Viva Cuba - 14 Days - Cost saver · o Viñales Valley orientation walk. Not included: o Transfers...

1 Tailored Journeys Pty Ltd, WA, 6153. Trading as Experience Cuba Tours. 2018.

Your Experts in Tailor Made Cuba Tours

experiencecubatours.com.au [email protected] 1300 79 55 31

Travel as part of a small group of up to 7 PAX maximum.

Come and experience Cuba; a place where time appears to have stood still. Enjoy not just the old American cars in the

streets or the colonial architecture in Old Havana, feel the sense that the world of modern tourism has somehow largely

bypassed the Caribbean’s largest island. Cuba is one of the few remaining communist countries in the world. Its isolation

from the modern world has perhaps helped to conserve the Cuban society’s personality where you can feel like “the

pulsating heart of what it means to be Latino”, with music, dance, and the fiesta being core. Come and Experience Cuba:

an undeniably fascinating and unique destination.

Starting Days: Saturdays End Days: Fridays

Inclusions:

o Personalised welcome and greeting at Havana airport by ECT representative. Transfers from Havana airport on

arrival. Transfers from Havana airport on arrival.

o Domestic flight from Havana to Santiago de Cuba. *

o Twin share standard accommodation in "casas particulares"

(guesthouses or home-stays). **

o Daily breakfasts.

o Transfers as specified below. ***

o Same private local Cuban guide throughout.

o Activities/excursions as specified below.

o Travelers Information Package with lots of practical advice (PDF).

o Cuba Tourist Map, advised by MINTUR, Minister of Tourism in

Cuba. ****

o All ECT personnel tips.

Viva Cuba - 14 Days - Cost saver Small Group Tour - Escorted Program

Cuba is not a holiday, it’s an Experience!


Included Activities:

o Old Havana walking tour.

o Classic Convertible Car tour of Modern Havana.

o Panoramic and cultural tour of Santiago de Cuba, Bayamo,

Camaguey, Trinidad and Cienfuegos.

o Santa Clara, Che Guevara Mausoleum (entry fees included).

o Bay of Pigs, Playa Larga orientation walk.

o Viñales Valley orientation walk.

Not included:

o Transfers to the airport on departure.

o International flights.

o Travel insurances (required to participate in our tours).

o Visas and passport fees. *****

o Meals (except daily breakfasts).

o Drinks.

o Additional optional activities not specified in the tour below.

o Tips (except ECT personnel).

Itinerary Highlights: (All times are approximate and subject

to change)

Day 1: Havana. Arrival. Greeted and welcome at airport by our Experience Cuba Tours representatives. Look for our

logo and your group leader name, which is usually the person that made the booking. Transfer to your accommodation.

Day 2: Havana. Old and Modern Havana Tour: Enjoy a walking tour of the colonial district Havana Vieja (Old Havana)

accompanied by your private local guide. Learn about the city’s nearly 500-year-old heart, now a pedestrian-only

UNESCO World Heritage Site and discuss the city’s architecture and historic restoration efforts. a genuine living museum.

This colonial and historic centre is a museum at open air of architecture, art and culture. Bask in a beautiful Classic

Convertible Car, while you take in the highlights of modern Havana. Visit Central Havana, Cerro and Vedado

neighbourhoods, making stops at diverse points of interest. Today’s tour is a real treat for history and culture enthusiasts.

Tips: Due to its preservation degree and architectural richness of its monuments and buildings, Old Havana was

acknowledged in 1982 by the UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Dress appropriately for the weather, wear sunscreen,

and good walking shoes.

Start 09:00. Duration: Walking tour 3 hours. Classic Convertible ride 1 hour.


Day 3: Havana – Santiago de Cuba. Domestic flight to Santiago de Cuba. Discover Santiago de Cuba and their genuine

and welcoming people in a cultural panoramic tour of the city. Visit Céspedes Square, a lively park named for Carlos

Manuel de Céspedes, a Cuban planter who freed his slaves and declared Cuban independence in 1868. Parque

Céspedes is the spiritual centre of Santiago. On the south side of Parque Céspedes is the handsome Catedral de Nuestra

Señora de la Asunción. The first cathedral in Santiago was built on this site in 1522, but repeated run-ins with

earthquakes and pirates – in 1606 English privateer Christopher Myngs even stole the church bells after blowing the roof

off – made their mark, and Santiagueros started work on a second cathedral on the site in 1674, only to see the building

demolished by an earthquake just three years later. A third cathedral was erected in 1690 but was wiped out by another

earthquake in 1766. Overnight in Santiago de Cuba.

Day 4: Santiago de Cuba. Free day. Refer to our Optional Services for activities ideas.

Day 5: Santiago de Cuba – Bayamo – Camaguey. Cultural panoramic tour of Bayamo. Learn about the rebellious spirit

of Bayamo on a walking tour offering the city’s

highlights. Accompanied by your local guide, stroll

around the metropolis centre to learn about

fascinating chapters in the history of Cuba. Regular

everyday life in Bayamo rotates around Céspedes

Park, the Hymn Square and Céspedes birthplace.

The city has a rich tradition of Cuban national pride

and is often referred to as "the Birthplace of Cuban

Nationality" and "the Cradle of Cuban Revolution."

Additionally, Bayamo has always been a centre of

philosophy and maintains a rich intellectual and

artistic tradition. Gain exposure to its strong base of

Afro-Cuban. It was an early stronghold of revolutionary Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, who freed his slaves and declared

war against colonialist Spain. During the ensuing battles, Bayamo exchanged hands several times and was once burned

to the ground by Cuban rebels as the city was being sacked by the Spanish. Travel to Camaguey and enjoy a cultural


panoramic tour of this city. Enjoy a stroll along the UNESCO heritage and rich in colonial-style Camaguey city centre.

Learn from the guide and the local community to uncover its asymmetrical and complex street web while admiring the

architectural attractiveness of San Juan de Dios Square, Ignacio Agramonte Park and the Worker’s Square among other

local attractions. Camagüey’s historic centre – considered the largest as well as the best preserved on the island – has

been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Our guide will help you to delight in the city’s many lavish churches and

the twisted maze of streets, formerly designed to confound marauding pirates. Camagüey is the birthplace of former

National Poet of Cuba Nicolás Guillén and the home of the world-renowned Ballet de Camagüey. It is full of charming

cobblestone plazas, historic statues and intriguing museums. You’ll find plenty of tinajones [earthenware jars] decorating

the streets. The people of Camagüey originally produced the jars to collect rainwater during a drought. Today, they are

one of the city’s decorative hallmarks. Overnight in Camaguey.

Start 8:30 am. Transfer to Bayamo 2.5 hours, panoramic tour of Bayamo 1 hour, stop for lunch around 12:00, transfer to

Camaguey 3 hours, panoramic tour of Camaguey 2 hours.

Day 6: Camaguey – Trinidad. Continue to the UNESCO World

Heritage Site: Trinidad and enjoy a Cultural tour of Trinidad city. The

“Villa de la Santisima Trinidad” was the third village founded by the

Spanish Crown in Cuba in early 1514. The conservation and restoration

work undertaken by specialists has made Trinidad one of the best

preserved colonial cities not only in Cuba but also of South America.

Trinidad possesses a strong colonial architecture, which dates from the

18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. The oldest part of the city (55

blocks in size, with 1211 buildings) is one of its greatest attractions. It

contains beautiful churches (such as the Great Parish Church, a

neoclassical edifice built in 1892) and public squares, the most important of which is Main Square-surrounded by buildings

of great beauty and historic and architectural interest and considered the second most important square in the country,

after Havana's Cathedral Square. Overnight in Trinidad.

Start 9:00 am. Transfer to Trinidad 4 hours, panoramic tour of Trinidad 2 hours.

Day 7: Trinidad: Free day. Refer to our Optional Services for activities ideas.

Day 8: Trinidad – Santa Clara – Cienfuegos. Departing from Trinidad continue by travelling Santa Clara, the city of Che

Guevara. Founded in 1689 Santa Clara was militarily taken by Che Guevara

in December 1958, during the Cuban revolution. Visit to Che Guevara

Mausoleum, where his remains are kept. Continue to Cienfuegos and enjoy

a cultural tour of the city known as well as the Pearl of the South. Founded in

1819 by French settlers from Bordeaux and Louisiana, the city is arranged

around the country's most spectacular natural bay. Cienfuegos is a nautical

city founded in 1819 by French émigrés, whose homogeneous grid of

elegant classical architecture earned it a Unesco World Heritage Site listing


in 2005. The city is split into two distinct parts: the colonnaded central

zone with its stately Paseo del Prado and graceful park; and Punta

Gorda, a thin knife of land slicing into the bay with a clutch of

outrageously eclectic palaces built by the moneyed classes in the

1920s. Wander along the avenue to visit Beny Moré’s monument, one of

Cuba’s most treasured musicians. Visit the Cathedral as well as one of

Cuba’s oldest and most beautiful theatres: Thomas Terry. Overnight in Cienfuegos.

Start 9:00 am. Transfer to Santa Clara 2 hours, visit to the Mausoleum 1:00 hour. Transfer to Cienfuegos 1.5 hours,

panoramic tour of Cienfuegos 2 hours.

Day 9: Cienfuegos – Bay of Pigs (Playa Larga). Travel to Playa Larga in Bay

of Pigs. This is a cute, cosy little village. It’s small but lovely beach has casas

particulares right on the beach in some instances. There are some restaurants

too where you can have breakfast lunch or dinner with your toes in the sand.

Very chill relaxed destination for those who want to mingle with locals. Playa

Larga was one of two beaches invaded by US-backed exiles on April 17, 1961

(although Playa Girón, 35km further south, saw far bigger landings).

Nowadays, it's the best base for exploring the Zapata peninsula, Cuba's largest

wilderness area, and is also known for its diving. Overnight in Playa Larga.

Start 9:00 am. Transfer to Playa Larga 2.5 hours.

Day 10: Playa Larga – Viñales. Today you travel with your local guide to

the Western province of Pinar del Rio. An area of great importance,

though it may not have the large cities and infrastructure that you would

normally associate with importance, to Cuba as it is an area that

produces some of the world’s finest tobacco. Still stereotyped as a simple

area with pure country folk it has withstood the temptation to adopt the big

tourist developments and remains an area of simple houses and homes

in basic small villages and towns. Viñales in the Viñales valley where you

will be based has an almost prehistoric feel to it thanks to the Mogotes, or

flat-topped mountains. The Valle de Viñales is a fabulous national park abundant in fertile red soil, incrusted in green

fields of tobacco plantations. Viñales offers Cuba’s best hiking, mounting, caving and landscapes views, based around the

serene farming town on the edge of the park. This is Cuba at its most attractive. Overnight in Viñales.

Start 9:00 am, Transfer to Viñales 5 hours.

Day 11: Pinar del Rio. Viñales Valley. Free day. Refer to our Optional Services for activities ideas.

Day 12: Viñales – Havana. Transfer back to Havana City.

Start 09:00. Transfer 3.5 hours.

Day 13: Havana. Free day. Refer to our Optional Services for activities ideas.

Day 14: Havana. Departure.


Travel Times Summary (approximate):

Havana to Santiago de Cuba flight: 2 hours.

Santiago de Cuba to Bayamo: 2.5 hours.

Bayamo to Camaguey: 3 hours.

Camaguey to Trinidad: 4 hours.

Trinidad to Santa Clara: 2 hours.

Santa Clara to Cienfuegos: 1.5 hours.

Cienfuegos to Playa Larga: 2.5 hours.

Playa Larga to Viñales: 5 hours.

Vinales to Havana: 3.5 hours.

Prices (per person) in AUD

As shown in our website.

* 20 Kg checked baggage allowance & 7kg carry on hand luggage allowance.

** Inquire for an upgrade of accommodation to Comfort or Select casas, private apartments, luxury villas or hotels.

*** Transport/transfers are provided in cars or minivans as specified. A mix of classic old cars, more modern cars and

minivans may be used.

**** Map is provided as a hard-copy and on arrival in Cuba.

***** Experience Cuba Tours can arrange yours visas for additional costs. You must be eligible for this service, please

refer to our T&Cs for details or ask your ECT travel consultant.


Additional Itinerary Notes

It is an exciting time in Cuba with rapidly changing legislation and local conditions. Cuba has seen a massive increase in tourism, which

has put a strain on local tourist infrastructure. While we will strive to operate our tours as closely to published itineraries as possible,

conditions often change from one day to the next, and minor tour modifications may be necessary with no advance notice. Casa

Particulares (homestays, B&B’s or guesthouses) are family run businesses that are legal and formalised to provide accommodation to

foreigners in Cuba. Though much nicer than general Cuban homes they can seem quite rustic and bare compared to what most

international travellers are used to back home. Cuba as a developing country is subject to power outages and it is common to have low

water pressures in the showers and sinks. It is also common for the shower to be electric. If understanding and expectations are kept in

check staying at Casa Particulares is a very personal and pleasurable way to accommodate yourself in Cuba.

The transport system in Cuba is in many ways different to anywhere else in the world. Experience Cuba Tours, as other tour operators

in the island, are restricted in a large way by the local transport laws. We use privately owned transport with approved licences to

provide taxi services to tourists and the state-owned transport services of TRANSTUR, the only inter-provincial taxi provider in Cuba.

The privately-owned transports vary between classic vintage cars (hardtop and convertible) and more modern models of cars, all in

good condition. It is not law in Cuba for cars to be fitted with seat belts and neither is it against the law to use a mobile phone while

driving. This is not condoned or encouraged by Experience Cuba Tours but when travelling to other countries it is customary to abide

by the local laws. Should you have any issues or concerns regarding your tour or services provided to you by Experience Cuba Tours,

Tailored Journeys Pty Ltd while on your tour, you should contact the company’s representative Laynet Luna immediately. We will

attempt in good faith to resolve the issue. Failure to notify the company at the time may limits Experience Cuba Tour’s ability to resolve

the matter at a later date.

While it is hard to know what every individual's expectations might be, we do remind travellers that Cuba is in most respects a third

world country and as such considerations should be made and understood.

Tailored Journeys Pty Ltd, trading as Experience Cuba Tours. ABN: 98 612 512 400 ACN: 612 512 400

1300 79 55 31, [email protected]. 9/20 Kearns Cres, Ardross, WA, 6153. Australia.

Please refer to our Terms and conditions: https://www.experiencecubatours.com.au/terms-and-conditions/

ATAS Travel Accredited No. A14203.

mailto:[email protected]

https://www.experiencecubatours.com.au/terms-and-conditions/

Viva Cuba - 14 Days - Cost saver · o Viñales Valley orientation walk. Not included: o Transfers...

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