Comprehensive Cuba Group Tour: Cuba in Your Hands
Your Tour:
15 nights
16 days
26 meals
Up to 4 miles / day
Tour overview
Program activities, schedules and personnel may change due to local circumstances.
In such an event, we will alert you as quickly as possible.
Day by Day
Day 1
Overnight: Havana
The tour coordinator will greet everyone, and we will review the program schedule, emergency procedures and answer questions. After orientation we will set out with our tour coordinator to take a walk and explore the area around the hotel. At a restaurant, we will enjoy a welcome dinner with a delicious set menu.
Day 2
Overnight: Santiago de Cuba
Breakfast at the Hotel. We will depart to Santiago de Cuba by plane in a domestic flight that takes about 2 hours. In this bustling city we will find the richest cultural mix and historical background with an enormous influence of Haití or Jamaica. After check-in at Casas Particulares, private guest houses with all amenities which contribute to the local economy, we will meet a local expert who will lead our walking tour around the area discovering the main points of interest in Santiago. We will enjoy a delicious menu at a Paladar private restaurant while we enjoy a vibrant live music show.
Day 3
Overnight: Santiago de Cuba
Breakfast at Casa Particular. We will depart to the Basilica of Our Lady of Copper located on the top of a hillside next to an old copper mine. This Sanctuary holds the patron saint of the nation, The Virgin of the Charity, the most worshiped in Cuba. Afterwards we will continue to Santa Iphigenia Cemetery where we can find the graves of historical figures such as José Martí, Fidel Castro, Emilio Bacardí Moreau or Compay Segundo.
For lunch time, we will continue to San Pedro de la Roca del Morro Fortess, declared UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997, originally built to defend the city against pirate attacks. There we will enjoy a delicious set menu at a local restaurant. We will finish the visit with an expert-led tour around this fortress and the impressive views that can be enjoyed from the upper terrace where you can see part of the east coast and Sierra Maestra at the back.
Day 4
Overnight: Camagüey
Breakfast at Casa Particular. We will depart towards Camagüey, the third largest town in Cuba, World Heritage Site by UNESCO with a peculiar labyrinthine layout which harbor squares with formidable baroque churches. We will discover this fascinating urban section of the town by horse-drawn carriages.
Day 5
Overnight: Camagüey
Breakfast at Casa Particular. We will visit the Museum Birth House of Ignacio Agramonte, an independence hero rancher who led the riot against Spain. Afterwards, we will head towards the Camagüey Ballet Headquarters, founded in the revolutionary period and becoming the first project of classical dance in Cuba. Since then, it has not stopped having great international success.
Day 6
Overnight: Trinidad
Breakfast at Casa Particular. We will depart to Trinidad, Cuba’s finest colonial town founded in 1514, UNESCO World Heritage Site. The town was built thanks to the success of the sugar industry from the beginning of the XIX century produced near the Ingenio Valley. We will visit downtown discovering its architectural value.
For dinner, we will enjoy a complete home-made food at Casas Particulares.
At night, we will assist a live music and dance show at the Escalinata music house.
Day 7
Overnight: Trinidad
Breakfast at Casa Particular. We will depart to The Ingenio valley, located 5 miles from Trinidad, the place where the Ingenios (sugar factory) settled, becoming the epicenter of the sugar industry in Cuba during the XIX century. The first stop will be at The Ingenio Valley lookout where you can enjoy a panoramic view of the valley which is now a World Heritage Site. You will learn about Cuba’s sugar industry through the many old sugar cane mills, plantation houses, and barracks. Afterwards, we’ll visit San Isidro de los Destiladeros, probably the last example of the many archaeological sites found in the valley. Finally, we’ll visit Manaca-Iznaga town with its famous Tower and local artisans.
Optional: Climb the Manaca Iznaga Tower, old vigilance tower used to control slaves where you can also enjoy amazing views.
After lunch, we will visit a local pottery workshop where artisans produce classical pieces that characterize the city of Trinidad.
Day 8
Overnight: Santa María
Breakfast at Casa Particular. We will depart by private bus towards North Cay Santa Maria, located at Buenavista Biosphere Reserve. It’s considered one of the most important places for the economy of the island. We will stay at a 4* Hotel (all inclusive) and will have time now to relax at Santa Maria‘s beaches and enjoy their warm and crystal waters.
Day 9
Overnight: Santa María
Relax time at Hotel (all-inclusive).
Day 10
Overnight: Viñales
Breakfast at the Hotel. We will depart by private bus towards Viñales Valley, UNESCO World Heritage Site, where we will enter Mogotes (limestone mounds) located on top of tobacco plantations and one of the most spectacular natural landscapes in the world.
Afterwards, we will check in at Casas Particulares, we’ll set out with our tour coordinator to take a walk and explore the area around Viñales.
Day 11
Overnight: Viñales
Breakfast at Casa Particular. Afterwards, we will tour around the Natural Park visiting the Indigenous caves (their old native homes) and the famous prehistorical mural. After this, we will enjoy a delicious set menu at an ecological open-air restaurant, enjoying the magical landscape.
Afterwards, we will visit a tobacco plantation, and learn all about this important and artisanal farming as well as about the interesting drying process and what the guajira way to do it means (expression that refers to people living in the rural areas).
Day 12
Overnight: Havana
Breakfast at Hotel. We will depart to Havana. After checking in at the hotel and settling into your room we will enjoy a live music show while having dinner.
Day 13
Overnight: Havana
Breakfast at the hotel. We will depart from the hotel by private bus towards Old Havana UNESCO World Heritage Site, where we will meet a local expert who will lead our walking tour around the area discovering the main colonial squares. We will continue visiting the Museum of The Revolution where we will learn about the history of Cuba from the early 1960s to the present time. After this, we will continue learning about one of the main Santería neighborhoods in Havana, Cayo Hueso. An expert guide will show us the picturesque Hamel Alley and how the Cuban artist Salvador González Escalona describes his Afro-Cuban style as a mix of surrealism, cubism, and abstract art.
Day 14
Overnight: Havana
Breakfast at the hotel. We will take a private bus to Regla, on the other side of the Havana Bay, where we will be visiting a Social Project that revitalizes the area by cleaning up and reusing the space for the use and benefit of children and other members of the community. After this, we will visit the Regla Sanctuary, a temple where both Catholic and Santería faith are worshipped.
At night, we will go to the San Carlos de la Cabaña Fortress, a colonial fort used to protect the town from pirate invasions in the past. You will be able to witness the cannon blast ceremony that takes place each night at 9 pm repeating the old tradition of the cannon blast which was used to give the sign of the city’s curfew, moment in which the doors of old Havana’s wall would close.
Day 15
Overnight: Havana
Breakfast at the hotel. We will learn about the rum industry through a guided visit at The Havana Rum Museum. Located in front of the Havana port, this museum shows the complicated process of elaboration and distillation of this liquid. After this, we will go for a fun tour and ride on a Classic American car around Havana arriving at the Revolution Square, the venue of the most important politics celebrations. Free afternoon to pack, explore or just relax.
Farewell dinner at a restaurant.
Day 16
Breakfast at the Hotel. Transfer to the airport at a designated time.
Tour Inclusions
- Bilingual Staff
- Expert Tour Coordinator during the entire program
- Expert Local Guides for the visits included
- Local Experts for each lecture
- Private ground transportation
- Entrances fees to Copper Cathedral, Santa Iphigenia cemetery and San Pedro de la Roca Fortress in Santiago de Cuba. Ignacio Agramonte Museum, Camagüey Ballet School in Camagüey. San Isidro ruins and pottery house in Trinidad. Indio Caves, Prehistorical Mural Museum in Viñales. The Revolution Museum, Hamel alley, Rum Museum, Regla Church and San Carlos fortress in Havana
- Enriching Experiences: Tobacco farm in Viñales, Social project in Regla and American Classic Cars tour in Havana. Live Music Shows in Santiago de Cuba, Trinidad and Havana
- 15 breakfasts, 4 lunches, 7 dinners (2 days of the trip at 4* hotel all-inclusive)
- Accommodation in 4* hotel at city center in Havana and Santa María Cay. Casa Particular in Santiago de Cuba, Camagüey, Trinidad and Viñales
- Domestic Flight from Havana to Santiago de Cuba
- 24/7 Emergency support
- Tips are included throughout the visits programmed
- Taxes
Additional Experiences
Customize your trip according to your interests by adding any of these once-in-a-lifetime experiences.