Cuba

The tour starts on Sunday 11 February at the Gran Hotel Bristol, Havana.

The tour ends after breakfast on Thursday 22 February, at the Gran Hotel Bristol, Havana.

Flights into Cuba are relatively complicated as it must still be accessed via a second country after the USA, due to the embargo on travel. We suggest a fare with Qantas or Delta airlines via Los Angeles to Mexico City and then a separate ticket to Havana (a stopover will be necessary in Mexico City in each direction). Please contact our tour consultant Lucy Yeates for more information on flights (details on final page). The cost of the Cuban Tourist Card is included in the tour price.

Upon arrival at the airport, the group will transfer to the hotel. We’ll gather in the evening for orientation and a light dinner in a nearby paladar, a small, family-run restaurant. Overnight Havana (D)

Our first morning in Havana begins with a talk in the hotel, followed by a walking tour through the alleys and squares of old Havana, including the Plaza de Armas and the small Museo el Templete. After a welcome lunch at a local restaurant, we’ll embark on a tour through modern Havana in classic cars. We’ll cruise along the Plaza de la Revolucion and the Malecón, an eight-kilometre seafront thoroughfare and gathering place for musicians, poets and local fisherman. Along the way we’ll stop for a cocktail at the historic Hotel Nacional. Overnight Havana (B, L)

Our talk in the hotel this morning focuses on the Cuban Revolution, the momentous 1959 uprising that began the 50-year rule of Fidel Castro. Afterward, we’ll follow up with a visit to the new Fidel Castro Centre, completed in 2021. Housed in a former socialite’s mansion in a leafy upscale neighbourhood, the museum serves as a library and study centre for Castro’s life and writings. Later in the afternoon we’ll visit Revolution Square and the José Martí Museum. Located in the birthplace of Cuba’s national hero, the museum features seven exhibition halls that display personal items, recreate the atmosphere of Marti’s New York office, and commemorate his activities as a delegate of the Revolutionary Cuban Party. Overnight Havana (B)

We depart by coach early for a day trip to Las Terrazas (“The Terraces”), a unique rural ecovillage located in the Sierra del Rosario, 75km west of Havana. Classified as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, this small artistic community is situated in a lush natural paradise, one of Cuba’s most important national parks. We’ll visit the ecovillage and its artisans, explore the forest canopy, and stop by a sustainable coffee plantation. Following a lunch of locally produced organic food, you’ll have the opportunity to swim in the pools of the San Juan River. Overnight Havana (B, L)

The day begins with a visit to the National Art School of Cuba, conceived by Castro and Che Guevara to transform a golf course into a beautiful and tuition-free art school. The architects who designed the school—Porro, Gottardi and Garatti—rejected the International Style, instead adopting forms and materials that expressed the roots of Cuban culture: Catalan arches, terracotta, stone arcades, and free-flowing structures. Our next stop is Fusterlandia, an economically depressed neighbourhood transformed over time by the Cuban artist José Fuster into a surreal, colourful wonderland. Inspired by the public works of artists like Gaudí and the Romanian Brâncuși, this old fishing village now sports colourful mosaics, sculptures, recycled art and winding passages. Overnight Havana (B, L)

Cuban art often expresses the diversity of peoples and cultures who have made Cuba home: an eclectic combination of African, European, Caribbean and Latin American cultures. This morning we’ll have a lecture on Cuban art at the hotel, followed by a visit to the National Museum of Fine Arts. The museum houses Cuba’s historical collection of art, showing the development of fine art in Cuba from the colonial era to the main art movements of revolutionary Cuba. After a group dinner at a local palada, we visit the Fábrica de Arte Cubano—the vibrant centre of contemporary art in Havana. This former oil mill was converted into an interdisciplinary space for visual arts, dance, theatre, architecture and music. The exhibitions held there run fluidly throughout the space and encourage collaboration and exchange between all varieties of artists and the public. Overnight Havana (B, D)

We’ll make an early departure by coach for the 3.5-hour journey to Santa Clara, point zero for the history of the revolution. It was here that revolutionary guerrillas led by Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos defeated Batista’s army, forcing the president to flee the country. This morning, after a talk on the coach about Guevara and the capture of Santa Clara, we visit two important revolutionary sites: the Che Guevara Memorial and Mausoleum, where the revolutionary’s remains are interred, and the Monumento al Tren Blindado, where Guevara and a group of rebels successfully captured an armoured supply train sent by Batista. After lunch in Santa Clara, we’ll continue onto the colonial town of Trinidad. Along the way we’ll stop at Sugar Mill Valley, a living museum of Cuban sugar production that includes the sites of 75 former cane sugar mills. We’ll visit a sugar mill and ascend a tower built by the sugar-rich owners to keep watch over their enslaved workers. Upon arrival in Trinidad, we’ll have dinner at the hotel. Overnight Trinidad (B, L, D)

This morning we’ll make the short excursion to the Sierra del Escambray for a trek through the green, hilly countryside with a specialist guide. The Escambray area is known for its rich biodiversity, winding trails and clear river waters. After lunch at a farmhouse-style restaurant, you’ll have the chance to go for a swim in a local river pool. On our return to Trinidad, we hope to stop for some wild-picked coffee courtesy of one of the locals. Overnight Trinidad (B, L)

Today we’ll make our way back to Havana by way of the Bay of Pigs. A beautiful white-sand bay on the southwestern coast, it was the site of a 1961 incident that sparked extraordinary tensions between the US and Cuba. Financed and directed by the US government, some 1500 Cuban exiles were dispatched to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro’s government. Castro’s troops quickly repelled the invasion, and tensions sparked by the conflict led to the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. We’ll visit the Bay of Pigs Museum and take a tour of the area to learn more about the incident. After lunch, we’ll take a boat ride through the mangroves at Guama in Zapata National Park. With its extensive and varied ecosystems, the area has gained a reputation as a bird-watcher’s paradise. Overnight Havana (B, L)

Hemingway frequently lived in Cuba from 1940-1960, during which he reached the height of his success. Though he described himself as a ‘garden-variety Cuban,’ and US-Cuba relations deteriorated rapidly after the revolution, he is nonetheless honoured here as one of the country’s most important cultural figures. This morning we have a lecture on US-Cuba relations, followed by a visit to Finca Vigía—Hemingway’s house, preserved as a museum. After a leisurely afternoon, we’ll make a visit to La Tropicana, the legendary Havana cabaret. Situated on a lush, six-acre tropical garden estate, the club features open-air high-energy shows with singing and dancing that will bring you back to 1950s Cuba. Overnight Havana (B, D)

In the morning we’ll take a walking tour of some Havana neighbourhoods, including a stroll down Callejon del Hamel, a narrow alley filled with colourful Afro-Cuban-inspired murals. After a leisurely afternoon, we’ll take a sunset drive in classic American cars along the Malecón on the way to our farewell dinner. Overnight Havana (B, D)

The tour ends after breakfast at the Gran Hotel Bristol. Airport transfers are included. (B)

Hotels have been selected principally for their central location. Both hotels are a comfortable 5-star standard.

Havana, Gran Hotel Bristol (9 nights, total)
Steps away from the National Capitol Building and within walkable distance of the hotspots and hidden gems of Havana, this five-star hotel offers comfortable rooms with modern conveniences. Inspired by the Art Deco style of the 1930s, the rooftop pool offers direct views over the Capitol.
www.granhotelbristol.com

Trinidad, Mystique Trinidad (2 nights)
Sitting atop La Popa hill overlooking the village of Trinidad, this five-star resort is just five-minutes walk from the heart of the old town. Orginally the site of a military hospital and the headquarters of the colonial village, the hotel now offers 52 comfortable rooms and its rooftop has panoramic views of the Caribbean and its beaches.
www.mystiqueresorts.com