Itinerary based on
Two weeks (14 nights and 15 days)
Best Time to Visit
Cuba is blessed most of the year with warm tropical weather. Between mid-November and March is the cooler dry season – this is usually a busier tourist time of year due to the lower temperatures and humidity level.
Cyclones or tropical storms are more likely to hit the island from August to November. Most rainfall happens in May through until October. During these months, short but heavy rainy showers can fall. This is mostly during the late afternoon to evening time.
Climate
Cuba has short days in winter. Sunrise is around 6:50 to 07:00 and it gets dark around 18.30 and longer days during the summer months, with sunrise at around 7:10 – 7:20 and sunset 19:45 – 20:00. Temperature is usually high, ranging from 20 °C to 25 °C degrees in winter and from 28 °C to 32 °C in the summer.
The East of Cuba is always a few degrees warmer than the West.
Guideline Price: £6,500 per person (excluding international flights)
Day 1: Arrival in Havana
Arrival in Havana. VIP airport services, which allows you into the fast track queue immigration queue and customs and into the VIP lounge to wait for your luggage to come out.
Our airport representative will meet you and introduce you to your driver/guide. This person will be with you throughout your stay until the beach hotel.
Transfer to Hotel Melia Cohiba (Double Standard Room at The Level Floor) for 5 nights.
Meet & greet by agency representative at hotel lobby
Dinner reservation at Ivan Ivan Chef Justo – to be paid locally
After-dinner suggestion; live music at Plaza Vieja or Obispo Street
You will have a concierge at the end of the phone to book restaurants and make recommendations throughout your trip.
The Meliá Cohiba offers spectacular views of the sea and the city. An exceptional hotel for both business and leisure guests with an excellent location, the exclusive The Level service and a lively party room, Habana Café.
Day 2: Exploring Old Havana
09:30 Walking tour of Old Havana. Walk in the footsteps of Havana’s colonial past visiting the four squares of Old Havana, a UNESCO world heritage site. Visit Plaza de Armas, Plaza San Francisco de Asis, Plaza Vieja and Plaza de la Catedral with our expert architect guide offering insightful history along the way.
12:00 Lunch reservation at Dona Eutimia – to be paid locally
14:00 Revolution Tour. Discover Cuba’s revolution history through some of the capital’s most historical sites. Starting with a visit to the Revolution Museum, which was once the luxurious Presidential Palace of all Cuban presidents from Mario García Menocal to Fulgencio Batista.
Discover how history then brought the country to the revolution led by Fidel Castro. Visit what most non-Cubans will never get to know, a “bodega” or ration-shop and see the price differences by visiting a fresh food product market.
Dinner reservation at Tatagua – to be paid locally. This new venue combines great market-fresh food with live jazz in the evenings.
Day 3: Mafia Tour in a Classic Convertible Car
9:30 Mafia Tour in Classic Convertible Car. Since the 1930’s Havana was replete with mobsters. Meyer Lansky, Lucky Luciano, Al Capone to name but a few. This tour visits the haunts of the mafia bosses and along the way takes in the panoramic views of the city and some of the best architecture of this period.
12:30 Lunch reservation at Santy’s Fish and Sushi Restaurant – to be paid locally
14:00 Visit Fusterlandia, Fuster’s home and studio in Jaimanitas. While Fuster’s art can’t really be described as ground-breaking (his visual language owes a heavy debt to Picasso and Jean Dubuffet), he has certainly covered a lot of ground with it. The whole area around his house has become part of the grand art project with more than 80 houses now covered in Fuster’s style.
17:00 Art tour with local curator. Visit Cuban artists in their studios. Get behind the facade and interact with this thriving community depending on your particular interest. Photography, sculpture or painting. Specify whether you would like to see well known or up and coming artists.
Dinner reservation at Tierra – to be paid locally. One of Havana’s hottest restaurants right now.
Followed by a visit to Fabrica de Arte Cubano (FAC), one of the most cutting-edge Cuban art project.
Day 4: Salsa dancing, Cigar & Rum Tour
10:00 2 hour Salsa lesson with bi-lingual, professional dance instructors.
12:00 Lunch reservation at Mas Habana – to be paid locally
Afternoon at leisure
Dinner reservation at La Guarida
Private concert at the home of young musicians. A wonderful opportunity to hear some of Cuba’s most talented young musicians play a jam session exclusively for you in their home.
Cigar and rum tasting with expert English speaking sommelier with Cuba’s finest vintage rums and cigars.
Day 5: Discover Vinales in the tobacco-growing region of Cuba
07:30 Depart to Vinales, a small town in the Pinar del Rio province and the centre of the tobacco-growing region of Cuba (approximately 3 hours)
10:30 Walking tour of tobacco plantations with local guide. You have the option of going horseback riding.
13:00 Lunch reservation at a local farm. This is a lunch at a private farm with local tobacco farmers in their home.
14:30 Visit Cueva del Indio, for a boat ride along the underground river that runs below the mountains OR Do the zipline canopy tour, which includes around 1km of inter-joined treetop ride elevated platforms spanning a vivid and colourful backdrop of the valley.
16:30 Return to Havana
Dinner reservation at Mar Adentro
Day 6: Trip to Trinidad via Cienfuegos
08:00 Breakfast and check-out
9:00 Depart to Trinidad via Cienfuegos (Approx. 3 hours)
12:30 Stop for lunch at Cienfuegos, a French-influenced UNESCO World Heritage site. Lunch reservation at Finca del Mar – to be paid locally
14:00 Cienfuegos panoramic tour, giving you a general orientation to the colonial history of this beautiful city and taking you around the beautiful town from Parque Marti to the Boulevard, passing by various national monuments.
16:00 Continue to Trinidad (Approx. 2 hours)
18:00 Arrival in Trinidad, a UNESCO world heritage site.
Check-in at Casa Particular for 3 nights
Dinner reservation at Sol Ananda – to be paid locally
Day 7: Walking Tour of Trinidad
9:00 Walking tour of Trinidad with local expert guide, who will talk you through the history of the town by visiting its architectural high points and give you some insight into its complex history both in the colonial period and in the years after the revolution. Wear comfortable shoes, as although quaint, the cobbled streets are not for heels!
12:00 Lunch suggestion at San Jose
13:30 Tour of the Valle de los Ingenios (Valley of the Sugar Mills). Cuba’s historical wealth was built on sugar and an understanding of it leads to a richer understanding of Cuban history. During the tour you’ll get to see the unspoiled countryside of now unused sugar plantations.
Visit a former plantation owner’s house and the ruins of an important plantation including the slave quarters to understand the slave history in relation to the sugar industry. See slave quarters and understand how this system operated and the enormous impact sugar had on this area.
16:00 Return to Trinidad
Dinner reservation at La Redaccion
Live music at Casa de la Trova
Day 8: Visit Topes de Collantes
9:00 Depart to Topes de Collantes.
The great natural park Topes de Collantes is situated between Cienfuegos and Trinidad. It is a place of extraordinary beauty and of great scientific value for Cuban botany, zoology and ecology.
This protected area of 200 square km has a great number of endemic species of flora and fauna. During this trip, you’ll get to hike and bathe in one of the three big waterfalls in the national park.
13:00 Lunch in the mountains
16:00 Return to Trinidad
Dinner reservation at Sol y Son – to be paid locally
Live music at El Rincón de la Salsa, a fun live-music venue aimed at those practising their salsa steps.
Day 9 to 13: Relaxing in Cayo Santa Maria
Day 9 starts by departing to Cayo Santa Maria via Santa Clara, where Che Guevara won the final battle of the Cuban revolution.
10:00 Drive the mountain route through the Escambray mountains to Santa Clara.
11:30 Visit to the Che Memorial
12:00 Lunch in Santa Clara
14:00 Continue to Cayo Santa Maria
17:00 Check-in at hotel Royalton Cayo Santa Maria for five night stay with the days at your leisure.
Note: This is an adults-only hotel. Family-friendly options on request.
Day 14 & 15: Head back To Havana
(approx. 415 km / 7 hours driving time)
09:00 Depart to Havana
Lunch en-route
17:00 Arrival in Havana and check-in at Melia Cohiba The Level Floor
We suggest dinner at a restaurant within walking distance of the hotel such as Mar Adentro.
Overnight at Hotel Melia Cohiba
If you would like to find out more about this package and for prices, get in touch with a friendly Camel Collection rep today.
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