Helping Americans witness authentic Cuba since 1997
PHLLIP LEVINE (Denver Academy)
Exploring the island, discovering its people, their history culture and arts
Duration 8 days and 7 nights of learning, fun and friendship in Cuba
Dates: March, 2020
Participants: 10 Minimum
Accommodations Hotel Capri, 4 stars, Havana
Island transportation Luxury tour coach and full time chauffer.
DAY 1 –/ ARRIVAL / HELLO cuba (dinner)
• Arrival at Havana’s José Martí International Airport. Collect your bags and go through customs. You’re welcomed at the airport lobby by your Cuba Explorer Tours guide and professional bus chauffeur.
• Private transfer to your hotel.
• Private check-in with assistance from your guide.
• Free time to settle in and rest up at your hotel.
• This evening you’ll enjoy a group welcome dinner with your Cuban guide and tourmates at Mediterraneo Habana private restaurant . (included)
• Your guide will keep you posted on local entertainment options.
DAY 2 – Exploring Old Havana, our common heritage (breakfast and Lunch)
• Followed by a walking tour of Old Havana, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We’ll visit four of the five historic plazas that make Havana unique in the western hemisphere. It contains the largest collection of remaining colonial-era architecture. This is a private tour led by your Cuba Explorer Tours guide.
• Lunch at Mojito Mojito private restaurant (included in tour cost)!
• Visit San Alejandro school. This prestigious school has placed the Cuban art in a prominent position worldwide. It is the oldest fine arts school in Cuba.
• Return to hotel
• Dinner tonight is not included. You are free to explore different eateries. Your guide will advise on restaurants for every taste and budget.
• Evening is free to explore the sights and sounds of the city. Your guide will keep you posted on evening entertainment options.
DAY 3 – Havana/ Las Terrazas (BREAKFAST and LUNCH)
• Breakfast in hotel
• Morning departure to Las Terrazas eco-community, which was declared a biosphere reserve by the United Nations
• Visit a rural village called Rancho Curujey
• Visit the art studio of a local artist
• Lunch at an open-air restaurant La Casa del Campesino, included
• Return to Havana.
• Dinner tonight is not included. You are free to explore different eateries. Your guide will advise on restaurants for every taste and budget.
• Evening is free to explore the sights and sounds of the city. Your guide will keep you posted on evening entertainment options.
DAY 4 –ARTS/ education (BREAKFAST, lunch AND DINNER)
• Breakfast in hotel
• Visit ISA, the University of Arts.
• Visit José Fuster, one of Cuba's most important ceramists and painters at his whimsical studio in Jaimanitas, just outside of Havana.
• Lunch at Fuster’s, included
• Visit Estudio Santacana. The workshop of Beatriz Santacana exhibits the artist ceramic sculptures, painting and drawings. Her work despicts everyday people as the main characters, and brings attention to the conflicts and experiences that shape societies, with a hopeful outlook.
• Evening is free to explore the sights and sounds of the city. Your guide will keep you posted on evening entertainment options.
DAY 5 – Cuban art/COMMUNITY PROJECTS/DANCE PERFORMANCE (breakfast and lunch)
• Breakfast in hotel
• Visit cultural project La Lavanderia, a group of renown Cuban artists and painters have joined efforts in restoring an old laundromat building and turned it into a workshop/gallery where they can create and exhibit their work.
• Lunch at Habana 61 private restaurant (included)
• Visit the studio of Afro-Cuban artist Eduardo Roca (Choco)
• Visit Dance Group Retazos: Retazos is a center for the promotion of dance under the Ministry of Culture of Cuba and the Office of the Historian of Old Havana. It is run by Isabel Bustos, a former professor at the National School of Modern Dance and the University of the Arts in Cuba.
• Watch a performance by Grupo Retazos.
• Dinner tonight is not included. You are free to explore different eateries. Your guide will advise on restaurants for every taste and budget.
• Evening is free to explore the sights and sounds of the city. Your guide will keep you posted on evening entertainment options.
DAY 6 – MUSEUM OF FINE arts/CALLEJON DE HAMEL (BREAKFAST and lunch)
• Breakfast in hotel
• Visit the Museum of Fine Arts, the Cuban collection
• Lunch at Cuba 54 private restaurant, included
• Evening entertainment SUggestion: Casa de la Música de Centro Habana, one of the best settings to listen the great traditional music. Dance with Cubans and foreign visitors.
DAY 7 – ARTS AND ORGANIC FARM/ (BREAKFAST, Lunch AND dinner)
• Breakfast in hotel
• Visit the studios of Abel Barroso who constructs playful works that often invite the viewer to interact. We’ll have the opportunity to discuss Cuban art and its influences and to see where art being done in Cuba intersects with the art being done in the US.
• Return to hotel in Havana.
• Farewell dinner at El Rum Rum private restaurant, included
DAY 8 – Havana/ HOME (BREAKFAST)
• Breakfast in hotel
• Check-out of hotel.
• Transfer to José Martí International Airport for flights home.
Terms and conditions
• A non-refundable deposit of 299.00 USD is required upon registration.
• Final payment is due 45 days prior to departure.
INCLUDED IN TOUR COST
• All taxes. Prices listed are the total amounts you pay. All amounts are quoted in US dollars.
• Airport transfers: We meet you at José Martí Int’l Airport in Havana and take you to your hotel upon arrival. We return you to José Martí Airport for departure. Transfer cost will be included in the tour price if the clients arrive the same day the tour begins and depart the same day the tour ends.
• Hotels as listed in tour itinerary or similar.
• All breakfasts, lunches and dinners as per itinerary.
• All activities, services, speakers, meetings and meals as described in tour itinerary except those noted as “optional” or “not included in cost.”
• Luxury air-conditioned coach transportation and a full-time professional driver.
• An expert Cuban English-speaking guide and translator whose background matches tour content throughout the program.
• Ongoing support from Cuba Explorer Tours staff in United States and Cuba before, during and after your stay.
• Emergency collect call access to our North American staff while in Cuba.
• Emergency cash advances for our tour participants who face complications accessing funds from aboard while in Cuba.
NOT INCLUDED IN TOUR COST
• Cost of airfare to and from Havana.
• Cuban Visitor visa
• Gratuities for Cuban tour guide, bus driver, chambermaids, restaurant staff, porters, etc.
• Optional travel interruption and cancellation insurance.
PHLLIP LEVINE (Denver Academy)
Exploring the island, discovering its people, their history culture and arts
Duration 8 days and 7 nights of learning, fun and friendship in Cuba
Dates: March, 2020
Participants: 10 Minimum
Accommodations Hotel Capri, 4 stars, Havana
Island transportation Luxury tour coach and full time chauffer.
DAY 1 –/ ARRIVAL / HELLO cuba (dinner)
• Arrival at Havana’s José Martí International Airport. Collect your bags and go through customs. You’re welcomed at the airport lobby by your Cuba Explorer Tours guide and professional bus chauffeur.
• Private transfer to your hotel.
• Private check-in with assistance from your guide.
• Free time to settle in and rest up at your hotel.
• This evening you’ll enjoy a group welcome dinner with your Cuban guide and tourmates at Mediterraneo Habana private restaurant . (included)
• Your guide will keep you posted on local entertainment options.
DAY 2 – Exploring Old Havana, our common heritage (breakfast and Lunch)
- Breakfast at hotel (included)
• Followed by a walking tour of Old Havana, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We’ll visit four of the five historic plazas that make Havana unique in the western hemisphere. It contains the largest collection of remaining colonial-era architecture. This is a private tour led by your Cuba Explorer Tours guide.
• Lunch at Mojito Mojito private restaurant (included in tour cost)!
• Visit San Alejandro school. This prestigious school has placed the Cuban art in a prominent position worldwide. It is the oldest fine arts school in Cuba.
• Return to hotel
• Dinner tonight is not included. You are free to explore different eateries. Your guide will advise on restaurants for every taste and budget.
• Evening is free to explore the sights and sounds of the city. Your guide will keep you posted on evening entertainment options.
DAY 3 – Havana/ Las Terrazas (BREAKFAST and LUNCH)
• Breakfast in hotel
• Morning departure to Las Terrazas eco-community, which was declared a biosphere reserve by the United Nations
• Visit a rural village called Rancho Curujey
• Visit the art studio of a local artist
• Lunch at an open-air restaurant La Casa del Campesino, included
• Return to Havana.
• Dinner tonight is not included. You are free to explore different eateries. Your guide will advise on restaurants for every taste and budget.
• Evening is free to explore the sights and sounds of the city. Your guide will keep you posted on evening entertainment options.
DAY 4 –ARTS/ education (BREAKFAST, lunch AND DINNER)
• Breakfast in hotel
• Visit ISA, the University of Arts.
• Visit José Fuster, one of Cuba's most important ceramists and painters at his whimsical studio in Jaimanitas, just outside of Havana.
• Lunch at Fuster’s, included
• Visit Estudio Santacana. The workshop of Beatriz Santacana exhibits the artist ceramic sculptures, painting and drawings. Her work despicts everyday people as the main characters, and brings attention to the conflicts and experiences that shape societies, with a hopeful outlook.
- Learn to dance to Salsa, Son, Rumba, and other popular Cuban rhythms with instruction from Arte Habana Dance group (included in cost).
• Evening is free to explore the sights and sounds of the city. Your guide will keep you posted on evening entertainment options.
DAY 5 – Cuban art/COMMUNITY PROJECTS/DANCE PERFORMANCE (breakfast and lunch)
• Breakfast in hotel
• Visit cultural project La Lavanderia, a group of renown Cuban artists and painters have joined efforts in restoring an old laundromat building and turned it into a workshop/gallery where they can create and exhibit their work.
• Lunch at Habana 61 private restaurant (included)
• Visit the studio of Afro-Cuban artist Eduardo Roca (Choco)
• Visit Dance Group Retazos: Retazos is a center for the promotion of dance under the Ministry of Culture of Cuba and the Office of the Historian of Old Havana. It is run by Isabel Bustos, a former professor at the National School of Modern Dance and the University of the Arts in Cuba.
• Watch a performance by Grupo Retazos.
• Dinner tonight is not included. You are free to explore different eateries. Your guide will advise on restaurants for every taste and budget.
• Evening is free to explore the sights and sounds of the city. Your guide will keep you posted on evening entertainment options.
DAY 6 – MUSEUM OF FINE arts/CALLEJON DE HAMEL (BREAKFAST and lunch)
• Breakfast in hotel
• Visit the Museum of Fine Arts, the Cuban collection
• Lunch at Cuba 54 private restaurant, included
- Visit Callejón de Hamel (Hamel Alley) to see the artwork of famed Afro-Cuban Artist Salvador González
- Visit Arenal Cinema to enjoy a performance from Opera de la Calle Company. Founded by Ulises Aquino in 2006, one of Cuba's best-known baritones, Opera de la Calle, or Opera of the Street is a new model of performance in Cuba combining Cuban rhythms and dance . Hugely successful, Opera de la Calle company of more than 120 singers, actors, and musicians now has annual attendance of thousands, performing not only in its two theaters, but also in plazas and theaters throughout Cuba. Described as "authentic, energizing, and joyful", Opera de la Calle performances are a must see for Cuban audiences and visitors alike.
• Evening entertainment SUggestion: Casa de la Música de Centro Habana, one of the best settings to listen the great traditional music. Dance with Cubans and foreign visitors.
DAY 7 – ARTS AND ORGANIC FARM/ (BREAKFAST, Lunch AND dinner)
• Breakfast in hotel
• Visit the studios of Abel Barroso who constructs playful works that often invite the viewer to interact. We’ll have the opportunity to discuss Cuban art and its influences and to see where art being done in Cuba intersects with the art being done in the US.
- We'll visit the UBPC Vivero Organopónico Alamar, 15 km (9.3 miles) east of Havana. It's one of the most successful urban organic farms in Cuba raising ornamental plants, medicinal herbs, and millions of seedlings for neighboring residential and collective farms. Established in the early 1990s, the Alamar cooperative has over 20 members and provides a range of healthy, organic vegetables to the community. Produce is raised employing the practice of permaculture: no chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Instead, natural biological methods are used to nourish the soil, frustrate pests and conserve water. The result is an increased rate of yield and reduced costs.
• Return to hotel in Havana.
• Farewell dinner at El Rum Rum private restaurant, included
DAY 8 – Havana/ HOME (BREAKFAST)
• Breakfast in hotel
• Check-out of hotel.
• Transfer to José Martí International Airport for flights home.
Terms and conditions
• A non-refundable deposit of 299.00 USD is required upon registration.
• Final payment is due 45 days prior to departure.
INCLUDED IN TOUR COST
• All taxes. Prices listed are the total amounts you pay. All amounts are quoted in US dollars.
• Airport transfers: We meet you at José Martí Int’l Airport in Havana and take you to your hotel upon arrival. We return you to José Martí Airport for departure. Transfer cost will be included in the tour price if the clients arrive the same day the tour begins and depart the same day the tour ends.
• Hotels as listed in tour itinerary or similar.
• All breakfasts, lunches and dinners as per itinerary.
• All activities, services, speakers, meetings and meals as described in tour itinerary except those noted as “optional” or “not included in cost.”
• Luxury air-conditioned coach transportation and a full-time professional driver.
• An expert Cuban English-speaking guide and translator whose background matches tour content throughout the program.
• Ongoing support from Cuba Explorer Tours staff in United States and Cuba before, during and after your stay.
• Emergency collect call access to our North American staff while in Cuba.
• Emergency cash advances for our tour participants who face complications accessing funds from aboard while in Cuba.
NOT INCLUDED IN TOUR COST
• Cost of airfare to and from Havana.
• Cuban Visitor visa
• Gratuities for Cuban tour guide, bus driver, chambermaids, restaurant staff, porters, etc.
• Optional travel interruption and cancellation insurance.