Morning: introduction to your Cuban teacher and assistants. Supporting the work of independent Cuban nongovernmental organizations, community projects and independent dance teachers, instructors and assistants that promote independent business activity in Cuba by patronizing their private entrepreneurial activities is the main intend of our itinerary.

Cuban Dance Workshop on Casino Dance Body Movements for 2 hrs. Your Cuban teachers and their assistants, who serve as your dance partner, tailor instruction to the individual dancer: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. This workshop is organized in classes for men and women separately because of the different and specific body movements in Casino dance for each sex. Steps, figures and movements particular of each sex will be included so as to allow the dancers to enrich their creativity for improvisation when dancing.

Lunch: a new wave of paladares (privately-owned restaurants) has recently swept the Cuban dining scene offering excellent food and charming ambient. Today we’ll enjoy a welcome lunch at the stylish Paladar San Cristobal, one of Havana's top ten private restaurants.

Afternoon: guided walking tour of UNESCO World Heritage Site, Old Havana.

Visit to the Cathedral Square, named after the masterpiece of Cuban baroque architecture: the Cathedral of Havana built by the Jesuit order.

Visit to Square of Arms, ancient military parade ground for Spanish soldiers and surrounded by impressive buildings such as:

Palacio de los Capitanes Generales, the former official residence of the governors (Captains General) of Havana, Cuba. It is home to the Museum of the City of Havana. It houses exhibitions of art and historical artefacts and many of the rooms are preserved with their original Colonial decoration.

Palacio del Segundo Cabo. The seat of the second authority of the island. Today it houses important publishing concerns.

Castillo de la Real Fuerza. The second oldest fortress built by the Spaniards in the West Indies. The castle was recently renovated and reopened in June 2008 to hold the impressive maritime museum. Well laid out exhibits chart Spain and Cuba's naval history.

Visit to Plaza Vieja, the only civic square of colonial times. Notice it doesn't have a church or government building around. Here we will visit important institutions for visual arts.

Continue walking tour onto San Francisco Square, named after the Convent of San Francisco, this square was conceived in 1628, with the objective of supplying water to the ships trading with the metropolis. For many years it also served to stockpile the goods arriving from the harbor.

Free time in the famous handicraft market of Old Havana where you can purchase all sorts of crafts and souvenirs by local artisans.

Next we will visit the home of a Cuban, Elsa who has managed to create a privately-owned cultural project La Azotea de Elsa in the rooftop of an Old Havana dilapidated building. Elsa is also the leader of a locally famous band that will play live for our group. Be ready to dance to Cuba’s most popular rhythms such as Son, Rumba and Salsa by the hand of Elsa, her family and friends. This is another great chance for our American visitors to patronize and to learn firsthand about the daily life of ordinary Cubans.

Evening venue: visit to Casa de La Musica de Miramar. A great opportunity to Rueda de Casino and Salsa dancing with Cubans and your tour companions to live music of Cuban best salsa bands such as Los Van Van, Paulito FG, La Charanga Habanera, Adalberto Alvarez, and many others (entrance fee not included).

Casa de La Musica de Miramar
Address: Avenida 35 esq. a 20, Miramar, Playa. Ciudad de la Habana.
Postal Code: 11300.
Telephone: +53 7 202 6147

Return to your private rental accomodation.

Morning: our itinerary consists on a full-time schedule of activities that will enhance the contact with the Cuban people, and support civil society and private entrepreneurial activity in Cuba. It will also result in meaningful interactions in between the US travelers and the Cuban people they meet along the way.

This morning we will partake in a Cuban Dance Workshop on Casino Dancing for 2 hrs. Your Cuban teachers and their assistants, who serve as your dance partner, tailor instruction to the individual dancer: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. This workshop will focus on the teaching and practicing the different rhythmic ways of Casino dancing Casino in Cuba today. Men and women will be able to participate together. The workshop will teach you to recognize the different tempos in which Casino is danced nowadays.

Afterwards visit to Callejon de Hamel. An alleyway street caught in Centro Habana neighborhood where an effort of cultural rescue and expansion led by fine artist Salvador González has been underway since 1990.

Salvador’s murals and sculptures have taken over entire buildings’ facades– shrines to Afrocuban deities. Meet with Salvador Gonzales to discuss their work and its effects on the neighborhood.

We'll meet with project director and artist Salvador Gonzales Escalona at his studio. Salvador Gonzalez is a well known Cuban muralist, painter, and sculptor. He has murals in Philadelphia, New York and Norway. Here we will also enjoy a Rumba performance!

We are now "leaving" Havana and entering Fusterlandia, the studio, residence and wild kingdom of José Rodriguez Fuster, one of the most important Cuban ceramists and painters today. Complimentary lunch will be hosted by the artist himself in his personal residence and privately-owned studio-art gallery. Hence, supporting the Cuban people by patronizing privately owned restaurants, stores, art galleries and other small businesses.

Afternoon: guided tour of the Museum of Fine Arts' Cuban Collection where we see the evolution of Cuba's visual arts over the last 300 years. The collection accounts for the richness of our Spanish, French, Chinese, African cultural roots.

Followed by guided panoramic motor coach tour of Modern Havana.

We will visit places like Square of Revolution, University of Havana, Seawall, Vedado neighbourhood, 1830 Restaurant, Miramar neighbourhood, Nacional Hotel, Cemetery Colon, and others.

Return to your private rental accomodation.

Evening venue: visit to Casa de La Musica de Centro Habana. A great opportunity to practice Rueda de Casino and Sala dancing with Cubans and your tour companions to live music of Cuban best salsa bands such as Los Van Van, Paulito FG y su Elite, La Charanga Habanera, Adalberto Alvarez y su Son, NG La Banda, and many others (optional/ entrance fee not included).

Casa de La Musica de Centro Habana
Address: Av.de Italia No.255 e/ Neptuno y Concordia, Centro Habana, La Habana.
Postal Code: 10200.
Telephone: +53 7 860 8297

Morning: Cuban Dance Workshop on Casino Dancing for 2 hrs. Your Cuban teachers and their assistants, who serve as your dance partner, tailor instruction to the individual dancer: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced.

This workshop will focus on the teaching and practicing the different rhythmic ways of Casino dancing Casino in Cuba today. Men and women will be able to participate together. The workshop will teach you to recognize the different tempos in which Casino is danced nowadays.

Lunch: a new wave of paladares (privately-owned restaurants) has recently swept the Cuban dining scene offering excellent food and charming ambient. Today we’ll enjoy lunch at the stylish Caleza Real, one of Havana's top ten private restaurants.

This is a unique opportunity to see how Cuban entrepreneurship is reshaping the dilapidated Cuban culinary industry one dish at a time. As part of your lunch and your Support for the Cuban People experience to Cuba, we will establish a dialogue with local restaurateurs to learn how they have been able to reconcile the socialist centralized economy with the demands of the free market in the booming private Cuban hospitality industry.

Afternoon: just up the southwest corner of Plaza de La Catedral, we find the Experimental Printing Workshop. The meaningful exchange in between the US travelers and the Cubans is quite an unforgettable experience of our Cuba tours and travel. Next we will meet with a cooperative of young artists who work tirelessly, shirtless in an airy, spacious colonial building where we can see original prints being created.

Next we will pay a visit to Piscolabis Bazar-Café, a privately-owned Cuban bazaar and coffee shop run by self-employed (cuentapropista) Cuban fashion designer Sandra De Huelbes to shop for some exclusive clothing and accessories as well as unique souvenirs and local handicrafts. Shopping in these sorts of stores directly supports the Cuban people and the Cuban families financially while encouraging independent entrepreneurial activities that in turn strengthen civil society in Cuba.

Followed by visit to Clandestina Store & Studio. Founded in 2015 by two women Idania del Río and Leire Fernández, this is Cuba's first independent design store. The space includes a design, creation, and experimentation lab—a printing and finishing workshop; a store that receives 40,000 clients a year and an office that manages a global sales operation. Here you can buy the perfect gift or souvenir while supporting a Cuban family!

Evening venue: visit to Cabaret El Turquino. A great opportunity to practice Rueda de Casino and Sala dancing with Cubans and your tour companions to live music of Cuban best salsa bands such as Los Van Van, Paulito FG y su Elite, La Charanga Habanera, Adalberto Alvarez y su Son, NG La Banda, and many others (optional/ entrance fee not included).

Morning: Cuban Dance Workshop on Santeria or Regla de Ocha Religious Dancing for 2 hrs. Your Cuban teachers and their assistants, who serve as your dance partner, tailor instruction to the individual dancer: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. Your participation in these workshops directly supports the Cuban people and the Cuban families financially while encouraging independent entrepreneurial activities that in turn strengthen civil society in Cuba.

Santeria Religious Dance are characterized by the richness of body movements, its expression, its rhythm and the variety of steps and variants devoted to each of the Orichas or saints that make up the pantheon of this religion. These dances have considerably influenced other Cuban dancing expressions such as Casino itself, mainly with the inclusion of steps and gestures in the performances and in some of the figures of the Casino Ring.

Lunch on your own (not included).

Afternoon: ferry boat ride across Havana harbour to the town of Regla. This Afrocuban community has a long, rich and still active tradition of African-inspired religions.

We'll visit Regla's church dedicated to the black "Virgen de Regla" Yemayá, the African goddess of the sea in the Yoruba religion and the patron saint of sailors.

Tour of Regla's municipal museum to learn the origins of this unique community and its Afrocuban cultures.

Enjoy private Afrocuban religious dance presentation by Regla Folkloric Group.

Evening venue: visit to Habana Cafe at Melia Cohiba Hotel. A great opportunity to practice Rueda de Casino and Sala dancing with Cubans and your tour companions to live music of Cuban best salsa bands such as Los Van Van, Paulito FG y su Elite, La Charanga Habanera, Adalberto Alvarez y su Son, NG La Banda, and many others (optional/ entrance fee not included)

Habana Cafe
Address: Av. Paseo e/ 1ra y 3ra, Vedado, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba.
Postal Code: 10400.
Telephone: +53 7 833-3636

Morning departure to Las Terrazas, located in UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Sierra del Rosario where we start the morning tour of the rural town at Rancho Curujey for explanation of the area.

Las Terrazas is a community of little more than 1000 inhabitants in the centre of an environmentally rich area known as Sierra del Rosario UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

Enjoy the view of the village that lies above the shores of San Juan Lake and beneath the mountains.

We also visit the home/studios of local artists and artisans.

Visit to the ruins of a French Coffee Plantation built in 1801.

Continue to La Moka, an ecological hotel with trees growing up through the balconies and ceiling.

Later we can take a swim at San Juan River cascades and pools.

We have lunch in local traditional restaurant.

Retrun to Havana City.

Evening venue: visit to Salon Rojo at the Capri hotel. A great opportunity to practice Rueda de Casino and Sala dancing with Cubans and your tour companions to live music of Cuban best salsa bands such as Los Van Van, Paulito FG y su Elite, La Charanga Habanera, Adalberto Alvarez y su Son, NG La Banda, and many others (optional/ entrance fee not included).

Salon Rojo
Address: Calle 21 entre N y O, Vedado, Havana, Cuba.
Postal Code: 10400.
Telephone: +53 7 839 7200

Morning: Cuban Dance Workshop on Casino Dancing for 2 hrs. Your Cuban teachers and their assistants, who serve as your dance partner, tailor instruction to the individual dancer: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced.

This workshop will focus on the teaching and practicing the different rhythmic ways of Casino dancing Casino in Cuba today. Men and women will be able to participate together. The workshop will teach you to recognize the different tempos in which Casino is danced nowadays.

Participants will receive an official Baila en Cuba Certificate of Completion.

Next we will visit Fabrica de Arte Cubano (The Cuban Art Factory). This is one of Havana’s finest new art spaces located in a converted factory in Vedado neighborhood. This vibrant cultural center is the brainchild of Afro-Cuban rocker, rapper, composer and filmmaker X Alfonso who, after making a lot of money in a highly successful music career, wanted to put something back into his community. FAC is directed by a team of award-winning musicians and artists. Celebrities Mick Jagger, Michelle Obama, Lady Gaga, Sting and Katy Perry have visited here.

Farewell dinner at the private family-run restaurant paladar Mediterraneo.

Followed by show at world famous Cabaret Parisien at the National Hotel of Cuba (included).

Cabaret Parisien
Address: Calle 21 y O, Vedado, Plaza, La Habana, Cuba
Postal Code: 10400.
Telephone: +53 7 836 3564

Early morning departure to Havana City International Airport for departure.