A trip to Cuba is going back in time and is not like anywhere else in the world! We have heard stories about people being concerned about safety in the country. A lot of them end up visiting Varadero for its beaches and all inclusive resorts. However, if you want to experience the real flavour of Cuba I would suggest to travel beyond Varadero and Havana. Here is our itinerary of how to travel safe in Cuba and still experience all it has to offer.
How to travel safe to Havana, Cuba
We arrived at the Varadero airport and took a taxi to Havana. You can either stay at the beach in Varadero at the beginning or at the end of the trip. We decided to keep the beach resort stay for the end. As is the case with most of our trips, we kicked it off with a walking tour of Havana. We booked a free walking tour of Old Havana to get a flavour of the city and its history. Our guide was amazing and took us to some of the city highlights and also showed place to eat and shop later. Highlight was definitely the Plaza de la Cathedral with the beautiful cathedral in the background.
We made our way through the colourful alleyways and the tour ended close to the Plaza Vieja (Old Town Square). This is where we found an amazing Cuban restaurant – La Vitrola. The food was great and we had one of the best presented cocktails – mojito with a bottle of beer on top of it! Must try while you are in Cuba!
Stay – We stayed in the iconic Hotel Nacional de Cuba for a night and booked directly on their site! The ‘wall of famous’ shows some famous personalities that have stayed in the hotel over the years. Apart from boasting rights, another reason to stay here was Cabaret Parisien. The theatre is attached to the hotel and hence makes it super convenient to get back even if it gets late at night. The show starts at 10pm, so it would get late!
How to travel safe to Tobacco plantations, Cuba
Next on our list was to see the Vinales Valley which is a UNESCO world heritage site now. It is known for its various tobacco plantations and is home to the world famous Cuban cigars! Keep in mind that none of the popular tour sites like Viator or Getyourguide work in Cuba (due to US restrictions). The only reliable and safe one we could find in Cuba was on Civitatis. On the tour you get to visit a tobacco farm and see how it is produced. You also can roll your own cigar and have one while they demonstrate how the world’s best cigars are made. In the end you obviously have a chance to buy them as well. Don’t think I have ever seen Cuban cigars for just $5 and right from where they are packed!
Next on this day tour was a visit to the Cueva del Indio which is an ancient cave with a river running through it. You actually get on a boat and go inside the cave for a thrilling ride. Some mesmerising mineral structures await you as the guide explains about their formation and history. After the visit to the cave is the last stop of the day at a prehistoric mural. It is one of the largest open air frescoes drawn on a huge rock structure with various natural colours. Right next to this stop is a pina colada junction which serves one of the best pina coladas you will ever have! There was a queue for it but was totally worth the wait!
Traditional Cuban lunch with country music was included in this tour as well!
How to travel safe to Cienfuegos, Bay of Pigs in Cuba
Next on our list was to travel to the south coast of Cuba and get to the city of Cienfuegos. Travelling between cities in Cuba could be tricky and one of the safest ways that I would recommend is to book a taxi. You can prebook and prepay it on Taxi in Cuba. Our driver showed up before time at our hotel in Havana and a good looking and comfortable yellow taxi. The journey from Havana to Cienfuegos is about 3 hours and you get an option to see some sights along the way. Two of which I would recommend are Playa Larga on the Bay of Pigs for lunch and a crocodile farm a few kms before it. Both would make it a good half day drive to get to Cienfuegos.
We just had a day planned in Cienfuegos so started off with a walking tour booked on Civitatis as well. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the history and politics of Cuba and turned out to be a very interesting tour! She walked us through some of the major landmarks of the city and mix of two different cultures. The theatres and cathedrals in the city had the reminiscence of the Spanish colonial era. And the shops and apartments were showcasing the communist period and how life is for the locals in Cuba. We also saw an amazing sunset from Hotel La Union rooftop on the tour and it ended at the Cienfuegos pier where we could enjoy a drink looking at the bay!
Stay – Similar to tour sites, a lot of hotel booking sites do not work in Cuba as well. Expedia was the only one that had a few options and we booked Hotel Palacio Barón Balbín on it. A wonderful property, amazing hosts and great breakfast in the morning.
How to travel safe to Trinidad, south coast of Cuba
Next stop was the cute old town of Trinidad on the south coast of Cuba. We booked a taxi from our hotel in Cienfuegos and was a 1.5 drive to our hotel in Trinidad. On the way we stopped at Palmito Waterfalls for a quick hike/swim to the falls and some drinks and light lunch. Our ride was the classic Cuban drive from the 60s – it was bumpy but fun!
I know a lot of travellers would only visit Havana and Varadero in Cuba but for me, Trinidad was definitely the highlight of our tour. I could return back to Cuba just for Trinidad. We spent two full days here.
Day 1
Continuing with our tradition we decided to explore the city with a walking tour to begin with. Trinidad reminds you of the colonial past of this region more than another city in Cuba. The cobbled streets, art gallery and churches all are very European in terms of architecture. Our guide also took us to try an old local drink from the city – Canchanchara. It is the oldest known cocktail of Cuba and is made combining rum, lime and honey. It has since become one of my favourite cocktails to try at home as well!
Day 2
The second day our host organised a half day tour from the city into the countryside. It is called Valle de los Ingenios or the valley of the sugar mills. It involves visiting some of the old Spanish plantations growing coffee and sugarcane. Some of these plantations are still preserved as they were back in the day. While some are now modernised with restaurants and other facilities. Back in the city, we finished our stay in Trinidad with drinks and dinner at the famous La Botija. There was a live band performing with pretty electrifying atmosphere. Keep in mind this is probably the most famous restaurant in town and gets very busy in the evening. We had to wait a bit for a spot but was totally worth it!
We had booked an Airbnb style accommodation in Trinidad which turned out to be our best stay in all of Cuba! Hostal El Destino provided a perfect stay with rooms upstairs and the hosts living downstairs. There is a bar/breakfast spot on the terrace and hosts are super amazing and helpful.
Varadero
For our final stop, we took a taxi from Trinidad back to Varadero to enjoy the beach resort area. It is a 4 hour drive and pretty smooth. The highways in Cuba are actually pretty good and you could drive yourself on this tour as well!
Nice way to the end the tour with a day at the beach! Enjoyed the rum and cigars we had bought along the way!
Read about our other adventures here.