To the rhythm of the rumba

From Varadero, western Cuba to Holguin, eastern Cuba

During this popular Cuba trip, you'll visit Cuba's most fascinating attractions in under two weeks. You'll drive cross-country from west to east, from Varadero via Havana to Santiago Santiago de Cuba... or vice versa.

During your Cuban holiday you'll see an interesting combination of Cuban culture and nature. Your trip begins in the immensely charming city of Havana where you'll go on a city tour with a personal guide. Then you'll drive into the countryside in your rental car to visit the tobacco fields where the famed Cuban cigars come from. From here you'll continue travelling through small colonial towns such as Santa Clara, where Che Guevara is commemorated in a grand way. You'll also visit the colourful UNESCO heritage town of Trinidad where you'll spend the night at a local Cuban family's casa particular. Towards the end of your trip you'll find yourself in cowboy and cattle territory near Camaguey before ending your Cuba trip in the birthplace of the salsa: Santiago de Cuba.

If you would like to add extra days to your Cuba holiday, check out our bite-sized Cuba trips, which you can piece together to build your own itinerary.

Duration	12 days - 11 nights	Accommodation	11 nights in double occupancy room with shower/ toilet Accommodation category 3 and 4
Price	Please see our Contact Us page for more details	Includes	Transport, 11 nights' accommodation with breakfast, 9 days economy rental car hire with air conditioning, Havana city tour in classic American vintage car with English-speaking guide, visa and roadmap
Transport	Transfer on arrival and departure, rental car	Excludes	International flight, airport taxes, car insurance (from 15 CUC per day), other meals, excursions and entrance fees

Day 1: Arrival in Varadero

Most flights from the UK arrive in Varadero sometime late in the afternoon. We do not recommend travelling straight to Havana after your flight. After about 10 hours of flying you'll probably want a shower and some sleep before continuing on. It's a holiday, so start off your Cuba trip in a relaxing way.

When you arrive at the airport in Varadero, one of our representatives will be waiting for you at the arrivals hall and he/she will take you to your hotel. The transfer to your hotel will take about 30 minutes. You'll spend the night in the most charming hotel in the centre of Varadero, about a 10-minute stroll to the beach. The hotel's rooms are quite small, yet tidy and they each have a ceiling fan, shower and toilet. There's a safe in the reception area and you can also exchange currency here. The hotel also has a breakfast area and a bar. In the evening you can sip on your first Cuba libre or mojito on the patio.

Day 2: Varadero - Havana

The bus station is located in the centre of the city; about a 20-minute walk from your hotel when carrying luggage with you. Instead of walking you could also take a Coco taxi to the bus station for about 2 CUC. The Viazul buses that depart from the bus station are comfortable, on time and have air conditioning (you may want to bring along pullover for the ride, it can get chilly at times). Seats are not reserved prior to departure.

When you arrive in Havana you can catch a taxi cab to your accommodation. Your hotel is located in the most beautiful, lively part of Havana, Habana Vieja or Old Havana. You'll spend the second night of your Cuba trip at a historic, colonial hotel dating back to before the 1950's just oozing with nostalgic charm and a lovely ambiance. You'll have the entire afternoon to explore the city and take in the sights.

Day 3: Havana - City tour

The city of Havana is quite large and you won't be able to see it all on foot. That's why we'll arrange a morning city tour for you on the third day of your Cuba trip. Our driver and English-speaking guide will pick you up at your hotel around 9:00 for a 3-hour tour of the city. Not only will you get to see Havana Vieja (Old Town), you'll also see other neighbourhoods and attractions such as the Capitolio and the Gran Theater in the Centro neighbourhood, the Parque Central, the mafia neighbourhood Vedado, the ambassador's neighbourhood Miramar with its fabulous colonial villas and Plaza de la Revolucion where former President Fidel Castro held his famed speeches. During this tour you'll be driven around in a classic American vintage car.

Around lunchtime you'll be dropped off at your hotel so that you can spend the rest of the afternoon in Havana's most historic neighbourhood, Havana Vieja.

Day 4: Havana - Viñales

This morning at 8:30 you'll pick your hire car up at Havana's famous seafront boulevard, the Malecon, and you'll head out of town. Next up is a relaxing drive through one of Cuba's most beautiful provinces. There's very little traffic in this area, which will make the drive even more pleasant as you pass by lakes and tropical forests.

When you reach the province's capital, Piñar del Rio, you'll leave the highway and for the last 45 minutes you'll drive through a lovely green undulating landscape. After a while the blunt mountains typical for this region will start to pop up. These 'mojotes' or karst mountains are the result of centuries of erosion. Scattered between the mojotes lie plantations; this is where tobacco for the famed Cuban cigars is cultivated. You'll spend the night in a bungalow tucked away in a tropical garden with a swimming pool on the outskirts of the small town of Viñales. Driving time during day 4 of your Cuba trip is 2.5 hours, not including stops along the way.

Day 5: Viñales

On Day Five of your Cuba trip you'll either go hiking or horseback riding through the local tobacco fields. You'll notice that horses are just as much a part of Cuba's heritage as tobacco is; you really can't do without them in this region. If you decide to saddle up, you'll ride one of the small and easy to ride Cuban working horses. A guide will lead you across winding paths through fields of tobacco. The tobacco plants grow from October until March. From time to time you'll see a small farm surrounded by chickens pecking at the dirt and pigs foraging around in the mud. The local farmers who grow the tobacco also try to sell cigars to tourists who walk or ride by, just to make a little extra money.

The rest of the day is free to spend as you wish. We recommend driving to Hotel Jazmines for the sweeping panoramic view of the Viñales Valley.

Cuba trip - Preparing to dry tobacco leaves

Cuba trip - Santa Clara Che Guevara mural

Day 6: Viñales - Santa Clara, 465km

There's a long drive planned for today, so you'll have to leave early. The first three hours of driving will take you back to Havana and from there you'll take the A4 and A1 for another 3.5-hour drive along a straight road to Santa Clara (speed limit 80 km per hour). Driving into Havana for lunch is rather out of the way, so you may want to bring along some bread or crackers to eat in the car.

You'll spend the night in a bungalow on the outskirts of Santa Clara. It was here in this city that Che Guevara won the 1958 battle against General Batista, giving communism its' firm grip on the country. Che's mausoleum, a museum featuring his clothing, guns and a monument honouring this national hero (closed on Monday's) is a lasting reminder of this victory. As you get close to the museum you'll start to here marching band music flowing from crackling speakers as a part of history comes to life. Total driving time on day 6 of this Cuba trip, not including stops along the way, is 6.5 hours.

Day 7: Santa Clara - Trinidad, 160km

Stroll through the tree-filled parks of Santa Clara this morning and enjoy the relaxation before cruising on to Trinidad in the afternoon. Take the picturesque route through the Escambray Mountains and drive through the protected Topes de Collantes natural reserve. This mountainous route is very popular among Cubans. Along the way you can stop off for a picnic in the lush green lush surroundings before going for a swim at one of the area waterfalls. We recommend planning your arrival in Trinidad for around 16:00 in the afternoon.

Cuban families have opened their own kind of bed and breakfast known as casa particulars. The casas offer a very welcome addition to their income and they offer you a first-hand experience of the Cuban way of life. You'll have your own key to the house and your own room with a shower, toilet, warm water and electricity. Casas are generally very modest. The Cubans are very warm and welcoming people, but they aren't very affluent... Total driving time on Day Seven of your Cuba trip is 4 hours, not including stops.

Day 8: Trinidad

Trinidad was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988 and its a real highlight of your Cuba trip. As soon as you drive past the pastel-coloured houses in its' historic hub, you'll understand why. The city is an open-air museum of cobbled streets, small houses with red tiled roofs, vintage cars, donkeys pulling carts, art shops and friendly bodegas.

There are plenty of interesting sights to see near the palm tree-lined promenades of Plaza Mayor. For instance, you can visit the city's iconic yellow San Francisco Monastery and the bell tower. One of Trinidad's best museums is the beautifully renovated Museo Romántico overlooking the main square (closed on Mondays, entrance fee 1 CUC). The colonial mansion it's housed in was once owned by a wealthy family of Spanish sugar cane plantation owners. The museum will give you a good idea of what it was like to live in the days of the sugar barons. Take your time to wander through the Plaza.

By late afternoon, around 16:00, the day-trippers will start to return to their resorts on the coast and live bands will start to bring a new kind of ambiance to the terraces, plazas, bodegas and streets of Trinidad. In the evening, you can climb the stairs leading up to the Plaza Mayor and stroll on over to the Casa de la Musica. There's a very good chance that you'll never actually make it and that you'll stop off for a chat or to listen to music before you get there. The stairs are always laden with fun-loving people having a chat and drinking a canchanchara, a tasty local concoction of lime juice, honey and white rum. Before you know it a band will have stopped by and everyone will be dancing. Music and dancing are in the blood of Cuban people and this is your chance to be a part of the spur of the moment celebration during your Cuba trip.

Cuba trip - Cuba's rich culture and architecture

Day 9: Trinidad - Camaguey

Right on the outskirts of Trinidad lies the Valle de los Ingenios. This sugar cane valley was once filled slaves harvesting sugar cane to make rum. Visiting hacienda Mancada Iznaga will give you a firsthand impression of how the sugar barons once lived. From this point on the road will become more picturesque and you'll pass by quiet villages and sugar cane fields. As you near Camaguey, the scenery will become more and more like something out of a classic western movie as you pass by ranches, cowboys, grazing cattle and goats. As you arrive in Camaguey, you can have a bicycle taxi ride ahead of you to lead you to your hotel. You'll spend the night in a colonial hotel in the city centre. If you would like to go sightseeing in Camaguey, have the same bicycle taxi that took you to your hotel take you on a tour of the city. For 4 CUC you'll receive an hour-long tour of the city. Total driving time on day 9 of your Cuba trip is 5 hours including stops.

Day 10: Camaguey - Santiago de Cuba

After breakfast you'll travel further eastwards as you continue your Cuba trip. As you leave Camaguey you'll travel through 4 Cuban provinces, starting out with a route that will take you through Las Tunas and then on to Bayamo. You'll cruise on through Camaguey's cattle territory and into Cuba's smallest province, Las Tunas. From here you'll drive through the endless corn fields of the Granma province. Stop off for lunch at one of the restaurants in the city centre of provincial capital Bayamo and then continue on towards Santiago de Cuba with the Sierra Maestra mountains looming ahead in the distance. Total driving time on day 10 of your Cuba trip is 5 hours including stops.

Santiago is Cuba's second largest city and birthplace of the Cuban rumba, son and salsa music. Of course you wouldn't want to miss out on all of the fun, so we'll make arrangements for you to stay in the city centre right in the heart of all the fun and excitement.

Day 11: Santiago de Cuba

On Day Eleven of your Cuba trip you'll have plenty of time to explore the musical city of Santiago on foot. Not all of the city's attractions are located in the city centre. The Ifigenia cemetery where national hero José Marti, Cuba's first president and 'Mister Bacardi' are buried and the Morro Castle, beautifully situated on the shores of the bay, are both a 15-minute drive from the city centre. You could either drive there on your own or take a taxi cab to the sites for about £25. Let the taxi driver drop you off at San Juan Hill, where Fidel Castro once lost a strategic battle. You can have lunch here and visit a traditional Afro-Cuban residence. Afterwards you can head back to the city centre on your own time. Visit the city's traditional music houses, the trovas, in the evening to listen to Cuban bands playing original son music. Who knows, you may even see one of the spontaneous performances given by the Buena Vista Social Club.

Day 12: Santiago - Holguin - UK

After an enervating visit to Santiago it's time for this Cuba trip to come to an end and for you to return home. You'll drive into the countryside one last time; starting out in the Contra Maestra foothills and continuing northwards across quiet back roads to Holguin. Once you arrive at the airport in Holguin you'll drop off your rental car. Total driving time including stops is approximately 3 hours or 138km.

If there are no flights available to Varadero, we can make arrangements for you to fly into Havana and will adjust your itinerary accordingly. We'll also arrange a domestic flight for you from the eastern side of Cuba back to Havana. This way you can still end your trip with a laidback beach getaway at a secluded east coast beach. Unfortunately domestic flights can be delayed from time to time. That's why we recommend booking an additional night in Havana just to make sure you do not end up stressed after a relaxing holiday.

A sneak peek at your accommodation... (Click to enlarge)

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