Welcome to Cuba!

Arrival at "Jose Marti" International Airport in Havana City.

Meet your Authentic Cuba Travel tour guide and bus driver.

Breakfast is complimentary from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.

Cuba greets its visitors with strains of exotic rhythms such as salsa and rumba emanating from every corner, and an aquamarine sea laps the white, palm-fringed beaches all around the island. Cuba, with its mix of Spanish and African roots, is the largest, least commercialized, and most exciting island in the Caribbean.

Private transfer to your hotel Presidente (Economic Package) or Nacional de Cuba (Premium Package), both facilities located in Vedado, Havana's Cultural Center today.

Group check-in. Morning: visit to Finca La Vigia, a hilltop villa 20 kilometers east of Havana, where famed author Ernest Hemingway lived from 1939 to 1960. It is here where the writer completed some of his greatest works, including The Old Man and the Sea, Across the River and into the Trees, and Islands in the Stream.

The villa has been maintained as a museum for the past 49 years. It contains original book and short story manuscripts, letters, over 3000 photographs, Hemingway’s fishing tackle and gun collections, furniture, priceless art collection, and a 9000 volume library that contains rare first editions of his books and those of other famous writers.

Finca Vigía has made both the World Monuments Fund List of 100 Most Endangered sites, and The National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 11 Most Endangered Places.

Lunch in Cojimar fishing village.

Tour around Cojimar fishing village, where Hemingway kept his boat Pilar. The writer is remembered by the town with a small gazebo that encircles a commemorative bust, sculpted from the melted down propellers donated by local fishermen.

Afternoon: by guided walking tour of Old Havana, UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Visit to the Cathedral Square, the most beautiful and private 18th century colonial plaza of Cuba, named after the masterpiece of Cuban baroque architecture: the Cathedral of Havana built by the Jesuit order.

Visit to Square of Arms, ancient military parade ground for Spanish soldiers and surrounded by impressive buildings such as:

Palacio de los Capitanes Generales was the former seat of colonial government. Today the building houses the Museum of the City.

Palacio del Segundo Cabo. The seat of the second authority of the island. Today it houses important publishing concerns.

Castillo de la Real Fuerza. The second oldest fortress built by the Spaniards in the West Indies. The castle was recently renovated and reopened in June 2008 to hold the impressive maritime museum. Well laid out exhibits chart Spain and Cuba's naval history.

Continue walking tour onto San Francisco Square, one of the oldest in the historical quarter.

Visit to Plaza Vieja, the only civic square of colonial times. Notice it doesn't have a church or government building around. Here we will visit important institutions for visual arts.

Free time in the famous handicraft market of Old Havana where you can purchase all sorts of crafts and souvenirs by local artisans.

Return to hotel.

Evening: tonight we have a Cuban band playing for us! You'll learn to dance to Salsa, Son, Rumba, and other popular Cuban rhythms with instruction from bandleaders. Morning: visit to Workshop School in Old Havana. High school graduates enroll in this institution to learn the arts and crafts necessary to authentically restore the ancient buildings of Old Havana. The school teaches young people archeological and restoration work that helps preserving the heritage and cultural wealth of Old Havana.

Tour the school and get engaged with students in the different workshops such as Glass work, Carpentry, Iron work and Restoration. Exchange with professors and students.

Followed by visit to Primary School “Angela Landa”. Exchange with teachers and students to learn Cuba’s primary education level. Tour the schools and enjoy educational and cultural activities by students. Meet the principal of the school Prof. Sonia Garcia. Tour of the school.

Lunch in La Mina restaurant where you can enjoy traditional Cuban dishes and live music!

Afternoon: visit to the Lizt Alfonso Ballet School founded in 1991. Lizt Alfonso’s choreographies are dance and music of a kind no one else creates: a seamless fusion of Spanish classical dance, ballet, flamenco and Afro-Cuban dance.

Followed by: visit the Museum of Fine Arts (Cuban Collection) where we see the evolution of Cuba's visual arts over the last 300 years. The collection accounts for the richness of our Spanish, French, Chinese, African cultural roots.

Evening: enjoy Afrojazz, Cubajazz and Sonjazz at Club La Zorra y El Cuervo, Havana’s most famous Jazz club. The club features great performances by island bands and soloists! (optional, not included) Morning: guided tour of Cuba's National Art Schools (ISA). ISA professors are all active musicians, dancers or artists. Each faculty in the arts provides a combination of theory and practice designed for students serious about pursuing artistic achievement through concentrated study.

Study at the Institute is comparable to conservatory work in the United States. This is a great opportunity to exchange with the new generation of Cuban artists. Meet with students and teachers.

We are now "leaving" Havana and entering Fusterlandia, the studio, residence and wild kingdom of José Rodriguez Fuster, one of the most important Cuban ceramists and painters today. Lunch hosted by Jose Fuster.

Afternoon: visit to the Literacy Museum in the Liberty City neighborhood of Havana.

Meeting with museum director Luisa Campos for an introduction on the history of the literacy campaign and the new literacy campaigns taking place in Venezuela, Bolivia and other regions based on the Cuban Campaign model.

Evening: attend one of the most traditional and popular ceremonies in Cuba, Fire of the Cannon of 9 O'Clock at the Fortress of San Carlos de La Cabana. Morning departure to Trinidad, in Central Cuba.

En route, we will visit Cienfuegos city. Cienfuegos is the first, and an outstanding example of an architectural ensemble representing the new ideas of modernity, hygiene and order in urban planning as developed in Latin America from the 19th century.

This countryside exploration trip will give participants insights on how the Cuban education system works in different cities of the country.

The colonial town of Cienfuegos was founded in 1819 in the Spanish territory but was initially settled by immigrants of French origin. It became a trading place for sugar cane, tobacco and coffee. Situated on the Caribbean coast of southern-central Cuba at the heart of the country’s sugar cane, mango, tobacco and coffee production area, the town first developed in the neoclassical style.

It later became more eclectic but retained a harmonious overall townscape. Among buildings of particular interest are the Government Palace (City Hall), San Lorenzo School, the Bishopric, the Ferrer Palace, the former lyceum, and some residential houses.

Visit to Palacio de Valle upon arrival. The eclectic building was erected at a cost of a million and half pesos. French, Arabic, Italian and Cuban artisans worked with marble, alabaster, brass, glass and ceramic imported from Spain, Italy and United States. The entrance is primitive Gothic style and leads to a dining room of Mudejar influence, which imitates the famous Patio of the Lions, of Alhambra, in Granada.

Lunch at Palacio del Valle restaurant.

Afternoon: guided walking tour of Cienfuegos Historical Center.

We will visit neoclassical buildings around Paseo del Prado and the main Square Jose Marti such as:

The Tomas Terry Theatre, completed in 1895 and named after a sugar baron from Venezuela who arrived in Cuba with no money and made his fortune by buying sick slaves for a low price, to later nurse them back to health and reselling them. This money was invested in a sugar estate that brought him the wealth to build several outstanding buildings in Cienfuegos, including this theatre, with materials specially brought over from Europe.

The Casa de la Cultura, home of another wealthy sugar baron, stunning mansion in neoclassical style.

The Cathedral built with the donation of wealthy families like the Lebrancs, the Albis, the Terrys. Inside you find the reproductions of the 12 Apostles in stained glass imported from Paris. Also the original machinery of the clock tower was built in France. Still in place and working.

We'll also visit the elegant art gallery Galería de Arte Maroya and review its impressively displayed collection of paintings, sculptures and antiques.

Now we journey on to the historic city of Trinidad and check in at all-inclusive Costa Sur hotel. You'll have time for dinner and a swim in the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea. Morning: visit to the Academy of Painting “Oscar Fernandez”. Meet with the Principal and teachers to learn about the school curriculum and enrollment criteria. Tour the school and exchange with students in the different workshops.

Visit to a Maternity Home. Since Cuba places special emphasis on maternity and infant care, expectant mothers with high-risk pregnancies or other special needs can stay at a maternity home where an on-duty nurse lives and is available 24-hours. The most common reasons for going to a maternity home are the need for additional nutritional supplements, the risk of carrying a low-weight baby and carrying twins. A total of 209 maternity homes exist throughout Cuba (PAHO, 1998).

Lunch at hotel.

Afternoon: guided walking tour of UNESCO World Heritage Site, Trinidad’s Historical Center. Trinidad is an outstanding example of a colonial city. It has maintained its historic core, featuring the highest percentage of surviving antique buildings and public squares and bringing together architectural, historic and cultural elements of great value. The city is representative of the colonial human settlement and the Valle de Los Ingenios is testimony to the development of the sugar industry.

Visit to the Architecture Museum (Casa de los Sanchez Iznaga), housing the most representative samples of the city's architectural development in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Visit to Museo Lucha contra Bandidos, former home of the San Francisco de Asis convent.

Visit to Museo Romantico, overlooking the Trinidad main square. It has an excellent exhibition of romantic style porcelain, glass, paintings and decorative furniture which belonged to the Conde de Brunet and other Trinidad notorious families.

We will stop at a mirador (lookout) over the Sugar Mill Valley, designated by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 1988, it constitutes a sort of triangular plain covering some 250 square kilometers and includes the San Luis, Agabama-Meyer and Santa Rosa valleys, besides the coastal plain of the south delta of the Manati River.

Trinidad is well known for its pottery makers. We meet with a family that has been passing the tradition for generations: the Santanders.

Free time to wander the streets of historical centre or enjoy the beach.

Evening is free to enjoy the beach, hotel amenities, and the lively streets of Trinidad. How about live Cuban popular music on steps of Casa de la Música – a great opportunity to dance with Cubans and your tour companions. Morning: free time to wander the streets of historical centre or enjoy the beach.

Afternoon: transfer back to your hotel in Havana City.

Group check in at Presidente Hotel or National of Cuba Hotel.

Early morning departure to Havana City International Airport for departure.