Madero Bed and Breakfast

Wonderful trio

Highlights included dancing and watching dancing in Guantanamo, Santiago and Trinidad. There's music everywhere - it gets inside your head and is wonderful. Also the road trip from Guadalavaca to Baracoa (6.5 hours) was amazing. Beautiful views driving through the mountains.

SZ, Bungay

Most memorable experiences: "The self drive itinerary and experience gave us a window into the real Cuba, off the beaten track but never too scary. We were sad to hand the car over in Santiago! We had an amazing trip to Cuba; a lifetime experience. thank you all for making it happen."

NC, Reading

Highlights: “We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Havana, and also the road trips which allowed us some glimpses of rural life.” 

ER

Most memorable experience: “the vibe and architecture of Havana; driving on the roads of Cuba - empty motorways, gigantic potholes, no signs, picking up random people who flagged us down; cigar rolling and smoking on a tobacco farm in Vinales; daily daiquiris and mojitos, especially those in Hotel Nacional garden; gorgeous peaceful countryside; noisy people and music everywhere; but also extreme poverty and areas that had barely moved from early 20th century; every Cuban we spoke with said how hard living was and that no one could survive on one job. We had such an interesting and wonderful time and will definitely return.”

SB, Lewisham

It was an overall experience that we will remember rather than one specific moment.

MB, London

Overall a great holiday and a fantastic introduction to Cuba, while travelling in comfort.

ER, Richmond

Most Memorable Moment?: Too hard! Havana itself? The beautiful sea up north? The beautiful countryside? Meeting Cuban people and glimpsing a bit of a remarkable country in the midst of some change...  Too hard!

JL, Leeds

Most Memorable Moment: Seeing so much of Havana and the amazing countryside around Vinales.

GF, London

Highlight?: Santa Clara - fantastic accommodation and very memorable tour of city, Che mausoleum etc. The tour of Cienfuegos thanks to a wonderful guide (Sara(h?)).

JM, Dorking

Highlights?: Topes de Collantes water fall. Visit to Santa Clara Che Guevera monument. A day spent with a family we met in Bayamo, visiting their home & the local market, food preparation, and just chilling with them.

DW, Mirfield

Highlights “We really liked Cuba overall. There is not just one thing but the best were 1.The private tour in Havana was excellent as the guide was first rate. The town of Trinidad which we just loved. We thought it was really good to stay at a Casa and would recommend that experience for at least one section of a holiday” 

PD, Dublin

With JLA's help, got an excellent choice of locations and accommodation. Really felt that I got to see a lot of the country and a great variety in just 10 days. No way of knowing how the new trade agreement between Cuba and America will pan out (clearly going to be good for the Cuban economy), but it's interesting that everyone I spoke to said there was a tourism influx at a normally quiet period BECAUSE people wanted to see Cuba before it potentially changed, and not necessarily, tourism-wise, for the better.

PW, Norwich

Most memorable: "The driving around seeing all the towns and villages and their inhabitants. Seeing and understanding how life has progressed since the revolution. We also found the scenery amazing in many parts. Hard to pick out one memorable part as there was so much we enjoyed."

GG, Chepstow

Many happy memories but loved the guided tour of Havana in the vintage car (huge 1953 Ford pink and cream convertible) Also enjoyed walking in the beautiful Vinales valley, it was like travelling back in the past with oxen ploughing and tobacco drying in huge thatched barns. It exceeded my expectations. Great organisation, informative guides, careful and punctual drivers and accommodation in convenient yet quiet locations, near to tourist attractions and restaurants.

JR, Cambridge

Really enjoyed all of it, especially Havana and Trinidad. Loved the music, the atmosphere and the people. Very good walks.

GG, Diss

Most memorable experiences: The vibrancy of the music,friendliness of the people and the sheer variety of Landscapes,cities and coastlines. Particular highlights were the 1950's cars,Trinidad and vinales...We would definitely consider travelling with journey Latin America again and the efficiency and organisation of our trip was superb from start to finish. Cuba is a fascinating country to visit and a great destination for families with teenagers. Thank you for a memorable,fun  and enriching experience!

LVK, Sevenoaks

Baracoa was very special.

CA, Newark

Las Terrazas - the hotel, zipwire and natural pools. Also meeting locals during the trip, including picking up hitchhikers. The caribbean sea and beach at Playa Ancon were wonderful.

PR, Brentwood

Highlight?: Havana, trip to the ballet at the Opera House

PF, London

Amazing

The fact that Cuba is so far removed from 21st century life - Cubans seem to have an indestructible soul! Music is their Prozac.

Ck, London

The food was better than we had feared (but they routinely overcook seafood, so stick with chicken) and there was more English spoken than we had expected. Weather was great. The state of the buildings generally was better than we had been led to expect - although there is a lot of work outstanding in the southern parts of the Old Town in Havana. People are helpful. The country is clearly at an interesting stage of its development - which is why we wanted to go - and might go in many directions from here; not all of them favourable. Roads, particularly outside towns, were empty.

PR, Edinburgh

Highlights?: There were so many!  We took an excursion  to the forest ; truck, walk, waterfall swimming...loved it.  But we really enjoyed everywhere.

ER, London

There is no one experience that I would single out. What was memorable were the people, their friendliness and helpfulness, and the real feeling of safety everywhere we went - even when the street lighting suddenly failed in the back streets of Trinidad.

DM, Nottingham

Most memorable experiences: "The PEOPLE - lovely and warm, friendly, positive. The music and the dancing - in streets, in clubs, in bars. Wonderful!"

MF, London

Highlight: Wandering around the old town of Havana - great buildings everywhere in various states of repair. Just full of atmosphere. Also the 1950s American cars. I didn't realise just how many there were! Again in all states of repair, but a fantastic sight even to someone who isn't particularly a car buff.

CW, London

Cuba is such a different place that it is hard to pick out an individual experience....Overall, the tour was fantastic. All the guides allocated gave us an excellent description of the area, in each of Havana, Cienfuegos, Santa Clara, Trinidad and Vinales. We used our free time to retrace part of our guided tour, to explore further ourselves, or to enjoy the food and ambience, especially the music and dancing of Cuba! We were warned that the food provided at Homestays (breakfasts and dinners) would be huge, and indeed they were. We were unable to finish any meal because of the quantity!  We did a few of our own trips, catching a taxi to the beach in Trinidad, being driven around Havana in a classic car, museum visits and trips on bicycle taxis. We found the people friendly and very helpful.

IB, Stockbridge

Highlight?: The road journeys through eastern Cuba.

JB,

Cuba is a very diverse country and fulfilled our expectations.  Parakeet is an adventure rather than a holiday so go with an open mind and immerse your self in the Cuban way. Colour, music and smiles more than make up for what some people may find frustrating if comparing Cuba to life in the UK. 

GW, Birmingham

The guides made such a great difference to our underrating of the country. Beautiful and varied country and in a couple of weeks got a real sense of its diversity. The Rolling Stones concert was unforgettable.

GH, Bristol

Highlights: Our lovely hosts in all the homestays  and especially being looked after by Mirtha in Trinidad.

BG, Bristol