Cuba off your own back...........
Discussion
Has anyone done this?
We have some flights on hold through our Virgin points to Cuba in July for 14 nights. No accomodation booked at all. Have never been to Cuba before, but had a few beers in a Cuban restaurant today, and thought it would be a good idea!
How easy is it to get around on our own? We expect to see poverty, but I have travelled through India, and South East Asia, so thinking it would probably be fairly similar. Although I am aware that there could be issues with restricted areas of the country. Has anyone done this?
We fly into Havana, so thinking about a night there, before heading off to a resort for a a week of lazing, and then work our way back to Havana for another couple of nights before getting on the plane back. We have heard about "b&b's" where people rent their rooms out, and you get a bit of the cuban experience that we like the sound of.
Should we confirm the booking? Or are we being naive here!? What resort should we head for and how do we get there?
We have some flights on hold through our Virgin points to Cuba in July for 14 nights. No accomodation booked at all. Have never been to Cuba before, but had a few beers in a Cuban restaurant today, and thought it would be a good idea!
How easy is it to get around on our own? We expect to see poverty, but I have travelled through India, and South East Asia, so thinking it would probably be fairly similar. Although I am aware that there could be issues with restricted areas of the country. Has anyone done this?
We fly into Havana, so thinking about a night there, before heading off to a resort for a a week of lazing, and then work our way back to Havana for another couple of nights before getting on the plane back. We have heard about "b&b's" where people rent their rooms out, and you get a bit of the cuban experience that we like the sound of.
Should we confirm the booking? Or are we being naive here!? What resort should we head for and how do we get there?
This is a blatant plug, but still...
My brother is, in his words, the world's leading travel writer on Cuba. His book 'Cuba', for Moon Travel, available from all good bookstores, should tell you all you need to know.
More info at www.christopherbaker.com.
Must get there myself one day...
Hope this helps
Jono
My brother is, in his words, the world's leading travel writer on Cuba. His book 'Cuba', for Moon Travel, available from all good bookstores, should tell you all you need to know.
More info at www.christopherbaker.com.
Must get there myself one day...
Hope this helps
Jono
I did this when I was a student and had no money. We had the first and last nights in Havana booked, I think that we had to at that time to get into the country, this was in 2005.
You dont need a car in Havana itself, most of the city is walkable and there are also loads of taxis.
We hired a car for a few days and drove down to Santa Clara and a few places around there, including Varadeo for a night and Cayo Coco for a day trip. We found it really easy to get around. If you get lost, like we did, then pick up a hitch hiker. Many people hitch hike in Cuba and it seemed quite safe, and they will be able to give you directions, which you will need as threre arent really any road signs.
Its super easy to find a casa particulare (b&b) wherever you go, apart from the places like cayo coco and varadeo that are only built for the all inclusive tourist, b&b's are illegal in these areas as the whole resort is government owned, but if you speak to the right people and explain that you really have not much money then you should be able to find one.
We ended up having to give the hire car back early to get our deposit back as we ran out of money, we were in santa clara at this point. And we managed to get back to Havana for like £2 by hitch hiking. The bus was IIRC about £30 each and looked quite comfortable.
There are trains which also seem quite reliable, although I havent been on them.
The poverty situation isnt as bad as some countries but the people are mostly very poor. Although Cuba does have one of the best education and health systems in the wolrd. Also there arent really many people starving as the government give out food stamp to everyone, I think they get some rice free everyday. You will still see beggers, but they are mostly in the touristy areas of Havana.
I would HIGHLY reccomend going it alone, you will see more of the country and meet the people which is always the best part. It is interesting to find out what the average cuban thinks of their country and their government.
You dont need a car in Havana itself, most of the city is walkable and there are also loads of taxis.
We hired a car for a few days and drove down to Santa Clara and a few places around there, including Varadeo for a night and Cayo Coco for a day trip. We found it really easy to get around. If you get lost, like we did, then pick up a hitch hiker. Many people hitch hike in Cuba and it seemed quite safe, and they will be able to give you directions, which you will need as threre arent really any road signs.
Its super easy to find a casa particulare (b&b) wherever you go, apart from the places like cayo coco and varadeo that are only built for the all inclusive tourist, b&b's are illegal in these areas as the whole resort is government owned, but if you speak to the right people and explain that you really have not much money then you should be able to find one.
We ended up having to give the hire car back early to get our deposit back as we ran out of money, we were in santa clara at this point. And we managed to get back to Havana for like £2 by hitch hiking. The bus was IIRC about £30 each and looked quite comfortable.
There are trains which also seem quite reliable, although I havent been on them.
The poverty situation isnt as bad as some countries but the people are mostly very poor. Although Cuba does have one of the best education and health systems in the wolrd. Also there arent really many people starving as the government give out food stamp to everyone, I think they get some rice free everyday. You will still see beggers, but they are mostly in the touristy areas of Havana.
I would HIGHLY reccomend going it alone, you will see more of the country and meet the people which is always the best part. It is interesting to find out what the average cuban thinks of their country and their government.
Thanks for the replies. Books look good - so will probably purchase one.
Flights booked to and from Havana! Now for the rest.
Looking at getting an internal flight to Holguin on the day we arrive in Havana, to an all inclusive resort (probably Guardalavaca) for 7 nights of relaxing. Then making our way from East to West back to spend a couple of nights in Havana.
Anyone know if 2 or 3 nights would be best for Havana?
Flights booked to and from Havana! Now for the rest.
Looking at getting an internal flight to Holguin on the day we arrive in Havana, to an all inclusive resort (probably Guardalavaca) for 7 nights of relaxing. Then making our way from East to West back to spend a couple of nights in Havana.
Anyone know if 2 or 3 nights would be best for Havana?
We went to Cuba a few years ago and did Guadalavaca and then Havana. We stayed at an all inclusive resort in Guadalavaca called the Costa de la verde (or something like that). It was average to say the least, full of Canadians who started drinking at breakfast and organised pool side games all day. There was also about two or three weddings a day, on a production line just going through the pool side area.
Relaxing or luxurious it was not! It was all-inclusive but what was included was very limited. It was also in the middle of nowhere so you were stuck there. We took a bus ride to Guadalavaca town and it was disapointing, not much there and just stalls full of Che tshirts, certainly no local culture or sights.
My advice would be spend more time in Havana and skip Guadalavaca (unless it has improved considerably in the last couple of years!)
Enjoy the airport security too!!!! It is chaos queueing for security on the way out of the country, make sure you arrive very early for your return flight. Hundreds of passengers all shoving one another to get through three doors when you are 'interviewed' in private. If your other half goes through first you have no idea if they have made it until you get through!
Cuba is great, but Havana is what you want to see, the all inclusive resorts will disapoint as you could be anywhere in the world and they don't do all inclusive well.
Relaxing or luxurious it was not! It was all-inclusive but what was included was very limited. It was also in the middle of nowhere so you were stuck there. We took a bus ride to Guadalavaca town and it was disapointing, not much there and just stalls full of Che tshirts, certainly no local culture or sights.
My advice would be spend more time in Havana and skip Guadalavaca (unless it has improved considerably in the last couple of years!)
Enjoy the airport security too!!!! It is chaos queueing for security on the way out of the country, make sure you arrive very early for your return flight. Hundreds of passengers all shoving one another to get through three doors when you are 'interviewed' in private. If your other half goes through first you have no idea if they have made it until you get through!
Cuba is great, but Havana is what you want to see, the all inclusive resorts will disapoint as you could be anywhere in the world and they don't do all inclusive well.
It is about time I actually did something here with regards to putting an itinerary together, and booking some accomodation. We need at least a first nights accomodation before we can even get a visa.
Our initial plan was to get off the plane from UK in Havana, jump on a plane to Holguin on the night of arrival, and then make our way to Guardalavaca for 4 day/nights relaxing. We ARE going to book 3 nights in Havana at the end. We are only going for 2 weeks, so this would give us 7 days to travel from Guardalavaca to Havana, seeing a bit of the culture.
However after sitting down and reading through the travel books this weekend - everything seems to advise against taking an internal flight! Also - with regards to this years hassle with flights, if we were to be delayed with our transatlantic flight, we would likely lose any money on internal flights booked, and accomodation paid for in Guardalavaca. It is a days travel by train across country so not too keen on this as we only have 14 nights.
So I am now thinking of booking one night in Havana just to get our visa, and having somewhere to stay. We then want 4 days relaxing somewhere. Then to travel around for a bit - making it as far as Trinidad at least, and taking in Santa Clara, and Cienfuegos. So where is a nice area to spend 4 days laying by a pool that we can reach from Havana easily?
Has anyone any experience of any of these places?
Everywhere seems to advise booking casa-particulares in advance - but as we are not sure how long it will take to travel it is proving difficult to plan. It is not as easy as an Asia back packing turn up in town, and find digs.
Are we being over cautious with everything here? Will it all fall into place when we get there? Or do we really need to be military planning like it feels we are?
Our initial plan was to get off the plane from UK in Havana, jump on a plane to Holguin on the night of arrival, and then make our way to Guardalavaca for 4 day/nights relaxing. We ARE going to book 3 nights in Havana at the end. We are only going for 2 weeks, so this would give us 7 days to travel from Guardalavaca to Havana, seeing a bit of the culture.
However after sitting down and reading through the travel books this weekend - everything seems to advise against taking an internal flight! Also - with regards to this years hassle with flights, if we were to be delayed with our transatlantic flight, we would likely lose any money on internal flights booked, and accomodation paid for in Guardalavaca. It is a days travel by train across country so not too keen on this as we only have 14 nights.
So I am now thinking of booking one night in Havana just to get our visa, and having somewhere to stay. We then want 4 days relaxing somewhere. Then to travel around for a bit - making it as far as Trinidad at least, and taking in Santa Clara, and Cienfuegos. So where is a nice area to spend 4 days laying by a pool that we can reach from Havana easily?
Has anyone any experience of any of these places?
Everywhere seems to advise booking casa-particulares in advance - but as we are not sure how long it will take to travel it is proving difficult to plan. It is not as easy as an Asia back packing turn up in town, and find digs.
Are we being over cautious with everything here? Will it all fall into place when we get there? Or do we really need to be military planning like it feels we are?
No-one got any ideas here?
Have been posting on other travel forums as well - but seems people either go for the two weeks in all inc, and then do a three day tour to Havana, or they do the true backpacking and see what happens when they get there.
Seems to be no "middle ground" way of doing it that people have done that I am looking for.
Have been posting on other travel forums as well - but seems people either go for the two weeks in all inc, and then do a three day tour to Havana, or they do the true backpacking and see what happens when they get there.
Seems to be no "middle ground" way of doing it that people have done that I am looking for.
We just tended to turn up at a few places, you can normally find somewhere to stay at the last minute. Just book one night in Havana then get the train across the country, this will be awesome and is something that I would have liked to do myself. You will probably meet some really friendly interesting people on the train and you will get to see some of the country side. Win win really. Plus depending on timing it might save you a nights accomodation. 
There is always the option of hiring a car if you have the money, that can be quite good fun. But top tip, check the wheel nuts before going anywhere and also get a GOOD map of Havana.
If you are doing Cuba off your own back and only have 14 days there why waste 4 days sitting on a beach? You can do that with the all inclusives.
There is always the option of hiring a car if you have the money, that can be quite good fun. But top tip, check the wheel nuts before going anywhere and also get a GOOD map of Havana.
If you are doing Cuba off your own back and only have 14 days there why waste 4 days sitting on a beach? You can do that with the all inclusives.
What I was looking for was a rough idea of how far we could travel in a week, without spending all the time on buses and trains, and still getting to see some of the real country rather than just the resort. However we don't really fancy slumming it all the time. Also we really need to combine a travelling holiday with a relax as well.
I think we have found an intinerary after an evenings homework yesterday. Not booked yet - but this is what we are looking at.
Night 1 - Havana Vedado - Hotel Melia Cohibia
Night 2 - 6 - Varadero - Hotel - Iberostar Varadero
Night 7 & 8 - Santa Clara - Unknown Casa Particular
Night 9, 10, 11 - Trinidad - Unknown Casa Particular
Night 12, 13, 14 - Havana Old Town - Hotel Parque Central
The only tough bit is the travel - seems we cannot book buses more than 6 days in advance of travel. So fingers crossed there is room on the bus when we want to travel!
So anyone got any experience of the locations, or hotels above?
Looking forward to it now.
I think we have found an intinerary after an evenings homework yesterday. Not booked yet - but this is what we are looking at.
Night 1 - Havana Vedado - Hotel Melia Cohibia
Night 2 - 6 - Varadero - Hotel - Iberostar Varadero
Night 7 & 8 - Santa Clara - Unknown Casa Particular
Night 9, 10, 11 - Trinidad - Unknown Casa Particular
Night 12, 13, 14 - Havana Old Town - Hotel Parque Central
The only tough bit is the travel - seems we cannot book buses more than 6 days in advance of travel. So fingers crossed there is room on the bus when we want to travel!
So anyone got any experience of the locations, or hotels above?
Looking forward to it now.
MElliottUK said:
Nice hotel, there are 2 Iberostars in Varadaro, there is a brand new one called 'Blau' get that one if you can.
That sounds a bit German! Blue? My Spanish is not great but I think Azul is blue...... So I am assuming you mean this hotel?
http://www.iberostar.com/EN/-hotels/Iberostar-Lagu...
The prices are the same for both hotels. i.e. extortionate!
If you cant get a bus then you can hitch hike quite safely. But I think that there will always be spaces on the busses as they are quite expensive for the Cubans so it tends to be mostly travelers and richer cubans on them.
Santa Clara is an amazing place and it is super easy to find a Casa Particular if the first one you come to doesn't have space then they will send you in the direction of one that does have space. Its so easy. Also they tend to great you with half a grapefruit which is super tasty in the heat.
You will have an AWESOME time, its such a fab country, and the people are really friendly although they aren't really allowed to talk to tourists which is strange.
Santa Clara is an amazing place and it is super easy to find a Casa Particular if the first one you come to doesn't have space then they will send you in the direction of one that does have space. Its so easy. Also they tend to great you with half a grapefruit which is super tasty in the heat.
You will have an AWESOME time, its such a fab country, and the people are really friendly although they aren't really allowed to talk to tourists which is strange.
Fats25 said:
Has anyone done this?
We have some flights on hold through our Virgin points to Cuba in July for 14 nights. No accomodation booked at all. Have never been to Cuba before, but had a few beers in a Cuban restaurant today, and thought it would be a good idea!
How easy is it to get around on our own? We expect to see poverty, but I have travelled through India, and South East Asia, so thinking it would probably be fairly similar. Although I am aware that there could be issues with restricted areas of the country. Has anyone done this?
We fly into Havana, so thinking about a night there, before heading off to a resort for a a week of lazing, and then work our way back to Havana for another couple of nights before getting on the plane back. We have heard about "b&b's" where people rent their rooms out, and you get a bit of the cuban experience that we like the sound of.
Should we confirm the booking? Or are we being naive here!? What resort should we head for and how do we get there?
I did it twice back in 2001 or 2002 its really no problem , the resorts are horrible not Cuba at all , Havanna is a great place with beaches up the coast Marina Hemmingway for example We have some flights on hold through our Virgin points to Cuba in July for 14 nights. No accomodation booked at all. Have never been to Cuba before, but had a few beers in a Cuban restaurant today, and thought it would be a good idea!
How easy is it to get around on our own? We expect to see poverty, but I have travelled through India, and South East Asia, so thinking it would probably be fairly similar. Although I am aware that there could be issues with restricted areas of the country. Has anyone done this?
We fly into Havana, so thinking about a night there, before heading off to a resort for a a week of lazing, and then work our way back to Havana for another couple of nights before getting on the plane back. We have heard about "b&b's" where people rent their rooms out, and you get a bit of the cuban experience that we like the sound of.
Should we confirm the booking? Or are we being naive here!? What resort should we head for and how do we get there?
Maria La Gorda is a dive resort on the far west tip of Cuba and is heaven on earth (or it was) 1 small hotel with 30 rooms and the nicest most deserted beach you will ever see, and the best diving i have ever done
The bigest problem you will have is that most flights land late at night , my advice would be to book only for the first night then look around Havana old town there are some beautiful small hotels there and the cost peanuts
(or did) Hostel Los frailes is a big old nobelmans villa converted into a hotel i had a junior suite which cost $72 a night and it wa first class , the old town s buzzing with great bars with live music , here are some pics
enjoy Maria La Gorda
El Comandante
Any more questions just ask
MElliottUK said:
Fats25 said:
Night 2 - 6 - Varadero - Hotel - Iberostar Varadero
Looking forward to it now.
Nice hotel, there are 2 Iberostars in Varadaro, there is a brand new one called 'Blau' get that one if you can.Looking forward to it now.
It is such a special place i just Love Havana Lost soul said:
Please PLEASE do not go to Varadaro it i a tourist rat hole we went there because we were told its so beautiful it is about as Cuban as Torremolinos is Spanish we stayed 1 night then went back to Havana
I need a tourist rat hole. Just for a few days - I need somewhere with a pool, where I can drink beer and read a book for a few days, with no hassle, no beggars, no locals, no effort! Just somewhere to sit in the sun, as we have not done this for years. We need some lazy time.Then we can get on with the rest of our holiday, hence the travelling to see the real Cuba afterwards. Hopefully best of both worlds.
Edited by Fats25 on Friday 11th June 15:36
Fats25 said:
MElliottUK said:
Nice hotel, there are 2 Iberostars in Varadaro, there is a brand new one called 'Blau' get that one if you can.
That sounds a bit German! Blue? My Spanish is not great but I think Azul is blue...... So I am assuming you mean this hotel?
http://www.iberostar.com/EN/-hotels/Iberostar-Lagu...
The prices are the same for both hotels. i.e. extortionate!
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