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Cuba Vacation, Where to Start

 
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mgs917
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Joined: 17 Sep 2008
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City: Spartanburg

PostPosted: Dec 18, 2015 2:01 pm    Post subject: Cuba Vacation, Where to Start Reply with quote

My wife majored in Spanish in college and wants to travel throughout Latin and South America. She has been to Honduras, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, and El Salvador. She mentioned the other day she would like to go to Cuba sooner rather than later now that the US is changing its policy toward Cuba. Her fear is that it becomes to touristy. She likes to experience the culture more than just resorts and tourists destinations.

My questions include for those that have been there, what do you recommend doing and sights to see? Are there places that you recommend staying? How hard is it to travel in and out of the country? Must do/must see places/beaches? Good food spots? Any and all information is greatly appreciated.

Any input at this point would be very helpful. Thank you.
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E.J.
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PostPosted: Dec 18, 2015 6:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Robaina Farm and see if you can grab a few customs, then grab a bottle of Havana Club on the way back to your place, sit on a balcony and smoke and drink until the cows come home.
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Bambamski
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PostPosted: Dec 21, 2015 7:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've been to Cuba many times.

What do you want to do? What do you want to see?

Havana. Very cool. Must see for sure and should be the top of your list if you want to see what Cuba is all about. We stayed at the Park Central, probably the nicest hotel in Havana, it's right in old Havana a block away from the parliament building. The other cool hotel is the Hotel National, that's not quite as central and close to old Havana, 5-10 dollar cab ride away. Places to eat in Old Havana. TONS. Just walk down the main street from the parliament building down to the ocean and pick a spot. There's dozens of restaurants and all are good. Along the waterway there's also a bunch of good places to eat. Night life, there are tons of bars and live venues everywhere. The Tropicana is the most famous and touristy but it's worth it to see once for sure.

Varadero is a beach resort area a couple of hours away from Havana. Beaches are ok but certainly not the best beaches in Cuba. I prefer Cayo Guillermo. Small island key off the mainland on the north side of Cuba. It's just all tourists though as only people working the resorts can enter the keys. The resorts are small and a bit run down. Santa Maria is another island key on the north side, they have some nicer places for sure . We stayed at Memories a couple of weeks ago and the resort was nicer than anything they have in Guillermo. I'm a kiteboarder so we go for the wind and beaches more than the resorts. Guillermo has amazing flat water riding for MILES and MIles where Santa Maria was huge waves and very choppy...

If you are looking for more culture and want to stay closer to the mainland Varadero has a town very close to the resort area that you can go in and hang out and see some sights. Santa Maria and Cayo Coco (Guillermo) are very secluded.

Trinidad is another cool place along the southern part of the island. It actually has the oldest architecture in Cuba and is very worth going if you want to see more culture than beaches.

If you are into fishing, their are some tours you can take along the north part of the island where you fish the keys and flats. Suppose to be amazing fishing and you would hang out in the mangrove areas and probably see nobody for a week.

One of my coworkers did a music tour of Cuba where they just toured different small towns and music venues within Cuba. They never saw one beach when they were there. and just hung out in bars and restaurants the entire time and listened to Cuban music. THEY love their music and they are pretty amazing dancers. Depends what you want to see.

Just remember it's Cuba. American's I think expect 5 star Mexican resorts when they go there and I think they'll be very disappointed when they get there. The way I explain Cuba to friends, is expect a degree of brokenness to pretty much everything you see. It's safe and the people are very nice. But things are typically pretty basic and a little run down in general.

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