How To Prepare for A Trip To Cuba
Cuba is becoming a popular destination for people all over the world. Cuba is a country that is not easy to travel to and organise everything by yourself. Many tourists choose the easy way to go by cruise or by a tour package. My boyfriend and I went there this December and decided to organise everything ourselves. Here are some of my best tips to prepare your trip to Cuba:
When to travel
High Season
Starts in November to March with lower temperature and fewer storms. That also means prices will be higher and places will be more crowded.
Low Season
Is during May, June, and September. Low season means lower prices, however, there are higher risks of hurricanes and some hotels and services are closed during this time. The humidity and temperature will be higher during low season. There is more storms and rain during low season.
Booking flight tickets
Before you can book accommodation and transport in Cuba, you should first figure out what dates you will be in Cuba. My favourite websites to book flight tickets are Skyscanner and Momondo. They will give you the best prices and you can select if you prioritise low price or shorter travel time. I recommend booking flight tickets at least 3 months before travelling.
Picture: AClub Vacations
Plan your travel itinerary
Depending on where in Cuba you want to go it is important to figure out where to go. Get used to the map of Cuba and see the distances. A good tip is to go to google maps and check out the travel distances to places you want to go.
Havana - Vinales = 3 hours
Havana - Varadero = 2 hours
Havana - Cienfuegos = 3 hours
Havana - Trinidad = 4 hours
Havana - Santa Clara = 3 hours
Havana - Camaguey = 6 hours
Havana - Santiago = 11 hours
Havana - Baracoa = 12 hours
*These are approximately driving time using a car. The Viazul bus will take longer.
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Deciding the destinations
I wanted to see as much as possible when we booked the trip to Cuba. After arriving and talking to our Casa Particular hosts I understood that it is not possible to see places like Viñales in only one day and Cienfuegos during lunch. We had to prioritise.
We had only 10 days and decided to spend more time in Havana, Viñales and Trinidad. We dropped Varadero and Cienfuegos for this time. We understood that if we tried to cover all of those, we would spend more time in a car than experience Cuba. I recommend at least 2 nights at each place and rather go out of the touristic areas in those places to see the real Cuba. Here is a list of the most popular destinations in Cuba:
Havana
Havana is a must when you travel to Cuba! Havana has something for everyone, whether you love live music, art, history, architecture, cars, forts, and theatres. You should stay at least 3 days to fully get to explore this city. Check out colourful and the historic Habana Vieja, walk along Malecon and check out the Morro Cabña show at 9 pm at the fortress Morro, also don't forget to check out the old abandoned mansions in Vedado!
Viñales
Valle de Viñales is a great escape from the busy cities. The valley is perfect for horse riding and checking out the tobacco farms. Viñales is also great for biking to the very interesting Mural de PreHistoria.
Varadero
Varadero is an important choice for beach lovers. However, be aware that you will probably not get the experience you want unless you are staying at a resort. The ocean outside Varadero is rough and at times it can be quite windy. We decided to skip Varadero after asking Cubans how it is at the time we were travelling. We went to Playa Ancon instead.
Trinidad
If you love colourful buildings this is the perfect place for you. This small colonial town is charming and you feel like you are in a town that is still in the 1850´s. This town has great restaurants and makes sure to check out Casa De La Musica after 10 pm! Few minutes ride outside of Trinidad you can relax at the beach Playa Ancon, which is a much better alternative than Varadero, it is calm, not as many tourists and fewer sellers!
Cienfuegos
Cienfuegos is Cuba´s Paris. The city is influenced by the French colonisers. This city is a must if you love architecture and Cienfuegos earned UNESCO world heritage site in 2005. This city also has a beautiful and natural bay. If you have time make sure to visit the spectacular El Nicho outside of Cienfuegos.
Santa Clara
If you are interested in Che Guevara, Santa Clara is a must for you. Che Guevara, whose liberating of Santa Clara in December 1958 marked the end of the Batista regime. You can check out the Che Guevara Mausoleum and other monuments related to the historic events. Santa Clara is also known for having a great nightlife.
Camaguey
Camaguey is known for beautiful Catholic churches and cathedrals and architecture. Camaguey has a history of being attacked by pirates and therefore it has labyrinthic streets as a defence strategy.
Santiago
Santiago is the largest city and Cuba and its the cultural capital of Cuba. Santiago is the birthplace for many famous poets, musicians and salsa dancers. If you travel to Cuba in July, do not miss the carnival!
Baracoa
The tropical and lush environment in Baracoa is a magic place to relax and spend a few days and enjoy some white chocolate. Baracoa is a good place to escape the big tourist crowds and do hiking among the beautiful landscape.
Source: Lonely Planet
Suggested itineraries
7 days
Havana 2 days
Viñales 3 days
Havana 2 days
10 days
Havana 2 days
Viñales 2 days
Cienfuegos 1 day
Trinidad 3 days
Havana 2 days
14 days
Havana 3 days
Viñales 2 days
Santa Clara 2 days
Cienfuegos 2 days
Trinidad 3 days
Havana 2 days
18 days
Havana 2 days
Viñales 2 days
Cienfuegos 2 days
Trinidad 2 days
Santa Clara 2 days
Camaguey 2 days
Santiago 2 days
Baracoa 2 days
Havana 2 days
Resources you should use in Cuba
Lonely Planet Cuba (Travel Guide)
I don't know what we would have done without the Lonely Planet Cuba book! It seriously was a life-saver. It answers all your questions about everything to prepare for your trip to Cuba. It tells you what to expect, what to see, eat, and do in the places you want to go and with a little description about each place.
Know you won't have internet access everywhere in Cuba. Only at some specific places like parks etc and it is expensive and shit. You can't just use google map or search for something on TripAdvisor. This book has done all the research for you. The book also has a detailed map of Havana, suburbs of Havana and also map of all of the other destinations. It also has contact details to recommended Casa Particulares! So make sure you get this book and buy it a few months before, so you can read through it and prepare yourself for the trip. This book will save you a lot of time and stress while you are in Cuba as well. You can get the book here: Lonely Planet Cuba (Travel Guide)
Map.Me App
This is like Google Maps just offline. Download the Map.Me and type in Cuba and make sure to download the map before you go! This makes you be able to zoom in where you are and find the destination you need. We also used this while a taxi driver didn't know the direction, so it is pretty helpful when Google Maps is not available.
I can't say this enough! Pinterest helped me so much in the search of all of my answers about Cuba. I used Pinterest before buying the Lonely Planet book, which is ok if you don't want to spend the money for the book. However, Pinterest also has a lot of the same information about Cuba and you usually need to read through the blog post to find what you are looking for.
So, I advise getting the Cuba Lonely Planet book if you can. With Pinterest, you can get some ideas on how people spend their trip in Cuba and their personal experiences as well, which is pretty handy. I have a large Cuba board on Pinterest that you can look through.
One month before you go:
Visa / Tourist Card
You need a tourist card or Visa to be able to enter Cuba. Many flight companies offer you to pay for the tourist card at the same time as check in! Remember to keep the second part, you need to deliver that when you leave Cuba. If you are unsure if you need a visa or tourist card, first call the flight company and they will let you know. Here is a list of countries and if you need a visa and how long it will last.
Accommodation
If you want to stay at Hotels or resort in Varadero you need to book very early. It is are usually full during high season. Same with Airbnb, the best get booked at least a month before. We were lucky to get to book our Airbnb in Havana just a week before.
We stayed at Mylena and Otto. We had an amazing stay. They were so welcoming, helping us out where to go and also tips about out itinerary. Their breakfast was amazing. Vedado is also a great place to stay in Havana where it is quieter than for example Habana Vieja. We didn't book anything else than our 2 days Airbnb in Havana and we asked our hosts if they know someone in Viñales and they booked the casa particular for us there. When they set you up for the next Casa Particular they get 5 CUC of the payment there every night.
Casa Particular
Casa particular is a big deal in Cuba. It is also well controlled and safe. Best of all it is cheaper and you get an authentic experience and stay with Cubans at their home. You will get your own room, usually with an own bathroom as well.
You can send a direct email to the casa particular or book from these websites. mycasaparticular, casaparticularcuba, or cubaparticular (You should do this some weeks before to be sure you get a reply in time) I tried to this a few days before and they didn't answer because as you know, Cubans have limited internet access and they might not be able to answer as soon as possible.
Transport
There are buses that go from city to city in Cuba. It is called Viazul You can book bus tickets online, but the booking closes a week before the date you want to travel, so you should book it around 2 weeks before you go. Viazul is often full during high season. If you are not able to book 2 weeks before, you need to go to the bus station and get the tickets at least two days before. If you are travelling by that bus on other dates you should just get all of the tickets at the same time. Be aware that the Viazul bus station is quite far from central Havana so you need to take a taxi there, that could cost you around 10CUC.
We decided to not take the Viazul bus because it would cost us more to take the taxi to and from the bus station. We talked to our Casa Particular hosts and they always knew a Taxi Colectivo driver. Taxi Colectivo is a taxi which is usually a modern car and you share it with people that are going the same way.
The taxi colectivo turned out to be cheaper and faster for us. We came to Trinidad 2 hours faster than the Viazul bus would have done. Make sure to ask to get a modern car, even though it is cool to sit in the old classic ones, they are very slow and not reliable. You don't have to book taxi colectivo before a few days before you go, you can ask your hosts about booking one for you.
I don't recommend to drive by yourself, as the rental cars are super expensive it is actually cheaper to get a taxi for the day than a rental car. Don't expect to be able to drive at night, it is completely dark on many roads and you will not know if you hit something. Viazul buses can end their trip at night, but will not start at night. If you order a Taxi colectivo, they will mostly start driving in the morning, if you order it from your Casa Particular or Hotel.
One Week before you go:
Start packing
I am so glad I started packing early. You don't want to miss out of bringing important stuff because it can be very hard to buy in Cuba. Things you should consider bringing: soap bars/liquid soap, tissues, pads and tampons, sunscreen, sunglasses, toothpaste and toothbrush, chargers, antibacterial, your favourite snacks and adapters. The power points are American, but they mostly use the ones with only two holes in it. It is not easy to find these products in Cuba, and if you do it is not cheap, so save yourself time and effort and bring all necessities and toiletries for the trip.
Related: Hottest travel items for 2017
Get travel insurance
For travelling to Cuba you need a valid travel insurance. We didn't get asked to show it, but it is required to have it. I recommend World Nomads . With World Nomads you can have the travel insurance for a short period of time and you need to book it at least three days before departure. You can get a price by filling in the form under.
Print everything
Be prepared and have all bookings printed. Flight tickets, accommodation, transport, and travel insurance paper.
Double check bookings, transport times and accommodation
If you got to book Casa Particular or a taxi remember to ask for name, address and picture of the house (car), there are scammers that can lead you to the wrong house.
Get in contact Airbnb or Casa Particular
Get a confirmation that you are coming and that you have got the right information. Make sure to have the address of the casa written down at Havana airport, they can ask you about details.
Things to be aware of when you travel to Cuba
Be prepared to spend hours at the airport on arrival and departure. Especially in Havana. They can stop you and ask very detailed questions. I recommend to check in 3 hours before your flight from Cuba. Be sure to keep your part of the tourist card!
It is a fine for bringing paintings out of Cuba. I needed to pay 3 CUC for bringing one.
Don't bring US dollars to Cuba it is a total 13% tax and penalty to exchange that. Euro or Canadian dollars have a better rate.
You only need CUC. There are two currencies in Cuba. CUP is governmental and you don't really need it. I wouldn't recommend changing more than 10 CUP, you can use CUP at the cinema, markets and Coppelia ice cream. It will be cheaper, however, tourists mostly get charged in CUC.
Eat breakfast at the Casa Particular - it is not easy to find breakfast in Cuba especially not before 9 am, except at hotels. Breakfast at casa particular will be around 5 CUC per person.
Be prepared for waiting a looong time in lines at banks and CADECA to exchange money. Remember to bring your passport for exchanging money.
Don't be surprised that you need to pay a few cents to go to the toilet, even inside restaurants.
Be aware of scammers. People can stop you on the street and try to exchange money with them, don't do this, they can give you invalid money back. There are also many that can try to sell you fake cigars or bring you to the wrong Casa Particular. Even though they are annoying they will not touch you or be aggressive.
Are you travelling to Cuba? Tell me about your plans :) Or have you been there and have some tips I missed?
Must haves for travelling to Cuba
