Cuba is a very diverse country with a stunning nature, lovely culture, very good music, and interesting history. I have met many people who had traveled to Cuba, and it turns out that you will either hate Cuba or you love it. I fell in love with Cuba, so it is no surprise that Cuba is the only country in the world I have visited twice for vacation. The first time I rent a car and drove alone all over the island – alone, without navigation system only with screenshots of google maps on my mobile…The 2nd time I did a Spanish and Salsa course in Havanna followed by a relaxing beach vacation at Cayo Coco.
Cuba – Background and General Information
Cuba is a communist country. This means when it comes to, e.g., food, each person gets a certain amount of meat, rice, etc. for free each month. Everything going beyond this defined amount needs to be paid by the consumer, and the prices are very high compared to the low income. Each person or family has a ration book, you need to show when doing your grocery shopping. I had never seen a ration book, so I went into a store and asked them whether they can show it to me and they did – Never hesitate to ask questions. Usually, the people are happy to explain and share their experience.
Often meat is purchased at the beginning of the month, while at the end of the month there is no money/ration left – butchers, of course, adjust the supply accordingly, and you might see quite empty butcher shops at the end of the month. When it comes to education, education is free, including universities. The quality is rather good. I know some people from countries like Ecuador, who went to Cuba to study due to its quality and affordability. However, a university degree does not mean that you will find a job in the area, and you might have to follow another profession with a lower income.
What I also noticed in
Cuba is a very high tolerance level and an absent of racism (at least what I
experienced). Cuba is a true melting pot mixing the best of the Caribbean, Africa,
the US, Russia, China, Spain, etc. all together. Given that Raul Castro`s
daughter is a lesbian herself, she has been doing lots of work for the LGBTI
community.
When it comes do dancing Salsa, you just dance and have fun, no matter with
whom. Man dance with Man, Women with Women, Black with White on It is about
celebrating life – not more not less. Hearing music in the streets, dancing in
the streets is quite common and an aspect, I totally enjoy. Cuba is not only
famous for “Buena Vista Social Club”, but also for great – more temporary
musicians like Leonie Torres (e.g. Soledad) or Gente de Zona (e.g. La
Gozadera).
To get around on the island, you can either rent a car (preferably with navigation system), or you take the buses from the company Viazul, which is the bus company dedicated to transporting tourists. The other public buses are usually not allowed to carry tourists. The Viazul buses are of course more expensive than the other buses, but still you only pay 10-25USD per person depending on the destination. Up to 1 week before you can buy the tickets online at https://www.viazul.com/. If you like to travel more spontaneous you have to purchase the tickets at the terminals. It happened to me only once that the bus was sold out and I had to wait for the next. In such a situation you could also group to getter with other people heading the same way and negotiate with a taxi driver/ collectivo in front of the terminal. The prices are usually still okay if split amongst enough people.
Unless you want to enjoy a 5-Star All-inclusive vacation, I highly recommend to avoid hotels and stay instead in the accommodation offered by locals (called Casa Particular). It is a little bit like a homestay, but with a private bed- and bathroom. You can find some of them on booking.com or Airbnb. In cities like Viñales or Trinidad it is often best to search a hostel once you have arrived in the town. My experience is that those accommodations are much cleaner than hotels and the families are super friendly, even cooking for you dinner or lunch if you ask for it (of course at additional costs, but very reasonable) and they will usually help you with any question you might have. Most however only speak Spanish, so some Spanish skills are recommended. A stay in such a casa particular usually costs 25USD irrespective of the number of people staying there. You might wonder why this is so “expensive” given that at the local market food is so cheap. The thing is that the taxes are quite high and the owners of such accommodation need to pay the taxes monthly independent of whether they had guests or not, so the money their earn also has to cover the taxes in months with fewer tourists.
Another curious thing is that Cuba has two currencies, not just one. There is the CUC, Peso Convertible, for which the exchange rate is set 1:1 with the US-Dollar and the CUP, also called Peso Cubano. As all-inclusive tourist you might be able to avoid using CUC or CUP and pay everything in USD instead, but if you really want to dive into the Cuban life, including visiting local markets, buying food from local stores, you will very likely have to use CUP. 1CUC is approx. 25 CUP.
Havanna / La Habana
I believe everyone has this picture of colourful vintage cars and colonial architecture in mind when someone mentions Cuba or Havanna. And yes, in the historic city center you will find plenty of those cars, driving on the Malecón or standing in front of the Capitol.
If you like to get a ride in such a car without spending lots of money, you can take a collectivo in Cuba. They usually drive between the historic center and Miramar on the Malecon and then on Avenida 3.There are of course not as good restored as the ones for the “touristic” tours, but taking a collectivo is a cheap way to get around and it is unbelievable how many people fit into one. Once I was in one with I think ten people. As we were one group sitting on each other was not an issue… But yeah even if you are not traveling in a group, it can get full 😉. When you see such a car on Avenida 3 / Malecon, wave them, and they will stop. Just let the driver know where you want to go and he will let you out at the right spot. The price is usually the same irrespective of the distance.
You best explore the city center (Habana Vieja) on foot. For other sights outside of the center, the tourist bus (leaving, e.g. at the Parque Central) is a good way to see the city like the José Martí Memorial, Plaza de la Revolución or the Parque Alemendares.
My personal highlights were the Rum Museum (Havanna Rum) to learn how rum is made; you can also do a rum tasting there. If you want to enjoy beautiful architecture you should not miss seeing the Capitol, Paseo del Prado and the Gran Teatro de la Habana. The cathedral and the basilica (as well as the surrounding area) are of course worth visiting as well. If you like to learn more about the revolution and Cuban history, the museum of the revolution is a must.
For nightlife I can recommend the following clubs: Casa de la Musica de Miramar. They have mainly Salsa and a live band on Fridays. If you want to experience a very different kind of club – you should go to Fábrica de Arte Cubano. It is a club and art gallery all in one. The music range is quite broad – given that there are different floors – reaching from House/Tecno to Rock. There is also a small food court on the ground floor.
If you want to spend a day at the beach, you can go to Playa del Este. It is the beach for Habaneros, so on the weekend or during vacations it can get crowded. The area of the beach we were was impressive – palm trees, fine sand and not too many people (during the week). It is a perfect getaway – if you only have a couple of days in Cuba and still want to enjoy a beach day.
Looking for a good restaurant in Havanna?
In the center, I like “Café de Paris” a lot. They have good food and often live music. If you have been staying a while in Cuba, the food can become a little bit boring. In Miramar on Avenida 3 you can find an excellent Italian restaurant with delicious Pizza (La Carboncita). If you like Chinese food, you need to go to Avenida 3A. If you are in front of the Hotel Comodoro, cross Avenida 3 and continue on the small street (on the right is a delicious fruit and juice stand!) and turn the next small street right (that’s 3A). I think it is the 2nd house on the right. It looks like a usual house, but on the 1st floor you will find the restaurant. Just enter the house and go one level up. It is tiny restaurant, but with delicious food at reasonable prices.
Viñales – Valley of Mogotes
You have no idea what a Mogote is? Me neither before I traveled to Cuba. It seems that Viñales was once located on a high plateau, which consisted of many caves and lots of underwater rivers, making the plateau finally collapse. What is left are the Mogotes – a bizarre mountain formation of isolated hills with steep sides.
In Viñales you can do quite a few things, so you might want to stay two days here. If you do not have so much time, you can take the “Tourist bus”, which stops at all interesting areas around the town – like the caves, the painted wall, a tobacco farm, etc. Be cautious; the tourist bus does not wait for you, once everyone got off the bus and the others on, it will drive to the next location so that you might be stuck at a place for a while. This happened to me at the “Mural de la Prehistoria”. After looking around and sitting there for a couple of minutes waiting for the bus, I was persuaded to have a Piña Colada – at 10 in the morning 😊, so it might be best to rush off the bus, take one pic and get on again. In the tobacco farm, I got stuck again, this time with a German couple. I tasted my first (and last) cigar. I felt very dizzy afterwards, but I am not sure whether that was due to the tobacco or the two Mojitos we drank at the farm. If you do not like to take the tourist bus you can also rent bicycles. Except for the viewpoint, bikes are a good and not too tedious option – or you can go horse riding.
Viazul operates buses to Viñales. If you go by car, the street is tiny, but beautiful passing by many villages and the view on some parts of the street is impressive.
Trinidad – My favourite city in Cuba
I love Trinidad so much that I went to this city twice. The town is so beautiful with its colourful houses and the copple stone streets, has an excellent nightlife and the beach is close by inviting you to relax during the day. Just look at the pictures, I guess they say enough. The center is free of cars and horses. There is only one street in the center, where horses are allowed, and it is getting so busy there. Just walk around and enjoy the beauty of this place. The central park, the souvenir market and of course the restaurants.
A must do is to go to the bar “Taberna La Canchanchara”. Often they have excellent live music, but even more important, you can try Canchancara there – even in the afternoons. Canchanchara is a very typical drink made of 7-year old Rum (usually Havanna – given that the Bacardi family turned their back on Cuba or Mulatta), lemon, water, honey and ice cubes. You need to stir it before drinking – otherwise the honey will just sink to the bottom making the drink taste very strong.
During the day the city can get bustling due to many buses arriving from Varadero with “All-inclusive tourists” making a day trip. The best thing to do is to go to the beach and spent a couple of hours there. It is not the most beautiful beach in Cuba, but much better than many beaches in the world. There is a tourist bus leaving from Trinidad to the beach several times a day, just ask your hostel owner about the time and the bus stop.
In the evening the “all-inclusive tourists” are gone again, and you can enjoy the city and the multiple dining options (unfortunately often a little bit pricy). Around 8 pm you can go to the Casa de la Musica listening to a live band, watching people dance salsa or you can dance yourself. If you are not yet tired and want to dance more to Merengue or Reggeaton, there is a club at the end of Casa de la Musica. There are a few steps leading down into a house. However, when you look up, you will see the stars as there is no ceiling. Another discotheque I really love is Ayala. You need to walk up the hill (ask the locals, they will guide you the way). On the way you might be offered a cocktail to go for just 1 USD. Don`t be shy; the cocktails are really good 😊. Once we arrived at Ayala (I remet the German couply from Viñales and were accompanied by more friends of them), I was totally stunned. The discotheque is not in a house or tent but in a cave. After entering the cave, many steps will lead further into the mountain, and finally you will arrive at the dancefloor. This discotheque is fantastic and even if you do not like Latin American music, it is worth to visit due to its unique location. I was partying until the early morning hours, and after just 1,5h of sleep I had to get up to ensure, I am arriving in Santiago de Cuba before sunset. I was alone – driving more than 10h on terrible roads (there as just re-building one of the major highways…) but my adrenaline kept me awake 😊
A curious thing I have learned in Trinidad is that many Cubans have a special love for birds. Especially in Trinidad I saw many people walking around carrying a cage with their bird inside. The are not just walking in the streets like this, when they just come from the pet store or the vet, no they go walking with their birds, so that they can enjoy seeing something else than the house.
Santiago de Cuba – beautiful architecture
Santiago is a huge city, and I mainly saw the center except the roads leading in /out of the city. Unfortunately, my timing was terrible. There was a cholera epedemie in 2015, and I arrived precisely during this time. Many museums were closed in order to limit the spread of the disease. Given that Cuba is very good when it comes to healthcare, all stores, restaurants, etc. had at the entrance some spray to wash the hands and even a “towel” on the floor,you just stepped on it to disinfect your shoes.
I actually came mainly because of the museums. But ok instead I enjoyed the archticture and made a trip to the Parque Nacional de Gran Pedra. As my hotel (I had a hotel as I expected to arrive quite late) told me, I cannot drive there in my car, but need a 4×4, I hired a driver to bring me to this place. It was beautiful, I learned a lot, but if you travel alone, the price is barely worth it.
Restaurants in the center were in 2015 difficult to find. There are many touristic restaurants, but I am not paying more for a meal than I would pay in Germany, so I was quite constrained.
I also had the impression, that in Santiago the food supply is a little bit more difficult than in areas closer to the capital. In restaurants or the hotel I was often told, that at the moment, they do not have, what I wanted to order. One morning after the hotel told me, that they run out of eggs and cheese, I ordered a “Vegetable Sandwich” as breakfast. Seems the only vegetable they had was onions, so this is what I got:
Guardalavaca – Beautiful beaches
Given that I ran out of ideas on what to do in Santiago with all museums closed, I left a day earlier than expected and drove to Guardalavaca (“Protect the cow”). Probably the town was called slightly different in the past “Protect the ship” given that pirates were active in this area.
I refueled my car before leaving Santiago, but the road led through tiny villages without gas station and my tank was getting lower and lower, so I had to decide to drive to Holguin and make quite a large detour, but I was sure in Holguin there would have a gas station. I was getting anxious but luckily made it in time without running out of gas. I was already thinking of what happens if I – a woman alone – has an issue with the car in the middle of nowhere, without a working mobile phone (yes in 2015 my mobile did not work in Cuba). But the good thing is, Cuba is one of the safest countries in the world, and people are super helpful. Someone would have probably given me a ride to the next gas station or similar.
In Guardalava and the surrounding villages, you can find stunning beaches. Directly in Guardalavaca most accommodations are all-inclusive resorts; in the neighboring communities, you can also find hostels. The beach is probably the most awesome one I had seen until then (only Cayo Coco or the Demonican Republic can top it). I am an early-birdy, so I was usually alone at the beach for a couple of hours allowing me to take excellent pictures.
In the hotel I was staying, I met a Cuban guy, a hotel guest himself, who started talking German with me out of nowhere, I still do not know why he knew that I was German. Anyhow, we spoke with each other every now and then we met at the resort, and finally, he asked me whether I could give him a ride to Holguin. As I planned to give back my car in Holguin and take the night bus to Varadero, I anyhow had to go there, but still I was not sure, whether giving a foreign man a ride in my rental car is a good idea. But I did it, and it was the right choice. He was nice, so not a creepy guy flirting with me – no, not at all. He told me about his family living in Germany (the wife is German) and that his family is from the area of Holguin. He promised to give me a city tour in exchange, and he did. We met a female friend of him in Holguin, and the two showed me the city. I was even invited to the house of the friend, so I had the chance to see how Cubans are living, and that was so interesting for me. The houses in the towns are usually very narrow, maybe 3-4meters. And one house stands next to each other. When the house has two floors, usually two families are living in the house, and with family I mean grandparents, parents, etc. So the house is really full. As the house is so narrow the first room is usually the living room, and at the back of the house you have the kitchen and the bathroom – to ensure there is a window close by. The bedrooms are between the living room and the kitchen, i.e. if you want to go to the kitchen or the bathroom you have to go through each bedroom and a bedroom is just a tiny room with a bed, nothing more. I still do not know where they put the clothes or the school things for the kids.
Varadero – The most famous and busiest beach in Cuba
Varadero is the spot for all-inclusive hotels especially for Europeans due to the direct flights from Europe (e.g. Frankfurt) to Varadero. In the town you will also find some hostels if you prefer to travel on budget. The hostel owner will be able to let you know how to go to the beach. As I was spending my money here in Varadero – I went for a very nice all-inclusive hotel with discotheque and evening shows, so I have honestly not seen much of the town, I have only been to the area around the Viazul bus station, where you can find souvenirs and restaurants/bars.
Cayo Coco – Paradies Island
Cayo Coco is a beautiful coral island which is connected by a causeway to the main island. It also has a small airport that has direct connections to Canada and of course cities within Cuba. Due to this, most visitors come from Canada. I was in Cayo Coco in June 2017 and I saw hundreds of pink flamingos there. Besides the beautiful beaches the flamingos are the main attraction of the island. A friend of mine visited Cayo Coco in Nov 2017, just two months after Hurrican Irma hit Cuba and some other countries. She told me, that she only saw maybe five flamingos. It seems that many animals died in the storm. I hope that the flamingo population has recovered since then.
Maria La Gorda
This place is very remote. It is best to go there by rental car or by taxi from Pinar del Rio. The road is not a highway; you need to drive quite slowly around 50km/h, so it takes some time to arrive there. The place mainly consists of one resort, which is offering diving or snorkeling excursions. You can also learn diving here. Given that this place is very remote I can only recommend it to people who are into diving or who want to learn how to dive.
More photos will follow !
Wanderlust 