Notes on travelling in Cuba: cities, countryside and beaches in a three week trip starting in Havana

We went to Cuba at the end of November 2022 for a three week trip, travelling around Havana, Viñales, Cienfuegos, Trinidad, Santa Clara and Varadero. You can read about each stop by following the links below, see our full travel itinerary further down and I’ve also gathered some notes that apply more generally here, too. I’m still working through my images and notes so more will be added shortly.

Cuba is beautiful, varied, welcoming and safe but it is extremely complicated and confusing. We had an amazing time and saw incredible things but things weren’t always easy. Being organised in advance was key.

All my notes are based around my experiences as a tourist in late November/December 2022. Please do check any information if you’re planning your own trip – things change!

Contents

The main destinations we visited

Our full itinerary for three weeks in Cuba

We did some online research on ‘how to spend 3 weeks in Cuba’ but ultimately Lonely Planet Cuba* (Amazon link here) was our main tool for planning where to go. I will note that although LP was great in many ways, we found that lots of things had changed when it came to info on restaurants and sights etc., so just check and be flexible.

Our itinerary is below, including our travel times, and you can click through each location to read all about what we did there:

Havana: 6 nights (5 days)

Taxi Collectivo to Viñales (11:00ish – 15:30ish)

Viñales: 3 nights (2.5 days) – we’d only planned 2 nights but stayed one extra due to illness, I’d suggest 3 anyway though.

Taxi Collectivo to Cienfuegos (08:00 – 15:00 ish) – this journey is one taxi from Viñales to Havana then another taxi from Havana to Cienfuegos.

Cienfuegos: 2 nights (1.5 days) – we’d originally planned 3 nights but 2 was plenty.

Taxi Collectivo to Trinidad (08:30 – 10:00 ish) – we’d originally booked Viazul bus tickets but the timings worked better by taxi.

Trinidad: 4 nights (3.5 days)

Viazul bus to Santa Clara (07:30 – 10:50ish)

Santa Clara: 2 nights (1.5 days)

Taxi Collectivo to Varadero (08:30ish – 11:30ish)

Varadero: 2 nights (1 full day plus an afternoon and a morning either side)

Viazul bus to Havana ( 12:55 – 15:40ish)

An evening and morning in Havana before flying back to the UK the next day.

General things I found useful to know when travelling on this trip

These are a few things I found useful, based on my experience on the trip detailed above. Things probably vary in different regions and at different times of year but I thought they might be helpful anyway!

Things can be difficult in Cuba

Cuba is a wonderful country but times were pretty tough when we were there at the end of 2022. I can only comment as an outsider visiting for a short time so I recommend seeking out further information from sources within the community itself. From what I saw as a tourist so many things work so well – it is a very safe, caring country and there is not the visibly huge wealth divide I’ve seen in so many places (the UK absolutely included), but the impact of loss of tourism due to COVID and global supply issues plus the US embargo make things very difficult for people living there. I hope that a way can be found for things to improve soon.

Do lots of research, plan and book as much as you can in advance

We like to research and book things in advance when we’re travelling but I know some people prefer to be much more spontaneous. Generally I’m sure that can be totally fine but I do think the forward planning helped us have a better experience in Cuba. We met other people who had trouble finding places to stay and found getting from place to place more difficult, whereas we’d booked places with great reviews and we had no trouble getting around.

We used Lonely Planet Cuba* for planning most of our route but please be aware that a lot things have changed since publication (we had the 2022 edition), so do check and be flexible with your plans. Click here for a Bookshop.org* link and here for Amazon*.

The weather in late November/December…

… was pretty much perfect for me. I’m a pale Brit used to UK weather and the weather was not too hot, with plenty of sunshine. We swam in the sea on 16 December, it was glorious and I didn’t get burnt!

Check entry requirements and sort your paperwork before you go

You will need a Tourist Card to enter Cuba and when we travelled in November 2022 you also needed to register your COVID documents, so make sure you prepare everything in good time. We are British travelling from the UK so we checked the UK Gov website and got our tourist card from Cuba Visa UK which worked well. We did try via the link on the UK government site first but found it very confusing. Cuba Visa UK made the process much more straightforward. They can organise them very quickly but they aren’t open on weekends so take that into account.

At the time of writing all travellers are still required to complete a Health Declaration (Declaracíon Jurada de Sanidad). This gives you a QR code that gets scanned when you arrive in Cuba, it’s very well organised.

Going to Cuba will make future trips to the US more expensive and possibly more difficult

Sadly the United States still has sanctions in place against Cuba, which aside from all the difficulties this causes for the Cuban people and the country itself means that people who might normally be eligible for the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) visa waiver (like us in the UK) may have to apply for a visa instead if they have visited Cuba. This makes it harder and more expensive to travel to the US. We had no plans to travel to the US so we didn’t let that put us off but if you do it’s worth checking what impact that might have. Check your government information site for details, the UK gov site is here.

Pack anything you need, supplies are low

There are serious supply issues in Cuba and there aren’t really shops in same way that we are used to in the UK, so don’t assume you’ll be able to buy things when you’re there. In the UK we are really spoilt for choice and we’re used to being able to buy things that we need pretty much wherever and whenever we want.

I’m by no means an expert at all (I literally spent 3 weeks there as a tourist) but my understanding from what we saw while we were there is that Cuban residents receive a set salary (in Cuban Pesos, CUP) no matter what job they do and are allocated a rationed amount of essentials like food and drink from Bodegas (paid for in CUP). Due to the supply issues those rations aren’t quite enough to sustain them, so additional items can be purchased from stores where payment has to be made by MLC card (‘Moneda Libremente Convertible’). 1 MLC = 1 USD (or 1 Euro), so paying tips and things in USD or Euros can help with that.

We saw people online worrying about whether as visitors they would be able to get food and things but tourists are very well looked after. Choice is just more limited than you may be used to and places like restaurants generally didn’t have their full menu available, so it’s worth keeping that in mind if you have any dietary requirements.

Most Casas do provide some toiletries but things like shampoo are really expensive there. There are shortages of most things, so definitely bring any medical supplies or painkillers you may need. If you have things left over people will gladly accept them, so take plenty to donate if you can.

What to wear when travelling in Cuba

Whatever you feel comfortable in! When we were there it was warm but not too hot and it only rained once (heavily overnight and just a bit drizzly in the day). I think the cathedral in Havana was the only place that had a sign about being a little more covered up.

I lived in shorts, T-shirts, cotton shirts and dresses and light jeans for travelling days. My sun hat was really sun-bleached by the end so I’m pleased I wore that and good, polarised sunglasses.

I definitely recommend good shoes for walking around as the pavements can be tricky, too.

Money: what to take, how to change it

Official advice on money should be available on your government website. The UK gov website has details here so do check that but here are my notes too, in case that’s useful.

You can’t exchange money in advance as you can’t get Cuban Pesos (CUP) outside of Cuba itself. You’ll need to take Euros and/or US Dollars instead and I recommend making sure you have plenty of bills for tips. Generally people prefer tips in Euros or Dollars rather than CUP.

When you are in Cuba you can exchange dollars and Euros for CUP. There are official exchange shops called Cadecas and my advice would be to ask your Casa host where best to exchange money. We followed our host’s advice for the best rate and we had no problems, exchanging in batches on different occasions so we didn’t have to carry lots of notes (the official rate is around 120 CUP to €1/$1).

It’s a good idea to have a mix of currencies. Most restaurants do take euros or dollars but some only take CUP (and you generally get a better rate paying in CUP), taxis generally take euros or dollars.

We took enough cash for the entire trip. You can’t generally pay by card in places (definitely not with an American card) and although there are cash machines they usually have long queues, don’t dispense much in one go and run out frequently. We spoke to people who’d spent hours trying to get money out.

Casa Particulairs made our trip

Casa Particulairs are usually described as homestays but really they are more like B&Bs, in our experience. In each of the Casas we stayed in we had our own room and bathroom with the host living in a flat above/to the side/in a separate part of a large house. The hosts were always super helpful, explaining the layout of the towns, arranging taxis or outings if we wanted and providing fantastic breakfasts for a low extra cost. I’m sure this varies hugely but we booked all ours through Expedia* so we’d looked at reviews and had an idea of what to expect in advance. People we spoke to who were finding Casas as they travelled had come across some not so great experiences (still fine and safe, just not great) but that seemed to be the exception. For us they really helped us get the most from our trip and were lovely to meet and talk to, too.

Music is everywhere!

Absolutely everywhere we went there were incredible musicians and music filled the air, which was joyous! Remember to have bills to tip the bands and you can sometimes buy their CDs, too.

Accessing the internet in Cuba

Get a VPN before you arrive in Cuba

If you think you might want to access the internet in Cuba you need to install a VPN* on your device before you arrive. Many websites are unavailable to Cuban residents, plus you can have problems if you try to access your online banking from Cuba (particularly if your bank is American). We met a couple from Germany who hadn’t booked accommodation in advance and then couldn’t book hotels online there because the booking sites don’t allow booking from within Cuba. A VPN redirects your traffic through a country of your choice, so although you are in Cuba, the website thinks you are accessing from elsewhere. You won’t be able to get one when you’re there, so make sure you have it all set up before you leave.

We used ExpressVPN* and it was excellent. Easy to set up and great that we could choose to have it just for a month if we wanted.

Do you need a Cuban sim card to access wifi?

No. For some reason we mistakenly thought that you needed to have a Cuban sim card to get on any sort of wifi, but that’s not the case. You only need a Cuban sim card if you want mobile internet, or for making local calls while you’re there. We didn’t bother, as it was quite pricey.

Can you access wifi for free in hotels and cafés?

Some cafés, restaurants and Casas/hotels have free wifi, you just need to ask for the code. Sometimes they have to switch the router on and you then just tell them when you are done, sometimes the network is hidden so don’t assume there isn’t wifi if you just look yourself and don’t see it. We found wifi to be very weak in Casas so we ended up just using public wifi, as detailed below.

How do you access public wifi with an ETECSA card?

Wifi is available in each town, usually in a park or square, which sounds very strange if you’re not used to that! To get on this internet all you need to do is buy an ETECSA card from an ETECSA shop, which gives you credit for a certain amount of time online. Once you’re in the park you look for ‘ETECSA’ in your wifi setting on your device and enter the user number and password in the window that pops up. You should be all set up then, just remember to switch it off when you’re finished as the available time will be ticking away!

ETECSA shops are one in one out so the queues can be quite long. We hadn’t sussed things out in Havana but we bought a 5 hour card each in Viñales, where it was much quieter.

You do have to give your passport number when you buy the card, which put some people off as they felt they were more anonymous accessing the internet at a café instead. There is only one, government-owned internet provider in Cuba so whether you access through a café or the parks it’s the same really, but as long as you’ve got your VPN set up you should have more privacy thanks to that, too.

There will be times when it feels like everyone is constantly trying to sell you things

Everyone is really friendly but lots of people do try to sell things or services to you, which is absolutely understandable and often very helpful but I know people can find it a bit wearing if you’re not in a position to buy something right then. We just politely said ‘no thank you’ so we didn’t waste people’s time. Lots of people are genuinely just stopping for a chat, too and we felt bad that on a few occasions we probably seems a bit cold because we were expecting a sales pitch, so do keep an open mind!

Unexpected tour guides

In some museums you may find yourself being given a tour whether you like it or not. I’m still not sure if these are people working for the museums or entrepreneurs. It’s usually very cheap to get in the museum in the first place and it can be good to have someone guide you and add more information, I just tell you this so you’re aware and ready with a tip!

Travel

Viazul buses

You can book long distance trips between towns on the Viazul bus. We booked booked 4 trips in advance before we arrived in Cuba but we cancelled 2 of them because the schedule didn’t give us the most efficient use of time.

Check schedules and book online at the Viazul website. Don’t try to turn up and buy a ticket on the day, they are usually fully booked. If you decide not to take that bus cancel your booking – you can get a partial refund up to 72 hours before departure but even if it’s too late for that you’re freeing the seat up for someone else.

Arrive one hour before the scheduled time of departure and exchange your confirmation voucher for your ticket. Larger bags will go in the hold but will be labeled and you’ll have the receipt for this. Keep that safe, they do check when they give the bags back.

The buses we took were comfortable and a normal temperature. We kept reading online that they were freezing but that wasn’t the case for us!

Seat numbering seemed a bit hit and miss. The first bus didn’t allocate us seats, so we lurked near the bus to try to get on promptly and increase the chances of sitting together. The second bus did allocate us seats but our numbers were beyond the number of rows that existed. We just sat at the back and it was fine.

Taxi Collectivos

We did most of our longer journeys by taxi collective, which we booked through our Casa Particulairs. There’s a sort of network of Collectivos, so drivers run set routes once or twice a day. For longer journeys you might switch cars – for example when we went from Viñales to Cienfuegos we switched cars in Havana: Driver A picked us up in Viñales, we paid him for the full journey and he took us to Havana. In Havana Driver A handed us and a portion of our fare to Driver B. Driver B took us to Cienfuegos and Driver A took some other people from Havana to Viñales.

Taxi Collectivos generally pick up from Casas in the morning, around 8/8:30am. We met some people who tried to travel later in the day and found it much harder, taking a few hours and a lot of negotiation to arrange.

Local taxis, cyclos etc

Journey prices are pretty much always per person-including in a taxi. So if you ask how much a trip will be, make sure you ask if it’s per person and/or what the total price is.

Leaving Cuba from Havana airport

We flew from Havana to the UK via Madrid. The airport isn’t huge so although you can check in early (which we did as we couldn’t check in online) you can’t go through security until 3 hours before your flight. There are shops and restaurants once you’re through, though and we stocked up on Havana Club, which they sealed and was fine for us to take whilst travelling carry-one only.

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We were in Cuba late November – December 2022 as part of a 3 week trip in Cuba, so all my notes are based around my experiences as a tourist at that time. Please do check any dates/opening times/locations etc. if you’re planning your own trip – things change! Links are to websites if I can find useful ones, or Google Maps locations if not, so you can see where they are. Please also note this post contains some affiliate links, indicated with a ‘*’ – if you click them and decide to buy something I may receive a small cut of the payment, but it won’t cost you more. Thank you!