Self-drive: Cuba Explorer

Havana

You arrive at Havana airport, where you will be met and transferred to your hotel in Old Havana for 2 nights.

A free day to explore Havana. There is a huge amount to see, so to get you started we have listed some of the sights on page 9

Santa Clara

You pick up your hire car and set off for Santa Clara, where you spend tonight. You visit the Tren Blindado (hijacked train that marked the end of the revolution . The tren blindado cannot be missed and is easy to find but the small museum section is closed on Monday). Santa Clara’s town main square is lively and worth a visit - the Habana Libre Hotel on one corner still retains the bullet holes from that final revolutionary battle!

Remedios

Move towards the coast today for a day exploring exquisitely pristine Remedios before maybe moving on to spend the rest of the day on the beach at Las Brujas. Overnight in Santa Clara.

Trinidad

You leave Santa Clara today firstly for the magnificent colonial highlights of Cienfuegos and then on to Trinidad, where you are steeped in more colonial heritage but here in contrast to Cienfuegos’ French influenced boulevards the streets are narrow and cobbled with the ballast of the slave ships. You opt to stay either at the beach or in town for 3 nights.

Cuba’s second mountain range, the Sierra del Escambray serves as a backdrop to the cities of Trinidad and Cienfuegos. You could take the car today to explore the countryside and rural communities but be aware the roads are not fantastic and you may well prefer to spend the day in Trinidad and at Playa Ancón (Trinidad’s best beach).

Trinidad’s wealth due to the sugar trade was short-lived and the town became a backwater, which is why much of the town retains its original character, cobbled streets and architecture. Savour the visual delights of the town, learn or practise salsa at the excellent and popular casa de la trova - local music venue or just enjoy the beach and the ambience of 21st century Cuban town in a colonial setting. Alternatively opt for a morning excursion to Topes de Collantes (bookable locally) and end the day at the beach.

Camagüey

Today you drive to Camagüey, a colonial town with winding streets, designed to confuse marauding pirates, and lovely colonial squares. Camagüey is famous for its tinajones, large clay water pots redolent of Byzantine times. The town is situated in an efficiently managed agricultural area. An evening stroll can reveal hidden colonial gems.

Bayamo

A stroll around Camagüey today to enjoy this busy town with its colonial squares then on to Bayamo today, a pretty, friendly town with a lively revolutionary history originally founded by Velasquez in the seventeenth century. Bayamo is a three hour drive from Camagüey. Bayamo played an important part in the Wars of Independence at the end of the 19th century.

Santiago de Cuba

You might opt to drive to Santiago via El Cobre, Cuba’s most important shrine, which featured in the Pope’s 2012 visit to Cuba. Plenty to see in Santiago. It is a colourful, bustling city with a rich revolutionary history, has been a hotbed of revolution over the centuries, so it was not surprising that Castro chose it to launch his first attack on Batista. One of the original seven Spanish settlements, the city was Cuba’s capital for a short time in the 16th century until it was decided Havana was better for trade. Santiago’s port was originally important due to the gold and then copper found locally, but the reserves were small so Santiago sank into the background again until in the late eighteenth century, when French settlers from Haiti realised that the area was ideally suited to sugar and coffee plantations and the city became prosperous once more.

It is worth walking or driving out to the once wealthy suburb, Reparto Vista Alegre, to see how grandly the settlers lived. There has been many a rivalry between the two major Cuban cities, especially as the origins of the citizens are very different: in Havana the population mostly descended from Spanish settlers whereas the Santiagueros were mainly descended from Cuban creoles, who were not happy to be ruled by Spain. Many of the country’s heroes heralded from Eastern Cuba, e.g. Antonio Maceo and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes. Santiago’s history of Jamaican, Haitian and slave labour combined with Spanish influences has resulted in a rich musical heritage. In Santiago music and rhythm are never far away. Eastern Cuba is considered a birthplace of the rhythms and composition of son, a unifying element to much Cuban music. The Casa de la Trova in Santiago is considered the best in the country–even Paul McCartney has paid homage there.

It is worth driving out to the imposing fortress of El Morro, and perhaps up to Gran Piedra if you have the time.

Havana

This afternoon you drop off your hire car at Santiago’s airport. There will be a drop off charge to pay. Take the mid afternoon flight back to Havana, where you are met and transferred to the historic Hotel Nacional.

A free day based at your 1950s hotel on the Malecón with garden setting and pool. We can pre-book a tour for you at an additional cost, see page 9 for ideas.

Free time today until you are collected from your hotel and driven to the airport for your return flight to the UK.