CLASSIC CUBA VINTAGE CAR TOUR

When Cuba placed an embargo on importing US cars and mechanical parts, it unwittingly kicked off a now deeply-rooted Cuban love of classic cars, kept alive in various striations of rust and gloss. The streets of Old Havana are filled with mechanics using ancient parts (nothing gets trashed) along with a healthy dose of ingenuity and enthusiasm to keep old engines running.

A chorus of 40s and 50s Dodges, Plymouths, Studebakers, Chevrolets and Pontiacs play a vital cameo in the fabric of the nation, with Old Havana and Varadero the perfect cities to experience the cars and their owners first-hand. Many operate as taxis, while others can be hired for longer journeys around the city and further afield.

Take a day tour to the Orchid Botanical Garden, Soroa Waterfall, and Viñales tobacco fields, where fertile red soil – still ploughed by oxen – provides prized crops of leaves that are hand-picked, dried, and hand-rolled into cigars. The Viñales Valley scenery seems tailor-made for an open-top classic car, and can be enjoyed more intimately by taking a horseback excursion to explore more about the famed cigar region.

Back in the city, relish another wind-inyour-hair experience as you step inside a ruby-red ’53 Cadillac de Ville convertible, available by the hour, and wind along streets dotted with Colonial classic buildings (such as the 1928-built NH Collection Victoria La Habana Hotel), and kitschy art galleries, such as Cuban Art Factory. Then end the day at Hemingway’s favourite bar, the 200-year-old El Floridita for daiquiris (El Floridita invented them), a classic Cuban sandwich, and a cigar, all to a soulful backdrop of traditional and modern Latin American music.