Why go to Cuba? Well, let’s see. Other than the fantastic beaches, wonderful scenery, friendly people and the charm of being in place lost in time, well, I guess nothing much!
But, the Cuba I am talking about can’t be seen from the deck of a cruise ship, stopping in Havana for an afternoon. No, to see the real Cuba, you need to spend some time. Now, I know, many Americans reading this will say “but we can’t go to Cuba!” . Yes, you absolutely can! You just need to jump through a few more hoops than the rest of us, but believe me, we met many Americans when we were cycling in Cuba – some on bikes, but others travelling other ways. So, yes, it is entirely possible and yes, you should go to Cuba before the Americans decide to give up on their embargo and MacDonalds and Starbucks show up on every corner. Go now!
Ok, you say, where should we go? Well, we have been only once, and so can’t comment (yet) on other places, so this blog will concentrate on four places; Havana, Vinales, Matanzas and Varadero. All of these places can be reached by bus or taxi and the taxis are those amazing old cars that have become a symbol of Cuba.
Let’s start with Havana, a sprawling city that has suffered much from the continued American embargo, but still manages to be a bustling exciting city. Old Havana is where most tourists hang out and, to be honest, where we spent a lot of time wandering its myriad of streets. There is just so much to see and look at! Be aware, though. The best time to wander in Old Havana is not when a cruise ship is in port. On those days, thousands of tourists cram these tiny streets and make it impossible to really get a sense of the area. Instead, wander Old Havana either early in the day or late, when all the passengers have left and things return to normal. Then you can sit in an outdoor cafe and enjoy Cuban music while sipping on a Mojito – true bliss! Music is everywhere in the evening so you don’t have to go far to find somewhere exciting to listen to. We never made it to any of the big tourist music places as noted on the web, but simply enjoyed the many smaller groups we could listen to without a teaming horde around.
You can find places to stay in Old Havana (we recommend the area near the Museum of the Revolution) or stay a little farther out in Vedado. Another great place to find accomodation is in the area along the Paseo de Marti, the main boulevard running from the famous malacon to the capitol buildings. We stayed in a little apartment just off the Paseo and loved it. Even though the building was quite run down, the little apartment inside was perfect! In Cuba, there are big hotels, but a better way to enjoy the real Cuba is to stay at a Casa Particular. These private homes are run very much like a bed and breakfast. The rooms rented are very often set apart from the family part of the home, but you do interact with your host sometimes more, sometimes less. The price for a Casa runs anywhere from $15 – $50 per night, depending on the area. Many Casas will offer food and if they do, take them up on the breakfast! For $5.00 you are served enough food to not only satiate your morning hunger, but have left-overs for lunch! And the coffee! Oh my!!! We were seriously hooked on Cuban coffee by the time we left Cuba. In fact, instead of bringing home Cuban rum, we brought back 2 lbs of coffee!!
Getting around in Old Havana is fairly easy. You can catch a taxi to take you anywhere. The taxi drivers are very well versed in the history of this area and a tour with them in their wonderful old cars is also a history lesson. Places outside of Old Havana that are worth getting to are: Hemmingway House (everyone goes here and its worth checking out, if just to see the cat house!); the Colon Cemetery (with over 800,000 inhabitants it is larger than many cities) is a place to spent a little time wandering and looking at some of the truly amazing monuments; Park Lenin is a large park located outside the city and worthy of an afternoon’s visit; and of course, the two forts across the water from Old Havana which can be reached by taking the ferry.
In the old part of the city, are museums, art galleries and restaurants to check out. One museum that we really enjoyed was the Museum of the Revolution. It is certainly a very different take on Cuban history than anything I had ever encountered growing up in the states! Somewhere in the middle lies the truth, I would think.
There is enough to do in Havana to keep one occupied for a week at least and probably much more. However, we kept out stays there to a few days at the beginning, middle and end of our time in Cuba. Each time was a little different and each time we learned a little more. There is so much more that we want to see and do so we will return many times over, I am sure.
From Havana, it is possible to take the bus (the tourist bus is the Viazul) to outlying areas. We took the bus from Vinales to Havana and found it quite comfortable. Another way to reach other places is by taxi. You can share a taxi to save money, or just pay for the trip yourself. Some friends of ours took a shared taxi (called collectivo) to Vinales and ended up sharing the very large Cadillac with a couple from South American and another traveler from somewhere else. They had a very enjoyable drive with these companions (about 2 hours).
However you get there, a visit to Vinales is a must. This beautiful region is well known for the mogotes, limestone mountains that rise out of the valley floor to create a landscape worth seeing and recording.
This area is well known as a top tobacco growing area and while there, you can go on a tour of one of the local farms to see where tobacco is grown and how cigars are processed. Neither of us smoke, but we still very much enjoyed the tour we took. It was a fascinating look into the lives of rural Cuban families.
As well, in the Vinales valley you can gaze upon the most interesting Mural de la Prehistoria. Although not loved by all, it is certainly worth going out to have a look at and appreciate if nothing else, the work that went into painting it originally and in keeping it up year by year.
Vinales also boasts a large organic garden and the evidence of this can be found at some of the local restaurants. We had an amazing green salad at el Olivo, something you just don’t get much in Cuba. The greens were all organic and safe for us to eat, having been cleaned with purified water, so it was a real treat!
Another possible destination from Havana would be the town of Matanzas. This is halfway to Varadero, so if you were heading that way, stop for a day or two in this small but charming city. Although technically you can get to Matanzas by train, we don’t recommend it. A German couple we met at our Casa there took the train from Havana and it was a bit of a nightmare. The train did not run on time and was very very slow. Better to take a taxi or the bus (unless you are cycling, of course!). Along the waterway in Matanzas are many artist’s galleries and the town square is bordered by several beautiful old hotels. Although we don’t recommend a lot of time here, Matanzas is worth stopping over and spending a day or two.
From Matanzas you can make your way out to Varadero, the very beachy tourist community well known for the many resorts that line its perfect beaches. However, you don’t have to stay in a resort. You can find some lovely Casas right in town, allowing you to stroll through the town, enjoy some of the local cuisine and access the perfect beach. We found that many folks from the nearby resorts wandered into town to find food and its no wonder. The food in local restaurants, from what we hear, is far better and of more variety than that served in the resorts. So save yourself the trouble and stay in town! We really enjoyed our stay here. Yes, it was tourist central, but it was much more relaxed and chill than other large tourist cities and the beach really was fantastic!
So, there you have it. A short list of why you should visit Cuba! We LOVE Cuba and will most certainly return several times, so watch for more posts on this topic. If you want to read more detail about the actual bike tour, you can find it at
https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/mexicoandcuba/
