Cuba

[emilyinchile]

We are going to Cuba next month, and I need to actually start planning! My initial plan was 4 days in Havana and 4 days in Trinidad, but I'm wondering if it will feel too rushed since the bus trip is 6 hours (assuming the bus goes on time). I'm now considering a couple days in Viñales instead.

If you've been, what would you do? 4 days Havana/4 days Trinidad or 6 days Havana/2 days Viñales? Or something else? We have no interest in going to Varadero (H has been and didn't like it, and I promised we wouldn't go back).

I'm also happy to take recs for things to do, places to eat and places to stay in any of those locations - thanks!

[anna7602]

Trinidad is truly lovely. You don't need that many days to see it, but I honestly can't remember how long the bus ride was from Havana. We went Havana-Santiago and then Santiago-Trinidad. In comparison to those longer bus trips, Trinidad-Havana seemed like a breeze.

We spent 2 days in Trinidad and that felt like enough to wander lazily around the town and get a sense of it. Again, it was beautiful, but I don't think we could have done much more there if we had stayed longer. You could hit Cienfuegos, which is not far, but I don't have specific info to share with you since I haven't been there.

I would love to go to Viñales sometime. Soroa is also out that way, which I have been to, and is very nice.

I think if you can figure out the connections, you could even try to do Havana, Viñales AND Trinidad. When I went to Soroa (which is on the way to Viñales), I went by car, paying a private driver. If your Spanish is good and you know some people in Cuba already, it's pretty easy to set up a driver. The ones I've had are people who have a car officially for their job or borrow a relative's car and then make extra money driving tourists around in their free time. The rates are very reasonable, depending on the distance and time required. I vaguely remember that I paid $30 to go out to Varadero for the day, for example.

Places to eat and stay change all the time and I haven't been since 2010, but go with paladares and private homes. These are the best options price and experience-wise. You should be able to find up-to-date reco's for both on online forums or even in newly edited guidebooks.

I will think of my favorite things to do/see in Havana (I've been several times) and post again.

[emilyinchile]

That's awesome info! I think doing the three sounds a bit hectic since we'd ideally like to relax a bit as well, but we shall see. Definitely helpful to know Trinidad can be seen decently in 2 days, since that gives us more of an option in terms of getting a car to go out to Viñales just for a day since we'll have more time based in Havana. Thanks!

Looking forward to hearing your Havana tips