jasmines to view the Viñales valley. Viñales is a small town in the Pinar del Rio province and is the centre of the tobacco growing region of Cuba. After lunch, we will tour the tobacco plantations in the valley, enjoying a gentle hike in the fields with a local guide. We will have the opportunity to visit the heart of this lush countryside, listening to an explanation of the history of tobacco growing as we walk. We will see tobacco plantations where farmers still plough with oxen, the famous drying houses and get a real feel for how cigars are made. We will check in to our hotel before dinner at a local restaurant.

Viñales to Havana Today we will take the opportunity for some birdwatching and gentle hiking in the Viñales valley. We explore the unique geology and nature of the region with a trip on an underground river, an exploration of caves and take in the beautiful scenery of the famous Mogotes, the unusual, isolated and steep-sided hills. There will be a coffee break picnic with hot drinks and pastries. Lunch will be at a local paladar before we return to Havana and spend the evening at leisure.

After breakfast, we will enjoy a walking tour of Habana Vieja, or Old Havana, with an expert guide offering insightful history along the way. We walk in the footsteps of Havana´s colonial past, touring the 4 plazas that make up the second UNESCO world heritage site on this Cuban tour. After lunch, we will enjoy a second tour which takes us further around the city for panoramic views from El Morro, the fortress at the mouth of Havana Harbour, the Malecon, Prado, the impressive Bacardi building and Revolution Square. Our guide will teach us more about the Cuban Revolution in its historical setting. Tonight we are invited to pre-dinner cocktails and an exchange with Miguel Coyula, the Cuban filmmaker and writer. WE also have dinner reservations at San Cristobal and before we return to our hotel for the evening, there is the opportunity to enjoy live music at the home of a Cuban musician.

This morning we will enjoy a 1950s themed Hemingway tour in classic American cars. We will see some of the locations that inspired Hemingway in his work and his Cuban home. The house is exactly as Hemingway left it in 1960 with hundreds of personal belongings, a large swimming pool, the Wheeler boat Hemingway used to fish and much more. We will take morning coffee in Hotel Nacional. After lunch, the afternoon will be spent at leisure. Then there is an offer of hair and make-up for the ladies or a wet shave for the men to make sure you’re all dressed for dinner this evening. Bring along your best 1950s-inspired outfit, let the make-up ladies and hairdressers finish your look and continue the theme for the day by dressing extravagantly for dinner.

After breakfast, this morning we will check out of our hotel and depart for Trinidad. Lunch will be in Cienfuegos at a local paladar. Here we also enjoy a city tour, including the famous Teatro Tomas Terry, a theatre opened in 1895 and still open as a major cultural venue. There will be a short shopping opportunity in the local markets around the boulevard before continuing our journey. On arrival in Trinidad, we will check-in and enjoy sunset cocktails and music in the hotel before dinner. We will visit the town for dinner and those who wish to will be able to enjoy live music at Casa de la Musica afterwards.

Today we enjoy a panoramic walking tour of Trinidad, the third UNESCO world heritage site on this Cuban tour. Our local expert guide will talk us through the history of the town by visiting its architectural high points and give some insight into Trinidad’s complex history both from the colonial period and in the years after the revolution. Wear comfortable shoes; although quaint, the cobbled streets are not for heels! We will enjoy lunch together before spending the afternoon at leisure to enable you to explore the colonial town at your own pace. There will be maps available for everyone. There will also be a salsa lesson with professional instructors at the hotel this afternoon for anyone who wishes to attend. This evening, dinner will be at the hotel.

Today’s tour takes us to what is known in English as ‘The Valley of the Sugar Mills’, a series of three interconnected valleys about 7 miles outside Trinidad. This was once a major centre for sugar production, from the late 18th century until the late 19th century. At the peak of the industry in Cuba there were more than 50 mills in operation in the three valleys region, with over 30,000 slaves working in the mills and on the plantations in this area. Our tour with a local guide will include a visit to a former slave house and we will have an opportunity to cut sugar cane. We will take a coffee break in former homes of slave plantation workers before lunch in the small port of Casilda. The afternoon will be spent at leisure with an option to visit Playa Ancon Beach. Dinner this evening will be at a local restaurant. This evening we will also enjoy a private performance of an Afro-Cuban folklore show.

Today we will check out of our hotel in Trinidad and make our way back to Havana. On the way, we will make a stop off in Santa Clara Visit to Che Guevera Memorial. Santa Clara was chosen as the location of this memorial in remembrance of Guevara's troops taking the city on December 31, 1958. The Battle of Santa Clara was the final battle of the Cuban revolution and was where the Cuban dictator Batista was finally forced into exile. The memorial houses the remains of Che Guevera and 29 of his comrades, all of whom were buried with full military honours and who remain Cuban national heroes today. The eternal flame here was lit by Fidel Castro himself in their memory. We will have lunch here before continuing to Havana. Our farewell dinner this evening is to be held in a private venue with live Cuban music and will be prepared by Cuba's only Michelin star chef.

Today you will check out of the hotel and be transferred back to Havana airport to catch our return flights to London Heathrow.