Habana, Cuba

Located 90 or so miles off the coast of Florida USA, the Spanish-speaking, cigar making island of Cuba is a must-see as it is an eye-opening experience of hot weather, brilliant landscapes, colourful architecture, very (and sometimes annoyingly) friendly people and, more visibly, a culture where music is their first language, salsa dancing their second and Spanish their third.

You may question whether Cuba really came out of the 1950s. A very low percentage of the population own a mobile phone, (locals often choosing the aged public telephones on the walls on the main streets despite owning mobiles), and an even lower percentage have internet access. Classic 1950s Chevrolets are as common in Cuba as VWs are in the UK & Europe and it is not unusual to see horse and carts used for both tourism as well as commercial purposes.

Do not expect Wi-Fi, do not expect 3G signal. Do not expect free internet at hotels, do not expect a cable you can plug your laptop into. You will find none of these (perhaps Wi-Fi in one or two hotels in Varadero but that’s all). Expect to finally be away from those luxuries as you forget about facebook, youtube, email, the internet, cable tv, cars with electric windows (or windows that work for that matter) and fully absorb the Cuban way of life, first hand, in all of its colourful glory.

IMPORTANT: If arriving into Havana ensure you have a decent amount of cash in your home currency. The Cuban CUC (pronounced ‘cook’ and stands for CUban Convertible Peso) is a closed currency and only available to buy in Cuba. DO NOT RELY ON ATMS/CASH MACHINES as they are broken more often than they are working and are renowned for swallowing your cards. We arrived expecting to use one but both of the two machines in Havana Airport were broken. It was purely planned that we had USD :P otherwise it would have made for an interesting afternoon of hustling. We found more cash machines in town which were also broken. A taxi into Havana from the airport should cost no more than 20 CUCs (you will probably be told 40 by the driver as a first option).

So bring cash and change it at either one of the two desks near the exit in the airport. Down the line if you want to access more money you can go to a bank in town – and this means one that you can walk into and see someone at a counter who can swipe your credit card and hand you the cash. You must take your Passport and Cuban Visa.

Breathe in the fumes from the old cars, hustle for cheap cab fares, struggle with the language (if you can’t speak Spanish) and have broken conversations with the locals (Cubans love to talk and are very helpful) and then spend your CUCs and laugh while you’re doing it. I lost count of how many times I said “gracias” (or “no comprende”) Cuba is a very safe place – the only thing to be wary of is hiring a car – one story we heard from frequent travellers to Cuba described how police can pull you over for no reason, ask you for money and if you don’t pay up you may end up in jail – but that sounded like absolute worst case scenario. 
Getting off buses, expect to be surrounded by a bazillion people wanting to take you to their homes (Casa Particulars).

The problem with Cuba (and I speak generally) from a tourist experience point of view is the food. This is not the fault of the hotels as it exists across ALL hotels (with the exception of tourist mecca Varadero). Coco Pops taste like wet cardboard, the flavour of the bacon makes you want to hurl (said my friend, since i am a vegeterian, so you can assumei had no options :P) and the fruit often inviting. My suggestion is to opt for scrambled eggs or omelettes. Failing that, go for toast… This may be different if you choose to stay in a Casa Particular as you are likely to get a home cooked meal.

If you’re staying in the centre of Havana and wish to travel to either Cienfuegos or Trinidad by bus your best option is to pop on over to the Hotel Ingleterra (across the road from the Parque Central Hotel in the centre of the old town), go to the travel desk and book a Cubanacan bus. You just sit in the main hotel foyer, the bus pulls up, a guide wearing a red top walks in and calls out “Trinidad” and you board the bus. This bus stops in Cienfuegos before it heads onwards to Trinidad.

You would be crazy not to do a full-day tour to the Vinales Valley from Havana (3hrs each way) as it is well worth the trip and absolutely beautiful. We hired a vintage car and did our tour to Vinales. It was absolutely beautiful but extremely hot. Remember not AC's in your cars. 

VIAZUL BUSES

Travelling by Viazul bus is the most popular option for tourists travelling around Cuba. These are new air conditioned coaches and leave approx. twice a day (one morning, one afternoon). Take a cardigan/light jacket as, depending on the driver, the air con can reach rather arctic temperatures.

Procedure: You have to show up to the Viazul terminal the day before your bus leaves and write your name in the reservation book in order to secure your place on the bus for the next day. On the day of departure you arrive to the terminal half an hour before the bus leaves and pay your fare and then you are given tickets.

In Havana the Viazul terminal is a considerable distance away from the town centre so for this particular leg it is MUCH easier (and almost the same price) to use the Cubanacan company bus mentioned above. Both bus companies stop off for refreshments – on most trips, not all.

VARADERO 

Varadero is a long, thin peninsula that sticks out from the north Cuban coast. The peninsula is lined with hotels of various star ratings (I can recommend Hotel Blau – 4 star with its amazing pool, indoor bar, pool bar AND beach bar) and has an open top bus which stops through most of them. You can go clubbing at other hotels along the strip if your hotel does not offer club nights.  

Varadero is about a 2.5 hour drive east from Havana, has its own airport and a large quantity of tourists to Cuba only stay in Varadero (it’s very easy to do with the all-inclusive hotel deals) and do a day trip to Havana. You will notice that stepping out of Varadero is like jumping through a time portal, transporting you back to 1950s Cuba with its old towns, cars, horse & carts, houses, livestock on the streets and locals salsa dancing at night under the lights of their porches. If you want to experience Cuban culture properly then my advice is to see other places in Cuba first then perhaps finish up your holiday with a week or so on the beach in Varadero.

Most (4 star and above) hotels have bus transfer options to both Varadero & Havana Airports. Bus transfer to Havana Airport from Varadero is CUC $25.00 each (approx.. 2.5hr journey).

We travelled to Havana, Vinales, Trinidad, Cienfuegos, Santa Clara and Varadero over a two week period. 

Don’t be afraid to give belongings that you genuinely don’t need to friendly Cubans you meet or ones who do special things for you. We had a tour bus driver who was saying he was saving up for a new pair of shoes but couldn’t afford any (many Cubans rely on CUC $250.00 a year salaries) then a fellow traveller gave the driver his (great condition) shoes as they were the same size which reduced the driver to tears. Simple for us, unimaginable for them. We left all our toileteries and extra toileteries we took back in Cuba. They have no access to those and they end up asking tourists for these. We happenned to take more than we needed so we left those with them.

Luggage Checklist:
Hat
Sunglasses
Strong Sunscreen
Strong Mosquito Repellent
Mosquito Bite Cream/Spray
Anti diarrhoea tablets.