Cuba - Travel Tips

Cuba, the largest Caribbean island and one of the last remaining socialist strongholds in the world, is known for its many stunning beaches, world heritage sites, colonial architecture and of course, rum and cigars. The best travel times for Cuba are around December to May as the rain season begins in June and there is a risk of hurricanes between August and October.

With the help of our trusted travel agency Fernwärtsreisen, we planned out a 2-and-a-half-week trip around the north-west of the island, and we came back with a boatload of impressions. But before we get into the road trip itself, which took us from Havana via Vinales, the Bay of Pigs to Trinidad and Varadero, we wanted to give you some general information and tips when travelling to and around Cuba.

Cuba is still heavily suffering under the US embargo, nonetheless, the country has been undergoing some changes in recent years, such as internet access becoming more widely available. Relations with the US remain tense, so it is almost impossible for Americans to get a Visa to go on holiday to Cuba, except if they have family in Cuba. So, tourists mostly come from Canada, Europe and Russia.

Even while travelling during the high season beginning of January, the amount of tourist we encountered during our trip was never overwhelming and tourist hot spots and beaches never felt overcrowded. Vinales and Trinidad, two world heritage sites and of course Havana were busier but it was never uncomfortable. Especially the beaches, such as Playa Ãncon and Playa Larga, were completely different compared to the overcrowded beaches you might know from Spain or Greece.

We took direct flights from/to Frankfurt with Condor. Our outbound flight to Havana was about 11 hours and 30 minutes. The return flight from Varadero took about 9 hours. Quite long flights and Condor is an airline which likes to charge extra for things like entertainment, various dietary meal options, alcoholic drinks and seat selection, so just keep that in mind when making your travel arrangements. We simply brought a lot of snacks and downloaded tons from Netflix to make it through the flight.

Before leaving for Cuba, most people need to get a Cuban visa, which is more commonly known as a Cuban tourist card. Make sure you get yours before entering the country, it can be a real hassle and quite expensive if you wanna get one in Cuba and worst case, some airlines might not even let you board your flight. You can get the card online, and they are also available for purchase at some airports. We found the information on our airline's website. In Frankfurt, the Condor information desk sells the cards. We paid 35 Euros per person. Make sure to fill it out correctly as it will be checked upon arrival at immigration and you have to keep it with you at all times during your stay. You will have to turn in the card upon leaving the country at the immigration checkpoint at the airport. Cuban airports are also notoriously slow, so if there are a couple of planes arriving or leaving at the same time, retrieving your luggage or boarding your flight can take quite a bit of time.

Cuba currently still has two currencies, Pesos for locals and CUC for tourists. 1 CUC roughly translates to 1 Euro/Canadian Dollar. The currency is only available on the island. There are exchange offices at the airports but you can also find them throughout larger cities. As they are all government-owned, this is the safest way to exchange your money. Your best bet is to immediately exchange your money at the airport, provided that the queue upfront is not too long. However, hotels also sometimes offer an exchange service. Please be aware that you will always need to have your passport with you to exchange money. If the line at the airport is too long, you can also exchange your money at an exchange office in town. If you have a guide, you can ask him/her to take you there. You need to get in line and sometimes there is quite a bit of a wait, so plan ahead. Also make sure that you do not only get large bills, such as 100 CUC, as it is quite difficult to find places which are able to give you change for them. However, some of the larger gas stations or restaurants do take them. So, make sure to always have some smaller bills with you. We were also able to break some of our notes in banks in the larger cities but it can be more difficult to find banks that are open and operating in smaller towns.

Before leaving Cuba, you will have to exchange the rest of your CUC, as banks at home will most likely refuse to take them. Your best bet to do this at the airport. At the Varadero airport, the exchange office is located inside the terminal, turn right upon entry and walk to the far back of the building, where you will find a small white cabin. Also, make sure that you exchange all of your currency as the shops and bars after the security/immigration checkpoint only accept foreign currencies, such as Euros and Canadian Dollars! On average, we spent around 35 CUC per person per day on food, drinks, gas and souvenirs.

Though there are hotels and resorts in Cuba, which are mostly government-owned, there are even more Casa Particulares. These are homestays, where people rent out their private rooms to travellers and they are great budget accommodation options for tourists. Kinda, like an unofficial Cuban Airbnb. Sometimes, the guest rooms are located in a separate building behind the house but sometimes you have your room right in the main house. Usually, there are 2 to 3 rooms for rent in a Casa, which are marked with an anchor-shaped blue sign upfront (if it's red, the rooms are reserved for Cuban residents). In each Casa or hotel, you have to show your passport and sign their client-log. They are very due-diligent with this, as the government apparently does regular checks.

The Casa usually offers a room with an ensuite bathroom, a fridge and air-conditioning. In the morning, they serve you an abundant breakfast and Cuban coffee on the terrace. Most hosts are very welcoming and friendly and take the time to recommend activities and restaurants in the area. Oftentimes, you can also have dinner in your Casa for a small charge (10-12 CUC per person), which is cooked for you with love by the landlord or his family. This is a great way to experience Cuba and you easily come into contact with the locals. You will quickly realize that Cuba is a very clean country and people really take care to keep nature, streets and houses clean, so we never had an issue with the cleanliness in any of the places we were staying at.

Both of us do not speak Spanish and it is not absolutely necessary for you to travel through Cuba but it is definitely an advantage. Some of our Casa hosts spoke English, some did not and also in restaurants or simply on the streets, people often did not speak English but Cubans are very friendly and with hands and feet we were always able to communicate with each other. I regretted not having learned some of the basic before our trip because I would have loved to be able to talk more to people; so, if you speak (even a bit of) Spanish, you should not have any issues at all.

Internet access only came to Cuba a couple of years ago and is still quite limited. There are some central Wi-Fi points located throughout cities and villages, oftentimes around the central square where you can connect to the internet, but you will need to buy an internet scratch card. You get 1 hour of internet for 1 CUC, if you buy the card at a hotel or 1 hour for 2 CUC if you buy them at the street corner (which we never did, so we don't know whether they are all legit or not). Connect to the Wi-Fi point and you will be routed to a log-in page where you will have to enter the username and password noted on your scratch card. After you finish using the internet, make sure to disconnect your Wi-Fi, if not, the time of your scratch card will keep on ticking down. You can also open up a hotspot for the people travelling with you, this way, you do not have to use multiple scratch cards for multiple people. Also, please be aware that texting and calling to and from Cuba is extremely expensive, so we recommend you use internet-based services.

Internet will probably never be included in your accommodation. Most Casas and hotels have a router to which you can connect yourself to, however, even in all-inclusive hotels, you will need a scratch card. In the all-inclusive we were staying at in Varadero, we actually needed to buy scratch cards from the hotel directly, as outside scratch cards did not work. Keep that in mind and make sure to ask at reception if you are staying at a resort. For the conspiracy theorists out there, please be aware that Cuba only has one data entry and exit point, so any internet traffic you generate is monitored.

For those of you who are panicking a bit how they will survive without the internet, you'll be fine. We actually enjoyed being forced to disconnect. Usually, we went online once or twice a day to send a message home or read the news. Just make sure that you have downloaded any apps you might need, such as a translator or offline maps (Google maps, wemap) before coming to Cuba. On the island, the internet is simply too slow most of the time to download them. So, best prepare yourself for the internet "outage" by bringing some books, games, a card deck or handheld consoles to pass the time.

Many people who travel through Cuba hire a driver, which is a convenient, relaxed way to get around but we chose to rent a car, a Suzuki Jimny to be exact. Both are great options to explore the island. If you prefer driving around and exploring on your own, there are a few tips we recommend you to follow; first and foremost, get a Jeep/SUV as the streets in Cuba are often in bad shape. Someone from our contact agency Caribbean Tours in Cuba actually came with us to pick up the car, to help with translation and paperwork. We did not need to have an international drivers license. On the spot, you have to pay for insurance, the refundable security deposit and a fee in case you want to register a second driver. We were recommended by our travel agency to pay this with a credit card (Visa or MasterCard) as sometimes there can be issues with the refund of the security deposit (ours was about 200 Euros) when returning the car as the car rental company can simply run out of cash. With the credit card, on the other hand, the rental car company can simply unblock the security deposit. Please check with your bank beforehand that your cards and transactions in Cuba will not be blocked. There were some initial problems with our Visa card but the card did work on the second try, so insist that they try again, even if it did not work the first time. As with all rental cars, take pictures of the outside and inside and note down all existing damages, the kilometre count as well as gas level. After signing the rental agreement, you will be given a copy, which you will need to have with you at all times.

While driving, make sure to stay on paved roads. As a reference, all roads which are marked in yellow on Google maps are usually safe to drive on, smaller roads marked in white should be avoided. We learned it the hard way, so plan your routes ahead before you set out for the day. Those gravel roads might look like the fastest possible way on paper but in fact, it really slows you down and some unpaved roads can be impassable, so don't stray too far from the main roads. Also, we wouldn't recommend driving during the night as the many potholes you find on the roads are really difficult to see in the dark and there are no street lamps. Some potholes are very deep and could potentially wreck your car if you hit them.

Cuba has different kinds of gas than what we know in Europe. You will have to get "Especial", which is the most expensive kind, coming in at around 1,20 CUC per litre and it is not always available at each gas station. Especial is, in fact, unleaded 94 octane gas, that is required for newer car models, such as rental cars. The other pumps are mostly old 83 octane Diesel for the old engines of the classic cars. And yes, the classic cars are still very much in use in Cuba and you will see a lot of them around. Most are being used as taxis but many Cubans do still drive them for private use. Especial is always labelled blue and is often only available at one of the pumps. Please note that refuelling works differently in Cuba: first you pay and then a gas station attendant or yourself puts the gas in. We always tried to keep the tank above 50% just to be on the safe side as it can be difficult to find Especial in smaller towns and gas stations do run out of it. The gas stations on the Autopista, the Cuban highway, are however usually quite reliable.

The Autopista is oftentimes a 6-lane concrete road with quite a few potholes, so always keep your eyes on the road. As it is often quite bumpy, you automatically do not drive very fast and the speed limit is 100 km/h. Furthermore, you will find all kinds of transportation devices on the Autopista: cars, new and old, buses and trucks, scooters, bicycles as well as horse-drawn carriages, so always keep an eye out for the other road users.

Cubans often travel by hitchhiking as the bus service can be unreliable or really crowded. So, you will find people on the side of the road or highway looking for a carpooling opportunity, especially at big junctions. You are not required to take anybody if you do not want to. Be warned, that there are also people who try to abuse the situation. We were stopped a couple of times by people claiming to be some kind of security officer or warden, oftentimes speaking very well English, wearing makeshift uniforms and badges, telling us stories about an accident ahead on the road and requesting us to take people with us. We always politely refused, also because we had no space in the car due to our luggage. As rental cars are often the same makes and models, they are quite easily distinguishable from local cars. Just be aware that these people are not police officers and you are under no obligation to take anybody on board. Make sure to look up how police officers are dressed to be sure to distinguish them from imposters. The police have checkpoints along the Autopista but we were never stopped or checked.

Cuba, of course, is famous for its rum, with Havana Club probably being the most known brand of rum in the world. And indeed, rum can be found everywhere you go, at such low prices, that one of our favourite pastimes in Cuba was drinking cocktails. You will find all the classics on the island such as Cuba Libre, Mojito, Daiquiri and Pina Colada. However, my favourite Cuban rum-based cocktail is called Canchánchara (pronounced can-chán-chara) and it's pretty much rum and lime juice sweetened with honey and served in small clay pots. I prefer this to a mojito as oftentimes the sugar is not well mixed into the drink and just kinda sits on the bottom of the glass. Our personal favourite brand of rum is Legendario, their rum is really smooth and we really recommend you get their aged rum (black bottle with black label) as well as their Elixir, a slightly sweet rum punch, perfect to drink straight on the rocks. La Casa del Ron in Varadero is a great spot to try and buy rum, and they also have Legendario, which can be a bit harder to find.

Cuba has undisputedly some of the best cigars in the world, with Cohiba and Montecristo being some of the famous names on the market. The island offers some of the best outdoor conditions to grow quality tobacco, for example in Vinales, which is famous for its tobacco fields. The tobacco seeds are actually provided to the farmers by the government. In return, farmers have to hand over about 90% of their harvest, which is then being processed in the tobacco factories. The farmers are allowed the keep the remaining 10%, which they sell on local markets or to tourists. The same goes for other crops in Cuba, such as coffee.

The tobacco plants are grown until they reach the desired height and the tobacco flower on top of the plant is cut, which stops its growth. The plant is left to mature in the sun before it is harvested. The closer the leaves are to the top, the more sunlight they absorb over time, which gives them a more intense flavour. This means that the leaves on one tobacco plant differ in taste and nicotine content. The leaves are then cut and hung up to dry for up to 3 months in palm tree huts. In factories, the leaves would then be industrially fermented, however, local farmers still to this day prefer to do the fermentation the natural way. Each family has a different recipe for the fermentation liquid, which often includes water, rum, juice and spices. Once the drying process is finished, the leaves are stacked in large bulks and soaked with the liquid and left to ferment for a whole year, before they are ready to be cut into shape and rolled by hand. A cigar never consists of one type of leaf but always a mixture. The stems, which contain a lot of nicotine, are cut out. As a natural glue, the farmers use honey to help the leaves stick together.

You can import about 50 cigars and 1 litre of alcohol per person to most EU countries (please make sure to double-check), however, it is important to note, that cigars need to have an official brand/model label. For cigars which are unmarked, like those you buy directly from the farmers, you are limited to bring 5 cigars per person. The traditionally fermented cigars we bought from the farmer were sold as a 12-pack for 25 CUC. The price range for the factory produced cigars vary immensely but a standard Romeo y Julieta Romeo No 2 cost around 7 CUC.

The biggest drawback in Cuba was the food. I love good food, no matter how fancy or simple it is but wherever we went, we pretty much left unsatisfied every time. Cuban cuisine is notoriously under seasoned and for me personally, too dry. Cubans use less salt and pepper in their dishes and the limitations due to the embargo become quite obvious when it comes to food. The staple ingredients you will find in Cuba are rice, potatoes and meat, such as chicken. Simple, limited ingredients should however not be a reason for mediocre, dry food and though Cuban food is somewhat similar to Spanish and Mexican food, it can definitely not keep up with the other Caribbean cuisines. So, Cuban food is actually very different to the tasty dishes that you might find in Cuban restaurants all over the world, such as the US. This is due to the traditional Cuban cuisine being not very fond of experiments and also rather dislikes to include spicy ingredients.

Cuba has some national dishes, such as ropa vieja (meaning old clothes in English), which is shredded beef and vegetables in a tomato sauce, and if well cooked, it is actually quite enjoyable. You can also get excellent seafood in the seafront towns. The bland sides, however, always made the dish a bit disappointing and it was rare to get juicy limes to season the fish. Nonetheless, we would recommend Chuchi el pescador in Playa Larga for some great fish and crab and El Habanero for fresh Churros as a desert. Plus, order the fresh coconut, which is served whole and is infused with a generous shot of rum. We were a bit surprised that Cuban pizza is actually a big thing and you can find it in many restaurants as well as street food stalls, where they are baked on coals inside old barrels. Cuban pizza is different to traditional Italian pizza, the dough is a bit thicker and spongier, the tomato base is usually a bit sweeter and the pie is often topped with gouda and a variety of other toppings of course. Though nothing beats a traditional Neapolitan pizza for us like the once you get at Oggi e Domani's, it was not the worst pizza we have ever had and it's a quick and affordable snack.

Nonetheless, breakfast in Cuba is actually quite good, though it was also mostly the same in each Casa. It consists of cake, fresh fruit, bread, butter, jam, eggs, pancakes, juice and coffee or tea. So, you definitely do not have to start your day hungry. Nonetheless, after almost three weeks of disappointing food, we were more than happy to come back home. So, if there is something you cannot live without (for me that's liquorice), make sure to bring enough provisions with you!