Cuba!

boohbah2007

Hey me and my friends are thinking of going to cuba this summer! I was just wondering if anybody who has been could give me an account of their experiences there! Basically is it good? What kinda things could we do there?
Also what good cheap accomadation could we get and whats the best way to get over there?
Basically any advice on this holiday would be useful! Thanks!

boohbah2007

Oh c'mon people throw me a bone here!!!

crushproof

Great place, went there last year for two weeks, such a different holiday! Nowhere compares to it. Travelled around the west and centre of the island by car a good bit after staying in Havana for 4 nights. The we decided to splash out on an fancy hotel in Varadero.......that's where all the yuppie holiday makers go! It'sa disgrace really, all you can eat there while the rest of country just gets by on rations!
Plenty of cheap-ish accomidation, people open up their homes as guesthouses. As far as I can remember I didn't come across any camp sites or hostels. And they give a lovely breakfast in the morning. Only problem is gettting around, very limited train and bus services. And the buses are in rag order. Although you can manage to get on board tourist buses that are shuttling tourists from one place to another.
We went in April,which was grand, wasn'ttoo hot but still perfect for the beach! And some savage thunderstorms in the mountains at night!

theCzar

I was Cuba last year for three weeks. Two is probably enough.

Its very beautiful country, we went from Havana, west to Vinales, east to Santa Clara, south to Trinidad, east to Santiago, north west to Varadero, then west back to Havana.

You can do it all for quite cheap. Stay in guest houses, people can let up to two rooms of their house. Its most expensive in Old Havana, where the cheapest we got was $20 a night for two people excl. breakie. Cheapest was Santiago, $6 a night for two people incl. breakfast.

When you change money, my experience was that they first change it into dollars, then convert to Pesos convertibles. All dollar transactions carry a 10% surcharge, so the final "commission" is something approaching 20%, so you're basically swapping euros for dollars. Not exactly equitable!

Bear in mind though, a bottle of Buccanerro max (6.5% abv) is 1 peso convertible. So don't sweat the costs!

For travel, I would recommend the tourist buses. They run daily from all cities, to all cities. They don't cost a lot, (i'm at a loss now for specifics) and they are reliable (important in cuba) and ACed. You can even get decent rates in a taxi for intercity if there's a few of you. I think 60 convertibles took four of us from Havana to Santa Clara by taxi.

The best beach is probably outside Trinidad, but its lacking in amenities, though I was dead against it initially (it not being "real" cuba), Varaderro was great fun. Hotel cost €40 a night for two people, and was cheapest we could find. Beach was good, and never more than 50 yards away. Find the places that has all you can drink for 10 convertibles, most such places are exclusive to attached hotels, but there's at least one that's open to all comers. food was actually cheaper on average there, and of better standard.

The hardest thing about Cuba, by and large, was the food. You can get some decent stuff, but the variety sucks, the quality varies immensely. You will learn to hate Pollo con congrí. (fried chicken with rice and dark beans)

Always ask your guest house owner if they'll throw in breakfast with the room before you agree to their price. Usually its $3 extra, but as the cost is so low for them, they don't mind including it. Its usually a lot of fruit, some bread and eggs. Very good.

There's plentiful seafood everywhere, but it can lead to dodgy stomachs. In the big cities like Havana and Santiago, and resorts like Varadero, there's lots of tourist restaurants where you can get a steak or a pizza at reasonable prices.

Drink is by and large cheap. Spend at least one night on the Malécon, the sea wall in Havana, with a couple of bottles of havana club rum and tukola. Try a peso bar, where a dirty glass of warm beer will cost you about 20 cents.

Knowing some spanish, at least some numbers, will help you immensely, I was surprised how little english was spoken given the proximity of the tyrannical Uncle Sam.

Go to the museums, but remember that propaganda swings both ways.

This post has turned into a lot of random and ill-organised data. If you have any specific Q's, please ask, and I'll do my best to give an opinion at the least!