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Travel Tips for Cuba: Sights, Prices and Personal Insights

Fascinating vintage car
Travel Tips for Cuba: Enjoy the beauty of the old cars!

You gotta be quicker than Mc Donald’s!! 

In January I watched the news and panicked! Ok…wait!! This sounds wrong, I mean I was happy to hear that the US changed their Cuba sanctions. But I knew that these changes would mean the beginning of a process that I did not want to see…Don’t take me wrong, I understand that Cuba needs this change (given that it will bring positive effects for the Cuban people, hopefully!!), but from a travellers point of view this was shocking news! I wanted to see Cuba BEFORE Mcdonald’s and Starbucks arrive!

So, with sweaty hands I sent off a message to a friend who just asked me if I had any travel plans for the upcoming spring… I did now! Let’s go to Cuba ASAP!! We booked our flights for March anxious to get there in time before the Americans would 🙂 Puhhh, and we just arrived in time….actually when we got there it looked very much the way it must have looked for the past decades: old cars, old buildings, horse carriages, rusty bicycles, hardly any internet access, regulated wages etc. We made it and saw Cuba in its very surreal and unchanged state. Check out our travel tips for Cuba!

jeyjetter.com: travel tips for Cuba with prices and personal insights

With 3 million inhabitants, Cuba’s capital is busy and full of life. Havana is also the starting point for most travellers, even though there are some other cities that operate internationally. For example, from Canada you can fly into Varadero, where you’ll find one of the most popular beaches in Cuba. We didn’t go there though because it sounded very much developed and crowded… Anyways, in Havana we learned a lot about the local mix of cigars, rum and music. In combination with all those  vintage cars that are still driving the streets of Havana, it gives this city a special vibe.

jeyjetter.com: travel tips for Cuba with prices and personal insights
Full of contrasts – old run down buildings and old but well maintained cars….
jeyjetter.com: travel tips for Cuba with prices and personal insights
Stuck in time: In Cuba you feel like you’re back in the 60s, like here when you pick up your medicine at the pharmacy!

GENERAL INFO

  • MONEY:

There are two currencies in Cuba: CUC and Moneda Nacional. CUC (Cuban Universal Currency) is for tourists, so if you want to pay local prices go change your CUCs and get Moneda Nacional. For us (in March 2015) the value was as follows: 1 Euro=1,05 CUC –> 1 CUC=25 Moneda Nacional. You can get Moneda Nacional in a bank or money exchange places.

jeyjetter.com: travel tips for Cuba with prices and personal insights
Pesos in Moneda Nacional versus the tourist currency CUC.
  • ACCOMMODATION:

If you are travelling on a budget like we did and don’t want to stay in hotels, don’t think of the usual hostel as an alternative! In Cuba you’ll find the so-called “Casa Particulares”. This means that some Cubans have a licence to rent out a room in their house. They offer usually bed and breakfast, some even cook you lunch and dinner if you don’t like to eat out. In some places we actually ate better food cooked from our host mummas than in a restaurant. So, I’d say it is worth trying their cooking at least sometimes. This way you also support your host family rather than a restaurant, which we found a nice way to say thank you for their (VERY awesome) hospitality.

jeyjetter.com: travel tips for Cuba with prices and personal insights
We even got picked up one time with a sign that said: Elena + Julia 😀
  • SCAMS:

In general I would say that Cuba is a very safe country to travel through. But like everywhere else you have to be smart and alert about your things. Plus, it has become a “sport” of some Cubans to make some extra money on the side with tourists. So, for example booking rooms in advance can turn out to be used as such an opportunity: We booked our very first “Casa particular” for Havana online, just because we thought it would be hassle free to arrive in Havana knowing an address to go to…well, it usually is more comfortable not having to look around with your backpack on your shoulders after a long flight and perhaps a jet lag, but in our case it actually took us longer to get to the final destination…. The reason: Our reservation was apparently made by the owner of the house, who was gone on holiday for a few weeks and who must have messed up our booking.

So, even though we showed our email confirmation to the couple who took care of the place while the owner was away, they said they had never heard of our reservation and therefore had no room for us. BUT, no problem, we could stay at their place instead! Long story short, we stayed, because we were tired and all worked out ok. But it was far away from Havana’s centre (35 min by local bus). And afterwards we read in the “Lonely Planet” that this was a classical scam and trick to make some extra money on pre-bookings… BUT, we didn’t pay more for the room, we had our breakfast included and a nice and clean room. So, all in all, not too bad either. Still, you might want to keep this in mind before making a reservation in advance!

 

Cuban women with cigars: travel tips for Cuba with prices and personal insights
Women on the rise! Cuban women not only manage the bookings and rentals, they smoke cigars and attract tourists just like Cuban caballeros do!
  • TRANSPORTATION:

Funny signs: travel tips for Cuba.

There is a bus company called Viazul (www.viazul.com) that connects many of the places in Cuba. Make sure to check their website though for the actual schedule…we relied on the Lonely Planet one time and missed the bus from Santiago de Cuba to Baracoa. And in general: IT’S FREEZING!! Be aware that in ALL the Viazul busses the AC is on very low and can’t be regulated! So before you board, make sure to take out all the sweaters, long pants and towels that you have in your luggage, no kidding, you will need it, especially if you travel over night!  Also, at some bus stations Viazul workers set up signs that say 1 CUC for your luggage…we spoke to one of the drivers one day and he told us that these signs are not official/not from the company, it’s just another way to earn a bit extra… you decide!

  • LEAVING CUBA:

Save 25 CUC for the fee you’ll have to pay at the airport when leaving Cuba!

Patriots: travel tips for Cuba with prices and personal insights
Three weeks full of music, cigars and very friendly people!! Viva Cuba 😀

THE ROUTE – 3 weeks is not enough time!!!

So if you want to go and follow our route, here is what we did, how much we spent and where we went…very detailed and very specific for those who’d like to get some ideas and are like us on the run to still see Cuba in its momentary state!

Havana (3 days):

  • Arriving at the airport, we got out money from the ATM: there is a 3% charge. Later we saw that if you bring cash you can exchange money at the exchange office on the second floor – with no charge!
  • A taxi from the airport to the city centre/Havana Vieja: 25 CUC
  • We stayed in a “Casa particular” (see general info above) for 20 CUC/per night incl. breakfast (I won’t recommend this one though because it was outside of Havana (see the “Scams” info above)
  • Hop-on Hop-off Sightseeing City Tour: 5 CUC for a day pass (nice way to avoid walking around in the heat!)
  • The local bus is 0,20 Pesos (Moneda Nacional) each trip
Old cars in front of the 'White House': travel tips for Cuba with prices and personal insights
Vintage cars everywhere – this one in front of the White House “El Capitolio”
  • Sights: Capitol, Malecon, Calle Obispo (good for shopping, bars/restaurant and coconut ice cream out of coconut shells!! mmm)
Coconut icecream: travel tips for Cuba with prices and personal insights
So yummy!!! Coconut ice cream out of real coconut shells 😀
  • “Havana Vieja” (the old town of Havana) is worth a stroll to stop for a Mojito or Cuba Libre! It is actually part of the UNESCO world heritage list and you can tell that this nomination caused a wave of restoration of many buildings in that part of the city. You are walking through cute little streets and pass by bright coloured houses with a lot of music and art on the street.
Take a sightseeing bus to save you time: travel tips for Cuba.
Good way to save some energy for more sightseeing by foot: 5 CUC for a hop-on-hop-off day ticket

Playa Larga/Bay of Pigs (2 days):

  • The Viazul Bus leaves (or at least did so in March!) at 7am from Havana to Playa Larga for 12 CUC/person.
  • “Hostal” Legendario, really the only hostel-like place which is directly at the beach and offers small rooms with a little terrace, breakfast, a welcome drink for 25 CUC. Some evenings they offer salsa classes for free (we missed it) and have a big dinner option for 8 CUC with ocean view….
  • The beach “Playa Larga” was nice, even though the name “long beach” sounds longer than it actually is…
Playa Larga: one stop of our travel tips for Cuba
“Playa Larga” – a cute beach at the historic Bay of Pigs
  • There is just one restaurant on the main road which offers food (around 5 CUC) and then you can get something to eat at the kiosk. That’s about it…or else you eat in your “Casa”…it’s a very small place, so you might wanna bring food!
  • We went scuba diving for 25 CUC (with licence) at the local dive centre Octupus Club. Diving for beginners without a licence is 35 CUC and snorkelling 10 CUC: all you need to do is let your host know that you want to go the next day and they call the company that picks up all the tourist in the area with a big (SCHOOL!!) bus and bring them to the dive centre 15 minutes away from Playa Larga.
Ready to go diving? Check out Playa Larga's nearest dive spots!
Brave Elena who went diving just like a pro!

Travel Tips for Cuba, Cienfuegos (1 day):

  • So here is a tricky one…leaving Playa Larga is a bit of a juggle: you can either wait for the Viazul Bus that comes around 9 or 9:30am and pay 8 CUC once you board…IF there is a seat left! Or you negotiate with the taxi drivers that hang out at the bus stop and offer you the same price like the bus ticket, because they also know about the sometimes fully booked Viazul Buses. We ended up taking their offer for 1 CUC less per person just because we thought it’s a nice change and travelling in an “Oldtimer” was very cool 🙂
  • Casa la Fuente Oraldo & Olivia, 25 CUC incl. breakfast: very nice building, high colonial ceilings, very lovely people, yummy breakfast!!
  • Sights: Old town/city centre, waterfront, beach about 15km by local bus, national park El Nicho (we skipped that one but heard it’s a nice park!)

Travel tips for Cuba

Travel tips for Cuba: Cienfuegos at sunset.

Trinidad (2 days):

  • We liked the taxi idea and drove for 5 CUC from Cienfuegos to Trinidad (instead for 6 CUC by bus) with 3 other travellers…the taxis only leave when their car is full…and by full means 5 people in a normal car, sometimes 6! 🙂
In the taxi to the next stop: Cuban taxis are cool vintage cars!
You can’t see it, but there are four people on the backseat 🙂
  • We stayed in a private house which had no license…so I’d rather not name it here.
Travel tips for Cuba: Motorbike in Trinidad
Streets of Trinidad…
  • We rode our bikes (3 CUC organised by our host mum) to the beach “Playa Ancon” (12 km), nice trip, sandy beach!
  • Sights: Old town, Plaza Mayor
Patria o Muerte: Travel tips for Cuba
On the way to the beach, we passed by MANY propaganda signs… actually you see them everywhere in Cuba!
Travel tips for Cuba: You'll find beautiful beaches all over the island!
“Playa Ancor”: A 20 minute bike ride away from Trinidad

Santa Clara (2 days):

  • This time we took the bus again, 8 CUC from Trinidad
  • And like before, we found our place to stay after arriving. Just walking down the street after leaving the bus terminal someone recommended a place….and we found out later that it was not an licensed one…we paid 20 CUC incl. breakfast
  • Santa Clara is all about history! Here you can soak up Che Guevara’s impressive journey!

P1130118 P1130159

P1130130

  • Sights: Che Monument and Mausoleum, tobacco production place, train monument, old city centre
Tobacco fabric
Fabric where the tobaccos are made…usually open for visitors but that day we couldn’t go inside because the roof was in risk to fall down. Needless to say, that the company cared about protecting tourists to get hurt, but they did not so much about their workers…
Cuban cigars are a must-try: Travel tips for Cuba.
And just when we left the entrance area of the fabric, one of the workers came out after ending his shift and he offered us Cuban Cigar for a very special price…1 CUC one tobacco…freshly rolled 🙂

Santiago de Cuba (3 days):

  • We went with the overnight bus from Santa Clara to Santiago which left at 7:30pm and arrived at 7am in Santiago: 33 CUC (bring your blankets!!)
  • Casa 15 CUC incl. breakfast
  • Usually people go on a tour and see “El Salto” which is a waterfall, but for us it wasn’t possible to go because it was too dry, so there was no water…
  • And we met many people going on a 1-2 day tour to the national park with the highest mountain of Cuba “Pico Turquino”. we didn’t go there either, because we spent more time exploring the city

Travel tips for Cuba: Santiago de Cuba

  • Nightlife:  Casa de la Trova, Casa de Artes
Casa de la Musica: Travel Tips for Cuba
Casa de la Musica in Santiago de Cuba

 

Baracoa (3 days):

  • By bus from Santiago to Baracoa: 15 CUC
  • Casa Onilda: 15 CUC incl. breakfast: very nice place, beautiful big room and lovely people!!
  • Baracoa is known for great food, it’s the chocolate/coconut area with also a lot of natural beauty products on offers, great seafood too!!
  • Sights: Hiking trip with guide to Humboldt National Park, incl. 1 hour at beautiful Playa Managua
  • Mountain hike to “El Yunque”
  • “Playa Blanca” don’t get fooled by everyone who says it’s a nice beach (and bring 2CUC for entry fee!)… but I’d suggest walking towards the beach anyways, because the old wooden bridge was fun and beautiful when the sun sets!
  • Indiana Jones feeling 🙂
  • If you want to go to Holguin from here, keep in mind that the busses only go Wednesdays and Saturdays!!
  • We went back to Santiago for one night to break up the LOOONG way back…
Hiking through Humboldt National Park. Travel tips for Cuba.
Hiking through Humboldt National Park.

Baracoa is a must-see when in Cuba!

Ciego de Avila/Moron (2 days):

  • The bus is 24 CUC from Santiago de Cuba. From there we took a taxi to Moron for 20 CUC/car (we were 4 persons)
  • So Moron is the starting point to get to Cayo Coco…. THE MOST GORGEOUS BEACH on Cuba!! But there are only few places to stay on Cayo Coco (and mostly high-end hotels). Still, you end up driving for one hour in a taxi for 60 CUC/car (if you are four people that’s ok…), but it would be a lot more relaxed just to stay there…perhaps worth the money
  • Make sure you have your passport with you when going to Cayo Coco, don’t leave it in the hotel! There is a police control for EVERYONE who enters the area. There are many different beaches on Cayo Coco (which is actually an island connected with a long street constructed in the water…), we went to the beaches Playa Larga and Playa Pilar
  • On the way we stopped to see Flamingos!

 

Ciego de Avila: travel tips for Cuba.
No words needed here!

 

 

 

 

Viñales (4 days):

  • Now followed our longest and most complicated trip: by taxi (2 CUC) we went from Moron back to Ciego de Avila
  • From there we took the local bus to Havana (wooden seats and packed), stopped WAY out of Havana…so we had to find another bus to Havana centre…
  • then we missed the bus and paid a taxi driver to Vinales: 15 CUC/person: which was nice because I made a comment on the nice car and the driver let me drive it for a bit 😀
  • There are places everywhere to stay…you don’t need to worry, you’ll find a “Casa” without knowing beforehand. Ours had no name, so hard to recommend and was 20 CUC incl. breakfast
  • Sights: It’s all about the valley in Vinales!!! We made a tour on a horseback in order to see the gorgeous “Valle de Vinales’: 3-5 CUC/hour
  • Go watch the sunset in “Valle de Silencio” (Silent Valley)
  • After all that long bus rides we were ready for massage: 25 CUC/hour
  • People told us about a day trip to a dive spot/beach called “Maria Gorda”…but we were too lazy and didn’t go!
Viñales: travel tips for Cuba
Beautiful valley, with a very lush green landscape!
Viñales: travel tips for Cuba
The best way to discover the valley is on the back of a horse!

Playa del Este (20 km East of Havana):

  • Just at the end of our trip, we needed beach time. So we decided to spend our two last days before heading back to Havana at the beach. Unfortunately it was a bit crowded and a lot of people left their trash/rum bottles at the beach…
  • There are plenty of places to stay for 25 CUC without breakfast, when you arrive in Guanabo just ask around. We got one 2 minutes after getting off the bus…
  • Take a “collectivo” (taxi) for 2 CUC per Person if you have a lot of luggage and don’t want to squeeze in the local bus that runs from there frequently

playadeleste1

Last night in Havana:

  • Just before leaving Cuba, we wanted to get THE picture in a classical old car, so we paid 10 CUC to a guy with a very nice car to take us for a short ride at the Malecon (the famous harbour promenade) for one last ride and THE picture 🙂
  • Our last evening we met up with an old friend of mine from Munich and his newly wed wife (they got married in Havana and were on their honeymoon). We celebrated with Mojitos and said Goodbye to a wonderful Cuba!
The classical shot in Havana: cigars and vintage cars!
The classical shot in Havana: cigars in a vintage car 😉

 

Thanks a lot to my travel buddy Elena from whom I learned that raw garlic can be your best choice if you don’t have a spread for your bread. And who wrote down all these details for her friend who lent us her “Lonely Planet” before that friend even had travelled to Cuba herself… (but that’s a different story) 😀

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Cuba Travel Tips Plus Itinerary

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Did you like this post? Have you been to Cuba? Please leave a comment, if you have any other advice! Your feedback is highly appreciated!

 

 

By Julia Jerg

Julia is the founder and chief editor of Jey Jetter, a site that showcases the option of working remotely and travel as much as you like. Julia is a former PR/marketing consultant who turned into a remote working social media manager, travel writer and public speaker living location independently since 2011. She has been to 86 countries on all 6 continents and lived in several different countries for more than six months. Her laptop is her office and the label 'digital nomad' fits best to describe her lifestyle. On this site, she writes about personal freedom, remote work and her passion for travelling.

18 replies on “Travel Tips for Cuba: Sights, Prices and Personal Insights”

Hi there,
I just read your blog and cuba sounds amazing! Im travelling to Cuba in January from Australia. Did you have any problems taking money out of the ATM? I have heard often that peoples cards do not work in cuba? Thanks

Hi Rony, thanks for your comment!! Cuba is great, loved it!! My friend and I both had Visa cards and we never had any problems. At some ATMs the ATM fee was bigger than with other banks, so we would always try to find the lowest one, but we always got money out!! Have fun and let me know how you liked it please!! Happy travels

We too would like to go sooner rather than later- do you think the old cars will go after it becomes Westernized? It is one of the things I always love in pictures of Cuba.

You know, I think it will take quite some time to see a real visual change in Cuba. Havana might be the place that changes quicker than the rest of the country (today even you can see a mix of newer and the old cars). But out on the countryside in the smaller towns and villages you will probably not see things changing within many years… When you go make sure you get out of Havana too!!

Would love to visit Cuba sooner rather than later. It sounds like Casa Particular is a version of Airbnb but with real people. Like many other people, we hope that any changes will be positive. Love the photo with the cigar special

Thanks, your comment means a lot to me!! Glad I can reach out to people and make them wanna travel! Yes, nice comparison with Airbnb, perhaps in Cuba it’s a bit more personal.. 🙂 Hope you can make it there soon, it’s worth going!! Happy travels 😀

found your post via Nomads on fb… great post, greatly appreciated the info regarding transportation. Would you have any comments regarding hiking and camping around Cuba? Thank you!

thanks so much, great that you liked my post!! I have not seen many campgrounds to be honest…wouldn’t be able to give you any advice on that one. But definitely try the hikes that I did in the Baracoa are and Vinales. There are many more hiking spots in general, national parks and a lot of trails on offer, we just did only the two that I described in my post…hope you’ll have, let me know if you need any additional info!! Happy travels 😀

Looks like an amazing trip! I can’t wait to go! Hopefully McDonald’s takes a little longer 😉

Fun post! I would love to visit Cuba some day and your pictures are just adding to my reasons to go!

Would love to visit Cuba! I have never heard much about it since last year, but then all of the sudden everyone was going to Cuba. I’ve seen so many beautiful photos since then that I couldn’t help but putting it on my bucketlist as well! Loved your article, this made my urge to go even worse. Definitely saving this!

Thank you so much for your great feedback! I know, Cuba is now getting a lot of attention, we definitely could see many tourists around! Have fun there, whenever it may be!! Happy travels 😀

Haha! That’s exactly what my husband and I said as soon as were heard the travel restrictions had been lifted. But alas, our travel calendar was already full, so I suspect by the time we get there every fast food chain in America will have beaten us.

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