Cuba, better an organized trip or organize it yourself? All the tips for those who are thinking of going on a trip to Cuba, from flights to accommodation to transport, read here.
Already, Cuba. The refrain of the year, along with that of Occidentale's Karma and Despacito is: “go there now, before it's too late”. So I decided it was time to go. In reality, the idea was already there a few years ago, but there had never been the right coincidence between the possibility of vacation and the periods of visitability of the island.
This year, on the other hand, it was decided: holidays at the end of winter, well ahead of the traditional August fortnight, which would have been impossible for Cuba: too hot and humid, even for those who had toured Andalusia with temperatures at the top.
The period, however, did not allow too many consecutive days of vacation. The idea would have been to do over 10 days, with the right balance between historical-cultural visits and a bit of the sea.
I will not go into explaining on the basis of what to choose the sea point or the cities to visit, I refer it to another post.
My constraints were simple:
- Havana obviously a must, Trinidad an almost must, Varadero a must-avoid.
- 10-11 days maximum, foldable on a single week as a second choice.
- He flew preferably direct, especially in the case of shorter days.
- Roof of the budget to 3-4 thousand in 2; wanting even less, but you can't do a wedding with dried figs.
My trips, except for a rare case, I have always organized them by myself, either to save money, to have fewer constraints imposed, for a less mediated contact with the local reality, even for a certain self-made-man spirit gives a lot of satisfaction.
On the other hand, there was the possibility of slipping into an agency, having me explain a few things, see some catalogs and choose the most suitable package for my set points. With an organized trip you can afford to be a little more lazy in collecting preliminary information, you find someone who has more experience than you about the destination (at least it should be, but if I think back to some agency I met I get my hands on in the hair ...), you have greater security, both in the sense of less "dangers", and in terms of insurance coverage of assistance.
And so I set in motion the organizational machine that is inside my head and I evaluated the costs and advantages / disadvantages of:
Flights: scheduled or charter?
I scheduled flights they have a lot more daily frequency, but they all make at least one stopover, in Europe or Canada. The direct ones are i charter (Meridiana, Neos, Blue Panorama), largely used by tour operators, but can also be purchased privately; they fly only on certain days (on average 2 a week), they cost a little more but not always, they have a so-so service.
Casa Particular or Hotel?
Houses for rent (here casa particular) or hotels. There are home booking systems, but especially for the casa particulares it was a bit of a jungle, especially understanding which ones were worthy or not (this also for hotels). For this, the typical advice received is to find a home for the first night and then get advice from there where to stay in the next destination (they are all a bit cousins apparently); it seemed particularly adventurous. Little to say about hotels: except for seaside resorts (and not all), you have to cross your fingers, hope for the best and certainly adapt.
Internal transfers
Here is the jungle! Don't think about Mowgli or Tarzan, try to get information on public transport, On car for rent, on chauffeured rentals: a complete adventure, studded with tides of both positive and negative reviews on everything. Cuba is perhaps even more naïve about transport than about housing (and the race is tough). Also in this case, one of the most popular tips is to get advice from your owner of the casa particular a person who can take you to another city with his own car, Uber and Tripadvisor they are fucked here in short.
My very personal choice
Despite my desire to arrange and personalize the trip as much as possible, my choice fell on organized travel, albeit with some modification. I found with Eden a good proposal on the 7 nights, which combined visits to the cities and rest by the sea. Unfortunately, this proposal would have offered me a stay in Varadero by default, which did not inspire me at all. We therefore asked for the sea side to be changed, preferring accommodation in Cayo Santa Maria. Excellent choice, also helped by the luck that bad weather saved that area in those days.
How did it go
Very satisfied organization and happy for the change in the program. The choice to rely on the Cuban agency Gaviota Tours was also perfect, with a guide who was able to follow us in an exemplary way throughout the tour. The flight with Meridiana (Air Italy), on the other hand, was not great, but I think the other charter companies are about the same level, even if improving at least on food and entertainment I don't think would require great efforts.
I was glad I made this choice, to prefer an organized trip in this case. Cuba is another world. It does not reason with our Western and capitalist perspective (terms used in a totally neutral and non-derogatory way). It would be difficult to catch and throw yourself into Cuba and try to explore it without a minimum base or support, not even reading an excellent guide would be enough.
Who knows ever ...
Who knows that there is the possibility of a second trip to Cuba. In that case they could catch on other choices, now that I know a little more about its very special reality.
