Havana Travel Forum

I am thinking of going to Cuba during January,
I am planning this break following the breakdown of a 26 year marriage so want lots of advice including is this a good location if on your own.
I would want to plan everything without the help of a travel agent so advise on flights accommodation etc would be great.
I assume the climate is hot and sunny in January,is it expensive? my only other experiance outside europe was India where I have spent a great deal of time recently.

Did this poster not post something just like this going to another destination? Marriage breakdown, no help from travel agent, hmmmm very suspicous if you ask me.

yes I did post a similar request on another site is that a problem? I am genuiniely trying to find the right place to go nothing more nothing less, sorry if you think thats strange!

Same wording and the same question posed was on this site less than a month ago.

Yes I have posted this question on about four other destinations that interested me including Brazil and South Africa, what exactly is suspicious about that, I thought that was the idea of the site you have the problem mate not me!

Hi Darlic,

Quite frankly I’m sad that you’ve been met with these rather suspicious sounding responses. Not very helpful, are they? First of all, I offer my ‘condolences’ on the breakdown of your marriage. It can’t be easy after 26 years.

Now Cuba. I’ve just been this November, and my husband and I had a stay there, which has left a staying positive memory.

We went on a packed trip for 12 days with a Danish travel agent, which made many things very easy for us, considering the rather short time we had there. And less expensive I’m sure. Flight, visa, transportation, accommodation all paid for in advance.

Anyway, first of all you’ll need a visa – that means getting an application-form, which needs to be returned to the Cuban Embassy with your original passport. Obviously I don’t know the time of process in England, but it could be weeks, and most likely there’s a fee.

You’ll have to check flight-websites for the best way for you to get there. We flew Air France, which was okay apart from the ever-disorganized De Gaulle airport.

The best currency to bring is euros – VISA and MasterCard is charged an additional 11% no matter what. There’s an exchange office at the Havana airport. Havana town is a 20 – 30 minute ride from the airport. There’re taxis available I’m sure.

As a tourist you will get ‘pesos convertibles’ which more or less carries the same exchange rate as a US$. The locals use Cuban pesos (Rate - 1 peso convertible to 25 pesos) – you can tell the difference by colours – multi-coloured notes are ‘convertible pesos' and one-coloured notes are Cuban pesos – so be careful if you're tempted to make a ‘street exchange’.

For accommodation search the net – if you want to go the inexpensive way there are ‘Casas particulares’ a kind of B&B’s or you can find hotels in all price-ranges.

Getting around Cuba is not necessarily an easy task – but there is public transportation like the bus, which I believe, you have to sign up for in advance or hope for a standby ticket, there’s taxies and then there’s carhire – I truly don’t know what to recommend – since it hasn’t been an issue on a packed trip.

I guess it depends on what kind of vacation you’re after.

What I can promise you is that Cuba is wonderful – it was truly an eye-opening experience. Cubans are lovely and very welcoming; they are extremely well educated and very proud of their country. The crime-rate isn't any different from 'home' be sensible - don't flash you're valuables or what ever you wouldn't do at home any way.

The weather this time of year is just lovely – 25 – 32 degrees Celsius – the hurricane season is long gone.

But no matter what destination you choose – have a lovely time. And take care.
Hanne

Daric

I think Cuba is wonderful and I have travelled there alone, stayed in casas particulares (like bed and breakfasts), and flew with Virgin. I paid £320 return from London to Havana, but I was lucky that there was an offer on when I booked (although this was only 2 months before I left) and it's certainly easier tan getting connections in France as would be necessary with Air France. Casas are about £15 per night and then you pay £2-3 for breakfast. In some it's possible to get an evening meal. (If you decide to go to Cuba and visit Trinidad whilst there stay in the casa I've recommended on my pages as Nenita is a wonderful cook!).

Cuba is not a cheap place to visit and ironically it can often be much cheaper to go on a package trip. My last trip cost just over £1000 and I have seen all inclusive trips for not much more than £300. I prefer to make my own arrangements and I want to try and help people there a bit - life is not easy for the Cuban people. Travelling as I did also allowed me to spend more time with 'real Cubans'.

I've loads of information that I've not yet added to my pages here so if you want more information just send me a message on here.

Wherever you decide to go I hope you have a wonderful trip.

Hi, I booked my trip to Cuba through Cuba-Direct in London (tel: 0844 415 5510).
All the staff are Cuban and very friendly and helpful. They even make it possible to apply for your visa online and then send it to you with your tickets. Highly recommended. Hope you have a great visit!