Classic Western Cuba

Your guide will explain how the half-a-century Communist rule, coupled with local creativity, has shaped the city and the way people live here.

This evening, we have secured you queue-jump tickets for the Fabrica de Arte Cubano (FAC, in the local vernacular), an arts space which hosts performers and exhibitions of all shapes and sizes. On any given night, you could see a salsa band, an Avant Gard theatre group or a contemporary art exhibition. Or all three!

Bags dropped off in your room, you will meet your expert architect guide for a private trip through Havana's architectural history. Conservation-minded Cuba's capital is a living time capsule of buildings which represent its many ages, from the Rat Pack Rococo Riviera hotel (built 1959) and the Castillo de la Real Fuerza (a fortress completed in 1588) to the Soviet-style edifices of the Castro years, including the Russian Embassy - designed by the USSR's 'People's Architect' Aleksandr Rochegov. As you wander through the streets your guide will explain how the people and, more importantly, politics of Havana have shaped its buildings over the years.

After a two-and-a-half hour drive west of Havana, you will visit a tobacco plantation among the enormous lime karsts that punch out of the landscape like enormous sugar loaves. With a local farmer you will follow the life cycle of a tobacco plant, from seedling to rolling your own cigar, then head back to Havana in time for a late supper.

Fuster has been transforming the Jaimanitas neighbourhood into a Gaudi-esque open air museum since 1975, decorating doctors' surgeries, bus stops and houses with whimsical mosaics. If he is at home, you will get to meet him and chat about this inspirational - and initially almost accidental - regeneration project. Head back into the centre of twon and spend this evening at El Cocinero and its downstairs space - Fabrica De Arte Cubano, a multi-disciplinary gallery, theatre and concert venue.

Spend the rest of the day relaxing by the sea before dinner.

The lagoon forms part of a nature reserve which is home to countless birds, including the Cuban trogon, the country's national bird, and 2,000 pink flamingos.

After your visit to the mangroves, you will head to Trinidad, an hour further east and your home for the next two days.

As you explore the region and the sugar plantations with in it, your guide will explain how little has changed here for decades (if not centuries) and how it got such an interesting name.

Spend the rest of today ambling around colonial Trinidad, enjoying its beautiful squares and buildings.

Our local concierge will recommend the best spot to catch some rays and we will include a list of our favourite pieces of writing about Cuba - by writers including Hemmingway, Martha Gellhorn and Graham Greene - so you can get stuck into a paperback with your beachside mojito. Head back into town after sundowners for your final Cuban dinner.