8 days in Cuba

The roads maybe clear but who knows what the towns will look like and everything off to the sides of the main roads.As for beaches no way to know how much erosion there is from the hurricane and how quickly Cuba can repair and replace the sand and beaches, besides that, it's on the cool side for beaches in western Cuba. It's very windy on many days kicking up sand on the beach making the beach a bit uncomfortable.If you haven't paid for accommodations yet, I'd wait a few weeks until more reports come in on just how bad conditions are on the island and figure it out from there.

I have a similar question. The five of us (all adults) will have 11 days between Christmas and New Year's, and we're wondering if we should rent a car, or if we'd have a snowball's chance in hell of either (a) hiring a taxi driver that can fit 5 people in their own seats with seatbelts, or (b) reliably getting bus tickets in/out of Havana e.g. to Viñales, without having to spend 3 days waiting all morning in line at the bus station.

All the cars that I currently see available from the one rental agency (which for bizarre reasons seems to have many faces?) are the expensive semi-luxury (±€200/day) and the more expensive luxury (±€250/day) options. I checked other dates and lots of cars are available, so I guess just everything cheap has already been reserved.

I know that things might change due to the hurricane and repairs, I'm just wondering about generalities from the last few years' holiday seasons. My wife went a couple years ago in late January and had a hell of a time getting bus tickets out of Havana--everything was sold out to Vinales the first two times she tried--and she was just backpacking by herself looking for a single ticket.

For us we're not at all looking for beaches, except maybe somewhere to snorkel one day, but it'd be nice to get out of Havana as 11 days there seems like a lot, even for a family like ours who like to stop and smell the roses.

Chances of finding one taxi that fits 5 people with seat belts,near zero possibility, better off renting 2 cabs which will probably be a little cheaper than renting a car that holds 5 people, plus the taxi rental gives you the benefit of the Cuban driver who knows the road and the culture. Bus transportation has improved somewhat as there are at least 2 more bus companies,in name,Cubanacan and Transtur,besides Viazul which is probably what you were referring to. For the aforementioned 2 bus companies, you can usually pick up tickets at any travel/tour desk located in nearly all hotels.

Eric - it seems to me that you are trying to do too much in only 8 days. Better to spend more time in fewer places.

Warned that transport is a challenge ? Who by ? How many are you ?

evan - which rental agency ? Avoid Travelucion or its offspring.

You can also look at seats in shared taxis.

YB - I thought that Transtur and Cubanacan were working together.

Beard maybe,I thought they were their own separate entities since Cubanacan busses are still painted with their own company name and design.

We will be going to Cuba for 8 days between Christmas and New Year. We plan to spend a couple of days in Havana and then go directly to Trindad. From Trindad we would slowly head back to Havana and perhaps stop in Cienfuegos, Santa Clara and Varadero.

Unless you're hiring dedicated private transportation and you're a super fast style traveller (which makes zero sense in Cuba) then Havana, Trinidad, Cienfuegos, Santa Clara and Varadero in 8 days is in my opinion nuts.

Have fun with your research.

Cheers,
Terry

People always seem to forget that they have luggage. 5 in a car with their luggage. Eh ?

8 days.... Havana and, maybe a 2 day side trip, to one other location.

5 adults in a car with luggage is fine... it depends on the travelers of course, but I've done this plenty of times with my adult family in mid-sized sedans like the Prius. You just won't have good visibility out of the rear-view mirror and I wouldn't recommend it for a road trip-style vacation.

Thanks for the tips, probably we'll wait another couple weeks and then call Transtur and see if people have cancelled any of their car reservations for non-luxury-class vehicles. I already saw that the plane tickets I took three weeks ago are now $1000/ea instead of the $1400/ea I paid for them (coming from central Europe) :o which I guess means demand is down and/or people are cancelling.

Hi Eric,

This seems like too much for just 8 days. May I suggest the following:

Day 1-3 Stay in Havana.
Day 4: Drive to Trinidad - take it easy, stop in Cienfuegos for lunch and to walk around the city. Arrive to Trinidad late afternoon. The drive from Havana to Cienfuegos is meh, from Cienfuegos to Trinidad its just beautiful.
Day 5-6: Trinidad. If its your thing, take a day trip to Topes de Collantes. We loved it. Trinidad is a pretty small town, so you can see the "sights" in a day. On day 6, you could drive (or hire a taxi) up to Tope de Collantes and be back for an early dinner in Trinidad.
Day 7: Drive back to Havana - but instead of backtracking via Cienfuegos, take the Tope de Collantes route. Its an incredible scenic drive. We LOVED it. You can even take a detour to have lunch in Santa Clara if you feel like it. Arrive in Havana late afternoon.
Day 8: Spend day in Havana (so much to see/do/soak in/enjoy).

This was a portion of a trip we did in 2015 and LOVED IT. To be honest, in 8 days, I wouldn't try to do more. Cuba takes time - so much of it is just the atmosphere that I would even advice people to stay for a week in Havana! But I know you want to travel a bit, so this is what I would do :) Then again, this makes sense if you have a car - we rented one, but from what I hear, people travel a lot around Cuba with drivers, so it might be ok.