Espíritu Travel Reviews 

My wife and I recently returned from a tour in Cuba with Espiritu, and I cannot say strongly enough: if you want to see Cuba, this is the outfit to go with. One reason is the quality of the tour itself. Karin was thoroughly professional, prompt, and efficient in planning the trip. Once we were there, the itinerary went like clockwork. We are not normally "tour" travelers, but we didn't know Cuba, and thought it made sense to leave the arrangements, bookings, and transport to folks who did know the place. Espiritu's approach--small groups, staying in private homes, emphasizing contact with ordinary people, to the extent possible--was an ideal compromise with our typical independent-traveler preferences.

The second reason--a sad one, but important--is that a few days before the scheduled end of our trip, my wife got word that her mother in the States was unexpectedly near death. Contact between Cuba and the USA is still difficult, but we managed to reach Karin, and she moved heaven and earth in the wee hours at long distance, on short notice, to arrange an abrupt departure so that my wife could rejoin her mom before she passed. We will always be grateful for that help in need, and for that reason alone I would recommend Espiritu to anyone and everyone. But, apart from that, the quality of the tour itself should make it your first choice.

Hi Carlos and Karen
The Soul of Cuba tour was excellent and exceeded all my expectations, the accommodation was also better than I had envisioned and the people were the most friendly and helpful I have met.
Carlos your passion and pride for your country, your knowledge and presentation of the points of interest in the various areas was clear and honest. You took us through many parts that few people get to see (the real Cuba) and I am telling people that a stop on a cruise would give a very different view.
The places you recommended for dinner were fantastic very good food and service and great prices, again places few people traveling alone would find.
Bob brought up a point that a lot of Americans like 1 week tours and I can see his point having worked for most of my life, however personally I would not change a thing.
The places we visited, the guides you selected made the trip and I liked the distance between Havana and Spíritus and the Bay of Pigs and Havana as they were about as far as I would want to sit in a car.
My favorite casa was Santa Elena the roof top sitting area, the evening meal and friendliness made a huge impression. The climb and horse back ride were excellent even though my butt is still sore, also the stop at the beach for a swim, lunch and drinks.

Thanks for everything you did to make the trip memorable, and all the best for the future I know it will be a huge success.
Your friend
Chris

I've traveled a lot, and this was one of my very best trips. Tai, our guide, and David, our driver, couldn't have been better. Cuba is a beautiful country with friendly and lively people. The trip was really well organized, and the places we stayed and the restaurants we went to were perfect. I recommend this trip wholeheartedly.

I have always wanted to go to Cuba and mentioned this to a travel agent whom I had booked with a few times prior. She found Espiritu Travel and sent me their information. After reviewing all the selections, Uncovering Cuba in February 2018 was the one I picked. It had some cultural as well as outdoor activities included in the itinerary which is exactly what I wanted, as well as it fitting into my designated vacation time.
Please know, normally I am an independent traveler so I really was not keen on a group. We had 5 people total in my group and not everyone was at the same physical level nor had the same interests. So that part required lots of patience. It would be helpful if everyone understood the necessities that this trip required. Even though Espiritu gave us an appropriate look at the trip (through written information), not everyone had read it thoroughly and therefore there were some misinterpretations. I did my best to put this aside and enjoy the wonder that is Cuba!
Our guide Eisor was fabulous. He treated everyone with respect and kindness, ensuring our needs were met and giving us many amazing opportunities. I have lots of food allergies and Eisor absolutely made sure I always had plenty to eat, safely. He and our driver Santiago certainly made the trip a wonderful adventure.
I would suggest that the classic car ride in Havana be during the day. Our ride was in the evening and although enjoyable, I would have preferred to ride through Havana in the daytime to see the sites in daylight.
All our guides were well informed and interesting. I especially enjoyed our guide in Trinidad. She gave us a comprehensive view of her hometown. She has lived in Trinidad all of her life, so her insider’s view was amazing. The pottery studio was such a gem to experience.
All of the Casa’s were clean, neat and comfortable. I so enjoyed interacting with the owners and/ or the managers of the Casa’s. They were all friendly and inviting. I feel as if I made some new friends and do hope to return one day.

Espíritu Travel organized a three-week solo trip to Colombia for me and everything went very smoothly. The itinerary took into consideration my personal interests in architecture, archeological sites, markets and wonderful landscapes. It included time spent at a farm near Villa de Leyva and hiking in the Páramo de Ocetá . All drivers were very prudent, all guides were very competent and dedicated to making this trip a memorable one. This was my first trip with Espíritu Travel and I am looking forward to traveling to other destinations offered by this company. Look no further and book your trip to Colombia with Espíritu Travel.

The initial service in booking was good and itinerary ,choice of sights , accommodations and restaurants was excellent . The tour guide as world class with exceptional personality that went beyond to make sure our visit was enjoyable .

This tour uses knowledgeable friendly local guides and stays in small casas in regular neighborhoods. You get a good sense of daily life for ordinary Cubans. Activities are varied and include urban walks, mountain hikes, horseback ride, museums, snorkeling, and lots of delicious meals in unassuming family owned restaurants.
Groups are very small. Our group of five was small enough that we could experience local scenes without overwhelming them.
Karin was very helpful and responsive in helping us plan before the tour.

Fernando was a very good guide - very flexible and willing to work with us to change the itinerary if we wanted to change things around. He did an excellent job of explaining what we were seeing and its significance. Everyone we met was very friendly and helpful - especially the casa particular owners and their families. Going to Havana for a few days and then to the country for a few days was the perfect mix to get a feel for the differences in city vs rural life. The tour of the St. Thomas cave in Vinales was truly spectacular.

This trip is a must for those who think more government control of the economy will improve economic conditions. A real eye opener !!

We had a great expirience with espiritu Travel, we chose a weekend in Havana and had an amazing time, each of our three days started at 8 am with breakfast in our casa and later we were greeted by our amazing guide Santy and Carlos our fantastic driver. We had a walkig tour though entire Havana, shopped at the market, and had the best mojitos we have ever tasted, visited many historic sites, drove by the town in cool old car, we saw many interesting monumets,sites and dined and great places that served super fresh and delisious meals, not mentioning drinking the best cofee at the Maria Cafe in Las Terrazas. Thanks to our exceptional guide Santy we even managed to visit a beach and spent our last afternoon swimming and relaxing even though it was not a part of our trip. Santy and Carlos were able to accomodate our extra requests, and went above and beyond to make our trip spectacular. Big thanks to Karin for arranging such an amazing adventure we will never forget and also to Santy and Carlos!

Just got back from 11 days in Cuba. After much painstaking research about which tour agency to use, settled on Espiritu and was so happy we did. They are the BEST! It was our first (but not our last) visit to Cuba and Karin Eckhard was always available to answer every single question I threw at her, no matter how ridiculous it seemed. She got back to me right away. Having visited many countries and worked with many tour agencies, I can tell right away if someone cares about my interests and is willing to work with me to get the most out of the travel experience (and within the budget). Espiritu is that company.
I also really appreciated that Karin made changes to the itinerary I suggested because she knew it was “too much” or “not enough time.” Besides the itinerary, “what to bring” and other great tips (like leave your expectations at home), Karin also suggested we check out “The Cubre Libre Story” (8 episodes) on Netflix that was really helpful in terms of historical context.
We booked a private tour from Havana to Santiago de Cuba because we wanted to see as much of the island as possible, not just the western half. That's a lot of driving and a lot of seeing. It was more than worth it. Karin paired us with Mario as guide and driver. He was awesome, knowledgeable, attentive, professional, funny, a great driver, and so obviously enjoyed showing off Cuba to us. All of the other local guides and trips we took from an architectural tour of Havana, cooking class, tour of Santiago de Cuba, to the incredible hike to the Comandancia de la Plata in the Sierra Maestra were equally terrific. My only regret is that I do not speak Spanish because I would have loved to have gotten to know our casa owners better. As it was, they were all welcoming, friendly, and hospitable. The casas Karin arranged for us were excellent.
I can’t say enough about the trip. Except can’t wait to go back.
THANK YOU ESPIRITU TRAVEL!

We had a fantastic time on Espiratu's "Hello Cuba" tour. We have never done a group tour before and the idea of a "small group" tour appealed to us. We loved our guide, Yilian, and our driver, Frank. They took excellent care of us, which felt luxurious and reassuring! The tour was well-planned by Karin, and she was responsive and helpful throughout. We packed a lot into a short time but it didn't feel hectic. My husband and I highly recommend Espiratu and our Cuba tour was the trip of a lifetime and a "bucket list" adventure!

The very best company I have worked with, indeed.
In more than 18 years in the tourism industry in Cuba, I have never seen any other tours so well organized and someone so focused on satisfying customers as much as Karin Eckhard, I so mean it.

Carlos Enrique González.
C.E.O & Founder The Real Cuba.

I am fairly adverse to group tours (like to arrange everything myself), so booked with Espiritu given the small group size (maximum of 6). There were 3 of us on the tour, 2 of us who are old friends and 1 extra person who also signed up for the tour. These tours work best I believe if all people are compatible in terms of interests and physical abilities. In general, I thought the trip was well organized, with a lot of diversity to what we saw and did. The casas where we stayed were basic, but exceptionally clean, and located in convenient locations, although there was not always hot water. Two, however, did not really qualify as casas particulares as the hosts were not living on site and we were alone most of the time in the casa (they showed up to make breakfast). In Trinidad, where we had the nicest casa, there was a lot of street noise, which may have just related to the fact that there was a fair going on outside the casa. Our guide Mario was knowledgeable and went out of his way to try to provide us with lots of unique experiences (he even got us ballet tickets at the National Theatre in Havana on one of our free evenings). The food at all the restaurants was excellent. We also went on several tours, which were combined with another Espiritu group that was doing the same tour that we were doing. This increased our group size to 9 for these excursions, but fortunately we enjoyed the company of the others on this group. All in all, I think this was quite a good tour which exposed us to a lot and did allow us to learn more about the culture of Cuba.

Six of us went on a family trip. The entire journey was wonderful. Our guide, Carlos Gonzalez, was very knowledgeable and entertaining. At the end of our time, he was like family. Cuba is welcoming, very safe, has extraordinary food and wonderful music. Our night at the Buena Vista Social Club was a special, one in a lifetime, treat. We also had a private concert by a local Son band while we we out for dinner one night. This was fabulous. The accommodations were all excellent with nice private bathrooms and air conditioning. Breakfast was always included and comprised fresh fruit, juice, eggs, toast, and some special sweet treats at times. Couldn't have been better. We have traveled on will continents, and found this tour delightful. Bravo!

We just recently traveled to Columbia with Espiritu Travel. This is our second trip with Espiritu. We have been very happy with the personal service we received while planning and during our trips to Columbia as well as our trip to Cuba last year. We would highly recommend using Espiritu Travel and will use them again.