Baracoa, Santiago, Bayamo, Sancti Spiritus, Trinidad,

Cienfuegos, Vinales & Havana. We expect to be delayed in

some places because we like them too much (Baracoa?
Trinidad?), thereby causing us to skip or shorten other
places (Santiago?).

Bayamo, Sancti Spirtus & Cienfuegos are small, 1 or 2

nights would be enough in my opinion. Do stay to spend
some time in Santa Clara also, especially if you're
interested in Che.

Bayamo is probably the most pleasant of the provincial

capitals, but if you just stay right in town, as Poster #1 says,
it's pretty small for 3 days. What you'd need three days
there for would be if you wanted to go from Bayamo up
into the Sierra Maestra for an overnight in the mountains.
Then return to Bayamo and catch the midnight bus to
Sancti Spiritu (getting you in around 6 AM.)
Once again, you're going to need half a day minimum to
find a place to stay and rest up from the overnight bus trip,
before getting out to explore the town. That one afternoon
walkabout should let you know if you want to spend more
days there, or want to catch the bus on to Trinidad the
following morning.

Almost anything you choose to do in the Trinidad area is

going to take the better part of a day--say, going to the
beach, or going horseback riding, or taking a taxi to Topes
de Collantes and a hike through the cloud forest. So you'll
need more time there--or less--depending on how
interested you are in doing more than roaming around the
main square snapping photos of quaint colonial
architecture. What you'll find in Trinidad you'll also find in
Cienfuegos, except that Cienfuegos is a bigger city so
anything you want to do there will probably take longer.

Havana and Vinales are where you will probably benefit

from spending more nights, Vinales because everything
there is to do in that area--beaching on the offshore
islands, hiking or horseback riding through the mogotes,
visiting the Gran Caverna de Santo Tomas--need about a
day. Not that you will be DOING that thing all day, but what
with getting the activity organized, getting to/from, and
other stuff like finding food or just chilling will make one
activity a day pretty much the max you will be able to
manage unless you want to end up as stressed as a parent
taking a kid through Disneyworld. The same you-need-
more-time-than-you-think applies even more so to
Havana, because of its size.

And, of course, there is your final night, which absolutely

should be spent in Santa Clara, since you're flying out of
there. If you leave Havana on the 9:30 AM bus, you'd be in
Santa Clara around 2 PM, and that would be just about
right for visiting the Che memorial/masoleum/museum,
finding a place to stay, and having dinner, maybe in the
downtown core so you can take a stroll around the main
square and feel that you have "seen" Santa Clara. Which
you will have, sort of.