Cuba on the move

During this Cuba driving holiday you'll travel through Cuba in your own rental car for a period of two weeks. Since you'll only be travelling in western Cuba, driving time will be much less than if you would travel to other parts of the country.

Where else could this Cuban holiday begin, other than in the vivacious Cuban capital of Havana. Driving through the city gives you a blast from the past as you travel past colourful houses with flaking paint and streets lined with classic American vintage cars. Then you'll drive to two of the most beautiful colonial towns in the west, Santa Clara and Trinidad. On route you'll see the monument dedicated to Cuba's famed national icon, Che Guevara. Whilst in Trinidad you'll spend the night in a local Cuban family's casa particular.

Then you'll travel into the countryside. You'll spend the night in an eco-hotel surrounded by nature in Las Terrazas. During the day you'll go hiking or horseback riding through the tobacco fields at Viñales, where Cuba's famous cigars are made. Your Cuban holiday ends on the secluded whitewashed shores of Maria la Gorda.

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	13 days - 12 nights, departs daily (please note: Che Guevara museum is closed on Mondays)	Accommodation	12 nights in double occupancy room with shower and toilet. Accommodation category 3
Price	Please see our Contact Us page for more details	Includes	Transport, 12 nights' accommodation with breakfast, excursions as described in daily itinerary, visa and roadmap
Transport	Transfer on arrival in Havana and 10 days medium category rental car with air conditioning	Excludes	International flight and airport taxes, car insurance (from 15 CUC per day), car hire extras, other meals, excursions and entrance fees

Day 1: Arrival in Havana

Once you've landed in Havana, a transfer will be waiting to take you to Latin America's largest colonial city centre, where your Cuban holiday will begin. Classic American vintage cars, an abundance of music in the air and bustling plazas will make it feel as if you've stepped back into the 50's.

Your accommodation on the first night of this drive Cuba holiday is located in the city's most beautiful and vivacious district, Habana Vieja. Most of the hotels here were built before the 50's and have tremendous ambience and flair. During your first night in the city we recommend dining at El Patio on the Plaza de la Cathedral. As you look out from your table on the balcony of this historic colonial building you'll see the lights being turned on across the plaza. Enjoy your first mojito or Cuba libre and let the city's nostalgic atmosphere sink in.

Day 2 - 3: Havana

The next two days of your Cuban holiday are free of any planned activities so that you can explore the different parts of Havana on your own. The parks, cathedrals, museums, shop-lined streets, markets, monuments, fortresses and the bar made famous by writer Ernest Hemingway, 'Bodeguita del Medio', will keep you pleasantly occupied during the day. Don't forget to check out the Capitolio and the Gran Theater and go for a walk through the mafia neighbourhood, Vedado, and visit the Plaza de la Revolucion where former president Fidel Castro once held his famous speeches.

Another alternative would be to go on an optional Havana city tour the morning after your arrival to get a good impression of the entire city and all its neighbourhoods. A guide will pick you up from your hotel around 9:00 for a 3-hour tour of the city. The price of this tour is £70 per person.

Day 4: Havana - Santa Clara, 275km

At around 9:00 you'll pick up your rental car at Havana's famous boulevard, the Malecon, and you'll head out of the city. Since you'll be driving along the 'Carretera Norte' towards Matanzas, you can simply keep driving straight and cruise along the coastline without having to navigate all too much. It's about a 4-hour drive to Santa Clara (speed limit 80 km per hour).

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 4 of this Cuba driving holiday, not including stops along the way, is 3.5 to 4 hours.

Day 5: Santa Clara - Trinidad, 160km

Stroll through the tree-filled parks of Santa Clara this morning and enjoy the relaxation before heading 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 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; this is when your Cuban host family will be expecting you.

Cuban families have started opening their own bed and breakfast known as casa particulars. The casas offer a very welcome addition to their income and it offers you a first-hand look into 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. The casas are generally very modest. The Cubans are very warm and welcoming people, but they aren't very affluent. Total driving time on Day Five of your Cuban holiday is 4 hours, not including stops.

Day 6: Trinidad

Trinidad was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988 and it's a real highlight of your drive Cuba holiday. 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, horse drawn carriages, 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 on day 6 of your Cuban holiday.

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 play on 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 Casa de la Musica. There's a very good chance that you'll never actually make it there and that you'll stop off for a chat or to listen to some great music along the way. 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 a spontaneous celebration on your Cuba driving holiday.

Day 7: Trinidad - Las Terrazas, 422km

There's quite a long drive planned for today on your Cuba tour, starting out with a 1.5 hour drive along the southern coastline to Cienfuegos, a city engulfed in French architecture. Have a cup of coffee at the fabulous seaside Moorish-style Palacio del Valle and go for a quick stroll across the city's central square. As you drive along you'll pass the exit to the Bay of Pigs, where the Americans once invaded Cuba. Although many travel organisations consider this a must see, we recommend skipping this barren stretch of beach and continuing on along the A1 autopista, the highway, to Las Terrazas.

Once you leave the A1 and continue along the A4, it's only another 2 hours until you reach the exit for Las Terrazas. We'll make reservations for you to stay at a hilltop eco-resort overlooking a lake filled with trout. Total driving time on day 7 of this Cuba trip is 7 hours, including your stop in Cienfuegos.

Drive Cuba - Las Terrazas, swimming pool

Day 8: Las Terrazas

Your air conditioned hotel room in Las Terrazas looks out across town and the lake. The hotel has a swimming pool, bar and a restaurant and if you go into town, you'll find a few paladares - small Cuban restaurants. This morning you and your guide will hike through the UNESCO nature reserve, Sierra del Rosario. Thanks to the mild climate and high humidity, this area is known as Cuba's rainbow. The entire area is bathed in every imaginable shade of green and during your hike you'll see ferns, orchids, begonias and other flowering plants. There are no activities planned for the afternoon on your Cuba trip, however you could visit the scenic viewpoint at Mirador and then cool off at the San Juan River waterfall (don't forget your mosquito repellent during this drive Cuba holiday).

You could also take to the road and visit several of the former coffee plantations this region is known for. The ruins of the slave barracks for the 300 men and women who worked here, the places where coffee beans were laid out to dry and the scent of the past will leave you in awe.

Day 9: Las Terrazas - María la Gorda

Today you'll embark on a long, but beautiful journey through the Pinar del Rio province towards the westernmost tip of Cuba - María la Gorda. During the drive you'll have to stop a few times to allow cows, chickens and crabs to cross the road. María la Gorda lies right on an 8km long stretch of silvery palm-fringed beaches in the by UNESCO designated national park, Guanahacabibes. As with many locations in Cuba, this area too has a popular legend... María, a young beautiful girl was captured by pirates in her home far, far away and left behind here by pirates. She built her own cabin and felt so lonely that she ate and ate and ate. By the time the pirates returned, she became so hefty that the pirates named her María la Gorda which means chubby Maria. In any case, this area is incredibly beautiful with its powdery beaches and turquoise blue seas. It's a great place to dive and wonderful place to kick back at the end of your Cuba driving holiday.

Day 10: María la Gorda

You'll stay at a hotel made up of 35 modest, colourfully decorated bungalows discreetly dotted throughout a tropical garden and along the beach. Most of the rooms either have a balcony or a terrace with full sea view and are located right along the rim of the beach. Once you've checked in and dropped off your luggage, the sea is only a stone's throw away from the front door of your bungalow.

Spend the day lounging on the whitewashed beaches of María la Gorda. This is your time to relax while enjoying the beauty of the beach and looking back on all you've experienced during your drive Cuba trip. You could also go on a diving trip or snorkelling tour. Just ask your hotel reception desk for more information. Please stay alert when hiring diving equipment though... not all of it is top quality. After an intense day of relaxation, most evenings a Creole dish with lobster as a main course will be served. Qué bien! Don't forget to dab on some mosquito repellent if you're out and about in the evenings on this part of your Cuba trip.

Day 11: Maria la Gorda - Viñales

There's very little traffic in this area, which makes the drive past lakes and tropical forests even more enjoyable. You'll leave the highway when you reach the provincial capital of Piñar del Rio. During the last 45 minutes of the drive you'll pass through rolling hills and the typical blunt mountains of this region, the 'mojotes' will start to pop up. These karst mountains are the result of centuries of erosion. Scattered in between the mojotes lie plantations; this is where tobacco for the famed Cuban cigars is cultivated. Viñales has about 4000 inhabitants and two bars that welcome a mix of locals and tourist as customers. You'll spend the night on the outskirts of town in one of several wooden cabins scattered throughout a tropical garden with a swimming pool. When you tire of the pool, you can head over to the Vicente River to bathe in the mineral-rich water of the thermal pools. Total driving time on day 11 of this Cuban holiday is 4.5 hours, not including stops.

Cuba self drive itinerary - Cuban cowboys

Day 12: Viñales

On Day Twelve of your Cuba trip you'll either go hiking or horseback riding through the local tobacco fields. You'll see how 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. You'll also see how tobacco leaves are laid out to dry under slanted roofs throughout the landscape. 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.

Day 13: Vinales - Havana - UK

After breakfast, around 9:00, you'll drive back to Havana. If your flight leaves later in the day, you can take your time this morning and for instance take a short detour through San Diego de los Baños. This small, beautiful provincial town is has bountiful forests, sun speckled lakes, crystal-clear thermal pools and a cave where Ché Guevara's once had his guerrilla headquarters. You could also drive into Havana for a few last-minute souvenirs. Total driving time on this last day of your Cuba driving holiday from Vinales to the Havana airport is 3 hours. Total driving time from San Diego de los Baños to the Havana airport is 2 hours. At the end of the day you'll fly back to the UK, where you'll arrive at the next day.