This holiday puts together the top sights of Cuba, creating a narrative of the country’s history while you enjoy incursions into glorious countryside and less developed stretches of the rugged coastline. Explore the principal cities with insightful guided walking tours, and stretch your legs further with hikes to a couple of the country’s bucolic locations. It’s not a beach holiday but you could extend your trip to soak up the rays at one of the delightful eastern coves if you wish. Cuba’s vibrancy and friendly people will make a lasting impression.

The trip begins in Havana, Cuba's inimitable capital, with its faded grandeur – gradually being restored - and pulsating rhythms.  Visit forested Las Terrazas, an eco-experiment which works, from where you head west to stroll around Viñales, a fertile valley with a fairy-tale limestone landscape composing the tobacco-growing region. You’ll step into four of the country’s principal cities, Cienfuegos, colonial Trinidad, Camaguey and Santiago, each with a story to tell. Visit the thickly wooded Sierra Maestra, Fidel Castro’s revolutionary hideout. Lingering in the less visited east of the country, you call in at Baracoa, and Gibara, a pretty port on the craggy northeast coast.