South Carolina Senior Lawyers – Cuba Adventure

Overview

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1: Miami

Accomodations: 1 night Hotel Crowne Plaza, Miami Airport

• Depart your home city on your flight to Miami.
• Overnight in Miami.

Your unforgettable journey to Cuba begins today with an overnight stay in Miami, Florida. If you are arriving at Miami International Airport, complimentary hotel shuttle service to the Crowne Plaza is available every 20 minutes from any 2nd level departure terminal, simply hail the driver as they pass. You will be informed of the departure time of the group shuttle leaving the hotel tomorrow morning.

Day 2: Miami/Havana

5 nights Parque Central Hotel, Havana

Breakfast & Dinner

• Depart the USA on your flight for Cuba
• Welcome dinner

Full Day Itinerary: Today, board your non-stop flight bound for Cuba at Miami International Airport

¡Bienvenidos a Cuba! You are welcomed by your private Cuban National Guide holding a Friendly Planet sign outside the arrivals terminal at the Santa Clara Airport. Board your air-conditioned coach, and jump right in as you head directly to your first destination in Cuba

Check in to the hotel. This evening, the group will meet for dinner at a local paladar (privately owned restaurant).

Day 3: Old Havana

Breakfast & lunch.

• Morning meetings with local lawyers
• Enjoy lunch at a local paladar Habana 61 (or similar)
• Learn about Cuba's two currency system at a local ration
• Walk along Paula promenade and stop at the Artisans Market

Full Day Itinerary: After breakfast, depart for your morning meetings with local lawyers from 9:30am to 1:00pm

After lunch, visit a local ration store. Your Cuban host will explain the system of rationing and the two-currency system as well as the difference between Ration Stores, Cuban Peso Stores, and CUC stores.

Then, walk along the beautiful Paula Promenade by the waterfront to see the changes related to the program of transformation for the Bay of Havana. Stop at the Artisans Market, where you will find plenty of souvenirs, including handicrafts, posters and other collectibles.

Tonight, enjoy dinner on your own. We recommend dining at a paladar. Feel free to choose one from the list we provide or ask your guides for alternative recommendations.

Days 4: Havana & Vinales

Breakfast & lunch.

• Drive to the beautiful Viñales Valley
• Brief stop at the viewpoint of the Jazmines
• Learn how tobacco, cassava and taro are grown at a local farm
• Lunch at a local paladar.
• Discover Viñales accompanied by a specialist to learn about its history and culture
• Visit a rural community project, “Ventana al Valle”
• Return to Havana

Full Day Itinerary: After breakfast this morning, depart for to Vinales Valley.

Continue through the impressive landscape of this area and see how tobacco, cassava and taro are grown. Tour a tobacco farm and have the chance to meet rural Cuban families and see how they live and work.

Enjoy lunch at a local paladar.

After lunch, discover more about Viñales on a tour with a specialist to learn about the history, culture and restoration work in the area.

Visit a rural community project “Ventana al Valle”.

Dinner on your own this evening.

Days 5: Havana, Regla, Alamar & Cojimar

Breakfast, lunch & dinner.

• Tour one of Havana’s famous cigar factories
• Take the small ferry to Regla across the bay
• Tour co-op community gardens in Alamar
• Enjoy lunch in the fishing village of Cojimar
• View the interior of Ernest Hemingway's home, Finca Vigia
• Dinner at local paladar

Full Day Itinerary: After breakfast this morning visit one of Havana's famous cigar factories where you will see hundreds of workers rolling Cuban cigars by hand. If the cigar factories are closed, a private cigar demonstration will be provided instead.

Later, transfer to the ferry terminal for a short ferry ride to the other side of the bay. Visit Regla, a settlement south of the bay, and the famous Virgin of Regla Church, where you’ll experience an interesting blend of Afrocuban creeds and the Catholic faith.

Continue to the district of Alamar on the outskirts of Havana. Started as an expansive social housing project in the 1970's, these Soviet-style, pre-fabricated concrete apartment blocks are now home to roughly a hundred thousand Cubans. Among the buildings in Alamar are community gardens, called "Organopónicos," where residents grow fruit, vegetables and herbs for their own consumption and for local sale.

Similar to co-ops and community gardens in the United States, these Organopónicos facilitate community development and offer Alamar's residents access to fresh produce. Enjoy a visit to one of these Organopónicos, which few visitors to Cuba have the opportunity to do.

You'll continue to the quaint fishing village of Cojimar, the setting for Hemingway's book, The Old Man and the Sea, and enjoy lunch at Café Ajiaco restaurant.

Drive to Hemingway's Cuba retreat. There are many historical and cultural ties between Cuba and the United States, and one of the best known is the legacy of Ernest Hemingway, who lived more than 20 years in Cuba, from 1939 to 1960. You'll visit Hemingway's beautiful mansion, Finca Vigía, (literally meaning "lookout farm"), now a museum. While visitors cannot enter the house itself, the large, open windows and doors around the entire property allow plenty of unobstructed views of his preserved 9,000 book library, as well as his animal trophies and famous fishing boat, Pilar.

Enjoy dinner later this evening at a local paladar tonight with your fellow travelers.

Days 6: Havana & Matanzas

Breakfast, lunch & dinner.

• Drive to Matanzas
• Brief stop at the viewpoint of the Jazmines
• Tour the San Severino Castle and museum
• Visit the Ediciones Vigia, a publisher of unique books & journals
• Lunch at a local paladar
• Return to Havana
• Farewell dinner

Full Day Itinerary: Depart to Matanzas for a full day tour.

Tour the San Severino Castle, once a fortress to defend the province of Matanzas and today a Museum of the Slave Route in Cuba created in partnership with UNESCO. This unique museum allows visitors to learn about the history of slavery in Cuba and the rich African, Latin American and Caribbean cultural heritage that gave birth to the Cuba of today.

Continue to Ediciones Vigia, a publisher of unique books and journals, where artisans use repurposed materials to create first-edition books on a variety of topics, all made by hand. Visitors are welcome in the workshop where you’ll witness the talent and ingenuity behind each perfectly detailed edition.

Later, return to Havana. After some well-deserved downtime at the hotel, join your fellow travelers at a farewell dinner, served in a privately owned restaurant.

Day 7: Havana/Arrive USA

Breakfast.

• Transfer to the airport and board your flight back to Miami

Full Day Itinerary: Today, bid farewell to Cuba as you transfer to Havana's Jose Marti International Airport and check-in for your flight back to Miami. ¡Adiós, Cuba!

Trip Details

• What should I know before I go? We've compiled a comprehensive checklist, including information on how to pay your balance due, flights & transfers, packing & luggage, and more.
• Do I need a visa or other documents? Are there any entry requirements? Please review the visa & entry requirements.
• Can I make changes to my trip? Want to upgrade your seats? Stay a few extra days? Something else? Just ask!
• Can I bring my kids? Are there any age restrictions? To book this package, you must be 21 or older. Your traveling companions must be 8 or older at time of travel.
• Should I purchase travel insurance? Yes! We recommend you purchase travel insurance to help protect you and your travel investment against the unexpected. For your convenience, we offer a plan provided by Travelex Insurance Services.
• What's the fine print? Review the terms & conditions for this package.
• What should I know about Cuba? Check out our guide for practical travel tips, the best time to go, videos, and more.