Havana Insider

Havana & Viñales Valley or Varadero

Private VIP Tour 6 day, 5 night

Viva Cuba Tour is offering the unique opportunity to enjoy almost a week in Cuba. Considered forbidden fruit for the American traveler, our Caribbean neighbor is closer than ever. The fantastic history, incredible architecture, camaraderie in sport and warm people make this trip a once in a lifetime chance to enjoy life as you’ve never seen it. Viva Cuba Tours is sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department to arrange educational trips; your visit is completely permitted by the U.S. Government.

Paradise with a celebrated past where Babe Ruth played, Hemingway lived and Al Capone plotted, welcomes you. Cuba has given us Mambo, Mojitos and more. Now you will see, hear and learn about the real Cuba, one few Americans have ever seen.

Let Viva Cuba Tour take you behind the ordinary tourist trips and connect you directly with the magical world of Cuba; its people from different walks of life, sights and sounds will tantalize and amaze you. We at VCT have spent over 30 years on the island; our knowledge and contacts will provide you with an authentic experience few will ever enjoy. Working together with experienced locals, we go off the beaten path and connect you with Cuba’s best paladares, musicians, experts, and chefs. You will meet and speak with Cubans, learning about their unique political and economic system while enjoying their breathtaking beauty and unique culture.

ITINERARY: Nothing is ordinary about Viva Cuba Tour. We do not like rigid, large group trips. Our Cuba trips are always private, small and flexible, never cookie cutter . You may have heard about the tightly regulated mandatory ‘People to People’ trips. All of our trips meet 100% of the legal requirements, yet still have flexibility. This is one of the many benefits of a small, private group.

HOTEL: We only work with the finest properties in Havana. Hotel Saratoga is the closest to a true 5* that exists in Havana and is mostly sold out through 2016. Every VIP and Celebrity (that could get in) has stayed here this year. The Hotel Saratoga is also one of the only hotels in Cuba that has WIFI included with your room.

DINING: The Gastronomic scene in Cuba is undergoing an evolution. We dine almost entirely at Paladares. These private restaurants rang from 1-2 tables in home kitchens to full-scale restaurants hidden inside fully restored Mansions.

NIGHTLIFE: Salsa Bars, Night Clubs, Jazz Clubs and some venues that only the locals go to enjoy. The only thing stopping anyone is the need for sleep. Havana is a late-night town. The 12 piece Salsa/Reggaeton bands usually don’t take the stage before Midnight. That said, there is no pressure to do anything at all after dinner. Participants can go back to the Hotel to rest or head out on their own (with a little guidance).

GUIDE: Our Cuban Guides are the best in Havana. We only work with vetted, highly educated guides, who speak excellent English. You can ask them anything and everything – they are not afraid to give you the truth on the good and the bad of living in Cuba.

HUMANITARIAN: All of our trips have a Humanitarian element. At some locations, we will drop off some “non-cash” gifts. You will see this explained further in the packing list document.

WELCOME TO CUBA

INCLUDED • 1-Night Hotel Accomodations in Departure City • ALL Departure Taxes • VISA Services/Expedited Check In from Departure City and HAV • Mandatory Private Cuban Health Insurance • Deluxe accommodations as indicated on the itinerary • Daily breakfast and Most Lunches and Dinners including 1-2 Alcoholic/Soft Beverages with each meal • Full-time Viva Cuba Tour U.S. RepresentativeTour Leader to guide your visit and manage your exploration of Cuba • Full-time private Bi-Lingual Cuban Tour Guide • Full time private Deluxe Motor Coach and Driver • All Scheduled Activities including Museum entrance fees. • Gratuity for all Hotel Staff, Restaurant Staff and Speakers

NOT INCLUDED • Gratuity for Guides and Driver • Costs of optional/evening activities: Club entrance fees, transportation, drinks etc. • Additional beverages beyond those with included meals. • Supplemental Travel Insurance (Strongly advised).

Day 1 Miami

6:00 PM Evening Welcome - Greet at Hotel Bar (Open-ended schedule). Overview of the itinerary with the Viva Cuba Tour Leader, who will travel with the group and accompany your journey.

VIP Private Tour 6 day, 5 night

SAMPLE TOUR

Day 2 Bienvenido a La Habana!

8:00 AM Meet at Miami International Airport departing Miami TBD ( based upon the airline schedule) expedited check-in

• Depart on Charter Flight, time TBD, flight time, approximately 45 minutes.

• Arriving in José Martí International Airport, Havana, Cuba. Meet our professional, English-speaking Cuban guide. Luxury transfer in private, air conditioned Tour about Vedado neighborhood of Havana.

• Photos at HISTORIC REVOLUTION SQUARE

• Visit the legendary HOTEL NACIONAL, Lunch in the open-air courtyard overlooking the Malecón and stoic 16th century • Morro Castle to the East, guarding the Harbor of Havana. Originally designed by architects McKim, Mead & White, and • opened in 1930, the hotel has hosted countless international celebrities; Churchill, Sinatra and mafioso Al Capone, to name • a few. Linger at the courtyard to enjoy an afternoon Cohiba cigar. •

• Delight in a Dance Perfomance, visit with the founders of this community dance project in inner city Havana, followed by a brief interactive performance and then the opportunity for Q & A with the Dance company members.

• Arrival/Check in at HAVANA HOTEL. Viva Cuba Tour guests stay at one of the most exclusive and luxurious Hotels in • Cuba. Time to freshen up and rest a bit. • • Cruise Classical car ride through Old Havana and the Malecon.

• Dinner at one of the most popular private restaurants also referred to as “Paladares.”

• Optional evening activities: Jazz Café to hear some of Cuba’s best Jazz music. Casa de la Musica - Late night Salsa Dancing

Day 3 Architecture, History, Rum & Cigars

• 8:00 AM Breakfast at Hotel.

• Discussion with Miguel Coyula, renown City planner and Historian of Havana. Highlights include six century overview of architectural development and city history, how Havana was shaped by Pirates and Civil Wars, and current renovations and the challenges faced.

• Walking tour of Old Havana or Habana Vieja, exploring the 4 major plazas: Plaza de Armas, Plaza de la Catedral San Cristóbal de la Habana, Plaza Vieja, and Plaza San Francisco de Asís.

• Visit La Bodeguita del Medio, world famous birthplace of the mojito, where Ernest Hemingway allegedly quaffed 20 in one session.

• Lunch at one of Old Havana’s finest restaurants.

• Afternoon Guided tour of the Cuban Museo de la Revolución & Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Arte Cubano)

• Drop by Almacenes de San José on the Port of Havana , a local craft and art market, built in 1885. Browse local crafts, souvenirs.

• Dinner at Paladar La Guarida, Havana’s “most famous restaurant” (N.Y. Times), site of 1994 Oscar nominated movie • “Fresa y Chocolate”. Enjoy innovative dishes that fuse international and traditional Cuban cuisine. The Camagüey

Mansión, at Concordia 418, provides a unique atmosphere. We will receive a tour and explanation of the history of the most well-known and oldest of Havana’s private restaurants from the owner, Enrique Nuñez or wife Odeysis.

• Private Rum Tasting and Cigar Pairing , Explanation of the Rum making process and history of the art of añejamiento : the art of distilling, aging and blending premium rums with head sommelier of the HISTORIC HAVANA CLUB RUM COMPANY, who will introduce us to the newest “Havana Club Unión", the first-ever rum made to perfectly match a Cuban cigar, the Cohiba Siglo VI.

• Optional evening activities: TROPICANA night club

Day 4 Varadero, Matanzas Province ( May - November )

• 7:00 - 8:00 AM Breakfast at Hotel.

• Depart for day trip to Varadero, Travel time, 2 hours. Varadero is a foremost tourist resort town, boasting more than 12 miles of ivory sanded beaches.

• Stop for Photos at Bacunayagua Bridge & Vista, Cuba’s Highest bridge and one of the Seven Wonders of Cuban Engineering. Enjoy a refreshing Piña colada while you marvel at the breathtaking landscapes of lush valleys below. You deserve it!

• Panoramic Tour of Matanzas – the Athens of Cuba, also know as the City of Bridges. Birthplace of Danzón; the

National music and dance of Cuba and Rumba; a secular genre of Cuban music involving dance, percussion, and song which derived from the Nigerian music and dance tradition, called Abakuá.

• Browse EDICIONES VIGÍA and learn about their one of kind, hand-made books.

• Lunch at Xanadú Mansion, home of Irénée du Pont I . Hear the largest privately owned Organ in Latin America on a tour of the palatial grounds afterwards.

• Relax. Golfing at the VARADERO GOLF CLUB located on the shores of the Caribbean Sea and/or enjoy the exquisite Beaches of Varadero while marveling at the world’s second largest barrier reef.

• Dinner Return to Havana for Dinner at another of Havana’s Famous Paladares – Free Dinner evening. Your tour leader will suggest the best paladares to choose from and assist with reservations.

• Optional evening activity An evening with the famous musicians of the BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB at Hotel Nacional de Cuba.

Day 4 Viñales Valley - Tobacco Plantations, Organic Farming, Love & Hope (December - April)

• 7:00 - 8:00 AM Breakfast at Hotel.

• Depart for day trip to Viñales Valley, 2 hours travel time. A UNESCO World Heritage site, the awesome topography of Viñales Valley is notable for its mogotes, dome-like formations that rise abruptly from the flat plains. It is also significant for its bio diversity and endemic species including; orchids, Mountain palms, the colorful Cuban Tody and the world’s smallest bird, the Zunzún. Traditional agricultural practices related to growing the island’s finest tobacco here in the Vuelta Abajo region will be seen readily.

• Ponder the 160 million-year-old limestone karst and caves once used by runaway slaves, called cimarrones.

• Panoramic Tour Visit the famous Alejandro Robaina Tobacco Vegas, a working tobacco farm, where the masterful process of growing, selecting, aging and rolling of tobacco is demonstrated on a VIP TOUR. Slow down and enjoy a cigar with the grandson of Don Alejandro, the Grand Maestro of Cuban cigars, while he relives stories of his apprenticeship.

• Lunch at an organic farm. Overlooking Viñales Valley, you will enjoy a special Cuban feast replete with vibrant vegetables grown on site, and traditional guajiro recipes.

• Visit a community-based art project established for disabled children and young adults. Artists teach engraving techniques to the children who create captivating works of art.

• Return to Havana for Dinner at another of Havana’s Famous Paladares – Free Dinner evening. Your tour leader will suggest the best paladares to choose from and assist with reservations.

• Optional evening activity An evening at La Zorra y El Cuervo Jazz Club. A chance to experience Afro Cuban Jazz in the subterranean, intimate setting, where up and coming virtuosi from the Conservatory of Havana and the world famous, like Wynton Marsalis and Chucho Valdés, perform.

Day 5 Hemingway, Classic Cars, X Alphonso • 8:00 AM Breakfast at Hotel.

• Deliver aid Briefing from Recipients from Community. TBD based on affiliations and need.

• Tour the monumental Columbus Cemetery, Historically and architecturally, the most important in Latin America.

• Travel outside the city to FINCA VIGIA, where Ernest Hemingway wrote his 1951 Nobel Peace winning novel, The Old Man and the Sea. This WMF site is part of the Hemingway Foundation and has been preserved in the condition as the day Papa left it, never to return.

• Lunch at an organic farm and paladar, featuring one of the best private wine cellars in the city.

• Time permitting, options include: Touring Private Art studios and meeting with the artists as they explain the life of a Cuban artist and the evolution of contemporary art in Cuba.

• Visit newly opened technology center, meet with owner, Cuban Sculpture, Kcho, and hear about the burgeoning fledgling ‘cibernetico’ community in Havana.

• Tour the historic Riviera Hotel and Casino for a private VIP tour to see infamous mobster Meyer Lansky’s resort as it was at the time of the revolution.

• VIP PRIVATE PARTAGAS CIGAR Factory tour. Learn about the complex, yet fascinating process of cigar rolling at the most famous and oldest cigar factory in the World. Home to Montecristo, Cohiba, Partagás and Bolivar lines.

• Visit Callejón de Hamel . Learn about SANTERIA, an Afro Cuba religion that syncretizes Roman Catholicism and the religion of Yoruba. Cuba’s African roots have an important influence on the country’s culture, art and music.

• MEET HAVANA CLASSIC CAR CLUBS – Learn firsthand how these avid Cuban car enthusiasts manage to maintain these pristine vehicles in a country with no access to parts for over 50 years.

• Farewell Dinner El COCINERO PALADAR, the creation of X-Alfonso, the popular Afro-Cuban fusion musician. Located in the same building as the FABRICA DE ARTE CUBANO, which we will visit after dinner for an explanation of the burgeoning art scene by the Founder himself, X-Alfonso. Stay and party the night away!

• Optional evening activity: Optional Evening Activities: Up Down Bar or Casa de la Musica – live Salsa and Jazz.

Day 6 Departure and Local Artists Day • 8:00 AM Breakfast at Hotel and Checkout ( depending on Flight schedule )

• Visit the quaint fishing village of JAIMANITAS and visit the Gaudi-inspired neighborhood-mosaic-tile-art project of world-renowned artist José Rodríguez Fuster. He’s turned his entire village into a mosaic project. Featured on A&E and Discovery, you will visit his private home/studio and may have the opportunity to talk directly with the artist himself.

• Alternative Mureleando Community Project – a fine arts center founded by Manuel Díaz Baldrich. The center was inspired by the children there. Music, dance, sculpting, painting and other fine arts create the project which transforms children’s lives. Many of them come from low income families and art is their outlet.

• Depart to José Martí International Airport, flight back to Miami, take home your memories and photos of a lifetime.