2 weeks in Cuba

The Havana/Vinales/Trinidad triangle is a good way to spend two weeks. You get quite a bit of variety and you do not spend a lot of time travelling. There are probably 50 or more threads you can find with a simple search that discuss this itinerary and a number of the side issues connected with it.

Vinales/Trinidad

You'd certainly want to visit Vinales (less than 4 hours by bus from Havana) and Trinidad (about 5 hours from Havana). In both of these places you can find lots of licenced casas which will not run over 25 CUC per night for a room for the two of you. Outlying regions worth visiting:

WEST OF HAVANA/NEAR VINALES: the village of Santa Tomas (if the Gran Caverna de Santa Tomas is still open to the public), and the tiny community of Los Acquaticos, if you're willing to hike (and should take a bi-lingual guide, as no one there speaks English). En route back to Havana, you might want to take a taxi 2 hours to the place on the coast where you'd catch a 20-minute boat ride to the offshore island of Cayo Levisa; a stay there, at Villa Levisa (individual beachfront cottages) will run you about 90 CUC, all-inclusive, so maybe just a night or two, to have the experience of a mostly wild off-shore island with endless beach?

Also midway between Vinales and Havana (reachable by Viazul bus) is the Las Terrazas biosphere reserve. It would be easy enough to take a Viazul bus as far as Las Terrazas, overnight there either at the beautiful Hotel La Moka (about 90 CUC/night), and visit some of the artists' studioes in the nearby worker housing complex. Or you could stay at the very rustic campismo of San Juan del Rio (15 CUC/night for a tee-pee type hut) overlooking lovely little river pools very nice for swimming; then, next day catch another bus on to Vinales--or back to Havana. It's only two hours each way.

SOUTHEAST OF HAVANA/NEAR TRINIDAD: 10 km away, the waterfront village of La Boca (you'll find licenced casas there, on or right across the street from the waterfront, although it's a few km along a mostly-untrafficked road to a good beach.) Also, Topes de Collantes, 20 km from Trinidad, up in the Escambray mountains, with hikes through cloud forest to small waterfalls.

NEARER HAVANA: 10 or 15 km from the centre of Havana are the Playas del Este (East Beaches). This string of beach resort communities have a good mix of both Cuban and foreign beach-goers. Most of the hotels are in Santa Maria, at the western end of the playas, and most of the licenced casas are in Guanabo, at the eastern end of the playas. Also: 25 km west of Havana, Playa Baracoa, a fishing village with no hotels but numerous licenced casas just across the boulevard from a 2-km-long beach.

If you do all this, you will have seen and sampled the following aspects of Cuba: river swimming, caves, artists' studios, and communities in the Rosario Mountains; waterfalls and hikes in the Escambray mountains; mainland beaches and offshore island beaches, and of course, Havana, with its fascinating colonial architecture, music venues, museums, etc.

Hi, We rent a particular house in Trinidad city, near to center park. We offers 2 rooms with all condition, private bathrooms, air condition, fan, hot and cold water, refrigerator and more. The price is 20 or 25 (low-high season) CUC for each bedroom. Beside, we offers a cheap breakfast and dinners with a good cuban taste. To reserve an accomodation just write us, we are be glad to wait for you at viazul bus station, also we can make your reservation in La Havana or other cities.
alquilertrinidad@yahoo.es