The trip begins in Havana, Cuba's inimitable capital, with its faded grandeur – gradually being restored - and pulsating rhythms.  Visit forested Las Terrazas, an eco-experiment which works, from where you head west to stroll around Viñales, a fertile valley with a fairy-tale limestone landscape composing the tobacco-growing region. You’ll step into four of the country’s principal cities, Cienfuegos, colonial Trinidad, Camaguey and Santiago, each with a story to tell. Visit the thickly wooded Sierra Maestra, Fidel Castro’s revolutionary hideout. Lingering in the less visited east of the country, you call in at Baracoa, and Gibara, a pretty port on the craggy northeast coast.