Holidays in Cuba

[mefein]

Any advice on holidaying in Cuba? All advice welcome.

 

[Fidel]

Wonderful Cuba

Hi Mefein,

My wife and I travelled to Cuba a few years back. We booked our holiday thro’ Michael @ GetCuba Travel (at least I think this the name) in Dublin. We flew with Aeroflot from Shannon. The flight wasn’t too bad but Havana Airport was a bit daunting, lots of security and police. Each passenger had to go thro’ a cubicle to show a passport and be checked by police, I told my wife we were to be stripped searched!

We were staying in Varadero for 2 weeks and returning to Havana for 3 nights.
Varadero is about 2 to 3 hours from Havana, it is situated on the north of the island. We stayed in a child free hotel (can’t remember the name (Breezes ?), we booked all inclusive, the place was spotless, nice food, fronting onto the beach, bar and hot snacks near beach for refreshments. The beach was out of this world, don’t like nude or topless sunbathing, but you can get away with it in the late evening, we even went skinny-dipping. The staff are so friendly and helpful, always smiling. We didn’t book many of the tours but there was lots to do, we went on a glass-floored boat to see the coral and fish.

We stayed in a rather Grand hotel in Havana, a bit expensive but we felt we would treat ourselves before going home to our 2 kids. Rooftop pool over looking the main streets and slums – good and the bad! There is a lot of poverty but it still a lovely city, lots of live music on the streets, nice old buildings to visit and a very long and packed street market.

The only accepted currency was the dollar but I think the Euro may now be accepted; bring some small notes for arrival because everyone wants a tip. You should always try to have single dollar notes available, try to keep them in bunches of 2 to 3, this way you should only ever have to pay out 3 at most.

Rum was cheap but I found the cigars were expensive – still cheaper than here.

Enjoy you holiday.

 

[CM]

..

Went there on me holliers last year, it’s a great place.

I’d stay in Havana for a couple of days, but not much longer than that, and then make my way down to Trinidad, and into the Sierra Maestra to follow in the footsteps of Che.

Once you get out of Havana, the people are really amazing, and many of them want to talk to you, even if you don’t speak Spanish ! Kids will also love to have their photo taken. If you have a digital camera, then so much the better, as many of them will not have seen their own photo before.

To be honest, I’d use a tour group for travelling around, as it is a Communist country, after all, where you need to know how to get things done. Also English isn’t spoken widely.

A few pointers:
1) Bring lots of the little soaps you get in hotels, and ball point pens. They can’t get these things locally, especially outside the cities, so people will be really appreciative of them.
2) For spending money, bring low denomination US dollars. Nothing bigger than a twenty, unless you’re paying for hotels. The dollar is king out there. You might want to change one or two dollars into the local peso, when you arrive. You won’t need any more than that. You can only really buy roadside pizzas with the local currency.
3) Credit cards aren’t widely accepted.
4) Bring loo roll !! Most public toilets and even hotels won’t even have loo seats, let along toilet roll or soap. If you find hot water in your hotel, then you’re in luck
5) Don’t buy rum or cigars from the hustlers on the street. It’s all fake stuff
6) Ask your fellow guests about a decent palladero, which are small home run restaraunts, and are much better than the large State run hotels. Don’t go with the hustlers on the street, they might rip you off.

Cuba is a little rough and ready, but has amazing people, history, and scenery. Well worth a visit.

I went with www.expedia.co.uk, and found them very good.