cuba
Havana:
STAY: If you can - stay somewhere nice - Havana is a strange but amazing place. It's so behind the rest of the World it is unbelievable so it's worth it to just spend extra so you have help. Ibis is where I would recommend.
EAT: El Dandy - lots of other places but be careful about hygiene.
DO: Walk around as much as possible. It is an amazing city with so much to see. The atmosphere can only be described as to what you would imagine stepping onto a 60s film set would be like. I kept on expecting to see Tony Montana walking down the street!
A real highlight was hiring a classic car and going for a tour around Havana.
MOST IMPORTANT TIPS:
- take all your money before hand - getting cash out is a nightmare as most Western cards are not accepted.
- you can buy your tourist card at the airport before hand or online.
Other tips:
- Download books/podcasts/movies before you go as the wifi is almost non-existent and you can get very bored.
- Also download the app Maps.Me and download the map of Cuba as you can mark points of interest and get directions without having internet.
- You can get Wifi cards for 1-3 CUC in most hotels, they last for an hour and can be used in public parks or hotels that have wifi (called Etecsa).
- We had some trouble with Bank of England debit cards not working in some ATMs so if you have another one maybe use that. But I have heard of other people having no trouble with BOE cards.
- We changed our pounds at the airport and found the rate wasn't too bad.
- Be careful if you're paying for things in CUC that you're not given the change in Pesos, and you should check whenever you get change as pesos are worth much less so people do this sometimes to rip you off.
- Buses get really cold with the air con especially at night time so bring layers.
- All the casas we stayed in had sheets and towels so ya only really need to bring a beach towel if you want.
- All the casas did breakfast for 5 CUC which was usually fruit, eggs, bread and coffee and sometimes a sausage.
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TIPS FOR HAVANA:
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- Taxi from the airport ~25-30 CUC.
- Air bnb:
- Casa Angel 10 CUC/night - breakfast 5 CUC.
- Marina Hemingway, swimming pool - 5 CUC entry.
- El Floridita for their Daiquiri and La Bodeguita del Mer for their Mojito - Hemingway's favourite bar.
- California Cafe - good food, decent prices.
- El Chanchullero - rooftop bar with very nice food but a long wait for a table and it doesn't take bookings.
- El Dandy does the best Daiquiris and also does food.
- Ambos Mundos hotel/rooftop bar - great view of the city. Hemingway stayed here which is cool.
- Las Vegas Cabaret - drag show which is a lot of fun.
- Fàbrica de Arte Cubano (Cuban Art Factory) - night club in an art gallery. It has tapas and cheap enough drinks (2-3 CUC).
- You really shouldn't pay more than about 5 CUC for a taxi within Havana so make sure to haggle as people will try to charge you 15 CUC and more. Get the old taxis not the yellow ones.
- Hemingway's house - taxi 25 CUC return and around 30 minutes each way.
- You can get a taxi to beach
Viñales:
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- Casa La Fortuna - 25 CUC per room and 5 CUC breakfast.
- Santo Thomas caves - 10 CUC entry with a guided tour. Fidel Catro hid here for 3 months during the revolution.
- Canopy Tour (zip lining) - 8 CUC per person, really fun, about 15 min taxi I think from Viñales.
- Rented bikes (10 CUC for the day) and cycled around Finca Acroecologica. We found a really nice viewpoint where you could look over the Valle del Silencio and drink cocktails and the man making cocktails taught us some salsa.
- Also had dinner at Finca Acroecologica. It's a set menu but really nice, 10 CUC for meat, 7 CUC for vegetarians, and a really pretty sunset.
- 3J (Tres Jotas) Cafe - really good tapas and has wifi.
- Eco restaurant (can't remember the name) - very good food
- Hotel la Ermita with great view and pool - drinks are lovely and the hotel is lovely at sunset.
- Tobacco farm just outside the town - 20 CUC for 10 cigars. They show you how they're rolled and talks through how they're made, the history, etc. Very interesting.
- Indian caves - go on a boat through caves, about 45 minutes to an hour in total, and it's only 5 CUC in. The caves are pretty cool.
- Collectivo to Havana because the bus was "full for 5 days" (basically they wanted a bribe), bus is 12 CUC, collectivo was 15 and brought us door to door, around 3-3.5 hours.
