Self drive Cuba family holiday
| country: | Cuba |
| departures: | This trip can be arranged at a time to suit you, and adapted to your requirements |
| price: | From 2585 per family (15 days) excluding flights and car rental, based on 2 parents and 2 children (under 12 years). Child under 2 years free. |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
Highlights include: Being in nature and meeting the people of Cuba. Activities involved are walking, trekking, sailing, swimming, horse riding, snorkelling, diving and caving.
Theis holiday takes you to the Pearl of The Caribbean with the best individual programs available to experience Cuban nature & culture. Cuba is a beautiful island surrounded by sandy beaches, coral reefs and blue waters. It has a very specific vibration of its own - the Cuban people show a playfulness and a joy which is remarkable. They celebrate life with humor, love and passion. The nature on Cuba is still very pure, the people a discovery, which make Cuba still the most interesting destination of the Caribbean. Traveling in Cuba is an eye and heart opener, suitable for couples, honeymoons, friends and families alike.
The program is for parents and children from 7 years and older, or any other family or friend parties interested. Can be tailor made in all aspects for families with younger children, and/or with different wishes. Alternative beach accommodations are e.g. Cayo Largo del Sur, Cayo Ensenachos (the most exclusive key of Cuba), Cayo Santa Maria, Cayo las Brujas, Playa Santa Lucia, Cayo Setia etc.
The accommodation of this travel is based on ambient Cuban hotels, all selected for a spectacular view or a specific setting & ambience. However, if you would prefer to stay in "casas particulares" with Cuban families selected by us instead of a hotel, we can arrange your reservations for a minimum of 2 persons.
Price inludes: All accommodations, host services and private excursions. Excludes car rental and international flights. Ask for a customised trip and quotation for a Cuba holiday by bus or rental car. When booking a self-drive trip with rental car, we offer car rentals for special prices, as competitive as those found on the internet.
Please note: This trip can be tailor made and departures can be arranged all year. The sample itinerary below can be modified to your personal wishes including departure date, duration, accommodation used & how long you spend in each destination. High season: Jan-31 March / 1-14 April / 15 July-31 August / 1-20 Nov. Peak season: 22 Dec-2 Jan. Low season: the rest of the year.
Theis holiday takes you to the Pearl of The Caribbean with the best individual programs available to experience Cuban nature & culture. Cuba is a beautiful island surrounded by sandy beaches, coral reefs and blue waters. It has a very specific vibration of its own - the Cuban people show a playfulness and a joy which is remarkable. They celebrate life with humor, love and passion. The nature on Cuba is still very pure, the people a discovery, which make Cuba still the most interesting destination of the Caribbean. Traveling in Cuba is an eye and heart opener, suitable for couples, honeymoons, friends and families alike.
The program is for parents and children from 7 years and older, or any other family or friend parties interested. Can be tailor made in all aspects for families with younger children, and/or with different wishes. Alternative beach accommodations are e.g. Cayo Largo del Sur, Cayo Ensenachos (the most exclusive key of Cuba), Cayo Santa Maria, Cayo las Brujas, Playa Santa Lucia, Cayo Setia etc.
The accommodation of this travel is based on ambient Cuban hotels, all selected for a spectacular view or a specific setting & ambience. However, if you would prefer to stay in "casas particulares" with Cuban families selected by us instead of a hotel, we can arrange your reservations for a minimum of 2 persons.
Price inludes: All accommodations, host services and private excursions. Excludes car rental and international flights. Ask for a customised trip and quotation for a Cuba holiday by bus or rental car. When booking a self-drive trip with rental car, we offer car rentals for special prices, as competitive as those found on the internet.
Please note: This trip can be tailor made and departures can be arranged all year. The sample itinerary below can be modified to your personal wishes including departure date, duration, accommodation used & how long you spend in each destination. High season: Jan-31 March / 1-14 April / 15 July-31 August / 1-20 Nov. Peak season: 22 Dec-2 Jan. Low season: the rest of the year.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Arrive in Havana, meet host and transfer to Hotel Sevilla, a nice, colonial boutique hotel in Old Havana with swimming pool, 4 stars. |
| Day 2: | Walking tour of 3 hours especially designed for children, through the old city with a local guide. 2 hour tour in American classical cabriolet through Havana, including a visit to the Plaza de Revolucion, the best icecreams in Havana in Coppelia, and opportunities for the children to take photos at beautiful places with big fig trees or overlooking the Atlantic ocean with the cars on the background, as the children like. Evening excursion to Havana fort for the ritual of firing of the canon (canoņazo) over the bay of Havana at 9pm, with transfers by taxi. |
| Day 3: | Pick up rental car with your host. Drive to Viņales and check into Hotel Ermita, with a beautiful view over the valley and swimming pool. Free afternoon for play & relaxation. |
| Day 4: | Small hike of 3 to 4 hours with local private guide through the valley. Visit farmer families and see something of the tabaco culture. In the afternoon there is time to cycle, or to visit the most beautiful cave open for public in Cuba, Cueva San Thomas. Is an adventurous walk through the cave, lovely for the children. |
| Day 5: | Early morning departure to arrive on time for boat at 10am to the tropical island of Cayo Levisa. Full day for beachtime and possibility to embark for a snorkel or diving excursion. Departure boat from island at 5 pm, return to hotel in Vinales. |
| Day 6: | Soroa. Drive to the special tropical surroundings of Soroa, check in hotel Soroa (or at hotel la Moka at las Terrazas) both have swimming pool. |
| Day 7: | Free day at Soroa or las Terrazas. Time to visit orchid garden, waterfall and viewpoint of Soroa from which you can see the Caribbean sea, and visit a small cigar factory. |
| Day 8: | Full day private guided walk, off the beaten path through the tropical hills and forests around Soroa, you will visit a small mountain school, you may bring some donations with you if you wish, and have a lunch prepared at a farmers house in the middle of the forest. |
| Day 9: | Drive to Trinidad over Pigs Bay, with a stop to swim & snorkel in the bay and the Fishes cave. You stay in an all inclusive beach resort Costa Sur 3 stars, west on the Ancon beach and close to the coral reefs. Note that you can also stay half of the time in homestays at Trinidad village with Cuban families and half of the time in a beach resort at Ancon beach. We can ask for homestays with families with children of the same age. |
| Day 10: | Free day to enjoy swimming & snorkeling on the beach at Ancon and with activities for the children at the resort. |
| Day 11: | Mountain excursion, Sierra Escambray to hacienda Gallega with the Tarzan water program. You drive to Topes Collantes and pick up your private guide in the mountains. Depart by truck from Topes further into mountains to hacienda Gallega. 1-2 hours walk to a high waterfall from where the children start descending with your private guide along the river through tropical surroundings by swimming, gliding and walking up to Deer lagoon in about one hour. Afterwards, walk back to the hacienda (one hour), where a lunch will be waiting for all of you. At midday back to Trinidad again, first by truck to Topes Collantes, then by your own car to Trinidad. |
| Day 12: | Full day Catamaran excursion to tropical island Cayo Leguano with huge leguanos and tree rodents, including snorkeling along coral reef, beachlife, time for exploration island with mangrove forest and fish lunch. An easy day for complete relaxation for the parents, at least on the boat! |
| Day 13: | Drive to Valle Ingenios with visit to slave bell tower Iznaga, followed by horseriding at a remote countryside hacienda for 2-4 hrs, including lunch in a restaurant or in the open field. They have smaller and tame mules for the children that can be specially requested. You can walk or ride or both. Free afternoon at beach. |
| Day 14: | Travel back to Havana eg over Cienfuegos, Santa Clara or the Pigs Bay again, drop off car. Check in Hotel Sevilla (nice, colonial boutique hotel in Old Havana with swimming pool, 4 stars). |
| Day 15: | Free morning Havana. Time to visit the Partagas cigar factory, see the periscope of Camera Obscura or go shopping for souvenirs at the handicraft market. Transfer out for international flight. |
how this holiday makes a difference
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The program offers lots of adventure in the mountains, water and beach activities and exploring for kids, teens and parents. All the hotels have a swimming pool. In Trinidad you are in an all-inclusive beach resort at playa Ancon where extra activities are organized for the children.
These Cuba tours are designed and offered by ecological guides who work and live in Latin America, and have been guiding in the Caribbean for many years. They can arrange all details of your travel and design special tailor made travels for Cuba. The operator is a certified PADI Open Water Diver can can help you with all your questions about diving in Cuba. These Cuba tours give a unique insight into the Cuban nature and culture, and with booking you support a small local operator. This company supports several families with children with clothes, medicaments, books, second hand luxury articles, purchases of their handicrafts, and donations for constructing materials and improving their housing. On our Cuba tours all walks and treks are guided by local ecological guides and organized by local organisations. A holiday to Cuba off the beaten tracks with local guides brings income to local Cuban people and their families. The Cuban people are very aware that it is important to take care of its beautiful nature, as it is one of the main attractions for tourists, and tourism is the main income nowadays of Cuba. By making use of ecological excursions during your travel on Cuba, you support the people to continue with taking care of their natural reserves. With booking for an individual Cuba tour you receive a Cuba Manual with all kind of information to help you finding your way and create your dream holiday on Cuba. When you visit farmers during your excursion, we ask participants, if appropriate, to donate luxury articles like ballpoints, soap and shampoo, buy some coffee and/or leave a donation. When you make use of local accommodation in the form of casas particulares, you directly support that family and make sure that the income gets ploughed back into Cuban society. In East Cuba you can collect clothes, shoes and toiletries to donate to a Cuban organization, which supports people from the countryside with no resources. You can also leave clothes, mountain shoes, toiletries or other articles with your local guides after the excursion. We can help you compensate the CO2 emmisions of your flights with ClimateCare, GreenSeat, or more cost and travel effective solutions. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |