Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020

scooter to finca vigia

Country forums / Cuba / Cuba

Having finished Hemingway in Cuba recently, I am keen on visiting Finca Vigia from Vedado on my next trip. Was wondering if this was doable via scooter? And if so what would be the route? I had a blast riding to el Nicho on a scooter from Cienfuegos last time.

If that's the Hemingway home, the route is the same as the #7 camello. Just follow that route, but don't follow right behind the #7 since you will be blasted by noxious exhaust gases. Trap

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Cienfuegos to El Nicho is primarily a rural ride. Vedado to Finca Vigia is through heavy urban traffic; the finca itself in the city, and a part that is poorly signed at that. In short, hardly a similar experience.

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Wow, did not realize the city had grown that much. Back in Hemingway's day, circa 1960, I have the impression the finca was still apart.

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I could be wrong, but from things I've read, I got the impression that even back then, they had to drive through shanty-town slums in order to get there. I believe I got that from something written by Hemingway's then-wife Martha Gelhorn--although I can't remember what. Something about the mental gymnastics required to pass through all that poverty in order to get to the entrance of their (very apart) finca.

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If you happen to have a map of Havana, take a look at it and you will see that Finca Vigia lies northeast of Parque Lenin. All that area north of Parque Lenin, and most especially what lies north of the Primer Anillo (freeway that circles the city to the south) is heavily built up.

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