10 Days / 9 Nights
Havana – Las Terrazas – Viñales – Santa Clara – Cienfuegos – Trinidad
Day 1: Arrival in Havana
Upon arrival, your guide will escort you to your private transport and hotel for check-in. Once settled in, enjoy pre-dinner cocktails, dinner, and a lively musical night with young, emerging jazz musicians.
Day 2: Havana – Cocktails and Dance
Discover Havana’s most-loved spots on your second day. Tour the streets in an open-top vintage car for a ‘Hemingway experience’. Follow in the footsteps of the famed late writer and explore some of his favourite places in the city. Then, after a delightful lunch, visit Havana’s largest crafts market, set in a 19th century shipping warehouse. Next, head to another Hemingway-chosen bar for a cocktail, followed by a Spanish-Cuban fusion dinner. End the night dancing away at a popular club-style restaurant.
Day 3: Havana – Art and Culture
Begin the day with a visit to a special contemporary dance academy. Watch a dance rehearsal of a genre unique to Cuba, and enjoy privileged conversations with the dancers about their experiences and careers. Indulge in lunch in a uniquely-decorated restaurant (film-lovers will particularly enjoy the setting) and then head out for a curated art tour and visit the homes and studios of three visual artists. End the day with a delectable, cosy dinner and a stroll along the city’s most famous promenade.
Day 4: Havana – Las Terrazas Community – Viñales
Today offers something truly unique with a visit to the pioneering ecovillage of Las Terrazas, which dates back to a reforestation project in 1968. In this UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, you can explore stunning natural surroundings and a vibrant art community. Enjoy lunch here and a swim in one of the area’s idyllic natural pools. Afterwards, continue onwards to Viñales, check in to your boutique accommodation and enjoy dinner with a view.
Day 5: Viñales
Spend the day exploring the incredible Viñales Valley. Admire the limestone hills that dot the landscape while on horseback, visit a tobacco-growing farm and learn about the production process, and hike through and investigate the second-largest cavern system in the Americas at the Santo Tomas Caves. Lunch is included, but dinner is enjoyed on own arrangement.
Day 6: Viñales – Havana – Cienfuegos
Drive back to Havana and spend the morning learning about farm-to-table processes in and around the city, and enjoy lunch in its first farm-to-table restaurant. Next, drive to Cienfuegos, where you will check in to your hotel for the night, enjoy dinner in a ranchon-style restaurant, and stroll along the city’s promenade (if you choose).
Day 7: Cienfuegos
Spend the morning exploring Cienfuegos on a walking tour. Known as “The Southern Pearl” and beautifully-set on a natural bay, Cienfuegos boasts neoclassical buildings, a New Orleans influence, and the historic castle of Our Lady of Angels of Jagua. After lunch with a view, delight in a recital by one of Cuba’s best, award-winning choirs. At the end of the day, sit down for dinner in a nostalgic, Cuban cuisine restaurant. If you still have the energy, party the night away with locals at a club afterwards.
Day 8: Trinidad – Day Experience
Discover what makes Trinidad a UNESCO-worthy site on a beautiful morning walking tour, and visit an old sugar plantation estate. Enjoy lunch in a restaurant resembling a museum, and then head out for a 10-kilometre bicycle ride to the breathtaking Playa Ancon beach. Enjoy the day on this ribbon of white sand on the warm Caribbean shoreline. After the relaxing excursion, drive back to Cienfuegos and enjoy dinner at your own arrangement.
Day 9: Cienfuegos – Santa Clara – Havana
Wave goodbye to Cienfuegos as you make your way to dynamic Santa Clara. The geographic centre of Cuba, Santa Clara is rich in colonial but especially revolutionary history, yet remains modern with its cultural flare and LGBTQIA+ friendly atmosphere. After lunch here, drive back to Havana, check in to your luxury accommodation and spend the afternoon at leisure. End your last day of activities with a charming dinner and delight in a sultry jam session at one of Buena Vista Social Club’s venues.
Day 10: Havana – Departure
Enjoy breakfast and morning at leisure (depending on flight schedule). Check out of your accommodation and take a private transfer to Havana’s Jose Marti International Airport.
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and stay at the forefront of new product offerings, Discova behind-the-scenes, destination news, travel trends and thought leadership articles from our on-the-ground experts.