This morning we will start the day doing a yoga class with a local instructor at your casa particular before going to collect the registration documents and race bibs from the Marathon organisers. After the formalities have been completed, your guide will take you on a short walking tour of the Old Town concentrating on the four original squares around which the city was founded. Old Havana was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982 and millions of dollars have gone into this area in order to bring it back to its original splendour. It has the finest surviving Spanish colonial architecture in the Americas preserved by a combination of little war damage, post Revolution restoration work and the current restoration project. We will have lunch together in a restaurant in the Old Town, after which you have an afternoon at your leisure. We will meet up again for an early evening tour of greater Havana. Setting off in classic 1950s American cars, we’ll drive along the picturesque Malecón coast road to the well-to-do 1950s Miramar district, home to some of Havana’s most striking 20th-century architecture. Keep an eye out for the imposing Russian embassy and the elegant neoclassical homes, many of which are now embassies. We will drive through the beautiful residential district of Vedado where wealthy sugar barons built elegant mansions in the early 20th century and stop in Revolution Square where Fidel made his famous speeches. The cars will drop us back in town for dinner (not included).

Early start today to run the “Marabana Cuba”! Registration for participation in the marathon or other distance events has to have been made independently in advance of travel to Cuba. After finishing the race, the rest of the day is for you to relax. If you would like a massage (optional), this can be arranged at your casa particular. This evening we will have a celebratory dinner in one of Havana’s best-loved paladares.

This morning we’ll get fitted with our allocated bikes. The bike-fitting session will take place outside Cubania’s bike workshop in the Miramar district of Havana and should you need to fit any pedals or other bike parts our mechanics will be on hand to assist with a full array of tools.

We’ll then depart Havana driving southeast into Matanzas province. We’ll jump on the bikes just outside of Jaguey Grande once off the main highway and take a flat leisurely ride down into the Zapata Peninsula, a wildlife haven and the most low-lying region of Cuba. Along today’s short route we’ll stop to eat a packed lunch and visit a community project for young talented dancers called Korimakao where we’ll meet some of the students. Back on the bikes for the short distance before arriving at our destination for the night, the sleepy seaside town of Playa Larga where we’ll check into our beachfront casas particulares and enjoy the beach for the rest of the afternoon.

Today we’ll have a variety of experiences as we cycle through the Zapata Peninsula, a vast marshland home to Cuba’s most important bird species and world-renowned as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

The road is flat, clinging to the Bay of Pigs, and giving us views of the emerald Caribbean Sea. A stop at the small museum in Playa Girón gives us the chance to learn about the failed CIA backed invasion of Cuba in April 1961. From here we have a short ride to lunch and a swim in the natural sea pool at Caleta Buena. After lunch, we continue by bus to Cienfuegos and check into our accommodation for the night. Cienfuegos is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is renowned for its stylish French architecture and its mini malecón, a seawall that goes all around the city’s bay. Wander through its beautifully restored central area and have some dinner in one of the local restaurants (not included).

This morning we will set off for a short ride to down to Playa Ancon, a classic white sand Caribbean beach via the small fishing village of La Boca. We will have time to relax on the beach and swim before having lunch and cycling back to Trinidad. This afternoon is free for you to explore this picturesque town. Its small scale makes it easy to explore, and the many cafés, museums, handicrafts markets and shops are perfect for browsing and whiling away an afternoon. We will meet for dinner at a local restaurant.

Leaving Trinidad we will ride into the “Valley of the Sugar Mills”, an area once covered in the sugar plantations that generated the enormous wealth that financed Trinidad’s beautiful colonial buildings. We will see the Manaca Iznaga bell tower that once regimented the life of the slaves who toiled on the plantation. After the village of Condado, the road climbs as passes through the lush countryside that skirts the Escambray mountains. At the end of the ride, the road drops down to Rio Seibabo where we will get off our bikes and transfer to the Che Guevara Mausoleum and Museum in Santa Clara. The Mausoleum is a giant memorial and Che’s official resting place since his remains were brought to Cuba from Bolivia in 1997. Located on Santa Clara’s impressive Revolution Square, the mausoleum embodies the Cuban revolution and its legacy. The museum has many of his former belongings and is a fascinating insight into one of the 20th Century’s most revered icons. We will then transfer to Sagua la Grande where we will check into our hotel for the night.

This morning we will have a 1.5-hour transfer to Marti town where we will get into our saddles and cycle to Finca Coincidencia. Our route passes through the bustling town of Cardenas. Finca Coincidencia is a charmingly eccentric organic farm in the heart of Matanzas province where you can gorge yourself on the farm’s varied produce served in ceramic dishes made by the farmer himself. After lunch and a poke around this fascinating farm, we transfer to the province’s capital, Matanzas. “The City of Bridges”, the streets of Matanzas span three different rivers, earning it a reputation as the Venice of Cuba. It has also been called the Athens of Cuba because of the many prominent writers and poets it has produced. Not only this, Matanzas is also the birthplace of two Cuban dances; rumba and danzón, as well as several religions of African origin, making it a vital contributor to Afro-Cuban culture. Though most holidaymakers by-pass Matanzas on their way to Varadero, this small city has plenty to offer.

This morning we’ll be getting straight on our bikes and climbing out of Matanzas. Though we may encounter some traffic on the first stretch of our ride, its gets a lot quieter once we turn off at the small town of Ceiba Mocha. From here we ascend the Picadura Valley with gorgeous views, we might stop at one of the small villages along the way to snack on fresh tropical fruit. Our ride ends at the beautiful Jibacoa beach where we’ll stop for lunch and of course a dip in the sea! After a relaxing afternoon at the beach we will transfer back to Havana in time for a night out.

The morning is free for last minute sightseeing in the Old Town or shopping. Check out of your accommodation at midday, so it’s adiós, or, as we prefer to say hasta luego, see you later! Have a safe onward journey and we very much hope to see you in Cuba again soon.