WESTERN CUBA - HAVANA TO TRINIDAD

Day 1 Arrive Havana

Transfer to your hotel in the centre of the old city. The Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski La Habana occupies part of what was Cuba’s first European-style shopping arcade, built at the turn of the 20th century. Perfectly placed for exploring Old Havana, the hotel has a direct view of El Capitolio and the Great Theatre of Havana and is a 10-minute drive from the Castillo del Morro.

Overnight: Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski La Habana

Day 2 Colonial Havana

Today you will have a guided tour of this UNESCO World Heritage City. After visiting El Capitolio, or National Capitol Building, with its impressive cupola and massive Republica statue, you will continue by horse-drawn carriage along to Cathedral Square from where you will start a walking tour through colonial Old Havana: highlights include the Palacio de los Capitanes Generales,one of Hemingway’s favourite watering holes, El Templete, Castillo de la Real Fuerza and Plaza Vieja.

Overnight: Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski La Habana

Day 3 Havana tobacco tour

A chance to marvel at the impressive skills of the ‘torcedores’, or cigar rollers, in the factories that produce the best cigars in the world. Continue to the atelier of a celebrated Cuban artist such as José Rodríguez Fuster, known as the ‘Gaudí of the Caribbean’, whose exuberant murals and domes decorate more than 80 buildings in his neighbourhood.

Overnight: Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski La Habana

Day 4 Viñales

Take an early morning drive along the Tobacco Route to the province of Pinar del Río, home to traditional farms, villages and tobacco plantations. This panoramic journey takes you through the Viñales Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site dotted with impressive limestone outcrops called mogotes, and on to the picturesque town of Viñales, where time seems to stand still. Highlights today include a visit to a tobacco farm where you will see how tobacco is grown and harvested.

Overnight: Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski La Habana

Day 5 Havana – Cienfuegos – Trinidad

This morning you will be driven southeast towards central Cuba to reach the charming and well-preserved port city of Cienfuegos, nicknamed the ‘Pearl of the South’ for its UNESCO-listed architectural heritage. Highlights include the famous Tomás Terry Theatre where Caruso used to sing. After lunch, continue along the panoramic coastal road to Trinidad, another UNESCO World Heritage Site with unique colonial architecture.

Overnight: Gran Hotel IBEROSTAR, Trinidad

Day 6 Trinidad

Founded in 1513, Trinidad prospered during the sugar boom in the 19th century and is Cuba’s best preserved colonial town. Spend the morning strolling through the cobbled streets and across the Plaza Mayor, surrounded by the beautiful mansions built by the sugar barons. After a Chanchánchara, a historic cocktail favoured by the early Cuban freedom fighters, take a guided tour of Romantic Museum at the Palacio Brunet or the City Museum at Palacio Cantero.

Overnight: Gran Hotel IBEROSTAR, Trinidad

Day 7 Trinidad - Havana

This morning take a trip through Valle de los Ingenios, or the Valley of the Sugar Mills, once a centre for sugar production and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You’ll visit the hacienda of former sugar baron Pedro Iznaga and take in the panoramic view from his legendary ‘slave tower’. Continue to Havana via the town of Santa Clara where Ernesto ‘Ché’ Guevara celebrated his greatest victory and later found his final resting place.

Overnight: Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski La Habana

Day 8 Depart Havana

Transfer to Havana airport for your flight home. Alternatively, if you wish to extend your trip with some relaxing beach time, we suggest continuing to the Meliá Buenavista, an adult-only hotel