Havana
(4 nights total split between start and finish)
So much to see, so little time. You're best to concentrate your focus on Habana Vieja, where the main plazas are chock-full of museums and historic sites. Don't miss Plaza de Armas, Plaza de la Catedral, and Plaza Vieja, where Taberna La Muralla serves delicious home-brewed beer. Around Parque Central, the Fábrica de Partagás tobacco factory will give you 'Tobacco 2001' on the cigar-rolling process. In many regards the entire island is a lived-in museum: the two-part Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes displays a stunning collection of art; be sure to visit both the international and Cuban sections. Sure, it's melancholic and occasionally gory, but for a profile on the revolution the Museo de la Revolución, nearby, is de rigeur. Next, stroll the Malecón and the tree-shaded streets of Vedado, taking in the Cemeterio Colón and Plaza de la Revolución - it's a long walk, deserving a refreshing ice cream at Coppelia and a mojito pick-me-up on the garden bar of the 1930s-era Hotel Nacional. Linger for an evening of entertainment at the hotel's Cabaret Parisien followed by some bolero at Gato Tuerto, nearby.
Now pick up a rental car. Before leaving town, visit Parque Histórico-Militar Morro Cabaña (you can safely skip the evening cañonazo) then follow the Vía Monumental south to Museo Ernest Hemingway (the author's former home) and nearby Iglesia de Santa María del Rosario.
West of Havana, the Circuito Norte leads past the Latin American School for Medical Sciences and Playa Salado, where there's a dive center. This section of coast isn't particularly scenic, and there's little reason to linger. After 45 km, you arrive at a T-junction on the outskirts of Mariel (on your right is a cement factory belching out a ghastly pall); turn left for Mariel, beyond which the coast road begins to dip and rise, with the scenery building with every mile. The Sierra del Rosario rise on your left and the jade blue Atlantic shallows become speckled with the first cays of the Archipiélago de los Colorados. About 15 km west of Mariel, turn left for Soroa (the junction is unmarked). The serpentine road climbs through pine forest to a T-junction for Las Terrazas (13 km), or continue straight another three km for Soroa.
West of the Soroa turn-off, the coast road runs a few kilometers inland of the shore, with side roads fingering toward Cayo Paraíso and Cayo Levisa. Ten kilometers west of the small town of Las Palmas, turn left for Viñales. The only gas stations along the route are at Mariel and Bahía Honda, about 20 kilometers further west.
Havana to Viñales