Trip Option 2 offers an exclusive cultural and musical
experience to Havana Cuba and natural serenity of the Viñales Valley.
January 26 – February 03, 2025
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Day-by-Day Itinerary (subject to change!)
Day 1: Sunday, January 26 | Havana
Arrive at Jose Martí International Airport. Your CCJ Cuba guide will meet you outside of baggage claim. After checking in at your hotel in Havana (and a brief rest break), enjoy a delicious welcome dinner and music at one of our favorite paladares. Optional night out in Old Havana. (Travelers with Jazz Festival passes: Evening Jazz Fest activities.)
Sleep: Hotel Grand Aston, Havana (D)
Day 2: Monday, January 27 | Havana
After breakfast, we will have a talk on the history of the city’s fascinating past and uncertain future by an expert architect. Depart for Amadeo Roldán Music Conservatory for a spectacular private performance by Cuban youth music students. (If you are bringing instruments or other music and school supplies, this is a good place to donate them!) Enjoy lunch at one of Old Havana’s classic eateries. Continue your day with a walking tour of the city venturing out into the streets and seeing the four plazas that make up Habana Vieja (Old Havana). Later in the afternoon, visit Museo de Bellas Artes – Museum of Fine Arts. Dinner on your own. (Travelers with Jazz Festival passes: Evening Jazz Fest activities.)
Sleep: Hotel Grand Aston, Havana (B/L)
Day 3: Tuesday, January 28 | Havana
After breakfast, we will enjoy a presentation about Santeria, one of the oldest spiritual practices and rituals traditional in the Afro-Cuban culture. Short break before we drive to visit a local community garden and Cafe Ajiaco for a Cuban cooking experience (lunch included here!). After lunch, we drive to visit Finca Vigía, Ernest Hemingway’s primary residence from 1939 to 1960 for a guided tour. This is where Hemingway penned much of his classic “For Whom the Bell Tolls”. Top off the visit with a “Hemingway Happy Hour”, featuring one of his favorite cocktails! Dinner on your own. Late-night optional visit to Zorra y el Cuervo Jazz Club. (Travelers with Jazz Festival passes: Evening Jazz Fest activities.)
Sleep: Hotel Grand Aston, Havana (B/L)
Day 4: Wednesday, January 29 | Havana
After breakfast, we will enjoy a salsa lesson at a local teacher at La Casa del Son. Lunch at local paladar. Afternoon free time to explore the vast artisan’s market, OR, for those interested in cigars, we go to meet with a traditional cigar roller who will teach you the art and science behind what makes Cuban cigars the best in the world. Late afternoon Happy Hour and visit to Hotel Nacional. Rest break at the hotel, before dinner on your own and optional evening out. (Travelers with Jazz Festival passes: Evening Jazz Fest activities.)
Sleep: Hotel Grand Aston, Havana (B/L)
Day 5: Thursday, January 30 | Havana
After breakfast we will depart by bus to meet with world-renowned photographer Roberto Salas in his Miramar home. Salas’s photographs of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara are legendary. Together with his Cuban-born father, Osvaldo, he met Castro in 1955 and in 1959, following Castro’s rise to power, they were invited by Castro himself to work for the government newspaper Revolución. Enjoy this in-home visit and hear about Havana through his eyes, followed by lunch on your own in Havana Vieja. Stop at Revolution Square for a tour and a chance to take photos. Dinner together at a local paladar. Optional night out at Fabrica de Arte Cubano (FAC). (Travelers with Jazz Festival passes: Evening Jazz Fest activities.)
Sleep: Hotel Grand Aston, Havana (B/D)
Days 6 – 9:
HAVANA >> VINALES VALLEY
Day 6: Friday, January 31 Havana > Viñales Valley
After breakfast, we continue our journey to lush and green Pinar del Rio / Viñales Valley in Western Cuba. Lunch on your own after checking in to your Casas Particulares (guide will give recommendations). Afternoon visit to a sustainably run goat farm and goat cheese factory, where we will enjoy a cheese and wine tasting. Afternoon free time to explore Viñales town. Dinner included at El Olivo. Nighttime outing at Casa de la Musica in Viñales.
Sleep: Casas Particulares Viñales (B/D)
Day 7: Saturday, February 1 | Viñales Valley
After breakfast, we will visit a family at a tobacco plantation and learn about the how one of Cuba’s most important export products – the cigar – is made from seed to smoke. You will also have a chance to buy cigars and locally produced rum and honey, directly from the farmer. From here, our guide will accompany you to Viñales National Park: a green, dreamlike landscape, where you will stroll among giant limestone rocks unique to this area of Cuba. Lunch on your own in town. Afternoon optional activities (including horseback riding, zip lining or rock climbing). Dinner on your own with your Cuban family or in town at a local paladar. Nighttime outing at Casa de la Musica in Viñales.
Sleep: Casas Particulares Viñales (B)
Day 8: Sunday, February 2 | Viñales > Las Terrazas > Havana
After breakfast, we check out and begin our ride back to Havana. On the way, we stop in Las Terrazas, an eco-community founded in the 1960’s, where we will enjoy a walking tour to learn from a local resident about local community life. Lunch in Las Terrazas at El Romero, one of Cuba’s first vegetarian restaurants. After lunch at El Romero, we will stop at the gallery of Lester Campa, a well-known local painter, whose work has been on exhibition in art galleries across the United States and Europe. In the late afternoon, we will continue our journey back to Havana. Afternoon visit to the Callejón de Hamel (Hamel’s Alley) to see local musicians, dancers and artists influenced by the Afro-Cuban Santeria religion and enjoy a presentation by the organizer of this inspiring community art project. Rest break at the hotel, before our farewell dinner at a local paladar. Optional evening outing at local Jazz Club or salsa venue. (Travelers with Jazz Festival passes: Evening Jazz Fest activities.)
Sleep: Hotel Grand Aston, Havana (B/L/D)
Day 9: Tuesday, February 3 | Havana > Home
After breakfast, it is time to bid Cuba farewell. Check out of your hotel, and transfer to Jose Martí Airport for our flights back home.
(B)
Trip Cost
Double occupancy (per person): $3,795
Single Occupancy: 4,245
Included: Airport transfers, in-country transportation as per itinerary, accommodations in double occupancy in 3-4 star hotel, meals (daily breakfast at the hotel, 5 dinners and 3 lunches), site visits and cultural activities per itinerary.
Not included: Airfare to and from Havana, Cuba Entry Card/Visa (information how to obtain entry visa will be sent upon registration), alcoholic beverages, tips to Cuban guide and driver (optional, yet customary – tipping suggestions included in CCJ Cuba Destination Guide), tips for meals (optional, yet customary), events and visit to venues not on the itinerary, meals not on itinerary, travel protection insurance (recommended: information will be sent upon registration.