Sorry, both of these trips are now sold out. We will be repeating them in spring 2007. Hope to see you then.

Cuba - A Magical Mystery Island Tour

Dates: 8th-17th March 2006
3rd-12th April 2006
Cost: £1400 per person, no single room supplement
Deposit: £150 per person
Maximum places: 12 on each trip

Cost includes: Nine nights accommodation with breakfast, four dinners, all transport and transfers during holiday and tuition from Lee Frost

Cost excludes: Flights, insurance and photographic materials

How often have you built-up a mental picture in your mind of what a place must be like, based on things you've read about it and photographs you've seen, only to finally get there yourself and be disappointed?

Well, I'm pleased to say that Cuba isn't one of them. Everything you ever thought might exist there actually does - only bigger and better and more than you could ever imagine. It's a place where the clichés come alive on a grand scale and leave you wondering if you've just stepped onto the biggest movie set in history.

There really are ancient American cars parked on every street of every town or cruising down elegant boulevards lined with crumbling colonial buildings. The music that was introduced to a global audience by Ry Cooder's Buena Vista Social Club really does emanate from every bar and balcony. And there really are cigar chomping taxi drivers, cowboys on horseback and fading posters declaring Viva La Revolucion.

Our trips begin in the vibrant Capital of Cuba - Havana - a chaotic, colourful, crumbling, characterful city where you could happily spend a whole week just wandering around, soaking-up the friendly, paid-back atmosphere.

To get at the heart of Havana you really need to be on the streets, just wandering around with no grand plan, going where the mood takes you. Habana Viejo is showing signs of being tarted-up and that's where the tour groups tend to congregate. But wander a few blocks away into Habana Centro and it's a different world. The Malecon, Havana's grand sea front, is also a wonderful place to explore as the sun begins to set.
After two days and three nights in Havana we head west to Pinar Del Rio Province, home of the stunning Vinales Valley, the heart of Cuba's tobacco-growing industry. Our hotel - Los Jasmines - was purpose-built to offer guests magnificent views, and each room has a balcony that overlooks the valley - perfect for dawn shoots. We will also explore the valley and head for the old town of Vinales; a place that looks like it's straight out of a Spaghetti Western.

From Vinales our destination is Cienfuegos. Fondly referred to as 'The Pearl of the South', Cienfuegos is a beautiful coastal town with pretty tree-lined streets, baroque facades and elegant squares where you can spend hours wandering from block to block, photographing the architecture and old American cars.

Finally, we reach the legendary old sugar town of Trinidad, a place steeped in history and now a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Trinidad is like a living museum with its pastel-coloured buildings and cobbled streets, and even though it's the most visited town in Cuba, the street and squares are almost deserted at either end of the day, when we will be at our most active. As well as the buildings and street scenes, the inhabitants of Trinidad are also very friendly and wonderfully photogenic, and even those among you who normally steer clear of people photography will find it hard to resist shooting at least a few travel portraits.

All in all, Cuba's an exhilarating, vibrant, colourful country and despite the rationing, trade embargoes and low standard of living, its people are among the warmest and most welcoming you are every likely to meet.

Of course, all good things must come to an end, and in the name of progress, Cuba is set to change. The minute Fidel Castro departs this mortal coil, US Commercialism will take over, leaving a trail of Starbucks and McDonalds in its wake. The wonderful fading buildings will be spruced-up and turned into boutique hotels, the rusting Cadillacs, Buicks and Chevvies will be carted off to the scrap heap, and although many Cubans will welcome change because it will bring jobs and prosperity, part of the spirit that makes Cuba such a wonderful place will be lost forever.

Just make sure you get there before that happens.