In the first half of the 20th century, Americans loved to hop down to Havana for a long weekend, spiced with the climate and culture of the tropics. Now that idea is back with this 4-day/3-night cultural exchange program created to connect you with the irresistible rhythms and vivid art of Cuba. In one concise, complete weekend you'll connect with the city's artists, musicians and dancers at an extraordinary level. You will chat with the city's most creative people, applaud their performances, and even get in a salsa lesson. To get a feel for everyday life, you’ll shop in a farmers’ market with the locals, cook lunch with a Cuban chef, meet a family that restores classic tail-finned cars, and more. From your ideally located accommodations, you are close to every essential site from a working cigar factory to Ernest Hemingway's home. Throughout, you'll eat at some of the city's finest privately-owned restaurants, explore historic landmarks, and hear firsthand stories from the Cuban people about the art of living in Havana - for a long weekend you'll never forget.

Days 1-4 Havana
Your long weekend full of fascinating insights begins at a local market where you can chat with the locals as they shop. At Fusterlandia, you meet the artists who founded the neighborhood project that has filled the streets with vivid murals and art installations. Then you head out for a walking exploration of Havana Vieja (Old Havana) with a local historian. After dinner in a privately-owned restaurant (paladar), you can cap your day with a daiquiri at El Floridita, one of Hemingway's favorites bars.
You’ll be welcomed into a traditional cigar-making factory where a friend who is an aficionado fills you in on the role of the trade in Cuban life. Then you get an up-close look at Cuba-U.S. relations and the Revolution from the U.S.S. Maine to Hotel Nacional. Later, meet the husband-and-wife team whose independent small business specializes in restoring classic cars. Then their craftsmen take you for a tail-finned spin through the streets of Havana.
Throughout, you also have chances to cook with a Cuban chef, visit a local private Afro-Cuban dance company, chat with a photojournalist who documented Castro’s life, meet local artists alongside an art curator, and get in a salsa lesson. Your time in Havana is capped with a visit to Finca Vigia, Ernest Hemingway’s Cuban home that is now a museum.