Colonial Cities of Cuba

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Day 1 – Home to Miami

Board our flight to Miami and after checking into our hotel, an informational briefing will be held about our flight to Camagüey and our Cuba experience. The remainder of the evening is at leisure.

Hotel: Miami Airport Hilton or Sheraton Miami Airport Hotel 

Day 2 – Miami to Camagüey, Cuba

Early this morning depart the Miami International Airport for your flight to Camagüey, Cuba’s third-largest city. Upon arrival, meet your professional bilingual Cuban guide. Enjoy a walking tour of Camagüey and the city’s beautifully restored plazas that explain why it is nicknamed the “City of Squares.” One of the first seven villages founded by the Spaniards and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. After lunch at a local restaurant, join in a discussion with local artists about the inspirations for their work, importance to the community, and how art motivates people. Over dinner, enjoy traditional Flamenco dance and music brought to Cuba by Spanish settlers. Afterward, meet members from the American Car Association and enjoy a ride in an old classic American car.

Included Meals: Lunch, Dinner

Hotel: Gran Hotel (2 Nights) 

Day 3 – Camagüey to King Ranch

Today, meet the dancers of the world-renowned Camagüey Ballet Company, which has performed in over 40 countries. We’ll have a chance to meet and interact with the dancers, teachers and costume makers as well. Next travel to King Ranch, an expansion of the famous ranch of the same name in Texas, and its neighboring village, including stepping inside a rural home and school to discuss rural life and education. Then, over a barbecue lunch, interact with the cowboys who call the ranch home. Stop at Casanova Pottery Studio to learn about Camagüey’s famous tinajones, large red pots found outside homes, the symbol of the city. See the traditional way of making them and interact with the artists to learn about the this local process.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner 

Day 4 – Camagüey to Trinidad to Cienfuegos

Travel to Trinidad, the crown jewel of Cuba’s colonial cities, founded in 1514 and today a UNESCO World Heritage Site and charmingly preserved. Explore the Valle de los Ingenios (Valley of the Sugar Mills). This lush and picturesque valley was once the center of the sugar trade industry and home to Old World haciendas. Stop at the Manaca-Iznaga Lookout Tower offering panoramic views of the countryside and try some fresh sugar cane juice. Meet with local community members while here. Next enjoy a walking tour of Trinidad, a cobblestone showcase of colonial architecture and pastel-colored houses decorated with wooden shutters and wrought-iron grilles. Caged songbirds outside the home is a Trinidad tradition that is still prevalent today. Interact with the librarian at the local library, built from the estate of an American woman in the early 1900s, and learn about the library system in Cuba and how the facilities are supported. Trinidad is well-known for its pottery. We’ll meet a family of potters, who have been passing on the tradition for generations, visit their studio and enjoy a pottery demonstration. Depart Trinidad later this afternoon and arrive in Cienfuegos for a two night stay. Dinner is included this evening.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Hotel: Jagua Hotel (2 Nights)

Day 5 – Cienfuegos

Cienfuegos was settled by French immigrants more than 150 years ago, and is often referred to as the “Pearl of the South” because of its impressive beauty and colorful history. Enjoy a panoramic overview of its Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and a fine example of the architecture of 18th century Cuba. Meet with a local historian to learn about the history of the beautiful Thomas Terry Theatre, built in 1889 by Leno Sanchez Marmol and completely in its original state adorned with painted ceiling frescoes. Next enjoy a performance by the local Cienfuegos Choir or Orchestra and an opportunity to meet and interact with them to learn more about the musical history of this choir group and the music culture. Next, we have the opportunity to engage with tobacco rollers at a cigar factory and to learn about the importance of tobacco, both culturally and commercially, for Cuba.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner 

Day 6 – Cienfuegos to Havana

Today we travel through the countryside, passing banana plantations and sugar cane fields. We’ll make a brief stop in the town of Playa Girón for a guided visit of the Bay of Pigs Museum, housed in an old sugar mill and used by Fidel Castro as his center of operations during the 1961 invasion. We’ll see many historical artifacts, including a Sea Fury fighter aircraft, photos, and maps which outline each step of the failed plan. Over lunch, join in a lecture and discussion with a local naturalist. Later this afternoon travel along the Cuban National Highway and arrive in Havana, Cuba’s vibrant capital city. A stop is made in the charming fishing village of Jaimanitas to visit the incredible home and work shop of world famous artist, painter and ceramicist, Jose Fuster, often called the “Picasso of Cuba.” He has adorned dozens of houses with colorful ornate mozaic murals and domes. Here we spend time with the Fuster family and staff as well as the local residents of the town to discuss the influence of the artist’s work and their lives and community. Check into your hotel for a three night stay. The evening is free to enjoy dinner on your own and relax at the hotel.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Hotel: Melia Havana Hotel (3 Nights) 

Day 7 – Havana

Make a stop and learn more about the Plaza of the Revolution, the center of Cuban political life and Havana’s largest plaza where huge rallies are held. Our guide speaks below the grandiose portraits of national heroes Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos, and gives us time to reflect on the fact that we’re standing where millions of Cubans have stood while listening to speeches of Fidel Castro. Next visit the Marqueta Vieja Havana Museum that houses the scale model of the City of Havana and meet with an expert on the city’s architecture and restoration efforts. Enjoy a guided walking tour of pedestrian only Old Havana, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. See the beautiful Cathedral de la Havana, built in baroque style in 1748 and learn about its preservation and continuous restoration. Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier described the building as “music turned to stone.” Next tour the famous Museum of the Revolution that displays documents, artifacts, weapons, and planes from the revolution. See artifacts & learn more about the Bay of Pigs, the 1961 his toric clash that defined US-Cuba relations for decades. The museum is housed in the former Presidential Palace which was the home to Cuba’s leaders until 1959. Next visit the San Jose Craft Market and Art Center to meet and interact with the local artists to discuss and learn of the importance of their art in Cuban culture. Learn from the artists who share their experiences of pursuing the arts with limited access to materials and funding.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch 

Day 8 – Havana

Religion has always played an important role in Cuban society and continues today. This morning enjoy a walking tour with a local historian of the fascinating Colon Cemetery (Cemeterio de Cristobal Colon), founded in 1876 and named for Christopher Columbus. The cemetery is noted for its many elaborate sculpted memorials and contains more than 500 major mausoleums, chapels and family vaults and is considered by many to be the most ornate necropolis in the world. It is the final resting place for noted Cubans including artists, writers, musicians and ballplayers. Today enjoy a choir performance and participate in a discussion with choir members from the Cuban Institute of Music and their director. Next enter the world of Ernest Hemingway with a visit to Hemingway’s Farm, Finca La Vigia, meaning ‘lookout house’. This beautiful property hosts the house where the Nobel Prize winner lived with his wife Martha for 21 years. View the perfectly preserved home where many of the Hemingway personal belongings remain intact. View his yacht on display, the Pilar in which he used to patrol for Nazis in the Caribbean waters and featured in his novel “Islands in the Stream.” Before dinner, meet a former Cuban baseball player and join in a discussion regarding the history and the love of this favorite pastime in Cuba and in the U.S. Enjoy a farewell dinner at a local restaurant this evening.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner 

Day 9 – Havana to Home

After breakfast, depart for the airport with grand memories of your Colonial Cities of Cuba tour.

Included Meals: Breakfast

Operated by Chamber Explorations / Premier World Discovery