This morning we’ll have a walking tour of Old Havana. Cuba’s cosmopolitan capital was once one of the world’s most prosperous ports and the third most populous city in the Americas. As La Llave del Mundo Nuevo (Key to the New World), Havana saw conquistador riches from Mexico, Peru, and Colombia pass through her sheltered harbour, en route to Spain. The city shows evidence of long neglect but her intrinsic elegance and beauty shines through an amalgam of Spanish, African, colonial, communist, and capitalist influences. After our tour we’ll stop for lunch at a cool new café, before meeting local lesbian graphic designers, Clandestina. This afternoon we’ll visit the Museo de las Bellas Artes to see Cuba’s finest contemporary art, guided by a young Cuban art curator. Later on, we head to one of Havana’s newest restaurants where we’ll learn to make Cuban cocktails before enjoying a delicious tapas-style meal. Afterwards we might like to catch some live music and visit a few LGBT-friendly bars in Havana’s happening Vedado district.

Today transfer to Viñales, stopping to visit Las Terrazas Community, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve tucked away in the Sierra del Rosario mountains. Created after the Revolution to replant the area which had suffered badly from deforestation, it’s now a self-sustaining community surrounded by forest and is once more a haven for migrating birds from the north. We visit the lakeside community, and some will want to take a ride on the zip-lining course which soars over the rooftops, through the forest and over the lake.

We have a typical Cuban country lunch in La Casa del Campesino and then continue our journey to Viñales. The valley is famous for its mogotes, or karsts – sheer mountains that seem to pop out of the ground creating a spectacular landscape, which also happens to be where the best tobacco in the world is lovingly grown. Enjoy the evening at leisure, your guide will be happy to suggest places to eat and try out some provincial nightlife.

Today we will explore Viñales – UNESCO World Heritage site since 1999 – status awarded for it’s outstanding landscape and traditional farming methods used for tobacco and other crops.

We’ll start with a walk to a local tobacco farm, where we’ll learn about tobacco cultivation and country life. We then clamber up the mountain and take a natural tunnel through the mogote to the valley on the other side. The views are spectacular, overlooking tobacco plantations and fields growing tropical fruits and vegetables. We finish our walk at a small restaurant run by a Cuban-Spanish chef who offers simple but mouth-watering dishes.

After lunch we head back towards town stopping at a zip-line for an adrenaline kick and awesome views over Viñales.

This evening we’ll enjoy an atmospheric sunset cocktail and dinner at Wilfredo’s Farm, an award-winning organic farm which has been serving home grown country food to its guests for the past few years. The restaurant is housed in a typical simple Cuban home with wonderful views over the valley.

Those who like early starts can take an optional sunrise walk to Los Acuaticos, a traditional community high up over the valley. We start walking in the dark to reach Los Acuaticos by sunrise. After breakfast we will say goodbye to gorgeous Viñales and head back to Havana.

Back in Havana we’ll have time to freshen up and grab some lunch before visiting Cenesex, Cuba’s national centre for Sex Education, the home of LGBT rights in Cuba. Set up by Mariela Castro, Raul’s daughter and Fidel’s niece, Cenesex has supported the LGBT community and helped create an atmosphere of tolerance towards difference. Cenesex has helped Cuba become one of the most liberal nations in Latin America on Gender issues.

In the evening we’ll eat in a restaurant where we’ll be able to hang out in the kitchen and learn about traditional Cuban cuisine.

Later on, it’s time to hit Havana’s iconic drag show at Las Vegas in Centro Habana.

Today we head to Mi Cayito, a favourite spot on Havana’s Playas del Este. At the weekend Habaneros flock to the beach to wind-down and have fun, and nowhere does fun quite like Mi Cayito! Traditionally this is where the gay community in Havana congregates to relax by the crystal-clear waters and the white sand beach. We’ll take a picnic and some rum and enjoy beach time a lo cubano.

In the afternoon, we return to Havana to get ready for our last evening together. We’ll be picked up by our rides and taken for a tour of the city in classic American cars.

We’ll wind up on a rooftop bar where we can sip delicious cocktails as we watch the sun set over the city. Our last dinner together will be in La Guarida, a fabulous restaurant and the set of Cuba’s most famous Queer film, Fresa y Chocolate. Later on, we can party long into the night at any of Havana’s open-minded joints.

Enjoy this morning at leisure to spend as you please. Then transfer to the airport for your onward flight. And so it’s Adios, or, as we prefer to think of it hasta luego, see you later! Have a safe onward journey and we very much hope to see you in Cuba again soon.