Cuba Unveiled: A Journey from West to East

Itinerary

Day 1. Wednesday

HAVANA | ARRIVAL

Welcome to Cuba! Your tour begins as you are met at the airport by our local tour guide and transferred to your accommodation in the city center. Once you check-in and settle in, take your time to meet other members of the group and/or enjoy the surroundings. The Orientation meeting will be at 6PM in one of the hotel’s meeting halls. Your tour guide will review the updated itinerary and inform you of any possible last minute changes that may have occurred. Be ready to enjoy a delicious welcome dinner at a private Cuban paladar while enjoying the most amazing spectacle from members of the well-known Buena Vista Social Club. Take into account that a paladar is a small, family-run restaurant. This means you are contributing to the economic well-being of some Cuban families.

Bus transfer back to your accommodation will be available at midnight (12AM). In case you want to continue enjoying your time, please, bear in mind you’ll have to take a taxi on your own for the way back.

Meals Included: Dinner

Day 2. Thursday

HAVANA

After a delicious breakfast at the hotel, you’ll engage in a very interesting lecture about “Gender and Women’s equality and role in Cuban society” with Lizette Vila, a Cuban Filmmaker, Documentary and Film Assistant who has dedicated herself to working for peace and respect for diversity in society. In Havana, she created a project called Proyecto Palomas (Project Doves) with the goal to bring about changes in people’s life styles and promote a culture of peace. Due to her intensive and humanist work, she was nominated to 1000 Women of the World for Peace Nobel Price in 2005.

Next, you’ll visit a small fashion workshop and store owned by women entrepreneurs where you will meet sewers and designers and learn about their daily lives in the island.

Following lunch, you will continue your tour to the western part of Havana where you’ll visit the Studio and Workshop of Beatriz Santacana. This is a beautiful, unique art gallery designed by the artist herself where she exhibits her ceramic sculptures, paintings and drawings. Her work depicts everyday people as the main characters, and brings attention to the conflicts and experiences of societies, with a hopeful outlook. You will enjoy the opportunity of developing your artistic and creative skills while you talk, learn and laugh. In a natural and relaxed environment, you will be able to paint a ceramic piece. This session begins with a practical introduction by the artist on glazing techniques. Then you will be able to paint your piece for a period of 3 hours, with the support and supervision of the work team. The Studio will then fire the artwork in their kilns, and your piece of art will be ready to take home a few days later.

You will return to the hotel in the late afternoon. Dinner is available at the restaurant from 7PM to 9PM. Enjoy the rest of the evening at leisure.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 3. Friday

HAVANA

This morning get ready to learn about current political, economic and social issues in Cuba and the community projects that are being carried out in various neighborhoods of the city. This interesting meeting will be developed by Miguel Alejandro Figueras, Cuban economist, PhD in Economics and Associate Professor, Senior Researcher at the University of Havana with more than 50 years dedicated to his specialty. He worked as Advisor to the Minister of Tourism for several years and has published more than 5 books and 40 articles related to the Cuban and Latin American economy.

Afterwards, continue your exploration of Havana. Put on your walking shoes and your coolest clothes, and get ready to discover the history behind the magnificent buildings of the Old City, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1982. During your tour of the area, you will visit a community project that has been growing with the support of the Office of the Historian and the community. ArteCorte is dedicated to the expansion of the culture of hairdressing and barbering. It has its own school where they teach trends, treatments and ways of treating hair, both for barbers and hairdressers, free of charge. For the little ones at home, they have a Barbeparque or playground where objects in the form of barbering tools entertain the children while a simple haircut changes their appearance. If you are one of the most adventurous, take home a souvenir in the form of a hairstyle or haircut from this salon to exhibit while you walk the streets of a Havana ready to catch you and surprise you.

Following lunch, enjoy a 1-hour workshop on Cuban Percussion at Muraleando Community Art Project. This area used to be home to a garbage dump. But professional artists of the community have turned the trash into treasures through this amazing Project. Enjoy your lesson while sharing experiences with the local artists, and creating strong friendship bonds.

You’ll return to the hotel in the late afternoon. Take some time to freshen up and remember dinner is available at the restaurant from 7PM to 9PM. Enjoy the rest of the evening at leisure.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 4. Saturday

VIÑALES DAY TOUR

Today, it will be a different day. You will leave the comfort of the city in Havana to go to a unique area in Cuba characterized by its mogotes and extensive areas of tobacco plantations. Discover the Valley of Viñales, located in Pinar del Rio, the westernmost province of the island.

During this almost 3-hour ride you will be able to recover your energy in the bus, while listening to the explanations of our expert guide. Enjoy a panoramic view of the area at the first stop, the well-known Mirador de los Jazmines. Then, you will visit the famous Cueva del Indio (Indian’s Cave) and walk inside the cave for approximately 250 meters. A small motor boat will take you on a 10-minute ride down the San Vicente subterranean river to the exit of the cave.

Afterwards, you will continue to a Vega named Macondo, a tobacco plantation where you will meet some local farmers, and they will explain you first hand everything related to the plantation and harvesting process of this precious crop. As it’s lunch time, enjoy a traditional Cuban lunch at an agro-ecological farm and take time to admire the wonders of nature at the Casa de Caridad Botanical Gardens founded by two sisters with Chinese roots. Before going back to Havana, take some minutes to picture the well known Mural de la Prehistoria, a 120 meters long mural painted on a mogote (rock formation) named Pita.

Time to go back to Havana and enjoy the evening at leisure.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 5. Sunday

HAVANA | MATANZAS

Wake up! Wake up! Your 5th day in Cuba! After breakfast, prepare for check-out and departure to Matanzas province, 2 hours east of Havana. On the way to Matanzas, you will stop at the viewpoint Mirador de Bacunayagua to admire the highest bridge of Cuba which is considered one of the 7 wonders of Cuban Civil Engineering. Once in the City of bridges or Athens of Cuba as it is also known, you will visit San Severino Castle, a fortress built to protect the city during the first half of the 18th century. Nowadays, it houses the Museum of the Slave Route in Cuba, a project initiated in 1997 with the participation of UNESCO aimed to demonstrate the history of slavery, with the goal of emphasizing the cultural heritage of Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Continue your tour of Matanzas city center and visit its main squares Plaza de la Libertad and Plaza de la Vigía.

Following lunch, enjoy a Salsa dancing lessons with excellent local dancers and the rest of the afternoon and evening at leisure.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 6. Monday

MATANZAS | CIENFUEGOS

Enjoy a delicious breakfast and continue your tour to the central part of Cuba. Cienfuegos is an elegant small city with an eclectic style mix. It was founded by French settlers in 1819, so you’ll notice the French influence once you walk its streets during the tour of its historic center. While walking its boulevard, don’t forget to visit the handicraft markets and the statue of Benny More located at the longest Prado of Cuba.

Afterwards, you’ll visit Trazos Libres, a sociocultural project for local development founded in 2009 with the support of the Municipal Government, the European Union and the Portuguese NGO OIKOS, as well as the University of Cienfuegos Carlos Rafael Rodríguez. Through this project, the plastic artist Santiago Hermes Martínez Zerquera, creator of the project, promotes the rumba genre, considered intangible heritage of Cuban culture. His artistic projection includes paintings, sculptures, drawings, engravings, photographs and audiovisuals, including today, music, dance and theater.

Enjoy your lunch at a private paladar in front of the sea. Then, you will attend a rehearsal of a local music group. This is an amazing and interesting opportunity to interact with local musicians and learn about their professional development in a small city like Cienfuegos.

Check-in at the private casas will be late in the afternoon. Enjoy the group dinner at a private paladar and the rest of your evening at leisure. Prepare for check-out and departure early next morning.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 7. Tuesday

CIENFUEGOS | TRINIDAD

Good morning dear Sagüeros! Time to continue to Trinidad, one of the most beautiful and authentic cities of Cuba declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site in 1988. Walk the main streets and visit the main squares of a city frozen in time. Today, you will learn about Urdimbre, a project created to revive the art of lace, embroidery and textile creation in Trinidad. This project brings together about fifteen artisans, mostly women, who are passionate about needlework. In a workshop, they make clothes, accessories and knitted interior textile articles, crocheted or embroidered.

After lunch at a local private paladar, you will visit “Casa de Chichi” a pottery workshop run by the Santander family. Chichi’s great-grandfather founded the workshop and still today they continue with this family tradition.

Before checking-in, you will visit the Valle de los Ingenios, and delight then your palate with a delicious group dinner at a private paladar. Enjoy the rest of your evening at leisure. Prepare for check-out and departure early next morning.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 8. Wednesday

TRINIDAD | CIEGO DE ÁVILA | CAMAGÜEY

Today, it will be a long day! After breakfast, you will depart to Camagüey (5 hours away from Trinidad). On the way to this eastern province, you will stop in the city of Ciego de Avila to enjoy a wonderful lunch, walk its main streets and visit its main square. Once in Camagüey, after checking in you’ll visit the Estudio-Galería Jover, in Plaza San Juan de Dios to admire the art work of two of Cuba’s most creative and prodigious contemporary painters, Joel Jover and his wife Ileana Sánchez. Afterwards, you’ll continue your tour through Plaza del Carmen, Plaza de los Trabajadores, Parque Ignacio Agramonte and Plaza de la Revolución. After dinner, enjoy your evening at leisure.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 9. Thursday

CAMAGÜEY | BAYAMO | SANTIAGO DE CUBA

We are sure you must have heard the Cuban national anthem. Do you know where it was written and played for the first time? Today you will visit that area. After breakfast, prepare for check-out and get in the group bus to continue to Bayamo, the capital city of Granma province (almost 4 hours away from Camagüey).

Following lunch, you will visit the Parque Céspedes and learn from local experts about Carlos M. De Céspedes, the first Cuban to take up arms in the name of the equality of all human beings and the right of all peoples to dignity. He is considered the Father of Homeland and known in Cuban history as the Man of October 10, 1868, that is to say as the first to speak out against colonial oppression and to claim Cuba’s right to freedom.

Afterwards, you will continue your way to Santiago the Cuba (2 hours from Bayamo), the last province you will visit in Cuba and where you’ll stay during 2 more days. After checking in enjoy dinner and the rest of your evening at leisure.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 10. Friday

SANTIAGO DE CUBA

Santiago de Cuba was the 7th village founded by Spanish Diego Velazquez in 1515. Historically it has been the second-most important city on the island after Havana, and remains the second-largest. After breakfast today, you will go on a panoramic tour around Cuartel Moncada and Antonio Maceo Revolution Square. Following, you will visit Santa Ifigenia Cemetery, the resting place of a few notable Cubans like Jose Marti, national hero; Fidel Castro, former president and leader of Cuba; Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, father of the Homeland;  Facundo Bacardi, founder of Bacardi; Tomas Estrada Palma, first democratically elected Cuban president; and Compay Segundo, guitarist, singer, and composer; among others.

After lunch, you will continue to El Cobre, a town that grew up around the first open pit copper mine in Cuba. It is mainly known for the Basilica of the Virgin of Charity of Cobre, the patron saint of Cuba. Take your time to visit the Basilica which dates from 1927. The ‘Basílica Santuario Nacional de Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre’ is an important pilgrimage site for Cubans that go from all over the island to pray there and leave gifts for the Virgin. The most famous of these are the Pulitzer Prize left behind by Ernest Hemingway, and the golden guerrilla that Castro’s mother laid there. It is located on top of a hill. On the way up you’ll find many people who sell sunflowers, the Virgin’s flower, what everybody can afford to leave at the altar.

Once you return to your accommodation take your time to freshen up. Enjoy dinner at a private paladar and engage on a tour of 4 emblematic bars to taste exquisite Cuban and international cocktails.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 11. Saturday

SANTIAGO DE CUBA

Last day in Santiago! After breakfast, you will visit the San Juan Hills, a very important area known for the most famous and bloody war carried out during the Cuban-Spanish-American war in 1898. Afterwards, you will continue to the Castillo de San Pedro de la Roca, also known by the less formal title of Castillo del Morro or San Pedro de la Roca Castle. This fortress was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997, cited as the best preserved and most complete example of Spanish-American military architecture.

Following lunch, you will visit the community project “Sin Barreras”, founded in 2013 with the main goal of removing the social and cultural barriers that people with disabilities face on their daily lives due to the prejudices that exist in society. This project directly benefits 80 people including children, adolescents and young people with sensory disabilities, whether blind, visually impaired, deaf and hard of hearing, with physical and intellectual limitations, and their families, 10 cultural promoters, 5 Special Schools, 1 Psychopedagogical Medical Center or Home for the Handicapped and 3 disability associations.

Then, you can enjoy the rest of the afternoon on your own to visit and walk the Céspedes Square or visit any other area of your interest.

Be ready for the farewell dinner at 8PM. Enjoy live music and give us your feedback about this tour. We suggest you to dress in white and/or red since these colors represent energy, power, passion and optimism. Don’t feel sad. This is not a GOODBYE, CUBA!. This is just a HASTA PRONTO!

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 12. Sunday

SANTIAGO DE CUBA | DEPARTURE

This morning you can pack your suitcase and all those souvenirs you have bought for your loved ones. The driver will pick you up 3 hours before your scheduled departure flight time to take you to the airport. Remember to have your passport, airline ticket and all your belongings by hand.

We hope you enjoy this learning adventure and look forward to having you on future programs. Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Our SAGUA TEAM wishes you an excellent flight back home! HASTA PRONTO!

Meals Included: Breakfast

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

• Itinerary subject to change based on weather and/or supplies.

In case there is any activity of the program that for reasons beyond our control is not available on the scheduled date, our company will offer a second alternative to replace it.

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