Cuba hasn’t changed much. That’s precisely the point.
Eleven days. Havana, Viñales, Trinidad, back to Havana. Small group, good hotels, no filler. You’ll have tea with Roberto Salas (Castro’s personal photographer) in his Havana home, get inside the Cuban National Ballet during rehearsals, watch boxers train at Rafael Trejo as the light drops, and take a catamaran to Cayo Blanco for a lobster BBQ and water that belongs in the Bahamas.
WEATHER
21 – 29°C
DURATION
11 DAYS
DEPOSIT
FROM £799
GROUP
CURIOUS ADULTS
GROUP SIZE
MAX 10
DOWNTIME
LESS
HOTEL
BOUTIQUE
PHYSICALITY
ACTIVE
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Named on of The Guardian’s Top 10 Photography Holidays, “you shoot Havana’s fading colonial architecture, learn techniques for close-ups of its famed murals, and take some black-and-whites at a cigar factory – before reviewing your pics over mojitos and checking out the local music scene. You’ll also head out to rural Cuba for portraits of tobacco farmers and capture the dusk light over the limestone mogote hills.”
Highlights.
Behind the Scenes.
Itinerary.
Flights land late, but Havana doesn’t wait. We head straight out to La Bodeguita del Medio, which is roughly the size of your living room and somehow contains a full band, horns, singers, a barman making a dozen mojitos at once, and a crowd that has completely given up on personal space. First drink, first hour. Welcome to Cuba.
The next morning, out early into Habana Vieja before the tourists arrive. Vintage cars in the main square, the old town at its best. We cover the basics of working with your camera on the street, then spend the rest of the morning exploring. In the afternoon, into the back of an open-top Buick along the Malecón towards Revolution Square, where Castro once addressed over a million people. You can still feel the scale of it.
That evening, dinner at Casa Miglis. A paladar tucked inside a private Havana home. The kind of place you’d never find without someone pointing you there.
This morning, a private cigar rolling house that doesn’t appear in any guidebook. A master roller who has been at it for decades, a cigar made to your exact specification, and a room that smells like the best version of Cuba. Not a tourist experience. The real thing.
Then to Roberto Salas. Castro’s personal photographer for twenty years, still living in Havana, still happy to talk. He opens the archive, shows you the work, and tells you what was actually happening behind the photographs. The stories are better than the pictures, and the pictures are extraordinary.
An hour out of Havana the landscape changes completely. Flat tobacco fields, limestone mogotes rising straight out of the ground, mist sitting in the valley if you’re early enough. One of the most distinctive places on earth, and it knows nothing about it.
Lunch on an organic farm overlooking the Silencio valley, then to a working tobacco farm where the same families have been growing the same crop for generations. We craft portraits, learn how a cigar goes from leaf to finished product, and attempt to roll one ourselves. Results vary.
The afternoon light in the valley is something you won’t forget. We stay until it’s gone.
South east out of Havana and Cuba changes around you. By the time you reach Trinidad, a UNESCO-listed Spanish colonial town that genuinely stopped changing in 1850, the pace has dropped completely. The mansions here still have their original Italian frescoes, Wedgwood china, and French chandeliers. Cobbled streets, compact plazas, and around every corner something worth stopping for.
That evening, a live acoustic concert under the stars in the main plaza.
Next morning, aboard a 1919 wooden-carriage train through the Valle de Los Ingenios and its vast sugar-cane landscapes. There’s a bar on board, a man making mojitos, and a band. The scenery does the rest.
Trinidad’s cobbled streets are made for black and white. The light, the textures, the faces. We spend the morning in them.
The next day is yours entirely. A catamaran to Cayo Blanco, where the water is clear, the sand is white, and lunch is lobster off the grill. Or Playa Ancon, a long quiet beach twelve kilometres from town. Or the Topes de Collantes national park for mountain trails that end at a waterfall. Nobody tells you what to do. That’s the point.
Back via the Bay of Pigs and Cienfuegos, arriving into the old town as the afternoon light turns everything gold. Havana at this hour looks like a film set. The difference is nobody’s acting.
We head into the streets and the streets open up. Cubans are extraordinarily welcoming. You end up inside people’s homes, talking, looking around, being offered things. It happens naturally and it happens every time. The cameras come out when they feel right.
The Cuban National Ballet during morning rehearsals. We go in, watch, and talk to the dancers. Then a street graffiti tour through parts of Havana most visitors walk straight past.
Mid-afternoon, we shoot the interiors of La Guarida. A paladar inside a crumbling Havana mansion, all peeling grandeur and extraordinary light. Then over to Rafael Trejo boxing gym, one of Havana’s great institutions, where the junior boxers train in an open-air ring with the city as a backdrop.
That evening, dinner at La Guarida. It lives up to the photographs.
Final day. Flights are tonight, so the morning is unhurried. Tea on the terrace of the Hotel Nacional, where Lucky Luciano once held a mob summit and where Churchill, Sinatra, Brando, and Ava Gardner all stayed at various points. The hotel knows exactly what it is and makes no apology for it.
Then to Coppelia, the vast outdoor ice cream parlour that Cubans have been queuing at since 1966. One last conversation about your photographs, your trip, and where you might take things next. Then the airport.
Dates & Prices.
19 – 29 November, 2026
8 – 18 April, 2027
18 – 28 November, 2027
11 days. 10 nights. Starts and ends in Havana, Cuba.
£3995 / £380 single supplement
Price includes
10 nights accommodation at listed hotels (or similar)
11 days tuition from our UK-based pro photographer/guide
1-to-1 photography guidance throughout, at your pace
Private audience with Roberto Salas at his house
Private entry to exclusive cigar rolling house, with cigar
Entry to the Cuban National Ballet (permission granted on the day)
Private photoshoot at a famous boxing gym in old Havana
Guided walk, with lunch, through the tobacco fields in Vinales
Group transfers to and from the airport from suggested flights
All transportation between shooting locations
Train ride through rural Cuba
Price excludes flights & meals.
There are regular flights to Havana from the UK via Europe, with Iberia, British Airways, Air France, KLM, and Air Europa all operating routes. Return flights typically start from around £650. Once minimum numbers are confirmed, we’ll recommend the best options based on price, duration, and airline rating.
A note on entry requirements: Cuba now operates an eVisa system, which is straightforward to apply for online before you travel.
One thing worth knowing: if you’re planning to visit the United States after Cuba, the eVisa and the US ESTA don’t work together. The simple fix is to apply for a standard ten-year US visa instead of an ESTA. It’s a routine application, not a complicated one, and once you have it you won’t need to think about it again. If you’re unsure, just get in touch and we’ll point you in the right direction.
US nationals and anyone who has recently travelled to the US are also very welcome on this trip. Drop us a line before booking and we’ll talk you through what applies to you.
One important thing to know before you book flights: we confirm the trip once minimum numbers are reached. We will contact you as soon as that happens and suggest the best flight options at that point. Please do not book flights before we confirm. We know that feels like an extra step. It protects everyone.
Hotel Nacional, Havana *****
This famous hotel built in original Art Deco style in 1930 has welcomed its fair share of celebrities over the years — Frank Sinatra, Winston Churchill and Ernest Hemingway have all been guests and who can blame them?
Finca Kenia
Exuding 19th century Cuban charm, Finca Kenia is a wonderfully restored old house on the edge of the Santa Rosa valley.
I had a fantastic time in Cuba last month with CE, my first group holiday of any kind & I was nervous but need not have worried! Hotels, guide, tutor & locations all excellent plus the company of a lovely bunch of fellow travellers made it a very enjoyable memorable trip! Thank you! Jo, London
Additional information
| Single Supplement - £380 | Yes, No |
|---|---|
| Date | 16 – 26 April, 2026, 19 – 29 November, 2026 |
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