Hemingway's Cuba

Fly from London via Madrid to Havana. Three nights at the 4-star Havana Riviera by Iberostar.
(D)

With its iconic 1920’s Capitol Building, a baroque cathedral and Spanish colonial architecture in its UNESCO listed, 16th-century Old Havana area, rainbow-coloured colonnades hemming broad avenues, and Che Guevara’s image all over the place, Cuba’s capital is a one-off. A tour of Havana gives you your bearings in the city, and shows you its landmarks, historic and contemporary and includes a visit to a rum museum.
(B, D)

A day of discovery begins with a visit to Hemingway’s House (now a museum), Finca Vigia, where he hosted Hollywood greats and wrote ‘The Old Man and the Sea’. 
(B, D)

Visit the rural community of tranquil Las Terrazas, part of the Sierra del Rosario UNESCO Biosphere Reserve; and continue to the peaceful, picturesque miles of Viñales Valley for two nights at the 3-star La Ermita or Los Jazmines. Enjoy a Cuban cocktail class at the hotel.
(B, L, D)

The Viñales Valley countryside is sprinkled with farms and sleepy villages with UNESCO status as a ‘living landscape’. A tour of the valley visits Indian Cave, home to indigenous inhabitants in pre-colonial times, where a walking trail leads to a boat ride on a subterranean river; and Veguero House, the tobacco plantation’s drying room. Enjoy a Cuban dance lesson at the hotel. 
(B, D)

Tour to Pinar del Rio, the capital of the eponymous province, and ‘the capital of tobacco’ and continue to the Soroa botanical gardens, a tropical haven of hummingbirds, orchids and tree-planted terraces, surrounded by beautiful scenery. Return to Havana. Two nights at the 5-star Iberostar Parque Central Hotel.
(B, D)

Visit a tobacco factory and then enjoy the rest of the day at leisure in Havana, perhaps for seafront strolls on the Malecon and people-watching from pavement cafés, before a special event this evening, visiting Hemingway’s favourite watering-hole, El Floridita, where he was a devoted daiquiri drinker for decades, and where a life-size bronze of the man takes his regular place at the bar.
(B, D)

Travel to Cienfuegos (4 hrs). Founded by the French in the early 1800s, the town backs a spectacular natural bay with the style and spirit of its forefathers; its neo-classical architecture now UNESCO protected. Tour includes the 1913 Palacio de Valle, now a hotel, its ornate turrets and tiles more typical of Moroccan style than Cuba; the Botanical Gardens, Tomas Terry theatre and a boat trip on the bay. Continue along the coast for two nights at the 5-star Iberostar Grand Hotel Trinidad. 
(B, D)

Like a living museum, Trinidad is a beguiling step back in time to the mid-1800s, with a soft-tempo ambiance and southern charm. Visit the Municipal Museum, covering the history of the city from its 16^th-century origins; enjoy an authentic Cuban vibe in the legendary La Canchanchara Bar; and tour to the Manaca Iznaga former sugar plantation, its scenic setting belying its haunting history, epitomised in the infamous Slave Tower, from which the guards could watch the estate’s many slaves.
(B, D)

Enjoy free time in Trinidad this morning, before travelling to Sancti Spiritus for a tour of the beautiful colonial town. Continue to Santa Clara, steeped in Revolutionary legend, for two nights at the 3-star El Central Hotel. 
(B, D)

Visit the most imposing of the city’s landmarks, Ernesto Che Guevara Square, encircling a museum of Guevara’s life and death, his rather magnificent mausoleum, and a huge statue of the man. Travel to San Juan de los Remedios, one of the first settlements founded by colonisers in Cuba; its historic heart declared a National Monument, its San Juan Bautista church boasting gold-plated altars. An optional excursion takes you to the Sugar Museum, to sample the cane juice and includes a steam train ride with time to view the vintage locomotives (bookable locally). 
(B, D)

Visit the Tren Blindado (Armoured Train), a national monument, museum, and Cuban Revolution memorial on the site of the capture of an armoured train during the 1958 Battle of Santa Clara. Travel to the port city of Matanzas, a historic cultural hub of music, art and architecture; neglected and all-but abandoned for decades; but now restored, resurgent, and renowned for its Afro-Cuban traditions. Continue to Varadero for three nights at the 4-star Iberostar Tainos Hotel, on all-inclusive basis. 
(B, L, D)

Split from the coast of Cuba by the Kawama Channel, the Hicacos Peninsula is an implausible spit of land reaching out into the ocean, 20km long by just 1.2km wide, and home to the caves and cays, water sports and white sand beaches of Varadero resort. Explore and enjoy it at your leisure.
(B, L, D)

A second day at leisure in Varadero, with the splash of waves and whispering palms providing the soundtrack for beach life, tropical birds in the luxuriant Natural Park.
(B, L, D)

Transfer to Havana for the return overnight via Madrid. 
(B)

Early morning arrival at London.