Availability Period: March.
On the way we will see much of the culture which still dominates this unspoiled forgotten world including, of course, the old steam locomotives which worked the sugar mills. Live steam is rapidly declining and each visit we make sees fewer and fewer steam able
locomotives.
Tour Itinerary:
Day 1, Wednesday, 5th March: (meals on plane). We fly from London Gatwick at 13.30 to Holguin, a large town in the east of Cuba. A luxury coach will meet us at the airport and transfer us to our hotel on a beach on the north coast nearby. Two nights.
Day 2, Thursday, 6th March: In the morning we have free time at our beach hotel. After lunch, our coach will transfer those who want to the nearby Rafael Freyre Sugar Mill, now closed but an embryonic museum project. We will be shown the mill´s Engine House with its stationary steam engines which used to power the crushers, and be taken for a ride up the valley on the 2ft 6in gauge railway which used to bring the cane in from the fields. We have asked for our train to be hauled by a centenarian steam engine. Those who don´t want may of course stay at the hotel (free food and drinks all day). Includes: (B), (L), (D).
Day 3, Friday, 7th March: After breakfast our coach transfers us to Holguin Station for our first encounter with our historic air-conditioned diesel rail car. It was built by the Budd Corporation in the 1950s and saw main-line service in Canada when new. It will be fully staffed by uniformed Cuban Railroad employees and there is a well-stocked Bar on board. Cab rides will always be available. Today the rail car will take us to the Bartolome Masso Sugar Mill, near Sofia. The route is through pleasant country via San Luis, Bayamo and Lara.
Bartolome Masso Mill is still working and we hope to be shown inside the main building housing the crushers. In the 2007 “Zafra” (sugar harvest), at least one of Bartolome Masso´s steam locos was still in working order and we have asked for it to work an empty cane train—with us aboard—to the neighboring mill called Ranulfo Leyra where some more steam engines are being collected for a future museum. At the end of the day, our coach will transfer us to a hotel in Bayamo. Anyone who does not want to go to the mill has the option of training from the rail car at Bayamo; the driver and Tourist Guide on the coach will organize a tour of the town and then take participants straight to the hotel. Includes: (B), (D).
Day 4, Saturday, 8th March: Today our Budd rail car takes us from Bayamo to Morón, once the HQ of the Cuba Northern Railroad company. The route is via Ciego de Avila i.e. We will use the high speed line built by the Soviets in the 1970s for some of the way. We have requested permission for the rail car to stop for a visit to the Workshop at Camaguey which specializes in the overhaul of the Soviet-built diesels in the Cuban Railroad fleet.
At Morón we will visit the nearby Patria Muerte Railway Museum where visitors this year (2007) have found at least one steam able loco with rides being given on a 5 km branch line. At the end of the day, our coach will take us to another all-inclusive hotel on the north coast. Includes: (B), (D).
Day 5, Sunday, 9th March: After breakfast we will visit the Morón Works and engine sheds of the Cuban Railroad where the American-and Canadian-built diesels are maintained. Then we will leave Morón on a steam-hauled train back to Ciego de Avila before re-joining our rail car for a high speed ride up the Russian-built line to Santa Clara.
At Santa Clara we have a tour of the city which includes the Che Guevara Monument and Mausoleum before retiring to a Cuban style motel on the edge of town (the bedrooms are thatched huts scattered around the grounds). Includes: (B), (D).
Day 6, Monday, 10th March: Today we will have a train ride from Santa Clara to Cienfuegos, an elegantly laid out city on the south coast with an important commercial port. We have asked for a steam train but do not yet know if there is still a loco in working order at any of the mills near S.Clara (in 2005 the tour had two steam train rides with two different locos in the S.Clara area).
If steam is no longer possible, we will of course travel to Cienfuegos in our Budd rail car. At Cienfuegos we have a guided tour and a boat trip across the harbor before retiring to a hotel in the city for a two-night stay. Includes: (B), (D).
Day 7, Tuesday, 11th March: After breakfast our luxury coach takes us along the coast road to Trinidad, a UNESCO World Heritage site famous for its cobbled streets and Spanish colonial architecture. In the morning we will enjoy a tour of Trinidad on foot, with our Guide, and in the afternoon a ride on the steam-hauled tourist train up a wide valley inland to Iznaga. We return to our hotel in Cienfuegos in time for supper. Includes: (B), (D).
Day 8, Wednesday, 12th March: Today our Budd rail car will take us along several secondary routes through pleasant countryside to Cardenas, a station near Varadero, the well-known tourist beach resort on the north coast. The route will be Cienfuegos-Rodas Guareiras Colon Cardenas. Afternoon free on the beach or an optional trip in our coach to the nearby Esteban Hernandez Sugar Mill where a steam-hauled tourist train gives rides on a remnant of the mill´s 2ft6 in gauge rail system. We end the day in a hotel in Varadero near the sea. Includes: (B), (D).
Day 9, Thursday, 13th March: After breakfast, our coach will transfer the railway enthusiasts to the nearby José Smith Comas Mill Railway Museum. Visitors in 2007 report that at least one of the steam engines is in working order and we have asked for an empty cane train to be prepared for us which we will ride to Cardenas for a photo shoot on the Docks branch. The not-so-dedicated can spend the morning by the pool at the hotel, or on the beach. In the afternoon, the coach will drive us to Havana where we will spend our last night on the island. Includes: (B), (D).
Day 10, Friday, 14th March: In the morning we will have a guided tour of Old Havana. The tour will end at the Cristina Station Railway Museum whence it is hoped that we will have a last steam train ride, from Havana to Guïnes via Bejucal over the route of the first railway line to be opened in Cuba (in 1837). In the evening, our bus will transfer us to Havana Airport in time to catch the flight home overnight. Includes: (B), (D).
Day 11, Saturday, 15th March: Arrive London Gatwick.
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
Price:
- Full 11-day holiday from London Gatwick in a shared room: 2699;
- Full 10-day holiday from Holguin to Havana in a shared room: 2150;
- Full 15-day holiday with Virgin flights to Gatwick: 2999;
- Single room supplement: 20 per night;
- 4-night add-on in Havana in a shared room - 160, single - 200.
Price Includes:
- All rail travel and excursions as listed in itinerary;
- Hotel accommodation;
- Meals as listed in the itinerary;
- Services of our tour guides (holiday is fully escorted).
Also see tour packages in:
Central America and Caribbean
Cuba
Railway Trips
Cultural Journey
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