Your Tour includes:

• Arrival and departure transfers
• 7 nights accommodation in Bed and Breakfasts
  • Santiago de Cuba – 3 nights
  • Baracoa – 2 nights
  • Playa Pesquero – 2 nights
    • Lunches and dinners include an appetizer, main course, dessert, and one drink
• Meals
  • Breakfast daily
  • 6 lunches
  • 7 dinners
• All transportation is by car or van depending on group size.
• English speaking guide will be with guests during all scheduled tours, workshops, and most transfers.
• Children are allowed

Tour does not include:

• International or domestic airfares
• Taxes and fees related to air transportation
• Cuban entry visa
• Taxes & Medical Insurance
• Excess luggage
• Optional activities
• Personal expenses
• Travel Insurance
• Tips to guides or drivers
• Expenses of a personal nature
• Meals and services not mentioned in the itinerary

Hotels in your tour:

Hotels will be confirmed at time of booking

Day 1: USA, Santiago de Cuba

After passing Customs and Immigration at Antonio Maceo International Airport in Santiago de Cuba you’ll be met and greeted by the driver/guide that will transfer you to a hotel in Santiago. The rest of the morning is free for you to settle down. In the afternoon have a tour of the city of Santiago de Cuba, which was founded by Diego Velazquez in the year 1515, and was once the capital of the island. Santiago has a large number of sites that are considered UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the San Pedro de la Roca Fortress and Baconao Park.  Your visit of Santiago will include a walking tour of the colonial section of the city, with stops at Cespedes Park, Diego Velazquez’s House, the Cathedral and the Bacardi Museum. You can enjoy a wonderful view from the terrace of Casagranda Hotel. In evening enjoy dinner at a private restaurant followed by a live music show at  “La Casa de la Trova”, which is dedicated to the Cuba’s musicians. Return to your hotel for overnight. [D/S]

Day 2: Santiago de Cuba

After breakfast at your hotel leave for visits to Morro de Santiago as Cubans know the San Pedro de la Roca Castle built in 1637 as a defense against raiding pirates, although a smaller fortification had been built between 1590 and 1610. After a lot of changes in the 1700, the fortress and the citadel were finally completed. The fortress was declared a World Heritage Site in 1997 as the most completed example of Spanish-American military architecture. Afterwards, we continues to visit the National Sanctuary Basilica of Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre, patron of Cuba, built in 1926 in the village of El Cobre about 12 miles west of Santiago de Cuba. It is a 3-aisled church on the hill "Cerro de la Cantera" and is linked to the village by a flight of 254 steps. Popes John Paul II and Francis have visited the place. After a boat ride around El Morro and Cayo Granma we’ll have lunch at Punta Gorda. In the afternoon participate in an Afro-Cuban religion workshop that gives a brief overview of the Afro-Cuban religion Santeria, covering the mixing of Catholicism and African religions, and the role and significance of drums in the religion.  Santeria has been present on the island of Cuba since colonial times and is currently practiced by more Cuban’s than at any time in history.  This workshop covers the main deities of the religion, their original myths, the colors and vestments associated with them, and their roles in human life. Guests are usually amazed after attending this workshop, when they realize that the many interesting colors of dresses and costumes worn by Cubans on the street are associated with the religion. Dinner at a private restaurant and return to the hotel for overnight.  [B/L/D] 

Day 3: Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo, Baracoa

Enjoy breakfast at your hotel and be ready to say goodbye to Santiago!  The next stop will be the city of Guantanamo for a panoramic tour of the city including stops at “Villa de Guantanamo, “Tumba Francesa” and “La Casa de Changui”. Have lunch at a private restaurant before starting your drive to Baracoa arriving around 6 pm to check-in at your hotel. Some free time to settle down before dinner at a private restaurant. Overnight at your hotel. [B/L/D]

Day 4: Baracoa

After breakfast we will visit the Cacao Trails at Duaba Farm. Learn about farmer´s life and all the process, varieties and artisan production of cacao at agricultural museum. We will enjoy a short ride in Cayuca, the aborigine means of transportation, to see a unique phenomenon happening in Toa River, the Tibaracón or creation of a sandbar forcing the river to run a long distance before discharging in the sea. Lunch at Rio Toa Restaruant.  In the afternoon return to the city for tour of Baracoa, the oldest town in Cuba and the island’s first capital.  Christopher Columbus first sighted the coastal area, which eventually became Baracoa, on November 27, 1492.  Your tour of Baracoa will include visits to the Matachin Fort and Archeological Museum, which houses artifacts related to the history of the island from the pre-colonial era to the 1950’s. The Church of Our Lady of the Asunción, which houses the Vine Cross believed to be the cross that Columbus had on his original voyage to the New World, Seboruco Fortress and the Chocolate Museum. Chocolate has been cultivated for hundreds of years in and around Baracoa and is still produced and processed there. At the end of the visit have dinner at a private restaurant followed by a live music show at a venue to be determined. [B/L/D/S]

Day 5: Baracoa, Santiago de Cuba

Free morning to enjoy this magic city that remains stuck in the past and lunch on your own. Then, be ready to say goodbye to Baracoa and return to Santiago de Cuba. After checking in have dinner at Tropicana Santiago de Cuba and, later, enjoy the famous that depicts the essence of Caribbean culture. Return to your hotel  for overnight.  [B/D/S] 

Day 6: Santiago de Cuba - Bayamo -  Holguín - Playa Pesquero

Just after breakfast at your hotel start you drive to Playa Pesquero with stops in Holguin and Bayamo  known as the cradle of the nation, “Cuna de la Cubanía,” that has had a prominent role in Cuban history.  Bayamo was the second city to be founded in Cuba, and was Cuba’s second most important city for most of the 16^th Century and birthplace of the Cuban National Anthem written in 1868, although, the following year its inhabitants burned down the entire city so that it would be useless to approaching Spanish forces.  Your visit to Bayamo will include a walking city tour of the colonial section, a ride on a horse drawn carriage, and a visit to the Cuban House of Nationhood, and the former home of Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, who is considered the father of the nation. We continue to Holguín, known as the city of parks, to visit Calixto Garcia Park, the Hill of the Cross (La Loma de la Cruz) that offers amazing views of the city and surrounding area, and may include a visit to Mayabe Lookout, “Mirador de Mayabe”. Lunch at La Loma de la Cruz and a drive to Playa Pesquero for check-in at your all inclusive hotel. Dinner and overnight at your hotel. [B/L/D]

Day 7: Playa Pesquero

Breakfast at your hotel before a drive to Martin de la Boca Marina where you board a boat for a 30-minute ride. In Boca de Sama fisherman’s community visit a grammar school, a family doctor’s office and meet the local population. Transfer to a farmer’s house to taste a typical Cuban coffee and season’s fruits, and get a glimpse of Cuban country life followed by an aborigine show. After lunch at Aldea Taina Restaurant transfer to Christopher Colombo’s Park for a horse ride to see the exact place where the sailor touched ground for the first time after crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Return to your hotel for dinner and accommodation. [B/L/D]

Day 8: Playa Pesquero, Holguin, Departure

Enjoy breakfast at your hotel  and say goodbye to Cuba!  Transfer to Frank País International Airport at least 3 hours before your return flight’s departure time. [B]

[B] = Breakfast | [B/L/D] = Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner | [D/S] = Dinner and Show | [B/L/D/S] = Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Show

Note: We will make our best efforts to follow the above itinerary, however we reserve the right to substitute and/or make changes to certain elements of the itinerary including but not limited to routing, restaurants, hotels and activities in the event of unforeseen circumstances. Please note that activity times shown are for reference only and that actual times may differ significantly – everything runs on “Cuban time” and is part of the cultural exchange experience.

Tour prices:

Single*: Passenger traveling alone - Single**: Third passenger in a single room

Prices are per person and may change without notice

Prices are valid up to January 2018

Tour Code: CU05SCU17FFV

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