Classic Car Trip "Surprise Cuba - 27 days"

Review

ORÜK27 Vintage Car Round Trip "Surprise Cuba - 27 days"

A trip from west Cuba to east Cuba and back
27 day/26 night long round trip in a vintage car with a chauffeur, your own travel guide and overnight stays in Casas Particulares (private accomodations).

Havana - Pinar del Rio – Vuelta Abajo – San Luis - San Juan y Martinez - Guane – Sumidero - Caverna Santo Tomas - Viñales - Cayo Jutías – Viñales - Cueva de los Portales - San Diego de los Banos - Soroa - Las Terazzas - Batabano - Güines - Playa Larga - Playa Giron - Caleta Buena - Cienfuegos - El Nicho - Trinidad - Valley of the Sugar Mills - Trinidad - Sancti Spiritus - Ciego die Avila - Camagüey - Las Tunas - Bayamo - El Cobre - Santiago de Cuba - Gran Piedra - Santiago - Guantanamo - Baracoa - Moa – Sagua de Tanamo – Cayo Saetia - Nicaro - Mayari - Nipe - Biran - Banes - Guardalavaca - Bariay - Gibara - Holguin - Velasco - Puerto Padre - Las Tunas - Camagüey - Ciego die Avila - Moron - Cayo Coco - Remedios - Cayo Las Brujas - Santa Clara - Elguea - Cardenas - Matanzas - Yumuri - Jibacoa - Guanabo - Havana 

This round trip will surprise you with impressive experiences in an authentic Cuba, which cannot be made on normal round trips. Cuba travelers, who want to get to know the extraordinary landscape of natural beauty in western Cuba or the colonial cities in central Cuba all the way to the eastern parts, will be amazed by this round trip. At the start of this round trip, we will show you Havana with a special sightseeing tour. After that, the way leads into the province Pinar del Rio, where we first stop in the capital with the same name. After a short visit of the city, we will drive into the Vuelta Abajo with its particularly fertile soil bearing many minerals, which is perfect for growing the best tobacco in the world. The next few days are completely dedicated to the world-famous Cuban tobacco. In the Vuelta Abajo we will visit a famous, over 200 year old tobacco finca with you. During that time you can learn a lot about how tobacco is grown and you can watch an old tobacco farmer roll cigars. This is the home of the real and authentic Cuban cigar! While visiting a family living in the countryside you will get to know the popular religion in Cuba, the Santeria, and also take part in a ceremony with a Santero priest. During a side trip to a horse farm with old Spanish thoroughbred horses and bred fighting cocks with proudly colorful feathers you can also look at a fighting cock arena.
As we continue into the tropical natural landscape, across very old steel bridges, past interesting villages with the authentic life of the rural people, we make our way to Viñales. Along the way, many scenic and interesting places of this magnificent part of the country will cross your way. We will also go on a cave tour through the second-largest cave in America. After your first night and a nice evening in Viñales, we will go on an excursion into the tropical valleys around Viñales with stops at the unique sights embedded in the tropical karstic landscape. On the next day you will go on a day trip to the snow-white beach of Cayo Jutias, where you can spend a relaxing day at the seaside.
The following day will lead through a breathtaking and lovely landscape again until we reach the Cave of Che (Cueva de los Portales). After visiting this impressive natural monument, you will drive to the orchid garden in Soroa and have a look at the colony of artists in Las Terazzas. As the trip goes on, you will get to see the old and famous coffee plantation Angerona, Havana’s first port near Batabano and even cross Havana’s fertile front garden until you reach the A1 motorway, on which you will drive to get to the southern coast with its famous Bay of Pigs. This history-charged place is where the failed counter-invasion of the exiled Cubans, who had help from America, took place, and a lot of information can be found about this event in the museum of Playa Giron. In Playa Larga and the gorgeous Caleta Buena you will get to have yet another day at the seaside with its crystal clear water. After saying goodbye to the Bay of Pigs, we drive to the seaport Cienfuegos, which we will show you during a panorama tour in the car. This very clean colonial city will show you some of the most important sights in all of Cuba. Before traveling further to the city of museums, Trinidad, we go on an excursion to El Nicho, into the tropical forest, to waterfalls and tropical ponds in which you can have a refreshing swim. You will feel as if you were in a movie about the Wild West when you find yourself in the old colonial city Trinidad, in which time seems to have stopped. Visiting this unique UNESCO World Cultural Heritage city will blow you away. 
Afterwards our trip leads us through the Valley of the Sugar Mills and past Sancti Spiritus to Ciego die Avila, which is in the island’s center. This is where the split between west and east Cuba lies. A panorama tour by car through the capital of the province, Ciego die Avila, will teach us a lot of interesting things about modern art in Cuba.

Shortly after, we reach the city of parks, maze-like alleys and big clay vessels. The colonial city Camagüey will stay in your memory because of the colonial fort it has to offer. The way leads you past broad sugar cane fields, all the way to Las Tunas. From here you will go into the southeastern part of Cuba with Bayamo, which is the city of horse carriages and also the second-oldest colonial settlement. During our long trip to Santiago de Cuba, we also reach the big basilica El Cobre, which is the most important place of pilgrimage in Cuba. The impressive beauty of this place basically invites you in to take a few pictures. Santiago de Cuba, the capital of the Caribbean and world cultural heritage, welcomes us with scenic mountains, a unique city structure and the atmosphere of a history-charged pulsating Cuban city. You will get to hear many interesting stories here. Visiting the great monolith Gran Piedra will blow you away, as you have a breathtaking view over the mountain scenery of the Sierra Maestra and even Jamaica is visible from here.

We pass Gitmo, the contemporary world scene in Guantanamo, and travel along the southeastern coast on the wild road full of serpentines until we reach Baracoa, the oldest city in Cuba. This old colonial place and the excursions around Baracoa will impress you just like every other person staying here.

In case of bad weather and inadequate motorization it is better to drive back to Guantanamo to continue the program at the north coast instead of driving to Moa!

We leave the tropical rainforest of the east coast on a bumpy and curvy road to get to the north coast and the bauxite city Moa. Then, quickly after, we leave this exploited, gloomy and surreal area with its industrial abandoned constructions behind and drive to the beautiful beach of the island Cayo Saetia at the northern coast. Now we visit Fidel Castro’s birthplace and look at archeological excavation sites of the aborigines of Cuba until we reach the lovely beach of the Playa Guardalavaca. Having a swim in the warm sea will be most pleasant for you. When you reach the place where the great discoverer Christopher Kolumbus landed in Bariay, you will be able to understand the words the admiral wrote into his logbook, which say that he has never laid eyes on a place more gorgeous. After another impressive scheduled stop at the stronghold Gibara, our trip leads us into the city of breweries and parks, Holguin. Your stay in this colonial city will be yet another spectacular experience. Through another excursion to the north coast of the Oriente you will get to see Puerto Padre, the former biggest sugar exporting port in the world, on top of it being a gorgeous travel destination. The way back leads along the old road Carretera Central past Las Tunas, Camagüey and Ciego di Avila until we reach the colonial town Moron. Here, the islands Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo are connected to the main land by a long artificial roadway. If the schedule and weather both allow it, you will be able to spend some pleasant hours at the seaside. As we continue along the central northern coast of the island, shortly before reaching the place called Caibarien, we cross the roadway to get to the island Cayo Las Brujas. With a bit of luck, one can even have a fascinating experience with thousands of flamingos and pelicans. Las Brujas is also very much inviting you to have a swim again. Here we leave the north coast, visit the beautiful colonial gem Remedios and then continue to Santa Clara, the city of Che. In this place you will get to see the monuments and the memorial of the legendary guerilla leader Ernesto Che Guevara and his fallen comrades. It was him, who fought the battle which led to the end of the tyranny caused by the Fulgenico Batista and the rebel leader’s victory. And as you say goodbye to Santa Clara, your way back to Havana begins. As we slowly but steadily go on our way along the north coast again, we head past a health spa, visit Matanzas, which has the second-largest port in Cuba and a very sad but also interesting history with it being the biggest slave trading post of the former new world. Passing the Playas del Este, we return to Havana, the starting point of our long journey through Cuba.

Travel Details

Surprise Cuba 27 days - Roundtrip in a Classic Car / Car with driver and guide

Day 1: Havana – Day of arrival
Arrival at Havana International Airport. After receiving your luggage you will be welcomed by a member of our staff and given some information about your trip. Then we continue to your Casa Particular in Havana, where a lovely dinner is waiting for you. 
Accommodation: Casa Particular (Private Guesthouse B&B).
Meals: Dinner.

 

Day 2: La Habana 
Breakfast. At 08:30 am you are picked up at your Casa Particular or hotel. Discussion about the day’s tour.
Sightseeing trip through the center of Havana. Every alley and almost every single house is lovely in the historic center Habana Vieja and you can find photo motifs and places to linger around en mas. We will take you on a walk through the historic city center La Habana Vieja, protected by the UNESCO. The city was founded in 1519 together with the first seven cities in Cuba. The city tour leads us to the Plaza de Armas, the Templete, the fort Real Force Castle, the palace San Francisco de Asis and the Cathedral Square with a visit of the cathedral in no particular order. You will also be able to have a short look at the original restored presidential carriage from 1910. On one of the rooftop decks we will enjoy a tropical refreshing drink while having an excellent view over the photogenic rooftops of Havana. Together we will take a stroll through the shopping streets Calle Obispo and Calle O’Reilly and then to the arts and crafts market. On the way we will take short breaks in the narrow alleys of the historic city and next to special buildings. We will look at colonial inner courtyards and learn a lot about the capital Havana and their stories. Of course we will also include a stop for you to have a Mojito and an aromatic Cohiba in the famous Hemingway Bar La Bodeguita del Medico or a Daiquiri in La Floridita. 
All drinks are optional and at your own expense!
Lunch at a local restaurant. 

After lunch you will be able to have a detailed tour through Havana in your vintage car. 
On said tour you visit the Cementerio Colon, the second largest graveyard of all of Latin America. On a round trip through the approximately 100.000 graves, of which 90% are made of marble, you will learn about many stories this museum graveyard holds. After that, the way leads across the place where the revolution took place, Revolution Square, with its memorial of freedom, an obelisk in the late art deco style. 
This is where Fidel Castro used to hold his famous speeches that influenced world politics in front of the masses. As soon as it opens again (currently still closed) we can use the elevator to get to the head of the obelisk. From here you have a fantastic view across the city. We continue on to the village San Francisco de Paula, where Hemingway used to have soughing parties with many famous greats from the movie scene, the mafia and even politicians in the 50s. Hemingway acquired this manor, the ‘Finca la Vijia’, with his Nobel prize for literature. 
The former residence and its furniture survived the test of time really well and is nowadays the Hemingway Museum in Cuba. It can’t be entered but you can even see the writing instruments, many souvenirs brought back from various trips, as well as personal things from the life of the famous author through the open windows. (Closed on Sundays, holidays and when there is bad weather).

From there we continue on small roads and the city highway until we reach the fishing village Cojimar. This is the place where the great US American novelist and author Ernest Hemingway used to stay and listen to the tales his captain called Gregorio told him and then used those to write his nobel prize-winning novel ‘The Old Man and The Sea’. There will be a short stop at the Ernest Hemingway bar (drinks optional) and during a visit at the memorial located here you will learn many historic details about this famous man. Now we drive back along the Playas del Este, the eastern beaches of Havana and its seaside paradise where the natives who come here in Summer spend their holidays, all the way to the place Casablanca with its impressive statue of Christ. The wife of dictator Batista wanted to calm down the agitated and protesting people by ordering the erection of a replica of the statue of Christ of Rio on the elevated eastern bank of the seaport. It was not as big as the original but could be seen from all of central Havana. The place Casablanca is located opposite to the historic city center on the other bank of the port entrance. Here you have an unforgettable chance to take some pictures next to the Cristo de Habana. On the elevated deck next to the Cristo, you have a fantastic panorama view over the entire city center and the outskirts, the port entrance and a part of the harbor, the fort El Morro and the Malecon and also the seaside promenade of Havana. Here you can also clearly see why the city was built in this location and why Havana is the most important Pass-Through-Port for the gold of the new world. 
We underpass the port in a tunnel and drive along the Malecon into the city center of Vedado and then stop at the Hotel Nacional with its gorgeous park. From the 33rd floor of the Focsa and the highest building of the city, we can provide a breathtaking view over the skyline of Havana. On a drive through the green lung of Havana with its many parks, we can show you the Miramar district in which 90% of the embassies are located. Most of them are situated in the countless beautiful mansions. Here, we visit the famous artist Jose Fuster in his Mosaic-Street. He created a tribute to the Gaudí in Barcelona with his mosaic art. At the end of our tour we drive through the Sybone district, which is a suburb of Havana that is often compared to Beverly Hills. Afterwards we will reach your accommodation which is where the 5 – 6 hour long tour ends and also where you will be able to say that you experienced and got to know Havana for certain.

Note: The tour does not take place in a particular order and during Winter the program is subject to change due to the days being shorter. Please note that the statehouse, the Partagas cigar factory and the obelisk/tower at the Plaza de la Revolucion cannot be visited for an indefinite time due to renovations and reconstruction measures. The Hemingway museum, the Finca La Vijia, is closed on Sundays and in case of bad weather.

Accommodation: Casa Particular B&B, Dinner.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

Tip for the evening: Attendance of the famous cannon shot ceremony, port closes at 09:00 pm (Optional and can be booked on site).

Day 3: Habana - Pinar del Río - San Luis - Vuelta Abajo
Breakfast. At 09:00 am we start our trip into the province Pinar del Rio in our vintage car.
Your travel guide for west Cuba: First your chauffeur takes you down the 150 km to Pinar del Rio, the capital of the province with the same name. To the right of the city entrance, the Pinar del Rio hotel is located. Your travel guide Carlos is waiting for you in the hotel’s central yard and will continue on to Havana with you from here. Carlos speaks English fluently and even a bit of German, so you will not have any problems communicating with him.
Short tour through the town Pinar del Rio. Visit of the cigar factory Francisco Donatien and the liquor factory Guayabita a bit further outside the city (in case both are open, closed on Sundays and holidays). After having had a look at these sights the trip goes into the lands of tobacco, the Vuelta Abajo. 
The next few hours are completely dedicated to the world famous Cuban tobacco. We will visit famous, more than 200 years old tobacco fincas from before the revolution in the Vuelta Abajo around San Luis with you. You will learn a lot about the process of growing tobacco, and depending on the season, you will also be able to see how the tobacco leaves are handled as well as see the ancient methods and even watch an old tobacco farmer roll cigars. Today, we will visit the tobacco Vega Gustavo. It is here where you can find the real Cuban cigar, grown in unique soil and made from the best tobacco plants in the world. You should stock up on cigars here as the tobacco that is being grown here may very well have the best flavor in all of Cuba! (Optional purchase). 
During a short walk through the surrounding tobacco cultivation areas, we will visit another ancient colonial neighbor finca with you. In case the owners are home, you can even have a look into this historic finca and from the roof, you have a beautiful view over the Vuelta Abajo.
Lunch at the tobacco Vega Gustavo.
After that a true highlight of your trip through west Cuba is waiting for you as you will be able to take part in a real Santeria ceremony.
During that you will learn a lot about the religion of the Cuban people and with an additional introduction to Cuban herbal medicine, you will spend a fascinating afternoon which you won’t forget anytime soon. Dinner at the house of the Santero. 

Accommodation: Casa Particular B&B.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

Day 4: San Luis - Vuelta Abajo – San Juan y Martinez - Guane 
Breakfast. At 09:00 am, we make our way to La Virginia and a quaint cock fighting farm, the Finca Carito Peinato. This finca is well known for breeding fighting cocks and racy mozarabic horses. The tobacco is cultivated in a special way as well. A trip to this finca is another highlight on the trip through west Cuba. You get to see how the fighting cocks are raised and drilled. Depending on the day, you can also look at a cock fight or rent or buy your own animal and participate yourself. The horses bred here also impress everyone who has admiration for horses and the way of tobacco cultivation is very interesting as well of course. After having visited this lovely Finca, the trip continues to San Juan y Martinez and the Vega Hector Luis Prieto.
Lunch at the Vega’s ranch.
We will visit the ‘new star’ among the Cuban tobaccos, the tobacco Finca of Hector Luis Prieto. As the youngest tobacco guru in all of Cuba, after the death of the great Alejandro Robaina (inventor of the Cohiba), Hector enjoys great fame world wide under the aficionados of Cuban tobacco. Getting to know and visiting this sympathetic Tabaclero will surely make this day a highlight. Hector introduces himself personally and leads you through a tour through his tobacco farm, on which he will tell you a lot about his life and the Vega’s history. There will be details about the cultivation of tobacco and you will see the Vega and tobacco fields as well as learn about the individual stations that a cigar in the making has to go through.
After having visited the farm, you can talk to Hector to stock up on delicious cigars! (Optional purchase). If you like horses, you will even have the chance to have a short ride through the tobacco farm. As the evening draws close, we drive on into your accommodation to Isabel Rubio or Guane.

Accommodation: Casa Particular B&B.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

Day 5: Guane - Sumidero - Caverna Santo Tomas – Viñales
Breakfast. At 9:00 am we will drive you through breathtakingly lovely photogenic landscapes with tobacco fields embedded in picturesque valleys, we will cross rivers on iron bridges older than one hundred years and we travel past interesting villages with the authentic life of the rural people. Along this way, many places invite you to visit them. About 20 km in front of Viñales we will visit the very impressive cave called ‘Gran Caverna de Santo Tómas‘, which is the second largest cave system on the entirety of the American continent. During a 90 minute hike, you can gaze upon the impressive stalagtites and stalagmites with interesting rock formations and cave paintings.
Lunch at a restaurant along the way.
On a trip through the tropical valleys of the island’s western mountians, we reach Viñales in the evening.

Accommodation: Casa Particular B&B.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

During an evening stroll over the marketplace you can enjoy Cuban live music and the fascinating atmosphere of this place. (Optional)

Day 6: Viñales
Breakfast. At 9:00 am our day starts with a trip through the surrounding tropical Viñales Valleys with its tobacco plantations and tropical mountain tops from the karstic valleys of the Sierra de los Organos. We advance into the unique tropical natural landscape of the Mogotes with its mountain peaks which is protected by the UNESCO. There are remnants of collapsed gigantic ancient caves. Embedded in this landscape you can find the picturesque tobacco farms in the Parque Nacional de Viñales. In case you want you can go on a short hike here or in Palmerito Valley.
Lunch at a Paladar. 
Afterwards we will have a few stops for you to take pictures at various interesting Mogotes and the lovely sights around the area in no particular order. One of them being the breathtaking observation deck Las Jasmines and the prehistoric wall of Dos Hermanas. 
We will visit the Cueva del Indios, which we will pass through by boat on a subterranean river. 

Accommodation: Casa Particular B&B.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

During an evening stroll over the marketplace you can enjoy Cuban live music and the fascinating atmosphere of this place. (Optional)

Day 7: Cayo Jutias
Breakfast. At 9:00 am we start our day trip and seaside day as we drive towards Cayo Jutias. 
A dreamy mangrove island, that is accessible by crossing a stone levee, with its gorgeous snow white sandy beach. After having crossed the stone levee, the lovely landscape of the silky sandy coral dust beaches of west Cuba open up before your eyes.
Surrounded by a blue and turquoise play of light, the sea invites you to spend a beautiful day at the seaside here. There are also many possibilities for you to engage in water sports activities. A local ranch will also provide sustenance. 
Lunch at the ranch.
During late afternoon we will return to Viñales.

Accommodation: Casa Particular B&B.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
During an evening stroll over the marketplace you can enjoy Cuban live music and the fascinating atmosphere of this place. (Optional)

Day 8: Viñales - Cueva de los Portales – Soroa
Breakfast. At 8:30 am we will depart towards Soroa. The first point down the line after our departure in the morning is the trip through an impressively amazing landscape of tropical moutains with breathtaking views from the foothills of the tropical mountain range Sierra de los Organos. Along the way we reach another highlight of this trip, the cave of Che, la Cueva de los Portales. This is where Ernesto Che Guevara hid alongside his comrades during the revolution. This large cave and rock labyrinth located in a beautiful area is a unique and impressive natural monument which will surely amaze you. 

As we continue we first pass the La Guira national park to San Diego de los Banos, a Cuban health spa with old natural springs that have been visited since the colonial times. 
In the time before the revolution many mafioso greats and rich habaneros, as well as American tourists used to come here to relax and take cures. 
Today this remains an interesting place, still worth seeing but barely retained as the past greatly chipped away at it. 
Lunch at a restaurant along the way.

From San Diego we head down the Carretera Central to Christobal and when we reach Candelara, we take a turn into the Sierra del Rosario, a biosphere reserve protected by the UNESCO, and then we finally reach Soroa Nature Park. Soroa is named after the Frenchman Jean Pierre Soroa who managed a big coffee plantation here in the 19th century. This nature park is famous for its fabulous tropical mountain landscape. Together, we will visit the orchid garden which holds more than 700 different orchid subspecies of which many are endemic. During May to October you can gaze upon the gorgeous waterfall Salto de Arcoiris (up to 21 m high) since it carries a lot of water and in case there is enough time, we can even descend down to its ponds.

From Soroa, we head down to the famous community Las Terazzas with its artist colony and a lake in a pretty location. Here you go on a short walk, during which the history of this first ‘sustainable settlement’ of Cuba is explained to you. During the years before the revolution, the area west of Havana was almost completely deforested and started to atrophy. 
The forest workers living here belong to the poorest people in all of Cuba, but it was them who reforested the area again after the revolution. Depending on the time of the day, you can even visit the ruins of old coffee plantations during a hike. Or we can go to the San Juan River to hop into its idyllic natural ponds to cool off.
After a beautiful day in nature, we find a place in the area to stay overnight. 

Accommodation: Casa Particular B&B.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

Day 9: Soroa - Artemisa - Batabano - Güines - Playa Larga
Breakfast. At 8:00 am we depart to the south coast of Cuba.
First, our way leads towards Artemisa and we visit the interesting ruins of the old famous coffee plantation Angerona. It was one of the first plantations in all of Cuba and was run by 450 slaves. 
Afterwards we drive on to the sleepy place called Batabano. In the Surgidero de Batabano, Spanish settlers founded the first port for ships delivering silver, who surrounded the Isla de la Juventud from the pirates, before they founded the safe port of the city Havana. Some buildings as well as the abandoned train station are really worth having a look at.
After a short stop, we move on from Batabano over sleepy villages through a cultural landscape not yet discovered by tourists. Back when Alexander von Humboldt visited around 200 years ago, many agricultural towns formed around Havana. Those villages then specialized in producing tobacco and sugar due to their proximity to the city. The town called Guines is almost a ghost town today. In 1836, the first railroad track in the new world was laid out from Guines to Havana. In this place you will also barely see any other tourists. Here you can enjoy the feeling of experiencing Cuba in its most pure way. There will also be a short stop at the small Santa Barbara church with a reliquiem about the Santeria, the religion of the Cuban people. 

Our way now leads us past Güines to the highway A1. The country’s modern eight-lane main road called Carretera Nacional A1, or also Ochovia, was built for strategic reasons after the revolution. It was mainly built by the Russians during the cold war to bring troops from one end to the other of this long and narrow island and to foil another invasion attempt. Still, this is the main road connecting the country. However, there are only few cars here. Here in the center of Cuba it is clearly visible that transport is surely a great problem. The constant crisis doesn’t allow modernization and there is a big lack of fuel. This shows why cars that are up to 50 years old still get refurbished again and again. Now we also learn to appreciate the efforts that the vintage car owners and drivers had to undergo to get their car into an almost museum-worthy condition. The big and popular V8 engines of those wasteful times, pure gas-guzzlers, mostly didn’t survive the many years and were replaced by new, fuel saving engines. Today, most of the vintage cars that were lovingly refurbished have a modern diesel engine of either a minivan or a mini truck. 

The American vintage cars weigh almost twice as much as a modern mid-range car due to their bodies made of heavy sheet metal.
Here on the ‘Ochovia’, the comfort these American cars bring with them really becomes noticeable since these cars built in the 1950s were specifically built for driving long distances down wide asphalt highways. Individual traveling was in fashion. Public mass-transport was frowned upon and basically non-existent during the peak of the anti-socialism hysteria in the USA. Public transport vehicles are rather rare and in bad condition in Cuba up to this day.
Then we follow the highway to Jagüey Grande, where we will take a turn towards the Montemar Nature Park and the Cienaga de Zapata peninsula, which is a wide swampy natural reserve at the south coast.
First the way leads to La Boca and the Laguna del Tosoro.
Lunch at a restaurant in the area.
After lunch we will go to the treasure lake and the biggest settlement area of the native people of the Taino village called Guamá. You will take a boat to embark on a trip on the lagoon Guama (treasure lake). A replica of a village of the extinct Taino people from Cuba was recreated on multiple islands in the lake. Lifesized figures will give you an impression of how the natives of Cuba used to live in this outdoor museum.

As you come back from this trip, you will get to know the Cuban crocodile at the nearby crocodile farm. To increase the population of the endemic Cuban crocodiles, they are bred here and then released back into the mangrove swamp. 
Then we continue to the famous Bay of Pigs and to Playa Larga located nearby.
The Bay of Pigs is about 30km long from here to Playa Giron. In 1961, exiled Cubans tried to land here to overthrow the Castro regime with support from the USA. The planned invasion fell flat in just a few days. The Zapata peninsula is very similar to the swamps of the Everglades in Florida and also a paradise for birds. Hundreds of thousands of migrating birds from the cold north hibernate here during the winter and live together with bird species and endemic species from South America. This area is definitely a paradise for bird lovers. 
We stay overnight in Playa Larga.

Accommodation: Casa Particular, B&B.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner. 

Day 10: Playa Larga – Playa Giron – Caleta Buena – Cienfuegos
Breakfast. At 09:00 am, and after an early bath in the sea, we embark on a trip along the Bay of Pigs and through mangrove forests hemmed with many memorials that are reminders of the invasion in 1961 until we reach Playa Giron. As we arrive in Playa Giron, we will be able to have a look at the small museum about the invasion, in which we can learn many things about the topic. 
Along the way we can find many small coves that basically invite you to stop and have a swim in them. However, we continue straight on to the Caleta Buena, a beautiful and wide natural sea basin in which we will spend some enjoyable hours bathing. 
Lunch at the Caleta Buena.
During the afternoon we leave this place and drive about 110km past Covadonga and Rodas until we reach the seaport Cienfuegos, the pearl of the south.

Accommodation: Casa Particular, B&B.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
Evening stroll down the Malecon of Cienfuegos and dinner at a restaurant in the area. 

Day 11: Cienfuegos - El Nicho – Trinidad
Breakfast. At 08:30 am we depart on a sightseeing trip through the city of Cienfuegos and can see from our car how its streets are arranged in a checkered pattern. Space didn’t seem to have been a problem at the time of the city’s foundation 250 years ago. The interesting and pretty architecture is from the 19th century and has a colonial French look and is built in the laste neoclassicistic style. The most famous singer of Cuba, Benny Morey, was also born in Cienfuegos, which is also where he lived, and the city has many places to remind you of that. Then we stop at the Terry Theater, which is 150 years old, as well as Punta Gorda promontory, where the city reaches far into the bay of Cienfuegos and where a district for rich people developed before the revolution. There are still quite a few old colonial wooden houses here that were purchasable from a catalogue from the USA 100 years ago. The great and old mansions still make that really visible. What stands out the most here is the former palace-like house of the rich ‘De Valle’ family. To build it, specialists were brought in from Morocco to build a house in the Moorish style.
Then we visit the ‘Palacio de Valle’, which is a restaurant today. From the Palacio’s rooftop deck you have an unforgettable view over the bay-port and Cienfuegos, and all that with a cocktail in your hand. In the distance you can even see the unfinished construction ruin of the only Russian nuclear reactor on Cuban ground. Even the old and rusty construction cranes can be seen. The USA are rather worried about this reactor in their backyard even though it was never finished nor activated.
We will have another stop at the graveyard with the small replica of the Panthenon in Greece. 
Lunch at a restaurant in the area.

Outside the city lies the botanical garden of Cienfuegos with the biggest collection of palm trees in the world. In case you are interested in it, we can pay it a short visit. 
The drive from Cienfuegos to Trinidad leads along a heavily trafficked narrow road and also through the southern foothills of the ‘Montanas Guamuhaya’ and ‘Escambray’ mountains. At the San Francisco village, we will have an excursion into the tropical mountains. Along narrow and partly steep and curvy mountain road, we head straight into the heart of the ‘Montanas de Guamuhaya’ mountains until we reach the nature park ‘El Nicho’. Here we go on a short hike into the cool climate of the shallow waterfalls where you also have the opportunity to go for a swim in the natural ponds. 
So don’t forget to bring your hiking boots and your swim suits today. 
From there we continue on to Trinidad, a colonial city declared a World Cultural Heritage by the UNESCO.

Accommodation: Casa Particular, B&B.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
Evening stroll through Trinidad and dinner at a local restaurant.

Recommendation: Many bars and restaurants in the city have Cuban live music. We highly recommend visiting the ‘Casa de la Trova’, where Cuban music is played by old and young bands and where Cubans and foreigners alike come to dance. (Optional)

Day 12: Trinidad – Valley of the Sugar Mills – Trinidad
Breakfast. At 09:00 am we visit the historic city center of Trinidad. The streets with their old cobblestone and the colonial buildings are some of the few colonial structures that were completely preserved from the 18th century. This picturesque backdrop that looks like it could be straight out of a museum invites you to a wonderful walk with many places to take pictures. Time completely stands still here.
You move around in a backdrop that looks like it’s out of a Mexican vintage movie about the revolution. The city became rich during the 18th century as it was a port of export for sugar when it was still located at the seaside. It sustained itself with the fertile soil between the Escambray mountain range and the coast, called the ‘Valle de los Ingenios’ (Valley of the Sugar Mills). There will be short visits of the museum of colonial architecture and art, the Alexander von Humboldt Museum of Natural History and the so-called ‘Museo Romantico’, in which you can see how the sugar barons of Trinidad used to live.
We climb up to the rooftop deck of the the municipal museum (Palacio Cantero) located in the historic city center to have the best view over the city and its surrounding area. 
Lunch at a local restaurant. 

In the afternoon we go on a short trip through the Valley of the Sugar Mills ‘Valle de los Ingenios’ all the way to the town called Manaca Iznaga and the 45 meter tall historic slave tower Iznaga. If entry is possible, we ascend up the tower for a breathtaking view over the surrounding area. Alternatively, we can quickly stop at the viewpoint on a hill beside the street with a beautiful panorama view over the valley at the ‘Mirador del Valle’. After that we return to Trinidad.

Accommodation: Casa Particular, B&B.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
Evening stroll through Trinidad and dinner at a local restaurant.
Recommendation: Many bars and restaurants in the city have Cuban live music. We highly recommend visiting the ‘Casa de la Trova’, where Cuban music is played by old and young bands and where Cubans and foreigners alike come to dance. (Optional).

Vintage car and driver both are exchanged in Trinidad for the upcoming eastern route! It is probably better to use a normal car/van/minibus from here on!
The central route leads from Sancti Spiritus to Remedios and Santa Clara. Remedios is the place where the central and eastern routes meet!
 

Central and Eastern Route

Day 13: Trinidad - Sancti Spiritus - Ciego di Avila – Camagüey
Breakfast. At 08:00 am, we drive down the highway towards Sancti Spiritus. Soon after we then arrive at the city center. During a panorama tour through this sleepy agricultural UNESCO colonial city, you will most definitely notice many American vintage cars and horse carriage taxis. Here you can imagine how the traffic used to look like in Havana just a few years ago. It also shows why Cubans are not used to modern traffic and therefor do not particularly care about automobile traffic on the streets. 

Shortly after we continue our trip down the Carretera Central until we reach the city Ciego de Avila, the geographical center of the island that is Cuba.  

A small panorama tour is planned here, which leads us through the city center of this history-charged provincial capital. We drive past the Plaza Parque Martí, through the Parque de la Ciudad, an interesting park with unusual attractions, old locomotives and artworks made of salvage as well as a plane restaurant. After having passed the Hotel Ciego de Avila, we drive back along the Carretera Central, past Florida all the way to Camagüey, the capital of the province with the same name, which is also a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage. We will arrive here in the afternoon.
Lunch at a restaurant along the way.

Camagüey is also called the city of churches and clay vessels. The maze-like city layout was developed during the tumultuous times of the pirates like Henry Morgan and was made to mislead looting buccaneers. After arriving in Cuba’s third-largest metropolis, we will go for a short tour through the bustling city center. On this walk you find huge baroque churches, hidden places, interesting galleries and lovely bars. Whoever would like to can also have a ride with a bicitaxi (pedicab). The large clay vessels here are famous, as the townspeople used them to collect rainwater in them during times of crisis. 

Accommodation: Casa Particular, B&B.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
Evening stroll through Camagüey and dinner at a local restaurant. Visit of the Casa de la Trova. (Optional)

Day 14: Camagüey - Las Tunas - Bayamo
Breakfast. At 08:00 am, we depart and drive down the highway, past wide sugarcane fields until we reach Las Tunas. Here we will have a small panorama tour through this sleepy provincial capital. There is not too much to see normally, but in case one of the many festivals, rodeos or markets are in town at the time, you will get to have an interesting insight into the Cuban life.
Lunch at a local restaurant.
From Las Tunas we take a turn towards the southeastern part of the country until we reach Bayamo, the city of horse carriages. With it being older than Havana and Santiago, the provincial capital Bayamo was founded by the Spanish colonial conquerors and the Spanish city founder Diego Velásquez in 1513. This place is also the birthplace of the Cuban national anthem called ‘La Bayamesa’ (Straight into battle, people of Bayamo…). The most famous citizen of Bayamo is Carlos Manuel Cespedes, who became an important revolutionary against the Spanish colonial masters and who invoked the first war of independence against Spain in 1868, straight after having finished studying to become a lawyer. Being the first colonial owner of a large plot area, he freed all of his slaves. His house is a museum these days, which we can visit in case it is open. We also visit a horse carriage factory. And shortly after, we go on a short sightseeing tour with a horse carriage.

Accommodation: Casa Particular, B&B.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
Evening stroll through Bayamo including dinner at a local restaurant. Visit of the place of music Casa de la Trova in Bayamo. (Optional)

Day 15: Bayamo - El Cobre - Santiago de Cuba
Breakfast. At 08:30 am, we depart towards Santiago de Cuba. First stop: The Basilica El Cobre, the most important place of pilgrimage in Cuba. Amidst green hills and copper mines the cathedral of the ‘Santissima Virgen de Cobre’, the patroness of Cuba, stands tall. A white basilica that is majestically embedded in a green landscape can be seen from very far away. The pilgrims all have the same destination: The Lady of Charity, or in Spanish, ‘Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre’, who is worshipped as a national saint in Cuba and who receives many votive offerings. Even the current rulers used to provide their votive offerings and pray for protection from the holy Maria of Cobre when they were young and the fight against Batista’s dictatorship was still undecided. The church towers are an impressive contrast to the green slopes of the Sierra Maestra, which used to be the hideout of the revolutionists for years. Due to its beauty, El Cobre is one of the most photographed motifs in all of Cuba.

Even Ernest Hemingway donated his Nobel Prize medal to the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre. Today, the Lady of Charity ‘La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre’ patron goddess, which was sainted by pope Benedict XV in 1916 is still eagerly worshipped. She was crowned in 1998 by pope Johannes Paul II and visited again by pope Benedikt XVI in 2015. Pope Francisco visited Cuba and the cathedral in 2015 as well. We stop next to the basilica for you to take pictures. Afterwards, we will go on a short hike to the hill of slaves Monumento al Cimarrón. After a 10 minute ascent you will have a fantastic view and can take beautiful pictures of the surrounding tropical hills. This is also the location where an important Santeria festival takes place.

Soon we will reach Santiago de Cuba – The capital of the Caribbean.
The city, which was declared a World Cultural Heritage site by the UNESCO, is surrounded by a unique city layout that is distinctive due to its array. Surrounded by scenic mountains and bays, it was a location of many historically very important events. Santiago de Cuba is also called the ‘most Caribbean’ city in all of Cuba and it is the musical cradle of the ‘Son’ and also of the Cuban revolution. During July it is also place of two important Cuban festivals, the carnival and the fire festival. 
We will have a tour that leads to El Tivoli at the port, the Céspedes park, a treasure chest of colonial architecture and we visit the oldest house in all of Cuba, the Casa of Diego Velásquez, who was the island’s governor in 1522. Another sight worth seeing in the center is the cathedral Nuestra Senora de Asunción. From the backside of the church, we now descend down the slope until we reach the observation deck Balcón de Velásquez, from which we have a fantastic view over the city and where you can take many pictures. Another interesting stop here is the famous rum factory and the unique rum museum which we will both visit.
Lunch at a local restaurant.

After lunch, we continue the Casco Histórico of Santiago and visit the museums of the rum-tycoon Bacardí y Moureau and the museum of the Carnaval. Furthermore, we pass many basking street musicians along the way and walk through the Plaza de Marte until we reach the Cuartel Moncada. At the end of today’s sightseeing trip, we drive to the Santa Ifigenia graveyard with its many masterpieces of sepulchral art. This is a national memorial where many of the remains of national heroes still lie. The greatest one of them, Jose Martí, lies in his mausoleum right at the entrance to the graveyard. Another interesting grave is the family tomb of the Bacardi family, who played an important role in the development of Santiago with their rum business.
Note: All tours in Santiago do not take place in a particular order and during Winter the program is subject to changes due to the short days. 

Accommodation: Casa Particular, B&B.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
Evening stroll through Santiago including a visit of the place of music Casa de la Trova. This is the cultural heart of the city with its live performances of well-known Cuban musicians every night.

Day 16: Santiago de Cuba - Gran Piedra – Santiago
Breakfast. At 08:30 am, we start our day with an excursion into the alpine world slightly to the east of Santiago. As we drive along a small byroad and pass serpentines, we then reach the nearby tropical mountain range and the nature preserve ‘La Gran Piedra’. Here stands an enormous boulder that had undergone so much erosion on all sides that it stands there in total solitude and it looks like it will break off any moment and roll down into the sea. By foot we ascend many flights of stairs along lots of mango trees until we reach the observation deck on top of this gigantic 63,000 ton rock. From the top of the rock, which lies at a height of 1214 meters, you have an unforgettable view across the mountains and the sea and on some days you can even see the Blue Mountains of Jamaica and Haiti. Once you’re there, it will be hard to let go of this unique natural phenomenon again. 

On another walk, we then move into the valleys between the mountains, which are the home of the old and famous coffee plantations. French settlers who fled from Haiti used the fresh microclimate of this area to lay out more than 60 coffee plantations in the 18th century and by that they made Cuba become the most important coffee producer of the 19th century. We visit the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site in the biosphere reserve Baconao, the famous coffee plantation Cafetal la Isabelica with an impressive manor and wide drying floors for coffee.
Now we say goodbye to the world of coffee and the gigantic landscape surrounding it and go on our way back to Santiago. Although, along the way, we will have a short stop at the open-air museum Museo Nacional de Transporte Terrestre with old cars of famous personalities.
Lunch at a restaurant along the way.

Now our way leads us along the Carretera del Morro until we reach the fort called ‘San Pedro de la Roca del Morro’ with its piracy museum.

This World Cultural Heritage fort stands tall at the entrance to the port of Santiago like an unconquerable bulwark. From the terrace, which is armed with cannons, you have a breathtaking view over the wildly jagged coastal landscape all the way to the mountain range of the Sierra Maestra. During our visit of the piracy museum we also get to know much about the great Spanish-American naval battle that took place right in front of the entrance to the port in 1898.
There will also be an excursion by ferry, which leads us from Punta Gorda through the bay of the port until we reach the island called Granma located in the center of Santiago’s port. An interesting sight here are the fishermen’s houses built on poles coming out of the water. After this trip we return to Santiago.
Note: All tours in Santiago do not take place in a particular order and during Winter the program is subject to changes due to the short days. 

Accommodation: Casa Particular, B&B.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
Evening stroll through Santiago including a visit of the place of music Casa de la Trova. Alternatively and optionally you can also visit the dance revue Tropicana Santiago as many people state it is even more enjoyable than the Tropicana Havana.

Day 17: Santiago de Cuba - Guantanamo – Baracoa
Breakfast. At 07:30 am we depart and our first stop will be Guantanamo. 
The architecture of Guantanamo city shows that the old seaport has seen better days. Today, it is clearly visible that it is affected by economic downfall. As it is cut off from the sea and has no access to it, while also being located behind mountains, this city has close to no means to progress and evolve. A panorama trip leads us through the old city center and if possible, we can also have a walk through the local farmer’s market. Guantanamo is located about 40 km away from the coast. The entrance to Guantanamo Bay is blocked from both sides by the US Marine base which holds the same name and is situated here. On all sides of the Cuban side, it is surrounded by an exclusion zone set up by the military. Our trip then continues along the road that leads from Guantanamo to Tortuguilla (towards the southern coast and further to Baracoa). About halfway down the road, we take a turn towards Glorieta and along the exclusion zone until we reach the lookout and restaurant ‘Mirador de Malones’ (may be closed). From here you have the best view over the base. Another place would be the road, but there some hills block the view. Although there are a few places that let you get a glimpse of this hotspot of global politics. The demise charter between the US and Cuba has expired quite a few years ago already. Cuba has been requesting to get the marine base back, though, without success.
Lunch at a restaurant along the way.

From Tortugilla, our trip now brings us to Cajobabo down a partly quite curvy road leading along the wildly jagged southern coast. As we drive by the rocky coastline, you will get to see many species of cacti, brushes and other plants that are all reminiscent of the Mexican highlands. 
As we reach Playita de Cajobabo, we turn left to pass the Oriente and drive down the infamous ‘La Farola’ straight to the north eastern coast to Baracoa.
This 50 km long road leading through the mountains is very well-known in Cuba. The steep mountain road with its many serpentines was built only after the revolution. At an inviting spot, the highest point of the Alto de Cotilla pass at an altitude of 1100 meters, we will stop for you to have the chance to have a breathtaking view into the tropical alpine world and the south coast we left behind us. Of course you are very welcome to take as many pictures as you like here. From here you can also see a big part of the Sierra Maestra, where all the legendary revolutionaries used to hide. While driving down this road we have to be prepared to drive at earthworm pace and we have to plan ahead and make sure we have enough time to get to our destination. We pass many very different climate zones and altitudes with an ever-changing flora. 

The southern coast is mostly hot and dry. In the higher regions of the mountains the flora changes from Mediterranean to Subtropical species. The mountain range blocks off the rainclouds and cool winds coming from the north, that is why there is quite a lot of rain around Baracoa and the north coast. This is why you can see fertile subtropical landscapes and plantations here. Rain just rarely reaches the south coast, unless a hurricane coming from south east brings torrential rain showers to the lower part of the island. We then continue from the Paso de Cuba passage to Baracoa while passing multiple villages in which farmers sell tropical fruits and sweets right on the side of the road. Oftentimes the rural people offer some tasty ‘Cucurucho’ in the streets. From outside, these sweet calorie bombs consisting of coconut pulp, honey, fruits and a lot of sugar look like ice cream cones. If you are not on a diet, you should most definitely try out one Cucurucho for a few Pesos. Due to its many cocoa fields, Baracoa is also well-known for its quite sweet chocolate. As we get closer to Baracoa, the temperature will continue to drop a few degrees compared to the south coast. Now you have arrived in Baracoa, at the wild east coast. Before we reach the city, we will have a lovely view at the mesa and trademark sight of the city, the El Yunque. 

Accommodation: Casa Particular, B&B.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

Day 18: Baracoa
Breakfast. At 09:00 am we start our trip into the east of Baracoa. In this fertile area there are many small farmers who cultivate coffee, cocoa, bananas, mamey and many other tropical fruits. Along the way there will be a short stop at one of the farms. Even further to the east the population becomes more and more sparse and you can actually find the last indian natives of Cuba here. They are easily discernible by their facial features. From Baracoa we then drive back on the ‘La Farola’ for a bit before heading along the coast to ‘Boca de Yumuri’. This is where the tropical river Yumuri enters the paradisical Caribbean. Here, we will go on a walk into the rain forest with its many species, which is an experience you will not forget that easily. 
Lunch at a restaurant along the way.

On your way back into the oldest city of Cuba, you will see the mesa El Yunque (575 meters tall) in its full glory, from which you have a fantastic view over the surrounding area and which basically invites you in for a hike in the mountainous tropical forest. You are most welcome to discuss with your travel guide if you actually want to walk this 8 km long and quite weary hiking trail up the mesa.
Once in Baracoa, we go on a walk through this wonderful place. Even the Cubans state that time moves slower here than in the rest of the country. Then we visit the Matachin Museum with its theme ‘Indians in Cuba’. A sight worth seeing here is the massive wooden cross La Cruz de Parra in the church ruins Nuestra Senora de Asuncion. The cross is said to have been brought there by Christopher Columbus who also erected it during his first visit. The church was destroyed by pirates during the 17th century but the cross survived and is the oldest preserved relic of the new world. 

Accommodation: Casa Particular, B&B.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

In the evening we will stroll through the old alleys and visit a paladar to have dinner at. After that, a visit of the La Terraza on the roof of the ARTex Centro Cultural is on the schedule. Every evening there are local artists here singing, entertaining or offering some sort of show and of course dancing salsa does not fall short here.

The rest of the road leading to Moa can only be passed by a good car/van/minibus as the quality of the road is rather bad. From Baracoa we take an available vintage car to Guantanamo and then back to Holguin. Although, a normal vehicle should be used for the eastern route normally as long as we do not have any ‘powerful motorized vintage cars’ available.

Day 19: Baracoa - Guantanamo - Bayate - Sagua de Tanamo – Cayo Saetia – Nicaro
Breakfast. At 08:00 am we start our day and then visit the chocolate factory of Che Guevara. In case it is open we can stop at the factory to take pictures. There will also be an additional visit of the small finca Duaba right afterwards. On this ecological cocoa farm you will get some insight into the cultivation, harvest and processing of cocoa. You have the opportunity to try cocoa seeds and even dried cocoa before it ferments, which is a real new experience for your tastebuds. Of course it is also possible to drink a cup of the finest cocoa in the restaurant connected to the factory. 
Now having fueled up on energy, we will go on our way back to Guantanamo.
From Guantanamo the way leads to the north and we pass Bayate and from there get to Sagua de Tanamo and further down the road also Cayo Saetia.

 

Day 19: Baracoa - Moa – Sagua de Tanamo – Cayo Saetia – Nicaro
Breakfast. At 08:00 am we start our day and then visit the chocolate factory of Che Guevara. In case it is open we can stop at the factory to take pictures. There will also be an additional visit of the small finca Duaba right afterwards. On this ecological cocoa farm you will get some insight into the cultivation, harvest and processing of cocoa. You have the opportunity to try cocoa seeds and even dried cocoa before it ferments, which is a real new experience for your tastebuds. Of course it is also possible to drink a cup of the finest cocoa in the restaurant connected to the factory. 
Now having fueled up on energy, we now embark on our 4-5 hour long bumpy route through the east of Cuba until we reach Holguin. On the way we pass the river valley of the Toa, which is located at the entrance to the Alexander von Humboldt UNESCO World Cultural Heritage national park. We drive by cocoa trees and coconut palm trees as our way leads along the picturesque northern coast with views over the gorgeous bays and islands located just off the shore, as well as the beautiful landscape of the adjacent nature conservation park. The upcoming pretty but narrow road leading us along the mountainside will bring us very close to the sea. This lovely coast looks a bit like the Costa Brava in Spain. 

After a 70 km strip with many curves we reach the seaport Moa. This nickel or bauxite port of export is one of the most important ones in the world. Huge Russian construction ruins create a depressing surreal mood in this maltreated landscape in which the red bauxite mines look like large wounds in the surrounding green nature. Sadly, the sea outside of Moa is also only a brown water landscape and we won’t stay in this area for too long.
We circuit Moa on the circumvention road and then turn left towards Sagua de Tanamo in the west. This place welcomes us with the ‘trojan horse’ (El Caballo de Troya), which is an armored squad vehicle from the days of the revolution. It is most definitely worth taking a picture of.
Lunch at a restaurant along the way.
Now we about 100 km further down the main road along the coastline of the atlantic ocean all the way to Levisa. Shortly after Levisa, there will be a turn to the right that leads us across a stone causeway to Cayo Saetia. We visit this peninsula and are then going to go for a swim in the sea right next to the paradisical beaches of this magnificent island. The Caribbean will absolutely impress you. There is also a small park for wild animals rarely to be found in the Caribbean that almost reminds you of Africa and is a lovely experience. After our afternoon at the seaside of this island, we now drive into the small fishing village Nicaro to spend the night.

Accommodation: Casa Particular, B&B.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

Day 20: Nicaro - Mayari - Nipe - Biran - Banes – Guardalavaca
Breakfast. At 08:30 am we start our day pretty early again and drive from Nicaro to Mayari and from there to the artificial lake Nipe. Once we reach the place Santa Isabel de Nipe, we continue past Cueto to Biran, which lies in the south west of Loynaz Hechevarria. Here, on the finca Manacas, the former guerilla leader and eventual head of government Fidel Castro, as well as the current president, his brother Raul, were born. With a local tour, we will visit the huge finca of the Castro Ruz family on which up to 200 people used to work. This playce is full of photos and decoration which all document the former life of the Castro Ruz family. Everything was kept very authentically and original.
This is very interesting for people interested in history. Today it is a revolution-themed museum where you can still find the cradle of Fidel Castro amongst other things. We will have a short look at this culturally important Cuban site.

After having visited the farm of the Castro family, the way leads back past Cueto along a calm road until we reach a city called Banes. This is where the excavation site ‘Chorro de Maita’ and the appropriate museum are located. You can find out more about the Indian natives there. The small city Banes has a very Caribbean flair due to its many wooden houses. Many of them were ordered and imported in a catalogue from the US about 100 years ago. Most houses in Banes were ordered by the American United Fruit Company for their affiliates, as they used to call all the shots here. The church Iglesia de Nuestra Senora de la Caridad is the place where the dictator Fulgencio Batista, who was born in Banes, was married. Just some years later, Fidel Castro, the man who overthrew the dictator, tied his knot in this place as well. A truly ironic historical fact. Another interesting thing exhibited here in Banes is the old steam locomotive from Pennsylvania from 1888. 
Lunch at a restaurant in Banes.

After our stop at Banes, we drive towards Guardalavaca and the beaches of the north coast. Along the way there we will visit the museum Chorro de Maita yet again, which is located on top of a site of the Cuban natives. Opposite to the museum you can see an Aldea Taína native village which was reconstructed and is really worth taking a look at.
For our overnight stay, we will drive to the Playa Guardalavaca.
After the long drive and arriving in Guardalavaca, the order of the day will be a lovely swim in the Atlantic side of the Caribbean.

Accommodation: Casa Particular, B&B.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

Day 21: Guardalavaca - Bariay - Gibara - Holguin 

Breakfast. At 08:30 am the first step today should be taking a short swim in the warm sea. Afterwards we depart from Guardalavaca past the place Santa Lucia to the Bahia de Bariay, the place where Christopher Columbus first landed. This is where the monument of Admiral Christopher Columbus can be found as a reminder to the 28th of October, 1492, when the Spanish explorer first anchored in this picturesque bay with his ‘Santa Maria’ and subsequently set foot on Cuban soil. This is also when he wrote his famous logbook entry: ‘The most beautiful spot of land a human has ever laid their eyes on.’ Then we visit the Parque Monumento Nacional Bariay, a work of art created by Cuban artists that was revealed on the 28th of October 1992. It is a reminder of how two foreign cultures once first met in this place. After our trip to Bariay we now head into the white city Gibara. Here we visit the museum of colonial art and the once white Fort El Cuartelón on the hill Los Caneyes. Here we recommend taking a few pictures in this unique natural scenery with a fantastic view over the Bahia of Gibara.
Lunch at a local restaurant.

Now we say goodbye to Gibara and continue for 34 km until we reach Holguin, the colonial capital of the province with the same name. 
Holguin is the city of breweries (Mayabe, Cristal, Cacique and Bucanero) and parks, which all lie in a straight line like pearls on a necklace.
Around the six lovely and neat parks of this city many stores, restaurants and museums can be found. The 458 steps to the Loma de la Cruz, the Cuban cloister, are located 3 km away from the center and are a must. Once you have arrived at the top, the view over the whole city will absolutely blow you away. Two other places worth mentioning and visiting are the church of San Jose and the provincial museum La Periquera. The blend of a modern and colonial atmosphere Holguin radiates will also be a very pleasant experience for you. Holguin is very ‘Cuban’, there are not many tourists and in the city center cleanliness is much appreciated. Many interesting colonial buildings can be found here.

Accommodation: Casa Particular, B&B.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
In the evening, Holguin invites you to the Benny More Salon, the Casa de la Trova El Guayabero or the Terraza Bucanero above the Casa de la Musica.

Day 22: Holguin - Velasco - Puerto Padre - Las Tunas – Camagüey
Breakfast. Today, at 08:30 am, we start our day in a special way, as we head through the villages along the north coast.
From Holguin we then drive down the northern outward road towards Velasco. In Velasco there will be a visit of the Casa de Cultura. Even an amateur would instantly realize that this architecturally striking brick building is something special. Truth is, this building is an undiscovered architectural treasure. It was designed by the famous US-American architect Walter Betancourt, who was a student of famous architect White and tried to create a university for art, dance and literature for the population of east Cuba after the revolution in the easiest way possible. For this highly social project local workers were trained to craft bricks and to use only construction steel and wood to create interesting components and even art. In case it is possible, there will be a short guided tour through this interesting building. 

After that our way leads us towards Puerto Padre along small side roads until we get to the north coast. Having arrived here, we now drive through the villages with many authentic photo scenes and far away from any tourism. A bit further down the road the place called Jesus Menendez awaits us, from which we drive straight to the seaport Puerto Padre. As we pass the town Delicias, we go on a short excursion across a stone dam and to Peurto Carupano, a fishing village located in the center of the two-part Bahia. This place is very special and is definitely worth staying at for a short while. 
Lunch at a restaurant along the way or in Puerto Padre.
From Puerto Padre, which is called the city of the sugar mills, as it used to be the biggest port of export of sugar, we then head south to Vazquez and then Las Tunas. From Las Tunas we then take the Carretera Central until we reach Camagüey.

Accommodation: Casa Particular, B&B.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
Evening stroll through Camagüey and dinner at a local restaurant.

Car and driver change in Camagüey for the further western route! From here vintage cars are usable again!

Day 23: Camagüey - Ciego die Avila – Moron
Breakfast. At 08:00 am, we drive down the highway towards Sancti Spiritus. Soon after we then arrive at the city center. During a panorama tour through this sleepy agricultural UNESCO colonial city, you will most definitely notice many American vintage cars and horse carriage taxis. 
Here you can imagine how the traffic used to look like in Havana just a few years ago. It also shows why Cubans are not used to modern traffic and therefor do not particularly care about automobile traffic on the streets. Very inviting is the nearby lake Zaza which is definitely worth having a look at if there is enough time.
Shortly after we continue our trip down the Carretera Central until we reach the city Ciego de Avila, the geographical center of the island that is Cuba. 

A small panorama tour is planned here, which leads us through the city center of this history-charged provincial capital. We drive past the Plaza Parque Martí, through the Parque de la Ciudad, an interesting park with unusual attractions, old locomotives and artworks made of salvage as well as a plane restaurant. 
Lunch at a restaurant along the way.

After having passed through Ciego de Avila, we head north to Moron. We can visit this old colonial city and former economic metropolis at the north coast with one of the many horse carriages or a bicitaxi. There is also an old railroad junction from colonial times here.
From Moron, there is an approximately 60 km long artificial roadway that connects the mainland to the islands Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo. If we have enough time at hand we can have a stop at the beach of the island Cayo Coco.
We spend the night in Moron.

Accommodation: Casa Particular, B&B.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
Evening stroll through Moron and dinner at a local restaurant.

Day 24: Moron - Cayo Las Brujas - Remedios - Santa Clara
Breakfast. At 08:30 am we have an early departure today. Passing a very fertile landscape along the north coast, our trip leads us towards the west. The scattered chimneys of the sugar factories really stand out in the surroundings here. Most of them are disused due to their age and the sinking prices of sugar. We drive down the highway towards Cibarien before heading to Remedios. Shortly before we reach Caibarien, a byroad leads us to the roadway which makes the islands Cayo Las Brujas and Cayo Santa Maria accessible by car. But a drive across the dam is especially interesting due to the fascinating aquatic world with thousands of flamingos and pelicans. We pass the dam and stop by the Hotel Cayo Las Brujas where we enjoy the gorgeous sandy beach for a few hours. There are even a few sand dunes here, which is rare in Cuba. 
Lunch at a local restaurant.

After that, we drive back to Caibarien and into the small city Remedios. The carnival museum and the church in this place are pretty famous. There will also be a stroll through the sleepy center of the city. Here, 2 churches stand tall face to face. The Iglesia Mayor is the bigger one and was declared a national historical monument while it competes with a golden altar. The small, old, colonial hotel Mascotte is the place where we can leave the rest of the world behind with a coffee and calmly observe the few things happening in this small city’s center. That is the today’s Cuba. Once a year, Remedios wakes up. In the night of the 24th of December, the churchbell initiates the festival of the ‘Parrandas’. After the Christmas mass held in the Church, there are parades with decorated vehicles and bands with dancers that are organized by 2 competing city districts. 
The most beautiful costumes of the winning Barrios are exhibited in the Museum of the Parrandas next year, which is where you can have a look at all of them today. This is what the small Remedios is known for.
Now we continue to Santa Clara where we will arrive in the evening.
Accommodation: Casa Particular, B&B.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
Evening stroll through Santa Clara.

Day 25: Santa Clara - Elguea - Jovellanos - Matanzas 
Breakfast. At 08:30 am we have an early tour through the city. In Santa Clara, we visit the ‘Plaza de la Revolucion’ with the memorial of Che Guevara. The mausoleum in this place is where his mortal remains, as well as the remains of his last companions who were convicted in the Bolivian jungle just few years ago, still lie and found their last resting place. Today, this is a sacred place for the Cuban revolution. Santa Clara is known as the city of Che. This is where the legendary guerilla leader Ernesto Che Guevara fought the battle, that lead the rebels to the victory over the tyranny of the Fugenico Batista, which was sped up when he blew up his armored train ‘Tren Blindado’ that was loaded with a lot of weaponry in 1958.

From Santa Clara we drive through the villages until we reach the Carretera Central. We drive along this road all the way to Colon and then continue on the worthwhile ramble route along the north coast to Sagua la Grande. From there the way goes on on the Carretera del Norte to the health spa Banos de Elguea with a beautiful coastal atmosphere. There are sulphuric healing springs and if requested, a specialist can tell you about the effect of the springs and what a bath or a fango pack can do for you. 
As a trial you can either take a healing bath in the spa hotel or you can have a pack made for you (exclusive, optional).
Lunch at a local restaurant.

We continue on the Carretera del Norte to Maximo Gomez and there we also cross the highway until we reach the Carretera Central. After that comes Matanzas, which has us passing through Jovellanos. Before we reach the second largest seaport of Cuba, we travel through Limonar all the way to the town Guanabana. Here, a rural road leads right into the inside of the village Cidra. A very important memorial of the history of slavery in Cuba is located here. Beside an impressive memorial for the slave who led a slave riot, in which she died, you can especially see the well-preserved ruins of the sugar mill Triumvirato which was destroyed completely by the slaves during the uprising in the 19th century. Right before we reach Matanzas, we visit the unmissable limestone cave Bellamar in case it’s open. After the long drive, this is a perfect opportunity to cool down. In Matanzas there is a pharmacy and a fort with a slavery museum, both really worth seeing. Matanzas used to be the most important harbor for slave imports in Cuba and the new world. Here there were many slave riots that were brutally quelled by the Spaniards. Metanzas owes its name to the slaughtering of the slaves. We stay in Matanzas.

Accommodation: Casa Particular, B&B.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

Tip for the evening: The Malecon at the huge Bahia of Matanzas basically invites you for an evening stroll. And a special program includes the highly recommended visit of the Tropicana Matanzas revue (45 CUC), located right beside the Hotel Canimao which lies 8km outside of Matanzas facing Varadero. (exklusive, optional)

Day 26: Matanzas - Yumuri - Jibacoa - Guanabo – Havanna
Breakfast. Our departure to Havana starts at 08:30 am. Between Matanzas and Havana the fertile, agricultural and lovely valley Valle de Yumuri is located, together with the low Alturas de Madruga y Coliseo Mountains. Now we take a detour to the overlook Montserrat on a hill in the outskirts of the seaport. From here you have a very nice view over the city, the harbor bay and the sea, as well as the fruitful Yumuri Valley.

It is here, where the Catalonian immigrants from northern Spain built a chapel for the black virgin of Montserrat on top of a hill above the city Metanzas. The way into the Yumuri Valley leads through the mountains and along the river and the railroad tracks. As we get to the village Arcos de Canasi, we get on the Via Blanca again, the so called high street along the coast to Havana. After that there will be a well-deserved break at the outlook beside the largest and highest road bridge in all of Cuba, the Bacunayagua. Not only is the view breathtaking, but so is the always freshly prepared and best Pina Colada in Cuba. (optional)
Lunch at a restaurant in Santa Cruz del Norte.
Santa Cruz del Norte is also the location of the biggest rum distillery in all of Cuba, which belongs to the Havana Club. During a short stop you can have a look at the rum factory as well as take pictures.
Further down the road we will reach the Playas del Este, the beaches of Havana. We will also have a short side trip to the lively places Guanabo and Santa Maria del Mar. From there we already swiftly head for the island’s capital, La Habana. Before we reach the entrance of Havana’s harbor, we pass through the already known tunnel below the entrance into the historic center of the city.

For the Cubans, the harbor tunnel, which was built by a French company, is a landmark that stands for the corruption and unjust enrichment politics of the old rulers and the American Mafia which used to be resident here.
First the almost worthless plot in the north eastern part of the port, which is hard to reach from the city located in the south of the bay, was bought up for almost no money at all. Then, after the construction of the tunnel, the plot’s worth increased a lot, which led to good profit for the rulers and the Mafia so they built a new coastal road, the Via Blanca, which goes all the way to Varadero. Following that, a whole city district for expensive mansions and wide Avenidas was drafted from scratch. The revolution stopped the progress of the project and on the plots which had already been readied for construction, a Cuban version of social housebuilding was initiated. It included simple multistory apartment blocks for thousands of families who were homeless until then. Meanwhile, many new city districts were created by the resolution with the tunnel in the north east. Today these are called Casa Blanca and Habana del Este.
Now we are back in Havana.

Accommodation: Casa Particular, B&B.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
Evening stroll through Havana with dinner at a local restaurant.

End of the 27-day vintage car round trip through west, central and east Cuba

Notice: The entire program, as well as the accommodations, are subject to change. Excursions, tours and the programs don’t have a set sequence, their order may change and they depend on the weather conditions and on how much daylight there still is. Unpredictable technical condition changes may also be a reason for last-minute cancelations or changes enforced by the tourist guide. The program order and the order of the day trips are determined by the tour guide. We apologize for any inconvenience. During the winter months the program order changes due to the days being shorter.

Please note: Participating in trips with private means of transport like private cars, bicy-taxis, vintage cars, horse carriages etc., as well as accommodation in Casas Particulares (Private accommodations) happens upon the travelers own risk.

Travel advice: Please remember to bring appropriate hiking shoes and gear on all trips and hikes, as well as a sufficient amount of water/drinks. And don’t forget your swimwear.

Services&Price

ORÜK27 Surprise Cuba - 27 days - Vintage Car Round Trip                                  

(27 day/26 night vintage car round trip following a fixed program with a chauffeur, your own travel guide and overnight stays in private accommodations)

Start in Havana: Trip can be started daily.

End of the trip: Havana.

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Price per Person in EURO in a double room: from 5.999,00 EURO

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Included in the price:

- Service description: 27 day trip in a vintage car (or car/minivan)
- Pickup at the airport and transfer to your accommodation
- From 2 people upwards 
- Driver and your own travel guide 
- English and German speaking travel guide
- Additional German speaking travel guide is not included
- Accommodation in a Casa Particulares (Breakfast and dinner according to the program)
- Overnight stays as shown in the program
- Lunch as shown in the program 
- Drinks during all meals are optional and not included in the price
- Trips and sightseeing events as shown in the program
- Secured Payment Certificate for the trip’s price

Not included in the price:

- Airport transfers at arrival and departure outside the program days 
- Overnight stays outside the program 
- Only/additional German speaking travel guide (33 Euros surcharge per day)
- Surcharges of any kind
- Expenses for services outside the program offered
- Optional trips, excursions and services
- Tips
- Drinks in the Paladares, Casas, Restaurants or other places
- Tourist tax Cuba and handling fee (p.p. 40 EUR)
- Tourist map on arrival (p.p. 25 EUR) 
- Airport tax on departure (is charged together with the ticket by the airline)

Changes and deviations in the entire program in case of possible fallacies for the duration of the trip and the accommodations, as well as subsequent billing during strong unexpected Euro/Dollar fluctuations are reserved. Excursions and the sequence of the programs depend on the weather conditions and on how much daylight there still is. Unpredictable technical condition changes may also be a reason for last-minute cancelations or other changes. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Tour Guide: 
We would like to point out that the tour guides’ knowledge of the German language can vary. Especially during the main season (November-April) demand for German-speaking tour guides is very high. Therefore it may be the case that tour guides have knowledge of the German language but cannot speak it fluently. Generally English skills are very good, so there should not be any communication issues.

General information and program changes:
Please consider that sights, gastronomical facilities etc. can close last-minute and without advance notice. In cases like that we will try our best to find an offer of equal value within the limits of resources available.

Regarding hotels, please note: 
Cuba is in a difficult situation when it comes to hotels. Due to overbookings it can come to last-minute reservation changes. The hotels cannot be compared to the standards of hotels in other countries despite their category specifications (Stars) and/or the affiliation with international hotel chains. Due to the colonial construction method of many city hotels, not all rooms have windows.

Changes, fallacies, transmission or typos are reserved.
Our announcements, confirmations and travel conditions are essential for our offers.

Accommodation

All overnight-stays are in private accommodations, so called Casas Particulares.

Flight

Booking of your flight: 

We recommend to search for flights via flight search machines of your country. 

But if you need help, we will assist you at any time. 

Tips

Information: 

About travelling in classic cars (CC=Carros Classicos)

All classic cars, which are established for the roundtrips, have a taxi license for the transport of foreigners. They all date back to the time before or shortly after the revolution (1954 - 1960). Thus they are older than 50 years. In Cuba it is very expensive and arduous to refurbish those oldtimers and arrange them for excursion trips. For that reason, the cars are conducted by their owners and are maintained and shepherd like museum pieces. The drivers are often hobby mechanics and tinkerers, who have refurbished their cars on their own. In the majority of cases the car is in possession of one family for already 3 generations. But the „carros classicos“, how the Cubans call them, are not designed for cross-country, but only for comfortable tours on asphalt streets. The experience of this 8 day roundtrip in oldtimers is to feel the flair of the booming 50s. At the rear bench seat of the wide American 3 people will find a seat. A 4th person, either participant or guide, is able to sit in the front next to the driver. 
Each car is occupied by minimum 2 participants plus guide plus driver and with a maximum of 4 persons plus driver.  
The owners of the classic cars drive the cars in slow pace, with proper distance in a convoy and always in the same order. For reasons of safety the guide drives in the last car. The drivers are all hobby mechanics and they now their cars. For the case of need, all drivers are connected by mobile phones. 

About the luggage limitation in oldtimers and the luggage storage in Havana:

The luggage trunk of the classic car is very big. Nevertheless, if the car is full with participants, it is only enough space for one sportsbag (soft material, canvas) each participant. There is a maximum space of 5 travel bags in each car (1xdriver+1xguide+3xparticipants).
Your "excess luggage" can be left in Havana in a Casa Particular (fee=1 CUC each suitcase). Your guide will organise this for you. On day 7 your roundtrip ends in Havana, where you can pick up your "excess luggage".  

About the transfers:

All transfers are organised with taxis (normally oldtimers), which are able to drive to Casas Particulares. 
The transfers at day 1 from the airport to your Casa Particular in Havana and the transfer from Havana to the airport at day 7 are both included in the price. 
All other transfers are possible on application and with extra costs. Please ask for it with the booking.  
Because all transfers need to go to Casas Particulares, it is necessary to book all transfers together with your roundtrip. 

Regarding accommodation in Casas Particulares (CP)

Every night, after the vintage car trips, you will find accommodation in so-called Casas Particulares (CP) (Private Guest Houses). All rooms have a separate bathroom including a shower and a toilet as well as warm water and AC. In many cases the rooms also have fans. Not all rooms have 220V power outlets (Careful with dry shavers or hair dryers that don’t support 110V – 220V!) and normally all power outlets are designed for American tabs or American 3-pin plugs (2 Flat, 1 round). In Cuba you can’t buy any power adapters, therefor you should bring them in your baggage. A simple flashlight or chargeable lamp, or even candles can be very useful in case of a power outage. In many cases the rooms have 1 double bed and 1 single bed. The rooms can be used as single rooms, double rooms and also rooms for 3 people. In case 2 single beds, instead of 1 double bed are needed for 2 people, or 3 single beds are needed, they have to be requested during booking. All reservations at Casas Particulares include breakfast. The landlords of the rooms mostly cook the tap water, which they offer as drinking water, and have it cool down in the fridge. Only the carbonated water which can be bought everywhere in green plastic bottles is completely safe. Towels are provided by the landlords and are normally replaced every 2 days. Because of the climate in Cuba, mostly only thin sheets and a blanket are provided instead of a thick duvet.

Regarding windows in Casas Particulares (CP)

In hot Cuba, fresh air from outside and open windows or even incoming sunlight means unwanted heat in the rooms for the Cubans.

Because of that nobody in Cuba likes to open windows and let the sunlight into the room unimpeded. For Europeans this is quite unusual, but if you want to experience Cuba in the most real and authentic way, you should try your best to understand these circumstances caused by the climate and adapt.

Windows in the Casas Particulares are often covered with curtains to not let the light, i. e. the heat in.

In many cases the AC was built into a window subsequently as cooling is a lot more important than windows that open in Cuba. The windows there are normally not made out of glass, as the moist air would only end up as condensation on the glass, but are rather only horizontally arranged wooden planks that can be tilted and opened a bit to let some cooler air in at night. In Cuba, windows function less as a means of looking outside but rather letting air flow through. This is unfamiliar for Europeans but it can’t be changed. Everything was adapted to the climate and is therefor accordingly convenient. Most travelers prefer accommodation in a town’s center for understandable reasons. Hotels in Cuba are mostly located outside the center. But with Casas Particulares it is easier to fulfill the wish to be accommodated in the center, which is a great advantage that CPs have over hotels. In most cases the CP is not a small house at a corner but is rather just located beside 2 neighboring buildings wall-to-wall. The only windows that let you look outside are mostly at the house’s forefront that faces the street. This is also where the living room and the balcony are located most times. The bedrooms that are rented out are usually inside the house with a simple window facing the backyard to let air in. The backyards are also usually designed and built in a way so they don’t let a lot of light into the rooms, which is for heat prevention.

You can expect windows with a good view over the landscape maybe in the countryside or in suburbs but not in Cuba’s cities’ centers. This applies especially for Casas Particulares in Havana’s popular city center.

Please note:

Participation in trips with private means of transportation like for example a Bicitaxi and vintage cars, as well as accommodation in Casas Particulares happens at the traveler’s own risk. Getting accident insurance coverage for abroad is recommended.

Please consider that you are in a tropical country, or respectively, on an island, and in the accommodations you might find all sorts of insects, geckos etc. commonly found in the country!

Our Tips:
-Don´t leave valuables, phones, laptops, cameras etc. in the car.
-Please bring good footwear for trips and swimwear for the beach

Travel Request

Watersport

There is the possibility to go diving during or in connection with your trip. The best place to go diving is Cayo las Brujas. Here you can find the only Marina and diving centre in this region. The diving centre offers wonderful dives and catamaran sailing. Please let us know in advance, if you would like to go snorkeling or diving and we will be pleased to assist you in finding the right choice.

Further information you can find at www.cuba-diving.de/DIVE-CUBA/dive_cuba.html