"SAN JUAN Y MARTINEZ TOBACCO ROUTE" Tour

"SAN JUAN Y MARTINEZ TOBACCO ROUTE" Tour

We offer a diverse selection for panoramic tours of the most significant sites in Cuban history, culture and contemporary life. So this is a treat for those seeking some vacation adventures on their Cuba holiday tour.

Description

The Tobacco Route in Pinar del Río is a tour that reveals the millenary tradition and art of tobacco production in Cuba. This route allows visitors to get to know the farms, factories and landscapes that make this region an emblematic place for the cultivation of this product.

San Juan y Martínez is a world-famous tobacco-growing municipality and is considered the mecca of the best tobacco in Cuba and the world. The territory has 408 km² and a population of approximately 43,572 inhabitants distributed in 47 localities or communities. Its geographical position in the Vuelta Abajo area is a region formed by the municipalities of San Juan and Martinez, as well as San Luis, in the south central part of the province of Pinar del Rio, in the extreme west of the island of Cuba. San Juan y Martínez is located very close to the Matahambre Mines, Viñales and has a coastline on the Caribbean Sea with an impressive richness and marine biodiversity. In its fertile fields, tobacco leaves glisten in the sun on the green plains of Vuelta Abajo, “the land of the best tobacco in the world”, where dozens of Cuban farmers cultivate the solanaceous plant that produces the world-famous Havana cigars. This is the only area in the country where all types of leaves are produced, particularly the so-called “long filler” used to make cigars by hand, and only a small group of tobacco-producing lands have the status of “vega” or prime planting land.

Itinerary

• Departure in the 4x4 cars from the Casa del Veguero “Tourist Reception Center of the Ecotur Travel Agency”, here you will enjoy a Cuban cocktail and the farmer will elaborate a tobacco, with leaves from his vega, located in the world famous “VALLEY OF VIÑALES”. This is a “CULTURAL LANDSCAPE OF HUMANITY” and the first Geopark in Cuba and Latin America.
• The tour is along the road that goes to the city of Pinar del Rio, where you can appreciate different images of valleys and the southern plains of the province. Tour through the main avenues of the city.
• In the area known as El Vizcaino (km 6 to San Juan), the meeting with the university professor in charge of the study and care of the plantations of Guayabita del Pinar, endemic plant of our region from which our territorial drink of the same name is made.
• Arrival at the “Finca Tabacalera”, where you will be given a detailed explanation of the whole tobacco process, as well as the close link between this crop and the veguero's way of life
• Visit to the tobacco “despalillo”, where the client will appreciate the different stages of fermentation, selection and weighing of the tobacco leaves.
• Transfer to the “El Valle” farm where the tobacco grower, (well known for the quality of his production and the elaboration of cigars), will give a demonstration of cigar rolling (of different vitolas) and a tour of his plantation and the house where the leaves are cured. He will also give you a tasting of the Guayabita del Pinar drink
• Lunch at the farm itself with Creole food at the Ranchón “Los Puros”.
• Return to Viñales.

Services included in the tour:

• Transfer by jeep or 4x4 mountain truck and return to Viñales,
• Specialized guide service throughout the tour.
• Entrance and enjoyment to all the tourist attractions described in the program.
• Lunch at a local restaurant.

Services not included in the tour:

• Transfers to and from the client's hotel or rental house in Viñales to the departure point of the tour.
• Entrance fees to attractions not described:
• Additional meals.
• Tips.

Approximate distance to be covered in the tour (round trip): 120 km from the city of Viñales.