Cuba Revealed
Go Learn

Daily Itinerary

Today is the first leg of our Cuban adventure. You’ll travel to Miami at your leisure and catch the hotel shuttle to the hotel. Today, your assignment is to check into the hotel, explore Miami, and get ready for Cuba in the morning.

Hotel: Holiday Inn Miami Airport  opens a new window
Activity Level: Moderate

This morning we’ll meet in the hotel lobby bright and early (around 7am) to catch our private shuttle to the airport. We’ll check in at the American Airlines desk and then make our way to the gate to await our departure. Once in Cuba we’ll clear customs, pick up our luggage, and be met by our fearless leader, Al Campbell, as well as our local tour guide. We’ll board the private coach that will be with us for the duration of our visit and enjoy the tropical scenery as we head to a delicious lunch at a private restaurant or paladar (a small family-run restaurant located in the owners’ homes). In Cuba, restaurants are either state-owned (and therefore off limits to Americans) or they are located in private homes. After lunch we will head to the Hotel Nacionale to explore this beautiful and historic building and enjoy our first real glimpse of the ocean. Here we’ll visit the historic ballroom of Godfather fame before having a drink (nonalcoholic options are always available) in one of its famous bars and enjoy the ocean breeze.

After we check in to our hotel and unwind, we’ll have our first lecture with a Cuban expert to discuss the process of economic reform in Cuba.

Following the discussion, we’ll make our way to a charming paladar for a delicious Cuban dinner.

The rest of the evening is yours. Get some rest, we have a busy day tomorrow!

Hotel: Private Hotel or Casa Particulares
Meals: L, D
Activity Level: Moderate

After a delicious breakfast, we’ll board our private coach and make our way to Old Havana. Today we’ll hear from a local historian, Ayleen Robaina, and learn the history of Cuba and Havana as well as hear about the Historical Society’s efforts to preserve this world UNESCO Heritage site. We’ll spend the morning gaining insight into housing, infrastructure, investment, and restoration programs in the city. Afterward, we’ll tour the streets of Old Havana, stopping at its four main squares. You’ll be able to see Havana’s restoration projects as well as the crumbling buildings along the way. It is a fascinating glimpse of Cuba’s largest city. We’ll stop for lunch at one of our favorite paladars, and enjoy the air conditioning, before continuing on our journey. The afternoon will be spent visiting local schools and academies to meet with the students and those who are working to provide the students with valuable skills and opportunities.

After a brief rest at the hotel, we’ll meet with another Cuban expert to discuss Cuba’s complicated political history and its political future. Afterward, the evening is yours for dinner on your own. To make things easier, we’ll carefully select and reserve a couple of nearby local restaurants for you to choose from. We’ll make sure you get there safely and easily and enjoy a truly Cuban experience or you can venture out entirely on your own. (Please note the cost of this meal is not included and will be paid individually by guests.)

Hotel: Private Hotel or Casa Particulares
Meals: B, L
Activity Level: Moderate to Strenuous

After breakfast at the hotel, we’ll explore Havana in classic cars from the 1950’s. These classic cars are still used daily by many Cubans and are an excellent mode of transportation through the Cuban streets. Fun fact, the classic cars were one of the first private businesses to emerge after the new economic changes in Cuba! The cars will drive us through Havana’s neighborhoods to “El Bosque,” a forest located in the Western part of the city. We’ll pay a visit to Revolution Square before ending our drive at an art gallery where we will have a panel discussion with Cuban Entrepreneurs and hear about their journey in Cuba’s new and growing private business sector.

We’ll have a catered lunch at the gallery before boarding our bus and visiting the home and studio of Christina Figueroa, an art historian who helps run the family’s private art gallery out of her stylish, art-filled home in Havana. Afterward, we’ll make our way to Fusterlandia and tour the upscale neighborhoods of Miramar and Vedado, where many historical and impressive buildings are located.

Afterward, we’ll have a Jam session and conversation with La Reyna y La Real. This female rap-jazz duo defies obstacles and doubters with a sound and a message that empowers and uplifts their fans. Rap itself was only turned into a ‘legal’ art form in 2002 when the Cuban government established the Agencia Cubana de Rap to oversee the genre. We’ll sit in the duo’s living room for an intimate performance and conversation about the unique path they are charting.

Then we’ll have an optional cigar and rum tasting with a local expert at Café Madrigal. He will explain the qualities and traits of fine Cuban cigars and how to properly light and smoke what is considered the finest tobacco in the world. Café Madrigal, owned and run by film director Rafael Rosales, is housed in a beautiful colonial mansion with the walls lined with captivating artwork.

But that’s not all! We’ll also offer another optional activity: a visit to a local Jazz club where the local talent plays nightly!

This is a very full and extremely busy day, but we are only in Havana for a short time! There is so much to see and do - we don’t want you to miss a thing!

Hotel: Private Hotel or Casa Particulares
Meals: B, L
Activity Level: Moderate to Strenuous

After another lovely breakfast, we’ll check out of our hotel and depart for Playa Larga, home to the Zapata Peninsula’s best beaches and located in the southern part of the Matanzas province. Most of the peninsula is a protected zone that is part of Gran Parque Natural Montemar, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

Along the way, we’ll stop for a guided tour of a Cuban cigar factory (and visit the gift shop afterward) before visiting the Organopónico Vivero Farming Cooperative in Alamar (UBPC) to hear about their efforts in organic farming and promoting the use of plants and herbs in medicine.

We’ll break up the 2 ½ hour drive by stopping at a roadside paladar to purchase lunch (and probably a few souvenirs too) before reaching our final destination.

Upon arrival, we’ll check in at our bed and breakfasts, known as “Casa Particulares,” or “private homes.” Since the 1990s, Cuban families have been permitted to rent rooms out of their family homes to foreigners. Featuring comfortable accommodations and ample privacy, it’s a great way to interact with everyday Cubans. After a dip in the ocean, we’ll enjoy a home-cooked group meal prepared by our hosts.

Hotel: Casa Particulares (Bed and Breakfasts)
Meals: B, D
Activity Level: Moderate

Today is an early morning. We’ll breakfast as a group, bright and early (around 7am), before we embark on a birdwatching adventure. The Ciénaga de Zapata swamp is home to countless species of birds, plants, and wildlife, and we’ll be looking for flamingos, bromeliads, cranes, pelicans, and ibises. Afterward, we’ll lunch at our casa before departing for Trinidad, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Along the way we’ll stop at Playa Girón, the location of the famous Bay of Pigs invasion that took place in 1961, to tour the museum there and possibly meet a survivor. Then we have a 3-hour drive East to Trinidad. On the drive, we’ll get to see the beautiful Cuban countryside and its magnificent ocean views. Sit back, relax, and take a nap, we’ll wake you when we’re there.

Once in Trinidad, we’ll once again be staying in “Casa Particulares.” After checking in and getting settled, we’ll meet as a group for a dinner prepared by one of our hosts. Afterward, you’ll have the option of continuing on to a local jazz club with Al or turning in. The world is your oyster!

Hotel: Casa Particulares (Bed and Breakfasts)
Meals: B, L, D
Activity Level: Moderate to Strenuous

This morning you’ll breakfast at your own casa before meeting for a group discussion on Trinidad and its unique history and architecture. Afterward, we’ll embark on a walking tour of Trinidad’s historic center, famous for its rock-paved streets, pastel-colored homes, and small-town feel. Along the way, you’ll meet local artists and shopkeepers who are preserving Trinidadian culture and traditions. After the tour, you’ll have time to visit some shops and explore on your own.

Next, we’ll enjoy lunch at Paladar San José, a restaurant with a diverse menu featuring everything from lobster to pizza. This is one of our favorite paladars and always popular with our travelers!

Afterward, we’ll visit the archeological site San Isidro de los Destiladeros. Located near the city of Trinidad, it was a typical sugar plantation, operated with slave labor in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Understanding the sugar cane industry’s history and slavery in the area is valuable to helping us understand how wealth and society were shaped in the region. Then, we’ll visit artisans in the famous Sugar Mills Valley, located on the outskirts of Trinidad where there was an extraordinary development of the Cuban sugar cane industry in the 18th and 19th centuries. We’ll end the day with a farewell dinner at Los Conspiradores paladar, located at the foot of the main plaza and the lively Casa de la Musica.

Hotel: Casa Particulares (Bed and Breakfasts)
Meals: B, L, D
Activity Level: Moderate to Strenuous

After breakfast at our individual casas, we’ll make our way to Santa Clara, the center of the island, where we’ll catch our flight back to Miami. Once we arrive in Miami, our time together comes to an end. You can either depart directly for home or spend the night in Miami before catching a flight home tomorrow. Perhaps you are continuing your adventures in another exotic location. Whatever you decide, we hope you are leaving us with a new love and understanding of Cuba and its people. We’ve loved showing them to you.

We’ll see you soon at our reunion!

Meals: B, L

Professor Al Campbell

Al Campbell is a retired Emeritus Professor of Economics at the University of Utah. The Cuban economy has been one of his central research areas throughout his career. Being engaged in professional research there has allowed him to visit the island yearly since 1991, and hence to follow in person the deep changes in Cuban society that have occurred over the last three decades in a way that has not been possible for most Americans. In 2013 he published an edited collection of works by Cubans on their economy titled Cuban Economists on the Cuban Economy. He is currently a co-editor of the International Journal of Cuban Studies out of London, and is working on a book on the cooperative part of the Cuban economy, which manuscript will be delivered to the publisher by this fall.

In Partnership with:

Collin Laverty, Founder and President of Cuba Educational Travel

Run by Collin Laverty, a leading expert on Cuba and U.S.-Cuba relations, Cuba Educational Travel organizes educational exchange programs and people-to-people travel for U.S. citizens and residents to Cuba. We believe our two countries have much to learn from each other and meaningful exchanges that foster dialogue can be highly beneficial to strengthening the artistic, environmental, medical, scientific, and social science communities in the U.S. and Cuba. Most importantly, increased travel and people-to-people contact will strengthen ties between ordinary Americans and Cubans.

Cuba Educational Travel's mission is to connect the people of the United States and Cuba. This is done through coordinating travel between both countries – in both directions – to facilitate two-way learning; as well as producing studies and publications about issues of mutual concern and organizing events in the United States that deal with issues related to Cuba and U.S.-Cuba relations.

Details and What to Expect

Pre-departure

As part of the pre-departure planning, we’ll offer lectures with Al to help prepare the group for what they’ll be seeing and learning in Cuba. We’ll discuss economics, culture, and Cuban history during two lectures held over Zoom. We’ll record these lectures and make them available for those unable to attend.

Our program starts and ends in Miami, and the tour price includes airfare to and from Cuba, as well as all ground transportation.

Visa to Cuba

Our partner, Cuba Educational Travel, who holds a license from the U.S. Treasury Department (CT-2013-303986-1) to arrange educational trips to the island, is taking care of our visas to Cuba. Please make sure your passport is valid for more than six months after our return date in August 2025. Visa processing fees are included in the tour price.

Weather

Cuba’s weather can be unpredictable. It can vary from mild and pleasant to extremely hot and humid. You should be prepared for either. This time of year, the expected average daytime high is 81°F with around 80% humidity and expected average low temperatures is 63°F. It may rain occasionally, so pack a light rain jacket, but expect sunny skies!

Activity levels and restrictions

Because of an unstable infrastructure and possible extreme heat, this trip is considered an Activity Level 3. To fully explore the sights on our itinerary, we’ll be walking every day. Most city walking is on paved surfaces, however, the surfaces may not be even or in good repair. Once we are in Trinidad the roads are paved with rock and can be similar to walking on a dry river bed. You’ll occasionally be walking up hills on uneven surfaces.

When visiting museums and sites, we may be walking long distances or standing on our feet for prolonged times. Be sure to bring comfortable walking shoes! We will often start our days early and continue until sundown. Our exciting itinerary and daily learning adventures will keep you happily exhausted.

Learn More about our activity levels.

Dates
January 25 - February 1, 2025

Size
Trip is limited to 20 participants

Cost
Double occupancy: $5650 per person
Single occupancy: $6150
Payment options are available upon request. Contact golearn@utah.edu for information.
See Terms for payment and cancellation details.

Included

• 7 nights hotel/ B & B accommodations
• Roundtrip Airfare between the U.S. and Cuba (airfare to and from Miami is not included)
• Daily breakfast
• Hand-picked culinary highlights for lunches and dinners (as specified on the itinerary)
• Small group size to maximize learning, comfort, and flexibility
• All local ground transportation
• Local guides and experts, including their fees
• Admission to all museums and public buildings listed in itinerary
• Coordination of all listed activities
• Pre-departure lectures and reading lists
• Cuban Visa
• Compliance with U.S. Treasury Department regulations

Not included

• Airfare to and from Miami
• Meals that are not specifically noted in itinerary
• Cancellation and lost luggage insurance
• Any costs outside of the itinerary
• Cost of recommended reading
• Individual house/hotel expenses (mini bar, room service, laundry fees, etc.)