Havana Travel Forum

I am travelling to Havana 5th March. I need help! I am travelling alone (female) and this will be my first but long awaited trips to Cuba!

Firstly, I need a place to stay and am on a tight budget so would like advice on an area/ casa to stay.

Secondly, I am a keen socialist and would like to see the real deal. Are there any tours I can take that will show me schools etc (I'm a teacher and would love to see school underway although I know this may not be possible)

I would also like to go to the coast. Should I stay out?

I am bedazzled with all the info out there on Havana and so wish I had more time but any advice of my too short trip would be greatly appreciated.

The schools that will let you in tend to be the Casas de Cultura, which are not real schools so much as forcing kids to be props for tourists, most schools will probably not let you in because you would see the teacher shortage causing the older kids to teqach the younger ones, also you would discover that litericy is not what they claim it to be. Better yet would be to try to go to a Cuban hospital, not one for foreigners but a real one, though the stench is overpowering for most, especially in summer.

You might want ot get off the tourist trail and see how people live in Central Havana, they will probably let you in their homes where you will see how their homes are colaping. Notice that the only buioldings that have been renovated have no one living in them, They force the people out. They care about tourist dollars but never about the Cuban people.

Look for the real Cuba and I promise you will not leave here saying you are a socialist.

When I've been there I've taken stuff for the schools and the first time I gave it in to a school in Havana and the second to a school in Trinidad. The schools would have let me come in if I'd wanted but I didn't want to, although I was invited to go and say hello to the kids in the one in Havana and I felt quite uncomfortable about that. If you explained that you are interested and asked to come in I'm sure they woul let you. If you say in a casa (I've got information on a good one in Vedado in Havana on my pages) I'm sure the casa owners will know teachers in the local school and take you to introduce you. I took a tour during my first visit and so saw the 'tidier' side of Cuba but I have made a lot of friends there, many of whom live in Central Havana or the parts of other towns where tours aren't taken. When you go there just speak to people and you will get to see more of the real country. If you'd like I can give you some contacts there. If you don't already speak Spanish definitely learn as much as you can before you go as it will help a lot. I'm sure you will love it though.

Hello...I'm back to the forums...hope I can help U...

The most popular places to stay are in Havana Vieja, Centro Havana and Vedado municipalities. Prices range from about 15CUC/night to even 50 in some cases. For low budget I recomend U to check some places in Havana Vieja or Centro Habana as Vedado can be a little bit high.

As Travellingspirit told U, there should be not a problem to visit some schools. As U plan to stay in a "casa particular" U can talk with the owner, they for sure know various schools on the surroundings and even some teachers and could arrange a visit to some of them. Learning some spanish will help U a lot to communicate with childrens. Don't look for official tours as they aren't.

Near to Havana (20min in car) U've Playas del Este, with 25km of sand and sea.

If U look into my Havana travel page U'll find lot more tips and pics. If U still have questions U can write me or just post the question here and me and everyone will try to help U....good luck!