The tour will be with your private guide and vehicle. Typically, you will start exploring the city’s compact and bustling colonial centre in the morning, starting at Parque Cespedes, which is surrounded by the old town hall (Ayuntamiento), the cathedral and Casa Diego Velazquez, reputedly the oldest private house in Cuba and built between 1516 and 1530. Enjoy a stroll up Calle Heredia past the city’s Casa de la Trova. This atmospheric, busy street is the most famous in Santiago and every house bears signs of the city’s great passions of music, dancing, carnivals and poetry.

The Museo Bacardi is the oldest museum in Cuba and boasts the only Egyptian mummy in the country as well as a rich source of relics from the Spanish colonial era. The steps of Padre Pico lead to Tivoli, the most culturally diverse and picturesque quarter of the city with its maze of atmospheric streets that became home to Puerto Rican, Jamaican, Arab, Dominican, Chinese and French settlers.

Beyond the historic centre you can explore the Moncada garrison – which still bears bullet holes from Fidel Castro’s attempted coup in 1953 – and take in the imposing Plaza de la Revolucion, which has an impressive monument to war veteran General Antonio Maceo. The UNESCO ‘s World Heritage Site of Castillo del Morro is a 20 minute drive from the city through lush tropical scenery and it guards the entrance to the harbour, with magnificent views.