Classic Cuba: Havana & Cayo Santa María

MIAMI, FLORIDA 1 night

Day 1: Arrival in Miami
Included meals: Dinner
Welcome to Florida! Arrive in Miami and make your way to your hotel. Later, set out on a short tour of Little Havana, the Cuban cultural neighborhood of Miami, before sitting down to a welcome dinner and drinks with your fellow travelers. After dinner, review important tour information with your Tour Director.

HAVANA 3 nights Hotel info

Day 2: Arrival in Havana
Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
This morning, board your chartered flight from Miami to Havana, Cuba. Upon arrival, head out with your group and discover the city with a local guide. Please note: Charter flight times are subject to change.

• Engage with a local architect as you visit Havana’s historic neighborhoods, including the Cerro, El Vedado and Miramar
• See Metropolitan Park, a beautiful green space along the Almendares River, before making your way down the Malecón, the city’s five-mile-long esplanade located on the waterfront 
• Enjoy open discussions about important restoration projects as you view the historic Capitol Building and Revolution Square 
• Meet with students at the University of Havana

After lunch, meet a local artist for an interactive discussion about what life is like in Cuba today. This evening, discuss the Cuban Missile Crisis while you walk through the tunnels at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba, then taste the hotel’s world-famous mojitos. Later, enjoy dinner at one of the local restaurants known as paladares.

Day 3: Old Havana
Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Get to know the UNESCO-recognized neighborhood of Old Havana, the heart of the city, with a local architect leading the way.

• Engage in open discussions about recent restoration projects in Havana as you walk along the colorful main streets
• Pass through Plaza de Armas, St. Francis of Assisi Square, Plaza Vieja, Plaza de la Catedrale and Cortina de Valdés, home to the city’s ancient arsenal

Then, head to the Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos, a trade school that teaches restoration techniques in order to preserve Havana’s historic buildings and homes. Here, you’ll enter the workshop and have the opportunity to interact with the students as they show you their craft.
After lunch, visit the Museum of the Revolution, a collection of exhibits devoted to the revolutionary war of the 1950s housed in the former Presidential Palace.
Tonight, engage with musicians and locals at a Buena Vista Social Club performance to get a taste of the lively Cuban music culture.

Day 4: Finca Vigía & Cojimar
Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Today, get a look at some of Cuba’s world-famous cultural touchstones, including the cigar, Hemingway’s writing retreat and salsa dancing.

• Interact with staff at a local factory to see how Cuba’s most famous exports is made from start to finish
• Meet with a local historian at Finca Vigía, where Ernest Hemingway wrote some of his most famous works, and discuss the importance of Hemingway’s novels both in Cuba and in the United States
• Visit with local fisherman at the nearby village of Cojimar, where Hemingway kept his boat, Pilar

This afternoon, head to the Guanabacoa Museum where you’ll learn about Afro-Cuban religion and interact with artists at a traditional dance performance.
After dinner, take a salsa dancing lesson taught by the masters and engage with the performers at a demonstration.

CAYO SANTA MARÍA 2 nights Hotel info

Day 5: Cayo Santa María via Bay of Pigs & Cienfuegos
Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Say adiós to Havana this morning as you make your way to the historic Bay of Pigs. Enter Museo Girón and discuss the failed invasion of 1961 from the Cuban perspective. Then, discover Cienfuegos with a local as your guide.

• Interact with locals as you discuss the culture and traditions of this UNESCO-recognized city 
• Make your way through José Martí Square and view the cathedral, then pass by Teatro Tomás Terry and the neo-Gothic Palacio de Valle

Later, travel to the beautiful island of Cayo Santa María, home to pristine coastal scenery and azure waters.

Day 6: Santa Clara & Remedios
Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Set out for Santa Clara, the fifth-largest city in Cuba, where you’ll learn about the city from a local perspective and discuss the significance of Cuba’s Revolution at the Che Guevara Masoleum. Before continuing on to Remedios, take in two cultural performances and interact with local artists.

• Make your way to Casa de la Cultura, where you’ll engage with members of the of the Melodías Antillanas musical group and see them play classic Cuban tunes using traditional instruments
• Interact with members of Los Abuelos de Fiesta, a vibrant retirement community, as they perform danzón, the African-influenced official musical genre and dance of Cuba 
• Later, drive through the countryside to Remedios, the eighth oldest city in Cuba.
• Meet with the Parish Priest at Remedios Cathedral to discuss the church’s various community projects 
• Learn about the famous Parrandas festival, one of the Caribbean’s largest and oldest traditional carnivals, from the locals who perform in the show

Back in Cayo Santa María, join your group at tonight’s farewell dinner.

Day 7: Caibarién & Departure
Included meals: Breakfast
After an early check-out from your hotel, transfer to Caibarién where you’ll meet a welcoming array of community members.

• Visit Color Miel, an artist project that is centered around honey-making, and learn about the impact it has on the community firsthand

Later, drive to Santa Clara airport for your chartered flight to Miami where you will connect to your flight home.Please note: Depending on your home destination, you may spend the night in Miami before flying home on the morning of Day 8.

Go Ahead Tours is pleased to offer educational and cultural exchanges to Cuba. Go Ahead Tours qualifies for the people-to-people general license established by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“OFAC”). Under this license, Go Ahead Tours will offer educational and cultural exchanges and conversations with the people of Cuba. The itinerary is subject to change based on day of week and availability, but a complete people-to people itinerary will always be maintained.