Central/West GARDEN/CULTURAL TOUR –

February  15 to 25, 2025

Take a minute to read “Cuba Garden Tour – 2023”  article by Tracey Kenning

The aim of this tour is to expose you to the plants and gardens of Cuba while offering you a look at the history, culture, and people of this island.  In each location, you will have time to fully explore the organic revolution of Cuba with local guides familiar with the plants and gardening techniques. You will have four nights in Havana because of the importance of this city. Each day, you will experience exciting events.  You will have time to do your own thing. The beginning and the end of the tour will be at an all-inclusive beach resort in Varadero.  Group size is limited to 20 so early registration is most important.  I look forward to having you along.

Please visit our Testimonial page for more accolades from folks who traveled to Cuba with us on our 2019 Garden/Culture Tour.

Compare the quality and the price to other companies offering similar tours…Cuba1tours is best in both.  All our accommodations are in hotels with 3 to 4+ star ratings.

DAY 1 – Arrive in Varadero and transfer to a 4+* all-inclusive resort. (AI)

DAY 2 – Transfer to Havana after lunch at the resort. Accommodation and dinner at a 4-star hotel.

DAY 3 – Breakfast and transfer to Vivero Organoponico Alamar in east Havana. You will meet up with a worker who will explain the origin of the garden and how it functions. Then you will walk around the garden area to have an up-close look at the production. You will have plenty of time here to learn all the aspects of Organic gardening in Cuba and how they operate and sustain themselves. You will have lunch in the fishing village of Cojimar, where Ernest Hemingway once kept his boat, the Pilar, and have lunch at Las Terrazas restaurant, which he frequented. Return to Havana and walk the four squares in Old Havana. Dinner at the hotel.

DAY 4 – Breakfast and transfer to the National Botanical Garden in Havana. First, you will have a briefing about the gardens and then visit the amazing greenhouses with displays of cacti, ferns, and many other species. You will then drive to and walk in some of the more interesting parts of the garden. Lunch is not included on this day, and the afternoon will be free (possible panoramic drive around the city). Dinner at the hotel.

DAY 5 – Breakfast and transfer to Soroa in the Sierra del Rosario mountain range. Visit to the Orquiderio Soroa (famous orchid garden) built between 1943 and 1953 by a Spanish lawyer in memory of his wife and daughter (google). There are 700 orchid species, 6,000 ornamentals, various growing houses, and research facilities. Lunch at a local restaurant. Continue to Havana with accommodation and dinner at the same hotel.

DAY 6 – Breakfast and transfer to the city of Cienfuegos, the ”pearl for the south”. It is a small, clean, and very safe city surrounding a huge, protected bay. Lunch is not included, but we will stop en route. Accommodation and dinner will be at one of the central hotels. (may be possible to have laundry done by a woman close to the hotel)

DAY 7 – Breakfast and drive into the local mountain range to El Nicho Park. The drive is very scenic and lush, and the park hosts a small river with a series of crystal-clear pools for swimming in. We will have lunch here, then return to the city and have dinner at the hotel. (I will arrange to stop at a private house on the way to Nicho and have a coconut and possibly some local cheese)

DAY 8 – Breakfast and visit the Cienfuegos botanical garden, which was a former botanical institute and research centre for Harvard University. The garden has a remarkable collection of tropical palm trees, among other peculiar plants such as the “Cavanillesia platanifolia,” “Lecythis spp,” and “Strychnos nux-vomica.” The garden is located just outside the city, and you will have a local guide to walk you through the varieties finishing at the greenhouse area. We will continue along the Caribbean coast before arriving in Trinidad’s UNESCO heritage town. We will have lunch at a local restaurant in the centre of the city and, after a short city tour, head to an all-inclusive beach resort on Playa Ancon.

DAY 9 –Breakfast and transfer to Topes de Collantes in the Escambray mountains. From here, we will load into our Russian military truck and go for an exhilarating ride to a small farm called Codina and take an eco hike with the guide. Lunch at the farm and transfer back to the bus. Continue to the city of Santa Clara with accommodation and dinner at Hotel La Granjita.

DAY 10 – Breakfast and transfer back to Varadero with accommodation at a 4+* all-inclusive beach resort.

DAY 11–Breakfast and transfer to the airport.

If you wish to add more days in Cuba, you can do so on your own or ask Sue at Square1travel to book a property of your choice.

Julianne Labreche is a freelance writer and gardening enthusiast who volunteers with Master Gardeners of Ottawa-Carleton. She was on this tour that was organized by Square 1 Travel & Cruise in Courteney, British Columbia.  Enjoy this article written by Julianne on her recent visit to Cuba and its gardens.  Link:  Lee Valley & Veritas Gardening Newsletter. February 2016

If you wish to add more days in Cuba, you can do so on your own or ask Sue at Square1travel to book a property of your choice.

Please put in the message section of the contact form:  Garden & Cultural Tour