Let us tell you right away that traveling on your own will not be cheaper than organized trip through a travel agency, but it has a number of advantages. Holidays through a travel agency are limited by movement and freedom of action.
As for single men who don’t mind having fun with the local female population, they simply have no choice and must travel to Cuba on their own. The thing is that local girls are not allowed into Cuban hotels in the company of a foreigner, since the country is building socialism and a girl can be imprisoned for having an affair with a foreigner. A way out of this situation may be the so-called Casa Particulars, i.e. rooms that are rented to tourists local residents in my house. The average cost of such a room in Havana per day is about 25-30 cookies. If a tourist brings a local girl to Casa Particular, the owner of the house is obliged to register her and report her presence to the police, but in Havana you can agree with him not to report anything anywhere. In the provinces, the owners of the “Kas” data do not agree to turn a blind eye to the guest and record her passport details in their guest book. If you already have one guest registered in this book and you want to bring another one the next day, then the owner of the Casa will not let her in. We'll have to change housing again. Finding Casa privates is quite easy; just walking down the street on the houses you can see a blue arrow with the inscription “Room for Rent”. We go inside and ask about the price.
Casa Particular in Havana
A step-by-step guide to traveling to Cuba on your own
Cuba from an airplane window
2. in Havana or Varadero for the first 2-3 days. Then you can move to another city by bus or rented car and find other housing there.
Hotel National in Havana
4. Upon arrival at the airport of Havana or Varadero, take a taxi and show the taxi driver the address of your hotel, written in advance in Spanish.
5. Russians do not require a visa for a period of up to 30 days, but Ukrainians will have to apply for a visa in advance at the Cuban consulate at their place of residence. To do this, they will need a copy of round-trip air tickets and a hotel reservation for the first time of their stay. Next, you will need to pay the cost of the visa, which you will be immediately given on a piece of paper. They will not paste anything into the passport and at the border they will also not put any marks in the passport either upon arrival or upon departure from the country.
6. To better navigate the area, you will need a guidebook with good maps.
7. For excursions in Havana, it is not necessary to hire a guide. It is enough to buy a ticket for a tourist bus for 5 kuk, which you can ride on all day and which will take you from one attraction to another. The bus departs from the central park of José Martí and travels during daylight hours.
This was my first experience of independent travel. Having decided to visit Cuba on my own, without the services of travel agencies, I pursued several goals: firstly, I wanted to test and test myself in new conditions, secondly, I longed for a small but exotic adventure (Cuba was ideal for this) and thirdly, I finally decided to become independent traveler, and not a tourist - and that’s why I needed this first experience of independent travel.
I knew that since this is a distant country, first of all, I need to take care of plane tickets in advance. On such long trips, air travel often takes up fifty percent of the cost of the entire vacation. Thus, so that there was no place to retreat, three months before the trip I bought tickets for a round-trip Moscow-Havana flight with Cubana De Aviacion. The tickets cost me 35,000 rubles, but I cannot say that this is the cheapest flight option, perhaps you can find a more favorable price option, but since this price suited me, I did not look any further for other airline offers.
Half the job was done, and then I started researching various routes and destinations for traveling around Cuba using the Internet and guidebooks. Having outlined a rough route, I decided not to risk it and booked an inexpensive hotel room in Havana via the Internet. At this point the preparatory stage was completed.
Next I’ll tell you about what I did in Cuba itself. As I learned here, the accommodation I booked could have cost me less. It is not necessary to book it in advance; upon arrival you can easily find accommodation for the night. In Cuba, as in any southern city in Russia, there are traders and equally noisy men with signs advertising housing for rent. Two Spanish words “casa particular” (“private house”) easily solve the housing problem.
In order for my trip to go without a hitch, before the trip, I, of course, studied everything well, read and calculated. My knowledge was useful, but, to be honest, I could have been less scrupulous. All problems can be easily solved on the spot, but nevertheless, I was savvy and this made it easier for me to navigate a new, foreign, and even more so exotic country.
So, I arrived at Jose Marti airport, which is 18 km from Havana. There was an unpleasant moment that unloading the plane with the participation of slow Cubans lasted almost an hour. But having escaped from the airport building, I immediately saw many taxis ready at my service. I showed the taxi driver the address on the piece of paper and I quickly sped off in the direction of Havana. This pleasure cost me 20 euros. I heard that there are buses from the airport, but I didn’t save money because I wanted to quickly settle down after the flight and start exploring Cuba.
Got there by taxi I get to the house I need pretty quickly. A room in an old, but quite nice house for one day cost me 30 CUC, convertible pesos (CUC), which are the equivalent of American dollars. Later I found out that this was overpriced, since apartments of this level can be rented for 20 CUC. So, for the four days that I stayed in Havana, I overpaid by about 40 CUC (dollars).
Of course, for this a short time During my stay in the capital of Cuba, I was not able to visit even half of the attractions that I read about in guidebooks. In particular, I regret that I did not visit the Museum of the Revolution and impregnable fortress Moron with many loopholes and secret passages.
From the interesting, that I still managed to see, I will note the rise to observation deck the famous Habana Libre Hotel. It housed Fidel Castro's headquarters during the coup d'etat, and before the revolution it was a stronghold for mafia families from the United States. I don’t know how ordinary tourists are allowed here, but I managed to hook up with one Russian waiter who works at the hotel, and he took me up the high-speed elevator to the 20th floor for free. The bird's eye view of Havana is simply mesmerizing. This is especially necessary when you are limited in time.
After the hotel I decided to go to Ernest Hemingway's favorite places. These are the Floridita and Bodegita restaurants. Rumor has it that it was here that the famous “Mojito” and “Daiquiri” were invented. Of course, I tried them, although I am not a fan of cocktails and prefer pure, high-quality alcohol, it turned out that indeed those drinks that are offered in bars and restaurants in our country cannot be compared with them.
After Havana The first place I went to was Santa Maria beach, 20 km from the city. The best way to get there is by public transport. In general, several people leave Havana every day regular buses to various cities of the country. Tickets for them can be bought both at the station and at any hotel from tour operators.
Santa Maria Beach became for me a happy place to meet two cheerful and friendly St. Petersburg guys. For three of us, we agreed to rent a Peugeut 306 car for 50 CUC per day to travel around the island. We never regretted this decision, because here car rental even includes fines. Also, in case of a breakdown, we noticed many small service stations where you can fix any problems with your car on the road for free.
In total, we drove about 3 thousand by car around the island. km. This allowed us to explore almost every corner. In particular, we visited natural park Pinar del Rio, the island with magnificent reefs of Cayo Coco, the 17th century old town of Trinidad, the country's second largest city Santiago de Cuba and the resort town of Varadero.
It should be noted that in Cuba there are several resort areas : Cayo Coco, Varadero, Holguin, etc. To relax here, you do not have to be registered in one of the nearby hotels. My friends and I came here calmly, except for several verifications of passport data. Several times on the beach I observed such a picture that hotel employees chased away local residents, although the beach itself is free.
I calculated that with this lifestyle, staying with friends in private apartments with one or two rooms for 15-25 CUC per day, on average I spent about 80 CUC per day. We usually ate in small restaurants. Sometimes, in addition to government institutions, we came across private ones, such as, for example, la Paladar. They often exist semi-legally and hide in the apartments and houses of local residents, who show how to get to them. The food here is not cheaper, but it is much tastier, and the service is faster.
Dishes of national Cuban cuisine mainly include seafood, meat, legumes, rice, fruits. Although the local population prefers their inexpensive chicken dishes, tourists can afford almost any dish. I especially remember the taste of Cuban bread - it is very soft and aromatic. The ice cream here is also very tasty. Among strong drinks, the favorite is, of course, the best rum in the world.
I noticed one trick. If you send someone local (even for money) to go to the market to buy groceries, it will cost much less than going yourself. Often traders take advantage of tourists’ ignorance about the circulation of two peso currencies with different values, or they simply inflate prices for tourists.
Total budget for my self-guided tour to Cuba amounted to 2850 euros, considering that I hardly saved and allowed myself everything I wanted to try, see and touch in Cuba... Overall, I am very pleased with my trip, because there is everything here: calm and clean beaches for a bounty-style holiday and many attractions on big island, which can be traveled during an active form of recreation. I got the impression about Cubans that they constantly live for tomorrow. They have a perpetual state of “manyana”. Being accustomed to the crazy pace of life in our megacities, at first I was simply amazed by the slowness of the Cubans in any matter, but then I got used to it. In general, these people are sincere and welcoming, I really liked Cuba.
Cuba is a country that has been on everyone’s lips since childhood post-Soviet space. There were times when the destinies of our peoples were closely linked, thousands of Soviet citizens worked in Cuba and improved the country's economy, but then relations became more neutral. And now, decades later, Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians have again begun to visit Liberty Island, but for tourism purposes. Beautiful beaches, exotic nature, its own unique atmosphere of freedom - all this attracts travelers from all over the world. Therefore, this article will clarify how to go to Cuba on your own, so that everyone can enjoy their holiday on this picturesque island.
Most tourists in Cuba come from Canada and Europe. Tourism on the island began to develop rapidly in the 90s of the last century and the number of travelers choosing this holiday destination is only growing every year. Many comfortable hotels, restaurants, clubs and entertainment venues have been built to satisfy the desires of foreigners. Everyone will find something to do on the island.
Solo travel it's cheaper and cheaper to travel to Cuba more interesting tours from agencies. You can quickly organize your trip, which will fully satisfy your requirements and will be interesting and memorable. Moreover, only an independent trip will show what Cuba is really like, while travel agencies will direct you to the most “worn out” area, where everything is standard and boring. That's why we're now starting to plan our personalized vacation to the largest island in the Caribbean.
Flights
The easiest way to get to Cuba is by plane. Of course, you can still take advantage of the capabilities of ships, but such a journey takes a lot of time, so most travelers choose a plane.
Most often, it is air tickets that make up most cash expenses. To buy tickets at the lowest prices, you need to constantly monitor Special offers on the websites of large air carriers such as Aeroflot, sometimes they have sales and the cost of tickets is reduced by 30-40%, sometimes more, sometimes less. Most cheap air ticket Moscow – Havana – Moscow (Moscow – Havana – Moscow) on normal days costs from 700 € (Havana is the capital of Cuba). A direct flight takes about 12 hours, with a transfer – 15-20 hours.
The easiest way is to buy a ticket to. This is a ticket search engine that compares tickets from most major airlines and offers you the best deal. Also take a look at, you may also find an inexpensive ticket there.
The easiest way to fly to Cuba is from Moscow, St. Petersburg (Russia), Kyiv, Lvov (Ukraine), Minsk (Belarus), because... There are regular direct flights. Most planes arrive at international Airport named after Jose Marti International Airport, HAV, Cuba), located 18 km from Havana.
Calendar low prices for air tickets
Check airfare prices:
Hotels
Hotels in Cuba are not the cheapest in the region. There are several reasons for this, the main one is that mostly Canadians and Europeans vacation here (mostly from the UK, Italy, Spain, Germany and France), and citizens of these countries have high incomes, which means they can spend a lot of money on vacation, which they take advantage of Cuban businessmen. So there is no trace of the prices of Thailand or Vietnam here, be prepared for this.
You can book the best hotels at affordable prices on your own. The functionality of this site is simply enormous, and it is extremely convenient. By scanning many accommodation booking sites, Roomguru displays the most best options at the most attractive price/quality ratio for a traveler, this applies to both economy and premium class hotels, you will save a lot of time and money. You can also use the website to book hotel rooms, this is a kind of alternative to the first service, but the vast majority of travelers use only Roomguru because of its good reputation and revolutionary hotel search, thanks to which you can be sure that you have found an excellent hotel room at the best price. best price. If you have questions about the process of booking accommodation, then read.
Find a cheap hotel from Roomguru right now:
Rental of property
A good traveler who prefers not to spend extra money on non-essential things during a trip will always look at the website. This is the most profitable and truthful service for booking accommodation.
Thanks to the popularity of Cuba - not only as a resort in the Caribbean, but also as a place with unique architecture, hospitable people and delicious cuisine, the flow of tourists here continues unabated. all year round. Accordingly, a large number of hotels are not going to urge to reduce prices for accommodation or improve service. This creates favorable conditions for the successful development of private rental housing. Airbnb is an online platform where two interested parties meet and agree on booking apartments.
What are the advantages of Airbnb compared to other applications that are used to search for apartment or house rental options?
- This is a win-win solution for the guest and the host. The visitor is provided with excellent accommodation for little money, and the host receives a reward for his hospitality.
- This is a safe and reliable service. You can rent housing without fear of fraud; Arenby guarantees the transparency of money transfers, the authenticity of participants’ profiles, the veracity of reviews and reputations.
- This is a unique chance to choose your favorite cheap accommodation option. Rent an apartment in the very center or within walking distance from the beach and save money at the same time? This is real, because you can book accommodation inexpensively; the deal is concluded independently, without intermediaries.
- This is a fun way to meet completely different people. Before traveling to Cuba, all you need to do is register on Airbnb and browse the offers often.
Money
You need to know that there are two types of currencies in Cuba: the convertible peso (CUC) and the Cubano peso (CUP). The first currency is used mainly in the most popular places, where tourists who bought a tour live: expensive hotels, some clubs and restaurants for foreigners. Almost everywhere you will be accepted for convertible pesos (another name is cuc), but, as a rule, it will be cheaper to pay with cubano pesos, especially for travel on public transport, food in small shops, restaurants and cafes. The Cubans themselves pay in Peso Cubano, which is why it is more profitable.
It is best to take money in euros with you, and in Cuba exchange most of it for convertible pesos and a small part for cubano pesos (if you are going to buy food and things not only in tourist areas), usually 1 CUC= 25 CUP. It is not profitable to exchange dollars for pesos, as an additional 10% commission is charged. Exchange rates in different cities and in different exchange offices differ from each other, so it is wise not to change all the money at once, but to go and compare the rates.
Large hotels, shops, restaurants and clubs accept bank cards. Read which card is suitable for paying for purchases abroad.
Required documents
In order to travel to Cuba on your own, you will need a minimum of documents. Russians and Belarusians do not require a visa if the purpose of the trip is tourism and the period of stay on the island is less than 30 days. So you can just take your passport with you, valid for the entire duration of your trip, and go on a trip to Cuba.
Ukrainians and Kazakhs need a visa. You can submit documents to receive it at the Embassy of the Republic of Cuba in Kyiv and Astana, respectively. You will have to pay $30 and wait about a week.
Attractions
There are not many attractions in Cuba, but they are there. You can always find where to go and what to see here, at least take some beautiful nature reserves and monuments to the revolution. Of course, it is better to purchase a guide to Cuba and, after reading it, create your own visiting route. interesting places. I will list the most popular attractions in Cuba:
- Capitol in Havana
- Cathedral Havana
- Museum of the Revolution in Havana
- Old Havana
- Grand Theater of Havana
- Hemingway House Museum in Havana
- Fortress of La Fuerza
- Fortress complex of San Carlos de La Cabaña
- Boulevard Prado
- Colon Cemetery
- Sierra Maestra National Park
- National Botanical Garden
- Desembarco del Granma National Park
- Baconao National Park
An independent trip to Cuba can be very eventful and varied. And if you rent a car, you can see many more interesting sights. Traveling to non-tourist, “real” Cuban places that fully show the way of life of the local population will be quick and relatively inexpensive.
Transport
Public transport in Cuba (buses, trains) is not very comfortable. In cities, buses are constantly overcrowded, do not travel according to schedule and with long breaks between trips. Trains run between cities very poorly, often flights are canceled altogether. Many travelers do not use public transport at all in Cuba.
It is best to use a taxi. It is quite comfortable, but not very cheap. Cost of 1 km = $1 (foreign cars) and 1 km = $0.5 (Zhiguli, a budget option). There is an unspoken rule in Cuba: everything should be more expensive for foreigners, and cheaper for Cubans. There's nothing to be done about it.
A great way to get around the island is by car. You can rent it almost everywhere in Cuba. The deposit is 100 CUC; a day of renting a simple car will cost 60 CUC. The driver's age must exceed 21 years, and the driving experience must be more than one year.
Travel cost
Holidays in Cuba are not cheap, but very interesting. Therefore, it’s still worth flying and seeing this with your own eyes. amazing country. But how much the trip will cost depends only on you. There are many options for organizing it. Some will fly business class and stay in a 5-star hotel, while others will fly economy class and stay in a 3-star hotel. Everyone has their own capabilities, needs and priorities. Some travelers would rather save on air tickets and hotels and use this “saved” money to go on another trip, while others will spend it all in one go.
Here are the average expenses for a Cuban vacation for two people for 10 days:
- Flights = 1600 €
- Hotel room 3* = 600 €
- Food = 300 €
- Transport = 100 €
- Shopping = 200 €
- Entertainment = 150 €
Total: 2950 €. Holidays on the island of Cuba can be either significantly cheaper or more expensive. It all depends on the travelers themselves. To save as much as possible, read the guide, thanks to it you can vacation in Cuba much cheaper.
How to save money
These recommendations and tips can significantly reduce your costs. At the same time, the level of comfort will be high. You can go to Cuba as a savage (this is an alternative name for independent travel, common among travelers themselves) relatively inexpensively, if you wish. It is important to understand that the cheaper you look for flight and hotel options, the more time you will need to plan your vacation. In addition, the cheapest air tickets, as a rule, are sold for fixed dates in a certain month, and if your vacation is strictly limited and you cannot independently choose when it starts and ends, then you will have to be content only with relatively inexpensive tickets.
Now you know how to go to Cuba on your own, and you can do it today. There are people who will immediately buy airline tickets, book a hotel room and fly off to an adventure. If you are one of those who carefully plans everything, then I recommend not pulling the cat by the tail and still relax in Cuba as soon as possible. Best wishes to you!
Cuba always has good weather and heat, so it is an ideal alternative to Thailand and all the boring Bali-Goa. Moreover, Russians do not need a visa (if the trip is less than 30 days).
The country is unique in that it is socialist, couchsurfing is prohibited, but hitchhiking is legal. The GPS also doesn’t work well, but the locals will always tell you the way.
How to get to Cuba cheaply
1. Book tickets in advance
This is the most banal, but effective way. For example, if two weeks before the trip the average flight price is 70,000 rubles, then three months before the trip it is about 48,000.
2. Organize composite route
- Through Europe: from England, Germany, Spain you can periodically fly to Cuba for 400-500 euros.
- Across America:Every season there are sales of tickets for Moscow-New York flights (up to 25,000 rubles for a round-trip ticket), and from there you can go to Cuba. Airline offers start suddenly, and you may be lucky enough to buy a ticket to Chicago or Washington for 10,000 rubles. There are ferry connections between Florida and Cuban ports; You can get tickets for $300 roundtrip.
3. Buy a last minute tour
Since you don’t need a visa to visit Cuba, you can catch a last-minute tour 3-4 days before departure from 60,000 rubles.
4. By the ocean
Not the fastest, but economical many way. Of course, you should have a month left to cross the ocean and spend 30 nights under the starry sky of the Atlantic. You can get on the linersnot only by buying a cruise:
- Help the captain
There are websites where captains post advertisements and look for assistants. For free or for a nominal fee, you can join a boat owner in Gibraltar, Portugal or Canary Islands and after a month yat you will be in Cuba.
- Work on the liner
Large tourist ships pay about $1,000 a month to work in bars, casinos, beauty salons and shops on board.
How to travel around the country cheaply
1. Hitchhiking. A rare case: it is legalized in the country!
This is the standard way to get home from work here. Cars with blue government license plates are simply required to pick up fellow travelers on the side of the road. To attract the attention of drivers, specially trained people in yellow work in places where hitchhikers gather: they seat those who want them in cars.
2. By rail
Here is one of the oldest in the world! It is worth considering that trains arrive I'm late. But at the same time, there is no better or more “Cuban” way to cross the island than sitting in a carriage clattering on ancient rails, side by side with the locals.
Schedule:There is no official website, but here it is descriptions of routes, schedules, prices, carefully photographed announcements at stations.
3. By local buses
In Cuba there are municipal buses and tourist buses. The first ones are cheap, and each has only a few seats reserved for foreigners. Tourist tickets are a little more expensive, soft seatsenyam, air conditioning, ttelevisions and toilets, in general, all the benefits of civilization.
Ticket prices:from 6 to 50 US dollars depending on the route.
4. By bike
Cuba is a beautiful flat country, ideal for multi-day cycling trips. You can always rent a bike at rental shops (about 12 pesos or 850 rubles per day), or bring your own.
5. By plane
Another option for those who do not have time is flights within Cuba. Some regions of the country (for example, Cayo Largo or Cayo Coco) are simply impossible to get to in any other way
Book plane tickets: cuba-junky.com
6. By car
The car can be booked in advance (from $50 per day). To do this, you will need a Russian license accompanied by an international certificate (done at the traffic police for 1,600 rubles for a period of 3 years).
You need to know that the GPS navigator system does not work in Cuba and that the car should not turn on its headlights at night.
How to understand the intricacies of currency
There are two currencies in use in Cuba, and the main thing is not to confuse them. The banknotes are terribly similar, so you need to study them thoroughly and carefully look at what they give you in change. Often you will have to pay in cookies and receive change in pesos, and the exchange rate will not be in your favor. The peso depicts portraits of Cuban heroes, while the cookies depict architectural structures.
Just remember: 1 building = 24 portraits.
- Pesos(“monedo nacional” or “peso cubano”) lives in the wallets of local residents. They are paid for street food and public transport. Keep in mind that they don’t like to accept pesos from foreigners.
- Cook24 times more valuable than the national peso and tourists pay with it. It is approximately equal to a dollar - sometimes they put a $ sign on price tags to make it clearer. For cookies you can eat in a cafe, check into a hotel, or go to a museum.
How to find inexpensive accommodation
Cuba has its own alternatives to hostels - something between apartments on airbnb and a room with a sea view, which you can rent from grandmothers from the station. These thoroughly “local” B&Bs are called"casa particular"and offer overnight accommodation in a Cuban house.
How to find a casa: There are signs with an anchor hanging on the house.
And finally, dear hikers, hitchhikers, backpackers... Take thin, light tents with you and place them on the territory of numerous “campismo”. A tent site will cost 5 kuk, and a night in a thatched hut nearby will cost about the same as in a casa particular.
How to explore the city correctly
1. Free excursions
Unless you decide to take advantage of yacht advice, your trip will most likely begin or end in Havana. As in many cities around the world, here locals, passionate about the history and culture of the capital, conduct free walking tours of the city. You can find them on the website freetourhavana or community
Cuba is a power within the Antilles.
The 1,250 km long island has been compared to a lizard (if you look at Cuba from an airplane window or on a satellite map). Its close neighbor is North America, with the border being the Strait of Florida in the north and the Yucatan Strait in the western part.
If we regard Cuba as a lizard, then we can note: the body faces the Atlantic, and the tail enters the Gulf of Mexico.
The south of the island is washed by Caribbean waters, the northwestern part is bathed in the Gulf of Mexico, and the northeastern territory is ruled by Atlantic Ocean. If you want to cross from Cuba to the USA, the narrowest route through the Strait of Florida will be 180 km.
Coastal areas are framed by reefs and coral formations. A characteristic feature of the coastal zone are convenient bays and deep-water bays everywhere. The population does not exceed 11.3 million people. The capital is Havana. The currency is pesos and the language is Spanish.
Climate
The warm waters of the Gulf Stream and trade wind circulation directly affect the climate as a whole. Year-round, stable northeastern ocean winds determine the tropical climate of individual regions. Mainly two climates can be distinguished: the dry period is characteristic of the southern part of the country (in the area of the Kauto River) from November to April; rainy - prolonged downpours and gusty winds splash the island with the annual rainfall for May-October.
If you don’t want to put yourself in danger and witness a typhoon, then come to Cuba in December-April. During this period there is no more rain, the heat is easily tolerated. It is worth noting that the water temperature exceeds the air temperature. If in January the air thermometer reaches 21-22 degrees, then the water temperature stops at 22-24 degrees. In August, the water and air temperature is 28 degrees.
Traditions and etiquette
Cubans are supporters of informal relationships and equality. It is customary to address people as “you” regardless of rank, status, or position. Politicians and government are no exception. Foreigners can also be addressed with “you” (sounds like “tu”), without resorting to the formal “you”.
The mentality and life position of the Spaniards do not condemn light flirting, even if it is someone else’s bride at a wedding.
Cubans are wary of politics and law enforcement, prefer not to talk about things in other people's companies, and not to engage in discussions on political grounds. If you notice that your interlocutor is reluctant to maintain a conversation on a certain topic, you should not continue - reduce the pressure and smoothly move on to a more pleasant topic.
Light flirtation interspersed with a sexual mood has not been canceled - this is the Cuban essence. Light, casual passion is the norm. While men in Cuba dress conservatively, women do not deny themselves the pleasure of dressing openly and provocatively - short and tight clothes make certain thoughts come to mind for lonely tourists.
Learn a few phrases from Spanish, as in remote places English may not be understood. Most tourist areas offer services and restaurant menus in English.
Attractions
Key priorities tourist destination Cuba has clean white sandy beaches, crystal water, exotic rich undersea world and an inspiring atmosphere. Fun reigns supreme in Cuba.
The delights of a Cuban holiday are the best tobacco, rich sugar and aromatic rum. Attractive place, which is popular is Varadero Beach. Impeccably clean water and soft velvet sand.
You can invade the world of pristine nature in neighboring Cayo Largo.
In Havana you can discover the Cathedral, the indestructible bastiles of La Punta and Morro, and the largest building in Havana - Fuerza Castle. The country's historical past is reflected in the José Martí Memorial and in the Museum of the Revolution.
There are more than 50 museums at your disposal, and this is only in Havana, for example, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Roma Museum, the Hemingway Museum.
You can take a tour of a cigarette factory, where you can not only observe the process, but also make it yourself, and then take it with you.
In Matanzas, interesting places are the San Severino Castle, the Montserrat Chapel, Liberty Square and Vigia. Outside the city there are extreme tours to the caves inhabited by primitive people, where you can try to decipher rock paintings.
Souvenirs
The most popular purchases are cigars. The original is sold exclusively in a cedar box, with an inscription about handmade work and origin, literally it reads like this: “Hecho in Cubato totalmente a mano.” This souvenir is decorated with a white ribbon with a red “Habanos” designation.
When buying a product without a receipt, remember that customs will not allow more than 50 cigarettes; if with a receipt, then the limit expands to 200 pieces.
They also willingly buy jewelry made from tortoise shell, fruit seeds, black coral and pearls. The most relevant souvenir is the signature rum of the Havana Club brand.
If you prioritize price, then you risk buying something like alcohol with a cane flavor. Up to 2 liters of rum are freely transported at the border.
If you are a coffee gourmet, then know that you can bring home unlimited quantities of aromatic, tasty and very high-quality coffee. As a present for friends and family, you can buy bamboo souvenirs, exotic seashells, music CDs in the Cuban style, and other standard souvenirs.
Cuisine and restaurants
A restaurant breakfast will cost 7-20 USD, dinner is slightly more expensive. Among other things, the owner of the establishment can change the price of the dish, depending on the rich decoration of the client and his high financial capabilities.
Ways to save
The most accessible way to travel is by bus. You will rarely see Cubans among tourists, since they cannot afford the cost of travel; they travel in more simplified versions of the Chinese-made Astro - no less comfortable, but without a toilet. The cheapest transport tickets are from the 60s, without amenities.
Safety
In Cuba, people live like the last day, but very poorly. The lack of social opportunities and the high cost of the black market contribute to a low standard of living in general. Petty theft is common. Almost complete absence of life-threatening snakes and insects.
On wild, distant, unequipped beaches, there is a danger of getting hurt by sharp corals or running into sea urchin. Be careful - dangerous moray eels may be hiding among the corals.
Scam and fraud
On the roads of Cuba you may be stopped by people in police uniforms. After an incomprehensible conversation, he will ask you to take him along the way. On the way out he will say that you owe him a large sum of money, since he showed you the way and he needs to return to the post by taxi - this is a scam, and the man in uniform is a charlatan. [Photo #25|A special attraction for any visitor to Liberty Island is the Cuban way of life and the local people]
How to get there
You can fly comfortably in the direction of Cuba using Aeroflot and AirFrance airliners (with a transfer in Paris). The Moscow-Havana flight is operated by KLM (via Amsterdam), the cost of a ticket for 1 person is 43,988 RUB, with a child - 81,665 RUB - you can buy it at. The average flight duration is 24 hours. From St. Petersburg you can get to Havana by AirFrance - the cost for 1 adult/1 child will be 85,415 RUB, for 1 adult - 45,515 RUB, flight time from 14 hours.
