cuba holidays
- Thread starter wedrum
- Start date
Do you meantime see Cuba itself or a generic all inclusive with a couple of days in Havana? The girlfriend and I are going with Exodus in a few weeks, 14 days traveling around the whole island. Can't wait! If it's the latter then Thomson, Thomas Cook etc all do your generic resort holidays.
We stayed in a Casa (private house) in Havana for about 2 weeks last year. Would like to have seen more of Cuba but was in Havana for a wedding so couldn't have trekked very far out.
Bear in mind October is in hurricane season!
Also it'd be useful to know basic Spanish (at least) as unlike 95% of tourist destinations around the world, you will struggle to find an English speaker in a lot of circumstances.
The internet doesn't really exist in Cuba- you can buy expensive WiFi which is unreliable and slow, but I'd encourage you to not even bother. Make sure you plan meticulously and have offline backups of documents and information, as you won't be able to check your bank balance on your phone or jump on Google Drive to download the copy of your passport that you've just lost, for example.
Download the offline Cuba maps on the Here Maps app on your phone before you go. It proved VERY valuable for navigating around Havana and back to our Casa, as I could get my position via GPS. Taxi drivers were fascinated when I showed them how it worked!
Try and avoid the big touristy hotels. They are tailored for the influx of Americans, since scheduled flights have started from Miami etc and are ridiculously expensive. Look for a Casa on sites like AirBnB. You'll get a much more authentic Cuban experience.
Bear in mind October is in hurricane season!
Also it'd be useful to know basic Spanish (at least) as unlike 95% of tourist destinations around the world, you will struggle to find an English speaker in a lot of circumstances.
The internet doesn't really exist in Cuba- you can buy expensive WiFi which is unreliable and slow, but I'd encourage you to not even bother. Make sure you plan meticulously and have offline backups of documents and information, as you won't be able to check your bank balance on your phone or jump on Google Drive to download the copy of your passport that you've just lost, for example.
Download the offline Cuba maps on the Here Maps app on your phone before you go. It proved VERY valuable for navigating around Havana and back to our Casa, as I could get my position via GPS. Taxi drivers were fascinated when I showed them how it worked!
Try and avoid the big touristy hotels. They are tailored for the influx of Americans, since scheduled flights have started from Miami etc and are ridiculously expensive. Look for a Casa on sites like AirBnB. You'll get a much more authentic Cuban experience.