CUBA – RUM, SALSA AND CIGARS (8-14 DAYS)

We invite you for an unforgettable adventure in Cuba. Magnificent UNESCO-listed historic sites, amazing landscapes, smiling locals dancing to the rhythm of salsa, exquisite drinks, rum, and the world-best cigars are the very essence of this trip. We will learn about the culture of this country, its turbulent history, the mentality of its inhabitants as well as enjoy the wonderful views and swim in the azure Caribbean waters. It will certainly be a fascinating adventure that will leave us with long-lasting memories.

Trip plan

DAY 1:

Arrival at the airport in Cuba, airport check-out, meeting with a tour leader and a transfer to a hotel in Havana. Checking-in, dinner and overnight stay.

DAY 2:

After breakfast, there will be a visit to the capital city of Cuba – Havana.

The programme includes a tour via Miramar and Vedado area (the affluent district from the pre-revolution times) and taking of photos in Malecon. We will visit a picturesque Callejón de Hammel narrow alley with murals inspired by Afro-Caribbean culture and religion, before making your way to visit the former Presidential Palace. Next, we will drive to Central Park, including Capitol buildings, Gran Teatro de la Habana as well as the National Museum of Fine Arts (from outside). The Obispo walk will lead us to sites linked with Ernest Hemingway (Ambos Mundos hotel and Bodeguita del Medio bar) and to the Cathedral square. Free time or lunch at a local restaurant (price 15 €/per.) before proceeding to Mercado de San Jose crafts market to buy souvenirs and a small rum tasting experience in the former Bocoy rum factory. At the end of the day, photos will be taken at the Revolution Square and the return by American cabriolets for a dinner and the overnight stay at a hotel.

***Tourists are also offered a ‘Havana by night’ tour to experience the canon show ceremony at 9p.m. shot from the fortress at San Carlos de la Cabaña.They stroll through the beautifully lighted Old Town Havana and participate in a live-music dancing party, including a drink on the 33rd floor of Edificio Focsa (the tallest building in the town) with a stunning city-view (price – 35 €/per)

DAY 3: 

After the breakfast, the continuation of Havana visit; a historic Christopher Columbus Cemetery with aristocratic and national heroes’ burials from 19/20th century, the cigar factory and the stroll down the Old Town – Arms Square with the oldest Havana building (Castillo de Real Fuerza) and Governor’s Palace, Plaza de San Francisco and Vieja Plaza with a magnificent colonial architecture. Free time or lunch at a local restaurant (price – 15 €/per.).

***Optionally, it is possible to take a private salsa lesson with Cuban partners (price – 20 €/per.)

In the afternoon, there will be a visit to the port guarding El Morro Castle, with a city panoramic view and a ‘In Hemingway’s footsteps’ tour that will let us learn more about one of the most interesting biographies linked with Havana. Also, we will get to reach small town such as Cojimar, from where the writer was leaving for hunting and where he was inspired to write ‘The Old Man and the Sea’. We will get to see San Francisco de Paula, where we will visit his ‘Finca Vigía’ home, recognised as the current largest and eldest museum in the world dedicated to the writer. The tour will end with a delicious daiquíri in the writer’s favourite bar (El Floridita). Then, a return to a hotel for dinner and the overnight stay.

***After the dinner, we offer an optional visit to one of the musical clubs, where you can listen to pieces of the legendary Buena Vista Social Club as performer by local musicians (price – 35 €/per.).

DAY 4:  

After breakfast, departure from Havana towards Pinar del Río province, renowned for its tobacco plantations. The programme includes a visit to Soroa Botanical Garden, and a stopover at the panoramic view point listed as the UNESCO site, Viñales Valley, and a visit to Indiana’s cave. Next, a visit to a tobacco plantation and free time in Viñales town or lunch at a local restaurant (price 15 €/per.). At the end, we will drink piñacolada outside the Mural of Prehistory (one of the biggest rock paintings in the world) and will return to a hotel for dinner and overnight stay.

***For tourists there is an optional tropicana cabaret show in Havana, which had been attracting not a single American tourist (Parisien Cabaret – 50 €/per., Tropicana Cabaret – 100 €/per.).

DAY 5: 

After breakfast, checking-out and departure towards Guama. Visit to a crocodile farm and a short cruise along the canals of Zapata Peninsula. Optional lunch (price – 15 €/per.). Next, observing hummingbirds and time to take a bath in the Bay of Pigs or the near cenote and taking photos at Playa Girón – the site of American invasion of Cuba in 1961. The transfer to Cienfuegos with Paseo del Prado (the longest promenade in Cuba) will take us for a drink at Palacio del Valle terrace – the most beautiful building in the world. The hotel transfer near Cienfuegos for dinner and overnight stay.

DAY 6: 

After breakfast, checking-out and the continuation of sightseeing in Cienfuegos – the town often called as the Cuban ‘Pearl of the South’, owing to its well-preserved architecture, makes the most scenic tourist attraction of the island. We will visit a historic centre with Jose Marti Park, the cathedral and Tomas Terry’s theatre. Next, the transfer towards Santa Clara – the town captured by Che Guevara, which symbolizes the triumph of the Cuban revolution. We will visit Guevara Memorial (the Che’s burial site) and the ‘revolutionary’ armoured train. Lunch at an additional fee (price – 15 €/per.) and the departure towards Trinidad. On the way, we will get to see a well-known Valle de los Ingenios (the Valley of the Sugar Mills) – sugar cane plantations and villages populated by descendants of slaves, amongst which you cannot miss Manaca Iznaga with the well-preserved former growers’ hacienda. Here, we will climb to the top of the former bell tower as well as taste guarapo – the sugarcane juice. The hotel accommodation and dinner are near Trinidad. Following the dinner, there will be an evening out in one of the musical clubs in the town centre.

DAY 7:

After breakfast, the departure to visit one of the most typical and the best-preserved Cuban colonial city – Trinidad (UNESCO-listed city): cobbled streets, ‘sugarcane barons’ palaces with numerous colonial museums, the main square – Plaza Mayor, the former Franciscan sanctuary as well as Canchanchara – a tavern popular for a local drink that includes the mixture of honey, lemon and aguardiente! Leisure time to buy souvenirs or lunch with seafood at a local restaurant (price – 15-20 €/per.)

*** After the break, return to the hotel for sunbathing at the Caribbean waters or a horce racing tour through the Valley of the Sugar Mills to one of the nearest waterfalls at the foothills of Sierra Escambray mountains (price – 30 €/per.).

Dinner and hotel accommodation.

DAY 8:

After breakfast, checking-out and the departure towards Varadero.

*** For persons who depart the country – leisure time for walks or sunbathing in Varadero, then the airport transfer (depending on the departure time).

*** For persons who are staying for a further week of holidays – accommodation in selected hotels (the check-in starts from 4:00p.m.).

 

DAY 9-14: 

All-inclusive hotel stay, optional tours are also available:

 

*catamaran cruise and interaction with dolphins – approx. 100 €/per.,

*safari jeep – approx. 85 €/per.,

*fishing – approx. 100 €/per.,

*diving – od 70 €/per.

The full offer will be provided by a travel agency representative.

DAY 15:

Checking-out before 12:00 midday, airport transfer and flight departure to home country.

We recommend: For guided tours or stays, we recommend the months from November to April during a dry season in Cuba.  The remaining months are the rainy season, during which there is a chance of hurricanes.

Offer for groups of min. 35 people. 

Price: starting from 1,391 €  (based on the selected 4*hotels)

Additional information

The price includes:

  • Airport transfer both ways.
  • Assistance provided by a local tour leader/guide.
  • A local tour guide throughout the duration of the programme.
  • Coach throughout en route.
  • Accommodation in 4* hotels, HB or all-inclusive option.
  • Entrance tickets to visited places or facilities.
  • Tips for a driver, baggage handlers and a tour guide.
  • Booking fees.
  • Food tasting experience.
  • The American cabriolet ride from the centre of Havana to the hotel or from the hotel to the centre of Havana.

***At the client’s request, we also arrange visas for groups

FORTIS TRAVEL JUNIOR d.o.o.
OIB: 55173215974
MBS: 060306614
ID CODE: HR-AB-21-060306614
Ul. Tina Ujevića 72, 21220 Trogir, Coratia
Tel: ++385 (0) 21 643 473
Mob: ++385 (0) 95 824 14 42
info@fortis-travel.com
dorota@fortis-travel.com
Skype:
dorota.poduka
Web:
www.fortis-travel.com
www.facebook.com/
fortistraveljunior
Fortis Travel Junior travel agency operates as Fortis Travel Junior d.o.o. company with its seat at ul. Tina Ujevića 72, 21 220 Trogir, registered by the Economic Court in Split, founded in 16.12.2013.The founding capital is 20,000 kn, paid in full. The Director of the Board: Dorota Poduka

© Copyright Fortis-travel.com. 2020 All Rights Reserved