Gringo Viejo
Tour Leader
Cost
Extra USD $300. Should you register looking to share with another and we are not able to find an acceptable companion, you will need to pay the Single Supplement charge.
USD $2800.
Tour Details
- Destination: Western Cuba.
- Duration: 10 days.
- Arrives: 02/20/2027
- Departs: 03/01/2027
- Days of cycling: 6-7
- Usual daily distances: 36 km/22 miles to 90 km/56 miles.
- Terrain: Quiet back roads for the most part, a little city cycling, and there are hills and rolling countryside. The road surfaces can be quite rough in some areas. We recommend using wider tires (over 28 mm) to navigate comfortably. Opting for a hybrid bike or a gravel bike would be your best bet for this tour. Hybrid e-bikes are available.
- Support vehicle: 100% (option to ride the bus anytime)
- Tour staff: 1 tour leader, 1 Cuban culture guide, 1 driver, 1 mechanic.
This tour is a shorter version of our popular Tailwind tour, but still covers the best parts of the longer route. We highlight Cuba’s varied landscapes, immense natural beauty and rich culture in 10 short days beginning in the historic capital of Havana.
Beginning in Havana, we will explore historic sites and experience the contrasts of this timeworn yet glorious city. Our first bike ride will explore the coast between Havana and Playa Baracoa, and stop at Fusterlandia a kaleidoscope of colour created by ceramic artist José Fuster.
Leaving Havana behind, our ride takes us out of the city and into the Sierra Rosario. Our stop at the Soroa Orchid garden will amaze everyone with the exceptionally well maintained collection of 18,000 orchids from all over the world. The site of the garden is critical as the unique micro-climate is perfect for growing orchids. We cycle along the Sierra Rosario to San Diego de los Baños where we can enjoy a spa treatment at the mineral spring.
We travel farther into the hills through La Guira National Park and visit las Cuevas de las Portales the caves where during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, ‘Che’ Guevara set up his headquarters. Next up we cycle through the western province of Pinar del Rio and the Valle Viñales. The quiet back roads of western Cuba will take you past lush green fields of tobacco, alongside turquoise beaches, through the Viñales Valley surrounded by unique limestone formations, and onward to islands, beaches, and coral reefs.
This tour will give you a chance to glimpse the city life, decompress in the countryside, connect with the Cuban people, discover historical sites, visit with a youth cycling club and relax on the stunning beaches that Cuba is known for.
This tour is not extreme cycling and is suitable for those with moderate cycling ability. Hybrid, gravel or touring bikes are the best choice for this ride.
TOUR GALLERY
DAY BY DAY SCHEDULE
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
1
Arrival Saturday February 20.
Fly to Havana and transfer to the Vedado district in Havana on the Malecon. Settle into “casas particulares” (Cuban BnBs) and set up the bikes in front of the Cafe Rueda.
Our evening meal at a local restaurant will give us an opportunity chat and introduce ourselves.
Cycling: 0 km.
Accommodation: Havana casas particulares (BnBs)
Meals Included: Dinner.
2
Day 2 – Cycle to Playa Baracoa – Sunday February 21
After breakfast at Cafe Rueda we will ride to Playa Baracoa, a small town where wealthy Havana residents built their summer houses. Many of these wooden houses are still standing. On the way back, we stop in the Jaimanitas neighborhood and visit Fusterlandia, where artist José Fuster has turned his home neighborhood into a masterpiece of intricate tile work and kaleidoscopic colours.
We will eat lunch on the way back to our casas in Vedado where we can change into street clothes. In the afternoon, we will take a ride in the famous classic cars and see the Malecon from the seat of a 1950s convertible. We will have dinner at a nice restaurant in “La Habana Vieja” before watching the evening ceremony “Re-enactment of the Closing of the City”.
Cycling: 47km/28 miles (+188 m)
Accommodation: Havana casas particulares (BnBs)
Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner.
3
Day 3 – Havana to Soroa – Monday February 22
Our tour bus will drive us out of Havana to the town of Alquizar to meet a youth cycling club and leave our donations of cycling equipment to support the club. We will ride our bikes alongside the club members through Artemisa and onto Soroa in the foothills of the Sierra Rosario.
On the way, we will lunch at an old coffee plantation ruin, built by the wealthy Haitian French around 1800. These pioneers were instrumental in establishing Cuba’s commercial coffee production industry.
Our hotel is in a peaceful location surrounded by hills with a pool for cooling off after our bike ride.
Cycling: 58 km/36 miles (+409 m)
Accommodation: Hotel Horizontes Villa Soroa.
Meals Included: Breakfast/Dinner.
4
Day 4 -Soroa to San Diego de los Baños – Tuesday February 23
After breakfast, we visit the spectacular Soroa orchid garden just beside the hotel in Soroa. This orchid garden contains an immense collection of 18,000 orchids from all over the world, maintained in the unique micro-climate of Soroa.
Our bike ride takes us to San Diego de los Baños located just west of the Sierra de los Rosario, in the foothills of the Sierra de los Organos. San Diego de los Baños was made famous for its hot mineral springs believed to have medicinal properties, along the Caiguanabo River. For a small fee, you can have a hot spring treatment.
Cycling: 57 km/36 miles (+362 m)
Accommodation: Hotel Mirador de San Diego, in San Diego los Baños.
Meals Included: Breakfast/Dinner.
5
Day 5 – San Diego de los Baños to Viñales – Wednesday February 24
In the morning, we will cycle a quiet but hilly route of 15 km/10 miles to the Cueva de los Portales for a tour of the caves where Che Guevara established his headquarters during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Some may opt for the bus to avoid these hills. We will have lunch and then ride a few kilometres to the home of local yet internationally renowned artist Miguel Antonio Remedios and stay for a fabulous cup of espresso.
The afternoon ride is 50km/30 miles to the Town of Viñales. The Viñales Valley was declared a national monument in 1978, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. The Viñales area is known for its dramatic formations known as mogotes towering over the landscape. The mogotes – large, rounded mountains – are all that’s left of a limestone plateau that existed here 160 million years ago. It is also a centre for traditional agriculture, crafts and music.
Cycling: Morning 15 km/10 miles (+423 m), Afternoon 50km/30 miles(+292 m)
Accommodation: Casas Particulars (BnBs)
Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner.
Maps: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/49763616
6
Day 6 – Viñales to Beach at Cayo Jutías – Thursday February 25
Today, we ride through the Valle Viñales to Pons, over the ridge to Santa Lucia, and out to Cayo Jutías, a wonderful beach area. There are some amazing vistas from the saddle on this day, including the Viñales mogotes, and the pine forests heading to the beach.
We will enjoy lunch on the beach and swim or relax at the white sand paradise. Later we return to Viñales on the tour bus. Our dinner will be at an eco-farm, where we will have a farm-to-fork dinner on the hill at the farm’s wonderful Paraiso restaurant and watch the sunset over the mountains.
Cycling: 62 km/39 miles (+447m)
Accommodation: Casas Particulars (BnBs)
Meals Included: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner.
7
Day 7 -Viñales to Pinar del Río – Friday February 26
Wake up in the Valle Viñales and enjoy breakfast at your casa surrounded by the Sierra Órganos mountain range. We will do a walking tour of the surrounding farmland in the morning viewing tobacco and vegetable crops while coming up close to the base of a few mogotes.
We will take our tour bus up to a restaurant with a spectacular view where we will have lunch. Our bike ride is an easy one taking us to the historic Town of Pinar del Río.
Cycling: 25 km/18 miles (+239m), walking: 4 km/2.5 miles
Accommodation: Hotel Vueltabajo
Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner.
8
Day 8 – Pinar del Rio to Havana – Saturday February 27
You have spent the last 8 days on a journey through the beauty of western Cuba. Today, taking advantage of our luxury tour bus, we will fight the headwind back to Havana where we began our journey.
Upon reaching Havana we will have some free time to explore the nearby Malecon, and some of the interesting sites in the Vedado District of Havana including the Hotel Nacional, local markets, and more, before heading to dinner.
Cycling: 0 km.
Accommodation: Casas Particulars in Vedado, Havana (BnBs)
Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner.
9
Day 9 – Havana walking Tour – Sunday February 28
Bring your camera this day, as we will take the tour bus to the centre of Old Havana. We will have a guided tour of the key sites that make Havana a top tourism destination including, the National Theatre and Capitol building among many other monuments. We will have lunch in Havana Vieja during our tour and visit and then visit an artisan’s market on the harbor.
Optionally, for those who want to do more cycling, it is possible to substitute a bike ride for some or all of the group to Havana’s eastern beaches covering approximately 64km/40 miles. We can take the ferry across Havana harbor, cycle the back roads and eat lunch seaside.
Later in the evening, we can visit the Art Factory (Fabrica de Arte), a place with art galleries and clubs to complete our day, or explore the local bars in Vedado.
Cycling: 0 km, walk 4 km (Optional bike ride 64km/40 miles (+439)
Accommodation: Casas Particulars in Vedado, Havana (BnBs)
Meals Included: breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
10
Day 10 – Departure Day – Monday March 1
Sadly, today is departure day and the bus will take us to the airport for the flight back home. We hope you have enjoyed the ride, our country, its wonderful people, and that you will return for more cycling with the Bicycle Breeze tour team.
Cycling: 0 km
Accommodation: Casas Particulars in Vedado, Havana (BnBs)
Meals Included: Breakfast.
Cycle Rental
Bicycle Breeze has bike rentals at great prices. For this tour you will need either a hybrid (my choice) a sport touring or a endure gravel bike. All will work. Should you prefer to bring your own that is fine with us, you will get the same mechanical assistance as the renters.
Check your travel company for costs of shipping your bike. Depending on your country of embarkation you may be better to rent. Renting has other positive aspects. Your bike will not get lost in transit. It is far easier to travel without a bike box and spare bikes are on the bus for renters. The negative side is that this is not your favourite ride.
Customize This Tour
With a group of 10 or more riders, Bicycle Breeze can offer the ability to customize a tour to suit your needs. Contact us to start planning your next great adventure.