Morning: professional meeting with members of the Group for the Integral Development of Havana at their headquarters in The Scale Model of Havana City, a museum that contains a model of the entire city of Havana. The model took nine years to build and is the second largest in the world after one of New York. Havana's 727 square kilometers are represented in an area of 22 meters of length and 10 meters of width. City planners needed to see and have a tactile sense of the impressive physical and cultural patrimony of Havana. A city that spans five centuries as a port city, island Caribbean capitol, and launching pad for the conquest of the Americas.

Founded in 1987, the Group for the Integral Development of Havana is made up of an interdisciplinary team of architects, urban planners, landscape designers, and other experts that provide guidance to government officials on urban development and policies with the aim of raising awareness about challenges to Havana’s architecture and identifying opportunities for restoration, preservation and new developments. Thanks to the work of the group over the past decades, decision makers now appreciate that Havana’s architecture is an integral part of Cuban cultural heritage and must be preserved.

A key element in the approach of the group was the creation of Workshops for Neighborhood Transformation whose objective is to improve the living conditions in historically dilapidated areas. These workshops deal with the rehabilitation of substandard housing, health and environmental campaigns, cultural expressions, assessments of needs, and leadership training.

This visit to the Grupo para el Desarrollo Integral de la Capital represents a great opportunity for North American architects, urban planners, landscape designers; as well as architecture professors, faculty and students to conduct professional research on Cuba’s architectural heritage and historical preservation and to exchange with Cuban counterparts.

Lunch: a new wave of paladares (privately-owned restaurants) has recently swept the Cuban dining scene offering excellent food and charming ambient. Today we’ll enjoy a welcome lunch at the stylish Caleza Real, one of Havana's top ten private restaurants.

Afternoon: we will embark on educational architecture tour around Modern Havana, hosted by architect Miguel Coyula, a founding member of Group for the Comprehensive Development of Havana City.

We will visit places like the Square of Revolution, University of Havana, Seawall, Vedado neighbourhood, 1830 Restaurant, Miramar neighbourhood, Hotel Nacional de Cuba, Cemetery Colon, and others.

We will also see important examples of Art- Deco style architecture such as:

The House of Catalina Laza, Havana's first art deco house, was built in 1926 by Juan Pedro Baro with marble from Carrara, ornaments from Lalique and sand from the Nile. Baro had it built for the beautiful Catalina Laza.

America Building is a theatre complex designed in 1941 by architects Fernando Martinez Campos and Pascual de Rojas, consisting of two theatres, a restaurant and some shops in the main floor and residential apartments in the upper floors. Its interiors are very well preserved and conserve all the details of the original monumental design.

Lopez Serrano Building, with its strong reminiscence of American Skyscrapers, resembling a miniature Empire State Building with the bottom 70 floors chopped off, the López Serrano building is Vedado’s most distinctive art deco architecture example. It was built in 1932 by Mira & Roisch Architecture Firm, it was the highest residential building in Havana for many years.

Return to your private rental accomodation.

Evening: Enjoy performance of the National Ballet of Cuba or the Spanish Ballet of Cuba at the Great Theatre of Havana (optional) (TBC).

Morning: as part of our full-time schedule of professional research on Cuba’s architectural heritage and historical preservation, we will exchange with architects and urban planners from the Office of the City Historian this morning. In 1995, special powers were granted to the Office of the City Historian for the administration, restoration and development of the historic center.

The administrative responsibilities of the Office of the City Historian go beyond saving buildings and monuments to the training and hiring of apprentices and artisans, architects and urban planners. The Office also plows tourist-generated revenues into the operations of schools, hospitals and retirement homes in Old Havana. The office also ensures that schools, hospitals and retirement homes have the necessary resources to operate properly.

Lunch: a new wave of paladares (privately-owned restaurants) has recently swept the Cuban dining scene offering excellent food and charming ambient. Today we’ll enjoy a welcome lunch at the stylish Paladar San Cristobal, one of Havana's top ten private restaurants.

Escorted by architect Isabel Rigol from the Office of the City Historian, we will embark on an educational architecture tour around Old Havana, UNESCO World Heritage Site. We will visit restored areas and buildings where restoration is on progress.

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, a good example of early Cuban architecture. Notice the influence from different architectural styles, with a diverse range of Moorish, Spanish, Italian, Greek and Roman architecture.

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.

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, located inside the Almacenes de Depósito San José, an old warehouse on the harbourside where you can purchase all sorts of crafts and souvenirs by local artisans.

Return to your private rental accomodation.

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. Your participation in these activities directly supports the Cuban people and the Cuban families financially while encouraging independent entrepreneurial activities that in turn strengthen civil society in Cuba.

Morning: educational architecture guided tour around Cuba's National Art Schools. The schools were designed and built by architects Cuban Ricardo Porro and the Italians Roberto Gottardi and Vittorio Garatti from 1961 to 1965. They represent an example of Cuba's architecture after the Revolution. The schools embody Cuba’s cultural heritage, radical architecture, regional building technologies, and restored hope for Cuba’s future. In 1999, they were placed on the World Monuments Fund Watch List, which calls attention to endangered cultural heritage sites.

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. Complimentary lunch will be hosted by the artist himself in his personal residence and privately-owned studio-art gallery.

Afternoon: guided by architect Victor Marin former director of CENCREM (Center for Conservation, Restoration and Museology), we will visit Havana’s Parque Central and surrounding buildings. This guided educational architecture tour will be of particularly interest for the professional research of those travelers from USA, Canada and all over the world whose profession, professional background, or area of expertise (including area of graduate-level full-time study) relates to adaptive reuse of buildings, housing, public spaces, urban revitalization, architecture and urban landscaping.

Visit to the Capitolio Nacional, designed by Cuban Architects and built by the American construction company of Purdy & Henderson. This monumental building is one of Cuba’s most outstanding architectural landmarks packed with artwork from Cuban and foreign artists.

The dome is 300.96 ft. high (7 inches higher than the highest capitol building in the US) and the recently renovated gardens are the work of the famous French Landscape architect, Forestier.

Centro Asturiano, inaugurated in 1927 designed by Spanish Architect Manuel del Busto features solid heavy façades constructed in Capellania Stonnes with clear influence of Spanish Renaissance. It houses the most majestic staircase of Cuban Architecture. Since 2001 the building houses the new Museum of Fine Arts.

Manzana de Gomez, first entire city block built in Cuba in the beginnings of the 20th century completely for commercial use with two inner diagonal streets that cross the building in all directions integrating the pedestrian circulation with the outer fabric.

Visit to the former Centro Gallego, an exponent of German neo-baroque architecture style in Havana, built in 1915 by Belgian architect Paul Belau. The building is adorned with stone and marble statues. There are also sculptural pieces by Giuseppe Moretti depicting benevolence, education, music and theatre. It was not until 1985, and as initiative of the prima ballerina Alicia Alonso that the building was renamed and became the Great Theatre of Havana.

Bacardi Building, designed in 1930 by Cuban architects Esteban Rodriguez Castells, Rafael Fernandez Ruenes and Jose Menendez Menendez, located in Las Murallas district. The rich façade design is based on polychrome granite imported from Bavaria and Norway as well as coloured brick, terracotta and Capellania stone. The elaborate decoration of the building crown features a bat, logo of the Bacardi company.

Visit the rooftop of the Sevilla Hotel for an eagle view of the walk you have taken in the morning while enjoying a refreshing Mojito cocktail.

Walking tour along the Paseo del Prado, a pedestrian promenade remodelled in 1929 with the inauguration of Havana’s Capitol Building.

Visit to residential buildings along the boulevard with clear influence from European and American architecture. Visit to the interior of the most important residence: Cuba’s former president Jose Miguel Gomez Residence.

Visit to Telegrafo Hotel.

Visit to the former Asociacion de Dependientes del Comercio, a Venitian neo-renaissance style building placed in a key corner of the Prado featured in the film Buena Vista Social Club.

Visit to the former Casino Español, currently used for wedding ceremonies for its lavish interiors.

Return to your private rental accomodation.

Free Evening.

Morning departure to Trinidad, in Central Cuba.

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

Cienfuegos was settled by French immigrants from Bordeaux and Louisiana, led by Don Louis D'Clouet, on April 22 1819. Its original name was Fernardina de Jagua, in honor of Ferdinand VII of Spain.

Visit to Palacio de Valle upon arrival. The building showing an eclectic architecture 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 architecture influence, which imitates the famous Patio of the Lions, of Alhambra, in Granada.

Lunch is included at Paladar Ache, one of Cienfuegos top ten private restaurants, serving local specialties in a pleasant courtyard.

Afternoon: as part of our full-time schedule of professional research on Cuba’s architectural heritage and historical preservation, we will have a professional meeting with architects and urban planners from the Cienfuegos’ Office of the City Historian (Oficina del Conservador de La Ciudad). The Office is in charge of the preservation and restoration of buildings and other spaces of architectural and historical value in the historic centre declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.

Hosted by Cienfuegos City Historian, architect Iran Millan Cuetara, we will embark on an educational architecture tour around 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 your Luxury Casa Particular. You'll have time for dinner and a swim in the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea.

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: as part of our full-time schedule of professional research on Cuba’s architectural heritage and historical preservation, we will hold professional meetings with architects and urban planners from the Trinidad’s Office of the City Historian (Oficina del Conservador de La Ciudad). The Office is in charge of the preservation and restoration of buildings and other spaces of architectural and historical value in the historic centre.

Hosted by architects from the Office of the City Historian, we will take an educational architecture tour around UNESCO World Heritage Site, Trinidad’s Historical Center, a perfect relic of the early days of the Spanish colony with beautifully preserved streets and buildings with hardly a trace of the 20th century anywhere.

Trinidad's Historical Centre, declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1988, boats a wealth of architectural buildings dating from the 18th and 19th centuries around Plaza Mayor (main square) when trade in sugar from the nearby Valle de los Ingenios and slaves, brought great riches to the area. Many of the buildings surrounding the central square belonged to the wealthy landowners of the city.

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, where the sugar barons used to have their countryside mansions and mills. This site is an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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

Lunch at Solananda Paladar. Eating in private family-run restaurants directly supports the Cuban people and the Cuban families financially while encouraging independent entrepreneurial activities that in turn strengthen civil society in Cuba.

Afternoon: private educational architecture tour to the recently restored Teatro La Caridad (Charity's Theater) (1885). Declared a National Monument of Cuba in 1981, it is one of the eight Grand Theaters of Cuba’s colonial period. The building showcases a sober exterior but it is the engineering of its angled rooftop, the amount of windows and doors (for better acoustics and air flow), and the interior decorations by Cuban masters that shows off. The auditorium holds 440 people and it hosts the theater group Teatro La Trinidad today.

Evening: celebrate New Year’s Eve at a venue of your choosing tonight (optional/ not included in tour costs). Your tour guide will give you advice on the numerous venues in the city where you can partake in the celebrations for New Year’s Eve. He will also help you book your favourite dinner and event. Tour desks can also help with booking events for this special night where one more anniversary of the Cuba Revolution is also celebrated.

Morning: we will board former Russian army trucks for Topes de Collantes in the Escambray Mountain Range, Cuba's second highest mountain range- reaching 3,700 feet atop Pico San Juan. The mountains are home to small mountain villages and are a delight for birders and walkers alike. Slopes are swathed in Caribbean pines, ancient tree ferns, bamboo, and eucalyptus.

Arrival at Hacienda Codina, an old Spanish Hacienda, once part of a large Spanish coffee plantation where we will have a typical lunch. Followed by a walk around this area to admire the beauty of the surrounding landscape.

Topes de Collantes National Park in the Escambray mountains in Central Cuba. A perfect place for encountering Cuban birds such as the Cuban Emerald (Chlorostilbon ricordii), Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo platypterus), Cuban Parrot (Amazono leucocephala), Fernandina’s Flicker (Colaptes fernandinae)…

Afternoon: transfer back to Havana City.

Check in at your hotel Valentin Quinta Avenida (Valentin 5th Avenue) or Luxury Casa Particular located at the cultural center of Havana City.

Evening is free to enjoy your last night in Havana. How about live Cuban popular music at Casa de la Música – a great opportunity to dance with Cubans and your tour companions.

Early morning departure to Havana City International Airport for departure.