Hi everyone,
My girlfriend and I are travelling out to Cuba in mid-July from the UK after hearing so much great stuff about it from friends and family. We’re planning to stay out there for the three and a half weeks as it is our last big holiday before we start ‘proper’ jobs in September.
Having done a little research, at the moment our itinerary is looking like this:
Arrive in Havana and spend around 10 days there, including day trips to Pinar del Rio and maybe a couple of nights in Varadero (just for the beaches- shameful I know). We’re looking to stay at a reasonably priced hotel in a good location- does anyone have any recommendations?
We’ll then fly with Cubana to Santiago de Cuba and spend a week there and experience the festival. Here we’d like to stay at a casa particular. Again does anyone recommend one they’ve stayed in that’s reasonably priced and has a good location?
After Santiago we’re planning to take the bus to Trinidad and spend 5 or so days there, taking day trips out to Cienfuego and Santa Clara by bus (is that viable?). Again here (apologies for the repetition) any recommendations for casas particular would be appreciated?
We’re finally going to get the bus back and spend the last three days in Havana before we fly back to the UK via Mexico.
What do people think of this itinerary? Is it too ambitious or are we missing out some “must-see” places? I understand that even in three and a bit weeks we’ll hardly scratch the surface of Cuba but I’ve tried to fit some of the essentials in.
A few more questions:
1) How long does it take to get a tourist visa processed in the UK?
2) I’m an enthusiastic photographer and think that Cuba will provide the perfect setting to test out my new digital SLR. If I’m sensible (I’ve travelled around South Africa, Eastern Europe and N. America in the past and know not to flash these things about), will that be ok? Or is it too much of a risk and I should just settle for my handy point and shoot and buy a couple of postcards?
3) My girlfriend is keen on picking up salsa from where she left off at university. Would the best places to get lessons be Santiago and Havana? Should we wait until we get out there or book beforehand from a specialist provider (like www.caledonialanguages.co.uk)?<BR>4) Budgeting. What should we expect to be paying per day, including food/drink accommodation? I understand that each place will probably be different but can anyone give us a guideline figure?
Thanks for trawling through this post and thanks in advance for any advice. We can’t wait to go!
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<hr>What do people think of this itinerary? Is it too ambitious or are we missing out some “must-see” places?<hr></blockquote>
I think you are going out of your way to make it to Santiago, which is not all that different than La Habana and its carnaval is a dissapointment compared to those in Tobago, Panama, Brazil or any other you may have in mind. There were a couple of recent posts on the Santiago carnaval. Use the search engine, they were pretty recent. I would also leave Havana for the end, when buses will have worn you out and you will already know the ropes.
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<hr>is it too much of a risk and I should just settle for my handy point and shoot and buy a couple of postcards?<hr></blockquote>
I am not sure what a SLR is, but if it's some sort of expensive camera, I would say take it with you but practice caution, especially at night. Snatch robberies do happen in Havana and elsewhere, but you sound experienced enough. There's no place like South Africa, compared to that Cuba is a piece of cake. Just don't get too careless just because of that (that's how most people get robbed in Cuba: they are deceived by the fact it's very safe compared to most parts of the world).
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<hr>3) My girlfriend is keen on picking up salsa from where she left off at university. Would the best places to get lessons be Santiago and Havana?<hr></blockquote>
There's quite a lot of it in Trinidad, which also happens to be a fanntastic place to put it into practice every single night at almost no cost. I do not know anything about the provider you mentioned, but several posters in the past have reported mixed reviews on teachers and aschools. Try to go through old posts and anyway you will receive PMs concerning salsa lessons. You can check them on the right hand part of the screen.
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<hr>I understand that each place will probably be different but can anyone give us a guideline figure?<hr></blockquote>
Sky's the limit and about 50USD the very very minimum for first time visitors, or that's what most people think over here (but there are those who find this too much or too little). If I were you I would calculate on 100-120USD per day, which is quite more than you are bound to need per person if you are budgeting it (but not roughing it).
La Crib, I think you have a good trip plan!
Yorgos, Santiago (and Oriente in general) is very different from Havana! It is almost like being in another country, in terms of history and culture, and the scenery is also entirely different.
I have taken many tour groups to both places and many people end up preferring Santiago (perhaps because my personal preference shines through) .
Havana has nothing like the bay, Socapa and Cayo Granma, and nothing like the nearby Sierra Maestra mountains, Gran Piedra and the garden above, or the incredible and unique world of Pico Turquino. Plus you are a local bus away from a pretty good beach (Siboney) and a great beach if you are interested in meeting Cubans in what is at times almost a normal environment- good mix of tourists and Cubans, and most of the time less police intrusion.
So I would tell people to go to the Province of Oriente, and then make the effort to see Havana, if you must!
I agree that the carnival is nothing in particular. It used to be one of the best in the world.
La Crib, I am new here so I don't want to spam the board with personal reccomendations. However, I have good friends in Both Havana and Santiago who work with me and the licensed travelers we send over. These friends (not 'frens') can help make accomodations, etc. For instance, I reccomend Hotel Telegrafo in havana, right on Parque Central, can be booked for around $50-$60 CUC per night from inside fo Cuba. If you are interested you can send me a Private message.
Hiya La Crib, everyone is different so its always difficult to suggest what to do, expect based on my personal experience, i spent 4 days in habana at the beginning, and it took a little while to adjust, the constant cat whistles, and psst. and on my travels since, i generally thought if would've preferred to do Habana last when i was already used to the country and the culture. (just a thought), i was travelling on my own as a female so perhaps my perceptions are different. I never felt unsafe, just a bit in your face...
I cant say for sure about your visa, but i (and can say as an aussie, the tourist card was v easy to obtain, I was told it wld cost $80 from Australian and the Cuban consulate would need my passport for 2 wks to process. However i booked the ticket in Mex, and also obtained the tourist visa on the day at the airport (B Juarez airport Mex city) cost only about 150 MXN pesos, approx USD15. and took about 10 mins just provided my return ticket and passport, the lady at the Mexicana desk did the rest and I'm assuming other airlines would have similiar way of processing it). Also want to add that i didnt incur any further problems with it, when i got there you wait in line, they process and give you a separate paper with the tourist card (and they never stamp your passport either going in or leaving) - as an Aussie anyway.
Another posting/question had a question about Salsa and the response was about some good teachers in Habana, maybe check that out. Trinidad did have some cool local salsa places, (but i think - mi espanol esta muy mal - you have to be invited inside).
Buenos suerte!
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, see some pics of the house, 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
La Crib, I think your itinerary will work well, but would suggest just one change, and that has to do with your travelling by bus from Santiago back to Trinidad. That is a very long trip--not sure, 8-10 hours maybe--so you might find it worthwhile to break it up by stopping over in Bayamo (only 2 hours from Santiago) or Holguin (about 3 hours from Santiago). These are not towns where you would necessarily want to spend a lot of time, but would make a most pleasant stopover if you could take a bus which would get you in there say, mid to late afternoon, find yourself a nearby casa, wander about the main square (both have nice ones, and, in fact, Holguin has three nice ones all in a row, one block apart). Then continue on to Trinidad next morning. Not sure the Viazul bus schedule would work for this, but I think it would be worth checking out on www.viazul.com Just because 8-10 hours is a very long time on the bus, and you don't want to miss interesting places along the way just because you're in too much of a hurry to get from point a to point b.
When in Santiago, some of the places mentioned by Lurker are surely worth visiting. My favorite would be the Gran Piedra, which given the heat you'll find in the city, once you get up into the cool of that mountain, you may never want to come down again! And it's less than an hour from the city! Also nice is the drive out to El Morro fort at the mouth of the harbour, stopping along the way to visit that little island in the bay, Cayo Grande. And maybe even spending a little time on a tiny beach, Caleta Estrella (Star Cove) just below the fort (you pass it on the winding road leading up to).
Thanks for all the responses everyone! Just a few more queries:
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<hr> Havana has nothing like the bay, Socapa and Cayo Granma, and nothing like the nearby Sierra Maestra mountains, Gran Piedra and the garden above, or the incredible and unique world of Pico Turquino<hr></blockquote>
Can you get to these places easily by bus? Are they close by so we could go for an afternoon or is it worth spending a whole day?
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<hr>Also nice is the drive out to El Morro fort at the mouth of the harbour, stopping along the way to visit that little island in the bay, Cayo Grande. And maybe even spending a little time on a tiny beach, Caleta Estrella (Star Cove) just below the fort (you pass it on the winding road leading up to).<hr></blockquote>
Can you get to these places by bus? Or will we have to rent a car/scooter? Is that expensive?
Also, does anyone know a UK travel agent that will be able to help us book the flights with Cubana from Havana to Santiago and also with Mexicana airlines from Havana to Mexico city? So far places i've tried either can't book with the airlines or say that i have to book the whole trip (ie. from london and back) with them to get the local flights and as we've already booked our flights out there, that's a no-go!
Any more recommendations for casas particulars to stay in Trinidad, Santiago and Holguin that i'd be able to contact by email (have had mixed results by phone so far!)?
Thinking about this trip is helping me survive my extreme boredom with revision at the moment! Cheers!
Lurker, "Provincia de Oriente"?? That nomenclature and division is quite obsolete, as it changed in 1978:
1940-1978
En la Constitución del 1940, el nombre de la Provincia de Santa Clara fué cambiada a Las Villas. Las seis Provincias por tanto se convirtieron en:
Pinar del Río
La Habana
Matanzas
Las Villas
Camagüey
Oriente
1978-presente
El presente gobierno comunista de Cuba en Junio de 1978, un siglo despues de la creación de las seis provincias tradicionales, pasó una ley subdividiendo la Provincia de La Habana en las Provincias de La Habana, Ciudad de la Habana y el Municipio Especial de Isla de la Juventud; subdividió la Provincia de Las Villas en las Provincias de Villa Clara, Cienfuegos y Sancti Spirítus (y pasó la peninsula de Zapata a la Provincia de Matanzas); subdividió la Provincia de Camagüey en las Provincias de Ciego de Ávila y Camagüey; y subdividió la Provincia de Oriente en las Provincias de Las Tunas, Granma, Holguín, Santiago de Cuba y Guantánamo. Las resultantes catorce Provincias y el Municipio Especiál son en la actualidad:
Provincias
Pinar del Río
La Habana
Ciudad de La Habana
Matanzas
Villa Clara
Cienfuegos
Sancti Spíritus
Ciego de Ávila
Camagüey
Las Tunas
Granma
Holguín
Santiago de Cuba
Guantánamo
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