I have been wanting to travel to Cuba as soon as President O. took the liberty to improve relations between the Cuban and US governments. When Trump announced changes to Cuban travel, I was so nervous that I wouldn't get the opportunity to take the trip that I had been dreaming about for so long. Luckily with a little research, not all hope was lost. We were [finally] able to take our trip. I went to Cuba with some friends from undergrad and it was a dream. A lot of people have asked me for suggestions as to what to do & I have promised one too many people a copy of our itinerary. Hopefully, posting it here will be easier for everyone to find.
Before you go:
Getting a Visa:
In my opinion, Cuba isn't a country that you simply buy a plane ticket, book a hotel, and go. With a little research, your experience will be so much better. Prior to November 2017, there were 12 categories under which Americans could obtain a Cuban visa, with the most common being People to People Travel. Today that category is no longer permissible for independent travel, but the other 11 categories still remain. The most popular category, and the one that we chose, was Support for the Cuban People.
We Supported the Cuban People by staying in a locally owned Airbnb, eating at locally owned restaurants, and participating in locally owned tours. We also made blessing bags with toiletries to give out to people on the street. One of our tour guides told us that current books are hard to come by in Cuba, so bringing a stack of books that you no longer have use for could also help to contribute to Supporting the Cuban People. I read that you can get audited up to 10 years after your trip, but providing an itinerary of the things that you did should be sufficient in the rare case that you get audited.
Depending on whether you purchase a direct flight or a flight with a layover, you will purchase your visa at the gate before your direct flight into Cuba. We all flew to Cuba from different cities in the US. Each of us had a layover in Fort Lauderdale, which is where we bought our Cuban visas. A visa should cost around $50 USD. Keep it with you (along with your passport) at all times during your trip (FYI: other than at the airport, no one ever asked to see it. Better safe than sorry.).
Another thing to keep in mind is that your flight should also include travel health insurance in Cuba. Southwest made us print a physical boarding pass, which also served as our health insurance card while we were in Cuba. Check your airline to see what is included with your flight.
We Supported the Cuban People by staying in a locally owned Airbnb, eating at locally owned restaurants, and participating in locally owned tours. We also made blessing bags with toiletries to give out to people on the street. One of our tour guides told us that current books are hard to come by in Cuba, so bringing a stack of books that you no longer have use for could also help to contribute to Supporting the Cuban People. I read that you can get audited up to 10 years after your trip, but providing an itinerary of the things that you did should be sufficient in the rare case that you get audited.
Depending on whether you purchase a direct flight or a flight with a layover, you will purchase your visa at the gate before your direct flight into Cuba. We all flew to Cuba from different cities in the US. Each of us had a layover in Fort Lauderdale, which is where we bought our Cuban visas. A visa should cost around $50 USD. Keep it with you (along with your passport) at all times during your trip (FYI: other than at the airport, no one ever asked to see it. Better safe than sorry.).
Another thing to keep in mind is that your flight should also include travel health insurance in Cuba. Southwest made us print a physical boarding pass, which also served as our health insurance card while we were in Cuba. Check your airline to see what is included with your flight.
Accommodations:
Along with changes to travelling to Cuba came changes to finding lodging. Many hotels in Cuba are banned for American tourists. As a result, many Americans chose to stay at casa particulares, or non-government owned bed & breakfasts. The easiest way to do this is through airbnb. We stayed at B & B Francisco Habana in middle of the upperclass Vedado neighborhood. I highly recommend it. Ailen, who was the house manager, was excellent and very accommodating. It was walking distance or a short car ride to most of the activities that we did. Vedado is also super close to Old Havana, which is where all the touristy things are.We felt super safe in the Vedado area (and in Cuba in general). The girls in our group went walking late at night & not once did we feel uncomfortable. I have felt significantly less comfortable walking the streets of Atlanta in daylight.
One thing to note is that this airbnb is on the eighth floor and there are no elevators. Another thing is that there is only air conditioning in the bedrooms. That was not an issue for us, however!
When looking for an airbnb, consider one that serves breakfast in the morning. I read that it's not easy to find breakfast in Cuba, so many airbnbs offer them for a small cost. We paid 5 CUCs per day and our breakfast came with eggs, ham, cheese, fruit, bread, Cuban coffee, and juice.
Exchanging Money:
Bring LOTS OF CASH. American credit and debit cards are not accepted in Cuba, so make sure that you have enough money to last your entire trip. At the time of our trip, the conversion rate was about 1CUC:1USD. However, there is also a 10% conversion fee imposed on the US dollar. Many Americans chose to convert their USDs to Euros or Canadian dollars before coming to Cuba. We chose to convert to Canadian dollars and the conversion rate was not that great. We felt like the rate that we got for our Canadian dollars probably would have been about the same as exchanging our USDs and paying the conversion fee.
For our 4 1/2 day trip, we each brought about $750 cash, although not all of us spent all of our money. Most of the money that I spent went to tipping, transportation, food/drinks, and souvenirs.
For our 4 1/2 day trip, we each brought about $750 cash, although not all of us spent all of our money. Most of the money that I spent went to tipping, transportation, food/drinks, and souvenirs.
There are two currencies in Cuba. The CUP (Peso Cubano) is the currency used by locals and has pictures of famous Cuban people. The CUC (Peso Convertible) is used by tourists and has pictures of monuments. When we went to Cuba the CUC to USD conversion rate was 1 to 1. When you're getting change back, make sure that you get CUCs back. If you get CUPs back, ask for your change in CUCs. This happened to us one time, but it was easy to get the correct currency back. Remember, statues & monuments :)
Wifi:
Cuba is still very much behind the US in terms of technology. Don't expect to find wifi everywhere like in the US. You can purchase an ETECSA card, which gives you access to the internet. Wifi is typically available in wifi parks. You'll know you're in a wifi park because there are a million people on their phones. Don't expect to have high speed internet or to be able to work remotely. It's not going to happen in Cuba.
My friends and I chose to forgo wifi & stay disconnected for the week. We only used the internet once at one of our experiences (read more below), just to tell our families that we made it safely. This actually made our trip much more enjoyable because we could simply engage and interact with people. It's also what makes Cuba so much more enjoyable because the people haven't been ruined by social media. Cubans are still so social instead of being glued to their phones like Americans.
My friends and I chose to forgo wifi & stay disconnected for the week. We only used the internet once at one of our experiences (read more below), just to tell our families that we made it safely. This actually made our trip much more enjoyable because we could simply engage and interact with people. It's also what makes Cuba so much more enjoyable because the people haven't been ruined by social media. Cubans are still so social instead of being glued to their phones like Americans.
Transportation:
For our trip we chose to hire a personal driver. I found out about Holbert Cisneros via a travel group on facebook. He
basically served as our own personal Cuban uber driver. He was there wherever and whenever we needed him. We didn't have to worry about finding a taxi or navigating the Cuban bus system.
I highly recommend taking the route that we took and hiring a driver for the week. And if you're going to hire a driver, obviously hire Holbert. He speaks (enough) English. He gave great suggestions for local places to eat and things to do. He also went above and beyond, walking us to our activities each day and not leaving until he knew that we were in the right place. On our day trip to Vinales, he wasn't available to take us, so he sent another driver who works for him. He even stopped by our airbnb that evening to bring us cake from his son's birthday party.
We also learned the most about Cuban life from Holbert. Spending a lot of time in the car leaves a lot of room for great conversation and deeper conversation than the small talk that we probably would have made taking random taxis everyday. Holbert felt like family by the end of our trip.
I highly recommend taking the route that we took and hiring a driver for the week. And if you're going to hire a driver, obviously hire Holbert. He speaks (enough) English. He gave great suggestions for local places to eat and things to do. He also went above and beyond, walking us to our activities each day and not leaving until he knew that we were in the right place. On our day trip to Vinales, he wasn't available to take us, so he sent another driver who works for him. He even stopped by our airbnb that evening to bring us cake from his son's birthday party.
We also learned the most about Cuban life from Holbert. Spending a lot of time in the car leaves a lot of room for great conversation and deeper conversation than the small talk that we probably would have made taking random taxis everyday. Holbert felt like family by the end of our trip.
If you choose to hire a taxista:
- Make sure that you negotiate your daily rate before you arrive in Cuba. We paid $20 USD per person per day. ( By day, I literally mean the entire day. We came home from a club at 3 am one night and Holbert stayed waiting for us the entire time).
- If you are bringing a lot of luggage, find out if you will be paying extra for another car to bring your luggage to/from the airport.
- Negotiate a separate rate if one of your days only involves transport to the airport.
- Negotiate a rate in advanced if you plan to travel another city outside of Havana. We paid $30 per person to go to Viñales. Again, our driver was with us the entire time.
- Also, with Holbert, find out in advance if there will be a day when he won't be your driver & he will be contracting out another driver. If so, find out if the other driver speaks English. This wasn't an issue for us as I speak Spanish, but it's good to know in advance if everyone in your group is an English speaker.
The one downside to having a driver is that being escorted everywhere left little time to interact with Cubans outside of our activities. However, part of this was also due to time constraint & we had a packed schedule crammed into four days. We easily could have changed this if we had planned a free day where we just explored by foot rather than by car. However, if I were to go back to Cuba, I still think I'd hire a driver (but plan less organized activities).
Food:
We didn't eat out too much on our trip because many of our activities included meals (see my itinerary below). Like with hotels, make sure that the places that you eat are locally owned paladares, rather than government owned restaurants. Also, keep an open mind when eating out in Cuba. Due to rations & food shortages, sometimes seasonings are not readily available and the food can be bland. Also, as the day goes on, restaurants sometimes begin to run out of food. My suggestion is to eat early or ask your driver for recommendations on where to eat late. We had some restaurants in mind when we came to Cuba, but Holbert made better suggestions. In general, most of our meals in Cuba were great. I didn't write down all of the places that we ate at, but what I can remember is:
- El Chanchullero (Old Havana): This was the first thing we did when we came to Cuba and it was not my favorite. I had Ropa Vieja that came with plantains, moro rice, and salad. The ropa vieja at La Vitrola was better. My food was a little bland here (see my comment about seasonings above). The rice was also a bit overcooked. I did have a really good mango daiquiri here though.
- La Catedral (Vedado): Everyone in our group enjoyed their meal here. I had a Cuban sandwich with plantainchips and it was delicious. They also had a yummy tres leches cake. Highly recommend.
- Paladar La Guarida: We went back and forth as a group about whether we wanted to have our last meal here. I'm still a little salty that we decided against it. Literally every blog that I read about recommended this place. When I got back to the US, there were like 10 travel instagrams that has pictures posted here (Clearly, I'm really bitter guys). It's a rooftop restaurant & you need reservations to eat here. If you go to Cuba, eat here so I can live vicariously through your meal ;)
Accessibility:
I am speech-language pathologist & the daughter of a mother with severe rheumatoid arthritis. Accessibility is always in the back of my mind. Cuba in general is not a very accessible place for people with disabilities/physical limitations. The roads are very uneven & there aren't elevators. Several of the activities that we did on our trip involved climbing multiple flights of stairs. If you have anyone in your group who has physical limitations (even something small like a bad back) find out before you book a tour if your tour requires significant walking or climbing a lot of stairs.
Language:
Obviously Cuba is a Spanish speaking country. Because Cuba has been isolated from American tourism, there are not as many English speaking people as other Latin American countries. Since many of our activities were through airbnb, pretty much all of our tour guides spoke English. However, when we went out to restaurants, clubs, etc, many of the people did not speak English. It definitely pays off to have someone in your group who speaks Spanish. We did not have an issue as I speak Spanish & one of my friends speaks basic Spanish. My non-Spanish speaking friends were surprised at how many things came back that they had learned in school.
If you don't have any Spanish speakers in your group, I would recommend that you brush up on some basic Spanish questions & download the Spanishdict app to help with translation. (I use it for work and it's a lifesaver). Even if you only know a little Spanish, use it! Total immersion is an awesome experience. Plus, Cuban people are really friendly & willing to help if you put in a little effort!
Language:
Obviously Cuba is a Spanish speaking country. Because Cuba has been isolated from American tourism, there are not as many English speaking people as other Latin American countries. Since many of our activities were through airbnb, pretty much all of our tour guides spoke English. However, when we went out to restaurants, clubs, etc, many of the people did not speak English. It definitely pays off to have someone in your group who speaks Spanish. We did not have an issue as I speak Spanish & one of my friends speaks basic Spanish. My non-Spanish speaking friends were surprised at how many things came back that they had learned in school.
If you don't have any Spanish speakers in your group, I would recommend that you brush up on some basic Spanish questions & download the Spanishdict app to help with translation. (I use it for work and it's a lifesaver). Even if you only know a little Spanish, use it! Total immersion is an awesome experience. Plus, Cuban people are really friendly & willing to help if you put in a little effort!
Itinerary
The majority of the activities that we did on our trip were experiences via Airbnb. Airbnb experiences are tours, classes, and cultural activities hosted by local Cubans. They give you a more authentic experience as opposed to a taking a tour with a touristy company. They are often hosted in homes or residential areas, giving you a better idea of what life is like in Cuba. We paid for our experiences in advance online, which helped us to budget for our trip. Many of them fill up quickly, so I would look into them about a month before your trip.
Day 1:
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| Teaching my friends how to make a Cubata |
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| I couldn't decide which drink I wanted to try, so I tried them all at once ;) |
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| The winners of the cocktail making Olympics (Get It?) |
Afterward we were served Cuban appetizers. We then were taught how to smoke Cuban cigars. Each of us were given a cigar with a cup of Cuban coffee and a glass of rum to dip our cigars into. To top it all off, we were given a gift bag with a printed paper with the recipes for the drinks, a bottle of rum,
another Cuban cigar, and a certificate to use in case we had difficulty with customs. Another great aspect of this experience was the conversation that we had with our hosts. Yuri & Laura were very laid back. They shared with us a lot about their life and families. Yuri & Laura set the bar EXTREMELY HIGH for the rest of our trip. We had an absolute blast. You should definitely do this experience.
Day 2:
Daytime
For our second day in Havana, we took a city tour with Locally Sourced Havana Tours. The tour was $90 per person & we got a small discount for booking a large group of people. 
Our tour was divided into three portions. A walking portion during the morning took us through all of the beautiful squares in Havana. A classic car tour during the afternoon took us past El Capitolio and outside of the city center to Revolution Plaza, where we got to take pictures with the cars. In between the two we had a rooftop lunch with a drink & a view. Our classic car ride then ended with a drink at the Hotel Nacional. There was also the option to do a cocktail making class at the Hotel Nacional, but we opted out since we'd already done that the night before. During the walking portion, we stopped at a coffee shop (which had run out of everything that we wanted, lol) & our guide also pointed out places where we could buy souvenirs, bottled water and wifi cards.
Between all of Havana's beautiful squares and all of the rich history being shared with us, this tour was overwhelming in the best of ways. You really need to take it twice to truly appreciate all that it has to offer. The fact that we took 785455524 pictures of everything didn't help either. If you end up with Roberto as your tour guide, bring him books!
Nighttime
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| Fangirling because I found a picture of one of my favorite bands, Ibeyi |
Day 3:
Morning
Our second full day was a beach day. Holbert recommended Playa Santa Maria, which is a beach that is part of Playa del Este (or East Beach). It was a 40ish minute drive from our airbnb. The part of the beach that we were at seemed to be a local beach with mostly Cuban families. We were some of the only English speakers. There were several curious children who took interest in our group and joined our circle to chat with us. It was hilarious watching the reactions of the children while my friends tried to speak Spanish to them. This part of the beach has full service: offering food, drinks, umbrellas & chairs. We paid $20 for an umbrella & $5 per chair. We didn't order food, but got drinks (I would not suggest getting a piña colada, but my friends liked their mojitos). The water was beautiful and the beach, for the most part, was clean. If you want a non-touristy beach experience with opportunities for interaction with the locals, come here!Evening
After we came back from the beach we took a salsa class. For only $12 USD per person, this two hour class was such a steal. We took this class with a group of 10 people from various countries. The first hour was group instruction, while the second hour was individual instruction and practice. Litzandra's team of four was so much fun and great at teaching. We all enjoyed learning Cuban-style salsa. She also let us use her wifi after class, which was extremely thoughtful. If you take this class, wear something light because it's outdoors. Litzandra provided water (we brought our own as well) and she had several fans.
Litzandra and her team are AfroCubans with natural hair. If you are natural, you know how hard it is to find natural hair products in the US...so imagine how much harder it is to find them in Cuba. I brought Litzandra some travel sized natural hair products and she was so grateful. If I had known that her entire team was natural, I would have brought full sized products. Take her class & tip her team with natural hair products! They will love you!
Day 4:
Litzandra and her team are AfroCubans with natural hair. If you are natural, you know how hard it is to find natural hair products in the US...so imagine how much harder it is to find them in Cuba. I brought Litzandra some travel sized natural hair products and she was so grateful. If I had known that her entire team was natural, I would have brought full sized products. Take her class & tip her team with natural hair products! They will love you!
Day 4:
On this day we went to Viñales, an agricultural town known for harvesting tobacco and coffee. It's about a 2 1/2-3 hour drive outside of Havana, making for a perfect day trip. Viñales is popular for tobacco farm tours, horseback riding, and its scenic mogotes, or dolomite mountains. We chose not to do an airbnb experience on this day, as we read that it was cheaper to just find a farm. 
Our day started out with breakfast at Hotel Horizontes Los Jazmines. The food was not anything to write home about, but the views were spectacular. I don't remember how much we paid for breakfast, but it wasn't more than 10 USD with a tip.
Go for the experience and the views. When you come out of the hotel and walk up a hill to the left, there is a lookout area with a piña colada stand. This was probably the best piña colada that I had in Cuba. What made it even better was that the bartender made the piña colada & then handed us a bottle of rum to add as much as we wanted. Hah! There was also a salsa band playing music when we got there, so you know we tested out our new salsa moves.
After spending some time at the lookout, we went to a local farm that our driver knew about. At the farm we went on a tour that taught us about the tobacco making process, took an hour long horse back ride, and took another short coffee/honey making process tour. We paid $20 USD for everything. We also got to smoke another Cuban cigar while we rode our horses, which was included in the price. 
with ground coffee, $20 for rum, and $8 for honey. Since coming home, my boyfriend & I have smoked a couple of the cigars, my mom tried a bit of the honey, and I haven't cracked open my bottle of rum. However, I made some of the coffee and was sooooo disappointed. We were told to filter the coffee twice, but to me it tastes like burnt overly processed coffee. I was too embarrassed to even give it out to everyone that I bought it for. I suggest not to buy coffee unless it is whole beans. If you don't have a coffee maker with
Besides our experience with the coffee, we enjoyed our farm tour. We learned a lot and the horse back ride was very scenic. If you're nervous about riding a horse, they are basically self guided
After our farm tour, we ate at El Campesino. It was
The last thing that we did before heading home was the Cueva del Indio. For $3, you get to walk through the cave and take a quick boat ride through a river that runs through the cave. The guide points out stalagmites and bats. It was cool, but I kept comparing it to Cueva Ventana in Puerto Rico, which is much prettier. If you're pressed for time, this is not something that you have to see. But if you have some time to kill, it's a quick stop. We didn't spend more than 30 minutes here.
Another thing worth mentioning is the Mural de la Prehistoria. When we came back to Havana, everyone asked if we saw it. We didn't, lol, but I guess that we should have. Check it out if you're in Viñales.
Day 5:
Daytime:
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| Katie getting a cleanse from the Babalawo |
Evening:
That evening we had dinner at La Vitrola. It's a touristy restaurant in the heart of Havana, but it had a really cute 50s jukebox vibe inside. They also had a live band playing salsa and cha cha music. I had THE BEST ropa vieja here and a delicious mango DaiquirÃ.
After dinner we headed to the Buena Vista Social Club. I
believe we paid $50/per person and it came with admission + 3 drinks. I must say that I was extremely disappointed by the BVSC, which is supposed to be a world renowned salsa club. Being that I'm Puerto Rican, I had super high expectations. I mean it is the Buena Vista Social Club. First, the set up wasn't what I was expecting. We weren't really in an auditorium, but a balcony area that wrapped around an open air space in the center, where you could see down to the first floor. I don't think this is the part of the building where all the shows are located, but we lucked out with this location on the night that we went.
The singers and band performed in one of the four corners of the room. There were around 8 salsa singers that took turns singing classic salsa songs and taking laps around the room.
The salsa singers were great, but the band and the back up dancers lacked enthusiasm. They barely danced or smiled and at times looked straight up miserable. Luckily my friends made it fun by making up stories about each salsa singer. They even claimed that one of the singers was my biological Cuban father lololol. We also got pulled up front to the front to show off our new salsa moves & that was fun.
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| My "Cuban father" and I |
We ended the night going to King Bar, a trendy bar that was about 5 minutes away from our airbnb in Vedado. The music was great and the drinks were good. I totally wish we had gone out here more than once. However, it's a pretty small bar and it was packed on a Monday night. I can only imagine what it looks like on a weekend night. Luckily we weren't too hungover for our 10 am flight the next morning.
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If you've made it this far, I thank you for taking the time to read my post! Cuba was such an amazing experience for my friends and I. Our eyes were opened to a very different lifestyle from what we are accustomed to in the United States. My best suggestion for Cuba is to keep an open mind. Cuba is very much a third world country, where many people struggle to live their daily life. Due to the US embargo, many of the things that were novelties to us (i.e., riding around in classic cars, no internet access, etc) make life hard for the Cuban people (but they do a damn good job of making due with what they have). If you're expecting a luxurious trip with all the amenities, this is not the trip for you. With a little optimism, empathy, and willingness to open your heart to a way of life that is different from yours, this can be an amazing trip. Cuba is incomparable to any trip that I've ever taken. Even though we were there for such a short period of time, this trip was life changing for me. I hope that this post can help you to have an experience similar to mine.
