Arrival in Santiago de Cuba. However you join us in this vibrant Colonial city, our friendly staff will meet you and take you to your homestay. Dinner at one of the city's interesting paladars.

After a relaxed breakfast at your homestay we will enjoy walking through three interesting neighbourhoods in this Neo-Colonial city. Your lecturer is a conservation architect. We start in the oldest part of the city, exploring the vibrant streets and the tranquil, newly restored buildings, and some still under renovation. A short bus ride takes us to one of the elegant pre-revolutionary neighbourhoods where palaces now house community centres and exclusive clubs play host to school children of all ages. We will take time to visit some of the African Heritage of this city, drop by one of the biggest markets in the city and enjoy a delightful lunch high above the surrounding houses. After lunch in the company of an historian, we'll visit some of the revolutions most enduring monuments and walk back to the city centre. Dinner on your own at a nearby restaurant.

After an early breakfast we'll travel east of the city to the Gran Piedra. This magnificent outlier of the Sierra Maestras often disappears into the clouds. As we travel from the coastal plain to the summit cloud forest we'll stop to enjoy the changing vegetation. There is an easy climb to the summit with native orchids and ferns in great abundance. By lunchtime the forest is full of butterflies. After the climb to the summit we'll explore the 19c Haitian style Cafetal which has been recently restored. We'll visit the large commercial garden where beds of bird of paradise flowers, gladioli, roses and many native plants are surrounded by fragrant hedges, and where every corner affords a new vista of mountains and plains. Morning snack during the walk and late lunch in a local paladar with visits to Artisan Studios. Dinner on your own at one of the local restaurants.

We begin the day with a short orientation to the history of this island. We start our walk at the "oldest house" in the Americas, tour the Emilio Barcardi Museum with its treasure trove of artificats. Jumping ahead in time we will visit the famous San Juan Hill and the tree under which the Cuban Spanish American war finally ended. After lunch we continue out to "El Morro" the 17th century castle built to protect the city against the privateers and pirates like Henry Morgan who sort to relieve Spain of the wealth of Latin America. We'll explore the castle and wait for the short Cannonade ceremony before returning to the city. Dinner on your own.

An early start will put us on the road into the Sierra Maestras. We'll take time to stop at the historical Basilica in El Cobre, home to the Virgin of the Caridad, the patron saint of Cuba; to walk around the small town as the foot of the copper mine. El Cobre was a centre of slave resistance during the War of Independence and a revolutionary hot bed at the time of the Revolution. Above the copper mine we will visit the monument to the runaway slaves. The drive to the mountains takes us through spectacular country, have your cameras ready! Lunch and a free afternoon to enjoy the relaxation of the mountain resort. Special dinner by the waterfall.

A before breakfast walk will take us up into the mountains passed farms and plantations, children on their way to school, farmers and workers starting their days of work in the fields and beneath the trees. The area grows cocoa, coffee, mangoes, oranges and other fruits, and every farm has a mixture of livestock, including peacocks sometimes. After lunch we will take our leave and visit some of the monuments to the War of Independence and to the Revolution which attest to the area's central place in Cuba history. Return to Santiago in time for dinner on your own.

A day in the country and at the beach will bring a relaxing conclusion to your visit to Cuba. We will celebrate with a Gala dinner including Afro-Cuban entertainment.

Free time for shopping or relaxing. Transfer to airport for your return to your home or for your onward journey.