Cuba, the Cuban Way

Day 1 – Arrival in Santa Clara

It’s a long drive to Trinidad, so you’ll break up the journey with a restful night in Santa Clara, located smack bang in the centre of Cuba. It’s a youthful, edgy city with an important communist past. Here, in 1958, Che Guevara defeated Batista and ended his regime for good. Santa Clara is home to Che’s Mausoleum, a museum devoted to his memory. You can visit the mausoleum during your stay.

Days 3-4 – Trinidad bici-taxi tour & departure

On day 3, you’ll take a bici-taxi tour of the city with a local guide. As you rattle along the cobblestones, they’ll give you the inside scoop on Trinidad’s colonial past, filled with sugar barons and tobacco dons. He’ll also tell you about the health system, the currency and the general way of life in Cuba. At the end, you’ll stop for some freshly squeezed sugarcane juice, called Guarapo, before heading back to the casa.

Spend your time in Trinidad stumbling upon secret bars, ambling through shady plazas and wandering past pastel-coloured houses on hidden cobbled streets. If you’re eager to explore further afield, head to the Topes des Collante nature reserve, hidden away in the Escambray Mountains. Here, you can take scenic hikes into the tropical forest, ending up at the sparkling El Rocio waterfall.

The next day you’ll journey onwards to your next destination.