Cuba - Things to do
Discussion
Havana - City tour. Place de la revolution. Rum factory. Cigar factory. Art Market. Drink plenty of Mojitos etc. Try food from the street (get a small amount of local currency from an exchange - just change one or two CUC's - should be enough!). Smoke a cigar (just be wary of the locals selling ones on the street, they probably aren't real and could be made with anything (including, as has been known, banana skins!) - splash out on a proper one!). Have a walk down the Malecon at sunset, listening to the locals playing music, dancing and drinking rum! Go to the large fort on the harbour, and listen for the cannon at the end of the 'open hours' for the harbour (can't remember what time, about 6 or 7 I think!). Walk around La Habana Vieja (Old Havana) - Obispo is the main street. Finally, talk to people with a smile on your face! You will get people trying to sell you stuff, or help you in some way. I found talking to them while smiling, having a joke with them etc was the best way. They will inevitably end up asking where you are from and want to know more about your home town etc. If you are by yourself in a bar, expect to be approached by young ladies asking if you want some company... or even have their brothers trying to sell them (personal experience just walking down the street!).
For dinner, if you want to try something other than your hotel, I can definitely recommend a place (that the name escapes me of!) on the street called Prado. Its on the same side of the road as the Hotel Sevilla and around that part of the road. Basically the building contains about 5 restaurants. We went to the roof garden one - absolutely stunning. Could have been a good restaurant in London, but with better weather and views! Had the fillet steak, beers, desert - came to less than £20!!
With regards to your all inclusive madness - depending on what trips they do, I can recommend:
Vinales
Trinidad
Che Guevara Memorial/Monument/Mausoleum
You'll possibly get offered a catamaran trip to a Cayo (Key - as in Florida Keys!), not sure would be worth it if you have a beach holiday already, but always an experience.
I didn't do any of the all inclusive stuff, just travelled around so not sure what excursions there are from Varadeo.
Expect to eat "Moros y Christianos" (rice and beans) with pork or chicken at most places, although the couple I spoke to on the way home said that they didn't have that at all at their all inclusive place..... but its lovely! The bean soup they do is great too - normally a starter, but a few keep hold of it until main course and pour it over the rice!
Have fun - I loved it over there and will go back at some point to cover off the east of the island, and the bits in the West I didn't see. Cuba isn't as cheap a place as some people think - I spent about £600 in 10 days, but that included most dinners & lunches (breakfasts were included), beers, souvenirs, dancing lesson etc!
Finally, if you get the chance, have a Salsa lesson!! Wish I had the card of the lesson that we had in Havana, but if you go to Trinidad, go to the Casa De La Musica during the day and you can get lessons for less than a tenner! Its worth it just to say you learnt Salsa in Cuba.. (And Trinidad is the home of it - people go there for a month at a time to learn!). Enjoy - I'm jealous!!!!
PS - Trinidad - its a town in Cuba... not the country! World Heritage status - its definitely something else, and has a great art & craft market (although on further travelling of the country, it could possibly be all mass produced... hmmmm!).
For dinner, if you want to try something other than your hotel, I can definitely recommend a place (that the name escapes me of!) on the street called Prado. Its on the same side of the road as the Hotel Sevilla and around that part of the road. Basically the building contains about 5 restaurants. We went to the roof garden one - absolutely stunning. Could have been a good restaurant in London, but with better weather and views! Had the fillet steak, beers, desert - came to less than £20!!
With regards to your all inclusive madness - depending on what trips they do, I can recommend:
Vinales
Trinidad
Che Guevara Memorial/Monument/Mausoleum
You'll possibly get offered a catamaran trip to a Cayo (Key - as in Florida Keys!), not sure would be worth it if you have a beach holiday already, but always an experience.
I didn't do any of the all inclusive stuff, just travelled around so not sure what excursions there are from Varadeo.
Expect to eat "Moros y Christianos" (rice and beans) with pork or chicken at most places, although the couple I spoke to on the way home said that they didn't have that at all at their all inclusive place..... but its lovely! The bean soup they do is great too - normally a starter, but a few keep hold of it until main course and pour it over the rice!
Have fun - I loved it over there and will go back at some point to cover off the east of the island, and the bits in the West I didn't see. Cuba isn't as cheap a place as some people think - I spent about £600 in 10 days, but that included most dinners & lunches (breakfasts were included), beers, souvenirs, dancing lesson etc!
Finally, if you get the chance, have a Salsa lesson!! Wish I had the card of the lesson that we had in Havana, but if you go to Trinidad, go to the Casa De La Musica during the day and you can get lessons for less than a tenner! Its worth it just to say you learnt Salsa in Cuba.. (And Trinidad is the home of it - people go there for a month at a time to learn!). Enjoy - I'm jealous!!!!
PS - Trinidad - its a town in Cuba... not the country! World Heritage status - its definitely something else, and has a great art & craft market (although on further travelling of the country, it could possibly be all mass produced... hmmmm!).
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