The island of all senses, Cuba is an adventure to travel to. Here you enjoy warm sunny days and cool evenings and are captivated by the salsa music that is played and danced in the streets and squares. We start and end this 15-day trip in the capital Havana. In between, we travel east and west and make interesting visits to both cities and the countryside when we visit scenic Viñales, the UNESCO city of Trinidad and the country’s second largest city Santiago de Cuba. The tropical climate, nature, the colorful life of the villages and the rhythmic music give us many lasting memories. Join us on a very exciting and eventful trip to Colored Cuba!
Day 1: Departure to Havana
Departure from Scandinavia with arrival in the afternoon local time. We are met by our local representative at the airport and go to our hotel which is centrally located in Havana. Then we gather for a welcome dinner. Overnight in Havana. (Dinner)
Day 2: Havana
The first day in Havana we do a walk in the old city center, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We also have lunch together there. Furthermore, we spend the day on an urban farm built in a residential area. On an organic road, vegetables are grown there for the residents in the neighborhood and then saved on transport. Cuba also invests a lot in education and we visit a school to learn more about it. In the evening we have dinner together at a restaurant in the center. Overnight in Havana. (Breakfast, lunch and dinner)
Day 3: Havana – Viñales – Havana
Today we make a day trip to Viñales, which is located in green and scenic surroundings west of Havana. The Viñales Valley is a World Heritage Site due to its special nature with haystack-like forested hills, called mogotes. When we visit a farm where tobacco is grown, we get really close to the locals. After the farmer himself taught us to roll cigars, his wife offers lunch, where all the ingredients come from his own farm. In the afternoon we walk through one of the many caves in the area to see what the famous hills look like inside. Dinner and overnight in Havana. (Breakfast, lunch and dinner)
Day 4: Havana – Cienfuegos – Trinidad
We steer the cow east towards Trinidad, which is located on the south coast. On the way there, we pass the Bay of Pigs, where the Americans attempted an invasion in April 1961. After a lunch stop on the way, we reach the World Heritage city of Cienfuegos, which was founded by the French in the 19th century and is called the “pearl of the south”. We do a city tour here before we go on to Trinidad. Overnight in or near Trinidad. (Breakfast, lunch and dinner)
Day 5: Trinidad
Trinidad is the city with Cuba’s best preserved colonial architecture and therefore also listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. We visit a clinic for expectant mothers, as an example of the country’s investment in preventive health care. A day center for the elderly also welcomes us before we take a short city walk and look into a so-called Worship Home, where we get to learn more about the Afro-Cuban religion Santería. We get a moment of our own time in the center where we can also take the opportunity to have lunch. We then meet in the afternoon for a dance lesson. It is important to take the custom wherever you go and the Cubans have the rhythm and dance in their blood. Overnight in or near Trinidad. (Breakfast and dinner)
Day 6: Trinidad
All day is free for sunbathing and swimming in the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea. Trinidad is within easy reach for those who prefer to make their own walks there. After dinner, we are invited to a neighborhood party to have fun with Cubans. Overnight in or near Trinidad. (Breakfast, lunch and dinner)
Day 7: Trinidad – Hanabanilla
After breakfast we go up in the Escambray mountains. We take a truck into the forest and then make a short hike with a local guide to an old Spanish estate, where we have lunch. We continue to a dammed lake, Embalse Hanabanilla, which supplies Cuba’s largest power plant with water. An hour’s boat ride across the lake takes us to our hotel. Before dinner, anyone who wants to can go to the nearby village, where we take part in the everyday life of the locals. Overnight in Hanabanilla. (Breakfast, lunch and dinner)
Day 8: Hanabanilla – Santa Clara – Camagüey
Today we first travel north to the slightly larger city of Santa Clara in the middle of the country. We see Che Guevara’s memorial and mausoleum at Revolution Square. In the city’s historic center, we take a lunch break before heading further east through the agricultural areas. Today’s terminus is Camagüey, Cuba’s third largest city. Overnight in Camagüey. (Breakfast and dinner)
Day 9: Camagüey – Santiago de Cuba
Another World Heritage Site awaits us today as we take a short city tour of Camagüey’s old town with winding alleys. We then continue the journey east towards Santiago. In Bayamo we stop for lunch and get a glimpse of one of Cuba’s oldest cities. Before reaching Santiago, we stop at El Cobre Cathedral, dedicated to Cuba’s national saint, the Virgin of Mercy Cachita. Overnight in Santiago. (Breakfast, lunch and dinner)
Day 10: Santiago de Cuba
In the morning we visit the Ifigenia cemetery, where many of Cuba’s heroes are buried, the last of them Fidel Castro. An excursion north then takes us to a former Swedish colony, which was founded in 1903 and was named Bayate. Today the town is called Mella. There we see the cemetery with many Swedish names and meet an artist group that has taken on the task of preserving the memory of the Swedish era. We have lunch with one of the artists and hear about, among other things, their children’s activities. Back in Santiago, we do a small city walk in the center of Cuba’s second largest city. Overnight in Santiago. (Breakfast, lunch and dinner)
Day 11: Santiago de Cuba – Baracóa
On small but beautiful roads we continue to Baracóa, in the far east. On the way there we pass Guantánamo, but we see nothing of the naval base itself. Baracóa was founded by the Spaniards in 1511 and is Cuba’s oldest city and the country’s first capital. We have lunch there and get acquainted with the small town before checking in at our hotel. Overnight in Baracóa. (Breakfast, lunch and dinner)
Day 12: Baracóa
The area mainly grows coconut and cocoa. We do a cocoa hike as we get to learn more about cultivation and production. After a few days of bus travel, we now take it easy, we have lunch at a beach restaurant and also get the opportunity to swim. Overnight in Baracóa. (Breakfast, lunch and dinner)
Day 13: Baracóa – Havana
After breakfast we go to the airport and take the morning flight to Havana, a journey of just over two hours. In Havana we visit Finca Vigía, where Hemingway lived his last 21 years in Cuba. The farm is now a museum. We have lunch and then visit the rum museum, where after a tour we get the opportunity to taste and of course shop. In the evening we gather for a closing dinner with a view of Havana. Overnight in Havana. (Breakfast, lunch and dinner)
Day 14: Return trip from Havana
Most of the day free for our own walks before we go to the airport in the afternoon to start our return journey. Meals are included on the long-haul flight from Havana to Europe. (Breakfast)
Day 15: Homecoming
We arrive in Europe and fly on to the boarding place.
