Cuba Tours with a Music-Theme, VIP Music Festivals, and Cultural Experiences.
Handcrafted and Custom Curated Cuba Tours: Havana, Trinidad, Viñales, Varadero, Matanzas, Santiago de Cuba… and pretty much anywhere in Cuba
Handcrafted and Custom Curated Cuba Tours: Havana, Trinidad, Viñales, Varadero, Matanzas, Santiago de Cuba… and pretty much anywhere in Cuba
Whether you are a musician yourself or you have a desire to experience a music-inspired Cuba tour. We’re pretty sure you will be delighted by a tour with us. Music culture is the international language that everyone can understand. It is also the best way to connect and experience the culture of the Cuban people. The brightness and selfless charm of each person are reflected in the soulful expression of the iconic Latin music still performed in Cuba today.
With Havana Music Tours you will experience the most authentic music performances and experiences by the best musicians around Cuba. You will also experience Cuban dancing, top-rated restaurants, Cuban farming, mindfulness, art, education, museums, architecture, shopping, and meaningful interactions with the Cuban people. On our Cuba tours, you will detox from your typical daily lifestyle and common vacations.
We will take you on a journey through the history of Cuban music and meet some of the best musicians around Cuba. You will have an itinerary that digs deep into the different music, cultural, and artistic styles in Cuba. Each night you can visit a different music club, theater, or event with different music styles like Son, Rumba, Latin Jazz, Boleros, Afro Beats, and maybe even some Cuban Reggeaton.
Each of our tours has a different theme and duration. So, depending on how much time you have for travel and your interests we have something for almost everyone. We prefer to stay in Casa Particulares and Villas, both of which are privately owned homes. We feel this gives you the most authentic experience of Cuban culture and rituals.
“All dinners except the last night were included, and the restaurants were very good to excellent. In general, the quality of dining was well above my expectations.” – Bruce K. on Facebook
The dinners and lunches are some of the top-rated Paladares (private restaurants)in Cuba. Some of the top restaurants we like to eat at are La Guarida, El Del Frente, Atelier, La Tierra, Cafe Laurent, and more. We typically eat in a family-style at almost every meal. We also make sure to accommodate our vegan and vegetarian friends.
There are many Cuba tours out there to choose from. If you are interested in music and culture and want to learn and interact directly with musicians and musicologists. We are the best Cuba tour agency and back that up with all 5-star reviews on TripAdvisor.
“…an intriguing and diverse range of performances for us to attend, but we luxuriated in our classy casa particular and indulged in excellent meals in unique paladars, rooftops and restaurants. In between we were treated to numerous instances of Cuban positivity, resilience and creativity.” -Susan B. on TripAdvisor
Tours, Dates, and Prices
Havana Jazz Plaza 2023 – 7 days / 6 nights
An annual Jazz Festival in Havana. It usually features some of the most popular and up n’ coming artists from Cuba and around the world. In the past, there have been performances from artists such as Chucho Valdés, Interactivo, Dave Weckl, Telmary, Joe Lovano, Snarky Puppy, Daymé, and many more!
Dates & Prices
Havana Music and Cultural Tours – 4 days / 3 nights
This is the perfect 4-day weekend getaway to Cuba. Experience the highlights of Havana – all of the culture, music, and art in a jam-packed fun weekend!
Dates & Prices
VIP Music Tour of Havana – 6 days / 5 nights
Music, Dancing, Great food, all with professional musicians. This tour is 6 days and 5 nights and features an extensive tour of Havana and day trips to Viñales and Playas del Este.
Dates & Prices
Varadero “Rumba, Jazz, Son” Josone Music Festival – 7 Days / 6 Nights
Varadero Josone Music Festival: “Rumba, Jazz, Son” is a newer festival near the best beach in Cuba at Josone Park in Varadero, Cuba. The festival features some of the greatest and most famous Cuban performers, previously including artists such as Alexander Abreu y Havana D’ Primera, Isaac Delgado y su Orquesta, Alain Pérez y La Orchestra, Formell y Los Van Van, Yoruba Andabo, Eme Alfonso, and many more!
Dates & Prices
Havana World Music Festival and Cultural Tour – 5 days / 4 nights
Havana World Music Festival is back! This festival typically features artists from all over the world and famous Cuban musicians. We will combine elements of a cultural Havana tour by day and the festival in the evenings.
Dates & Prices
Fiesta del Tambor and Cultural Tour – 8 days / 7 nights
Fiesta del Tambor is Cuba’s annual Percussion festival. It will feature some of the greatest drummers, percussionists, and other musicians from all over Cuba and the world.
Dates & Prices
Accommodation
We include your luxurious “Casa Particular” or “Villa” in the tour price. Each one is hand-selected by us and quality tested.
“Casa Particular” is the Spanish phrase to describe a privately owned bed and breakfast style house or room for rent. Casa Particulares are the best option for supporting and interacting with the Cuban people. We highly recommend them!
Daily itinerary
You can view sample itineraries for each of our tours on their respective pages
About a week or so before you depart for your tour we will provide a uniquely arranged and final itinerary for each day of your tour. It will feature the most up-to-date live performance schedules for all musical and non-musical events. It will also include all of the places we will visit. This is usually very similar to the sample itinerary, but it will have more details such as the time frames, artist/venue names, etc.
Each tour is unique and fits different travelers’ desires.
Live Music Venues
In Cuba, most of the primary musical performances can occur really late at night. Band start times can range from 10pm-1am each night.
In addition to your daily itinerary, we maintain an optional late night schedule that features private reservations to the best music venues in Havana and beyond. If you wish to go, we also include the entry to each musical event into your Casa-Inclusive-package. (By the way, some entries to venues will include a couple of free cocktails.)
We will see some of the best musicians in Cuba authenticly performing styles such as Afro-Cuban Rumba, Latin Jazz, Traditional, Afro-Funk, Timba (Salsa), and more.
Meals
Most of your food is included on your trip. Each tour has different and specific meal inclusions, but all of them include breakfast. For the most part, we like to eat family style at all of the best restaurants in Cuba. Certain tours may include lunches and/or dinners, and there are some free days to have a private meal on your own (if you wish). Usually, the breakfast is pretty fulfilling, so snacks may be appropriate when walking around on some days. We have discovered that sitting down at a restaurant to eat 3 times per day with a group takes up too much time… and we have lots of stuff to see!! Don’t worry, you will eat well!
Breakfast usually features a freshly sliced array of fruits, vegetables, a choice of eggs, breads, freshly squeezed juices, and even an authentic Café Cubano.
Sometimes we will prepare snacks for lunch as needed, otherwise, we typically eat dinners between 5pm-8pm.
For dinner, we will eat at some of the best restaurants in Cuba. We have tried many of the top rated restaurants and handpicked our favorites to share with you. We will eat altogether most evenings and dine family style, in a similar way to how Cubans eat. We will usually allow at least one evening to dine at your own leisure. Whatever you chose, we have plenty of recommendations for you and we will gladly make any reservations on your behalf.
Tour Guides
You will have an experienced professional musician or musicologist as your tour leader. Your tour leader will be bilingual in Spanish and English. Let us know if you speak any other language. We can also get interpreters that speak Chinese, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, and more.
We also include local tour guides that specialize in different aspects of Cuban culture: history, architecture, art, music, etc. This makes for a comfortable, informative, and exciting experience. (Even if you don’t speak Spanish!)
Flights and transportation
All tours include pick up and drop off from the airports in Cuba. We arrange daily transportation from the Casa/Villa to all scheduled events and to different cities.
We do not include the flights, but we will help you to book the best fight based on your location. There are many commercial flights available from the US, Europe, Canada, Mexico, and other parts of Latin America. So, no matter where you are flying from we will help you pick the best connections to join the tour on time.
COV-19 Vaccination Requirement
PROOF OF COVID-19 VACCINATION
For the protection of other participants and residents of the destinations we travel to, each group tour participant must present us with proof of vaccination against Covid-19. You will upload this to our intake form at least 14 days before your tour departure date.
Our top priority is safety. Making sure everyone is fully vaccinated will help reduce the spread of COVID-19 and keep our small group tours safe and filled with stress-free fun!
Acceptable vaccines based on information from the World Health Organization
Moderna (mRNA-1273)
Pfizer/BioNTech (BNT162b2)
Janssen (Johnson & Johnson – Ad26.COV2.S)
Oxford/AstraZeneca (AZD1222)
Serum Institute of India Covishield (Oxford/AstraZeneca formulation)
Bharat Biotech (Covaxin)
Sinopharm (Beijing BBIBP-CoV – Vero Cells)
Sinovac – CoronaVac
Personalized Tours
We realize that not everyone has the same schedule and maybe has their own group together already. If you would like to discuss a customized individual or group tour to Cuba please get in touch.
Sign Up Now
The niche style of Havana Music Tours is unlike any other tour operator. Our music relationships in Cuba help us to have the most extensive and interactive music tours available in Cuba.
Your tour will be accompanied by a professional musician and Cuba expert. In fact, the founder of Havana Music Tours is a professional drummer/producer from the U.S.
Meet Chaz Chambers