Captivating Cuba
Facts
Daily distances: 130-390 km, 81-242 miles
Highlights
This motorcycle tour through Cuba is loaded with culture, great scenery and fantastic roads!
Cuba is the largest and perhaps most interesting island in the Caribbean. Not only famous for its communist government, but also its fascinating old cities, beautiful beaches and the numerous U.S. road cruisers and Harleys from the ‘50s. Not to mention the legendary hospitality of the fun-loving Cubans. This motorcycle tour will introduce you to the secrets of Cuba! We start out from Havana and ride to Viñales, famous for its karst landscape full of caves and its tobacco plantations. Here you can learn everything about the famous Cuban cigars and perhaps even try one.
After a swim in the beautiful basins and waterfalls of the Viñales Natural Park we turn east and ride to Cienfuegos. On the way we visit the famous Bay of Pigs, where the invasion of Cuba failed back in 1961. Next, we spend two nights in Trinidad, considered by many to be the most beautiful of all Caribbean cities. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and well worth the rest day! The twisty roads in the beautiful hills of Topes de Collantes are among the best in all of Cuba. You will find lush rainforests, thunderous waterfalls and incredible views there. In Varadero you’ll find white sandy beaches and crystal-clear turquoise waters; the Caribbean as if straight from a picture book. Enjoy some peace and quiet there before we ride back to Havana along the north coast.
* Ride Cuba with acclaimed moto-journalist and Cuba expert Christopher P. Baker. It’s true to say… no-one knows Cuba as well as Christopher, the Lowell Thomas Award 2008 ‘Travel Journalist of the Year’ and the author of six travel guidebooks about Cuba. National Geographic acclaimed him “one of the world’s leading authorities on Cuba travel and culture.” In 1996, Chris shipped his BMW R100GS PD to Cuba and made a three-month, 7,000-mile journey as a licensed journalist, resulting in publication of his Moon Cuba guidebook and his award-winning travelogue Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling Through Castro’s Cuba.
In January 2013, Christopher led the first licensed U.S. motorcycle group tour of Cuba end-to-end since the 1959 Revolution. He has since led numerous motorcycle tours in Cuba on behalf of Edelweiss Bike Travel, Bob’s BMW of Maine, and the BMW Riding Academy of Turkey, etc., as well as almost one hundred tours to Cuba on behalf of National Geographic Expeditions and other tour companies. In addition to riding “sweep,” ensuring the cohesion of the group, and attending to logistics, Christopher brings something unique to these tours… an ability to share a profound knowledge of Cuba, providing unparalleled context for your travel experience. Our tours with Chris are U.S. legal under the “support for the Cuban people” license.