Left to right: Meliá Habana, Havana; Hotel Santa María, Camagüey; Paradisus Río de Oro, Playa Esmeralda (inset); IBEROSTAR Ensenachos, Cayo Ensenachos


TAUCK’S HOTELS IN CUBA... Your hotel accommodations during your People-to-People cultural exchange represent the very best that Cuba has to offer. In Havana, an impressive lobby decorated with tropical flora welcomes you to the Meliá Habana in the heart of Miramar, the city’s bustling new business center, for a three-night stay in the Cuban capital. While exploring Santa Clara, sugar cane country and Cuba’s north-central coast, spend two nights at the IBEROSTAR Ensenachos, an oceanfront resort on the private key of Cayo Ensenachos. Discover Camagüey’s arts and cultural heritage during a three- night stay at the brand-new Hotel Santa María, embodying an eclectic style that blends in with its environment in a city that locals call “the Maze” for its twisting lanes and squares. You’ll complete your People-to-People trip with two nights at Paradisus Río de Oro Resort & Spa, a 5-star eco-resort in Bahia Naranjo Natural Park on Playa Esmeralda.


Cuban culture and history surround you throughout your trip... from colorful traditional costumes (above) to community art at Projecto Muraleando (below) to the legacy of Ché Guevara at his Santa Clara memorial


American novelist Ernest Hemingway’s winter home from 1939 to 1960, shared with third wife Martha Gellhorn, and later with fourth wife Mary Welsh. See the author’s 9,000-volume library, his yacht, Pilar, and his typewriter, and talk with a docent about Hemingway’s life here. Visit an organic farm with an adjacent paladar for lunch, then return to Havana for a walk along Calle Obispo in Habana Vieja, winding up at the Hotel Ambos Mundos to continue exploring Hemingway’s strong connections to Cuba and its people (who simply called him “Ernesto”). Make your way up to Room #511, his “first home” in Cuba, which he rented between 1932 and 1939, and where he began work on the acclaimed novel For Whom the Bell Tolls; the memorabilia on display prompts an exchange about his time in Havana. Enjoy dinner at a choice of restaurants in your hotel this evening. Meals BLD


4. HISTORIC HAVANA & THE ARTS Begin today’s People-to-People exchange at Maqueta de La Habana, a museum featuring a 1:500 scale model of Havana. Meet a local expert on the city’s architecture and historic restoration efforts, and embark on a guided walking tour through Habana Vieja – the city’s nearly 500-year-old heart, now a pedestrian-only UNESCO World Heritage Site. See Havana’s beautiful Catedral de San Cristóbal, begun under the Jesuits in 1748 and completed by


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