Travel to Havana, Cuban visa

[kt_kez]

Out of all my credit debit cards only my NAB debit card worked and that was all I used to get money. Seemed to work at all the atms. Fees were charged in USD but it was my only option at the time. Cash is king in Cuba.

Mojitos and other coughtails are super cheap unless you have them at Hotel Nacional or Parque Central but both hotels are worth a visit anyway and also to use expensive and slow wifi. Both hotels were booked out while I was there so my friend and I stayed at a Casa Particulare in Old Havana which was cheap and fine.

There are a few tours that you can take out of Havana. We did the one to Viñales (tobacco fields) and also to Trinidad and Santa Clara. These are very typical hop on and hop off bus, walk for an hour and then hop back on bus type thing but it was efficient if you just want to see highlights of some areas.

 

[RooFlyer]

Out of all my credit debit cards only my NAB debit card worked and that was all I used to get money. Seemed to work at all the atms. Fees were charged in USD but it was my only option at the time. Cash is king in Cuba.

Mojitos and other coughtails are super cheap unless you have them at Hotel Nacional or Parque Central but both hotels are worth a visit anyway and also to use expensive and slow wifi. Both hotels were booked out while I was there so my friend and I stayed at a Casa Particulare in Old Havana which was cheap and fine.

There are a few tours that you can take out of Havana. We did the one to Viñales (tobacco fields) and also to Trinidad and Santa Clara. These are very typical hop on and hop off bus, walk for an hour and then hop back on bus type thing but it was efficient if you just want to see highlights of some areas.

Thanks kt_kez (and the others). I'm not so much a mojitos and rum sort of guy, as a walk-too-far-in-the-heat-then-collapse-at-night type, but I guess one has to do some local culture . I'm hoping ATM cards on Australian banks will work OK, if any; anyway, as everyone says, take the cash but may need a bit of a top up, I think.

Main point of replying here was to ask about your tour(s) to Trinidad and Santa Clara. I'm guessing the hop-on, hop-off busses were at those towns, but how did you get there from Havana? Would you have the name of a tour company?

 

[kt_kez]

We organised tours through the tour companies located at the hotels. The Trinidad one we booked through the people at Hotel Nacional and the Viñales one we booked at Hotel Saratoga.

 

[divvy_l]

I stayed there last December and the wifi was rubbish! In fact it wasn't available most of the time (and when it is, it's only in the lobby and slow and patchy), I ended up walking to the Melia where the wifi was much much better. Also the minimum spend is the CUC25 card which doesn't get you very much. Anyway am Le Club Accorhotels Plat (like everyone else) but initially they charged me for internet as it's an external provider and refused to acknowledge the benefit, although I eventually appealed it when I got home and eventually got a full refund plus a few miles for my trouble.

The executive floor at the Nacional had brilliant wifi - the service there is actually good and it's well worth your money.

Also quick note on the tours to Trinidad and Santa Clara - obviously a car is not too expensive but Viazul is cheap, friendly and very comfortable! Easy to make friends on it as well. Stops at very clean rest stops. Independent in Cuba between the major destinations is perfectly fine, even without any preparation and any Spanish...

Great, thanks for the comprehensive reply

Lobster? 304 O'Reillys? I'm there!!

Think I'm going to stay at Accor's Hotel Sevilla; pretty central and has great architecture, apparently. Bit of a 'fading gem' though. Wi-Fi is supposed to be good.

Everything sounds OK .. thanks

 

[docjames]

Had time to trawl through old emails.

We did a 1/2 day walking tour (with guide) of Old Havana which was fabulous, a 1/2 day vintage car tour (with rest of each day "self guided"!), a "home meal" one night a couple of times (including in Trinidad) and a cabaret show another night.

Over a few days we did Havana-Cienfuegos-Trinidad-Santa Clara-Havana by private minivan (there were 4 of us) with driver and guide with scheduled and unscheduled stops on the way.

We used our own TA (Cuba was part of a longer trip elsewhere) but he "outsourced" the cuba component to South American Travel so we had everything booked and in place prior to departure.

South America Travel Centre - Tours of South America


If you want more details I can PM.

 

[infinity]

have been to Cuba 5 times now and all the above is quite accurate.

I last flew in 12/12 from Cancun and just grabbed the cuban visa (USD 25 if I recall) at the Air Cubana counter just next to the checkin.

the Visa is loose leaf and needd to be checked on Departure.

I misplaced mine and luckily I had a spare hour before check in as it needed to be replaced ( at a fee), then i had to pay the standard

25 CUC as the exit visa price so make sure you have the cash

 

[Foreigner]

Which of the OW and *A carriers fly to HAV and from which ports?

 

[divvy_l]

For *A - Avianca, Copa and Air Canada from their hubs, nada for OW. There are SkyTeam options if you're that way inclined?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/José_Martí_International_Airport#Airlines_and_destinations

 

[RooFlyer]

Many Air Canada departures are seasonal 9ie summer).

 

[Mark3000]

have been to Cuba 5 times now and all the above is quite accurate.

I last flew in 12/12 from Cancun and just grabbed the cuban visa (USD 25 if I recall) at the Air Cubana counter just next to the checkin.

the Visa is loose leaf and needd to be checked on Departure.

That's a great tip, I'm hoping to go via Cancun too. Infinity, would you recommend that Cubana Cancun option for the visa, it sounds much better and much cheaper than sending off the application to Canberra.

Rooflyer, how did you go with your visa, did you have any troubles getting it at the airport?

Thanks so much

 

[notzac]

Just noticed this thread - went to Havana again at the end of 2013, flew in via PTY on Copa - actually pretty decent, reminded me a bit of flying with MX when they were still around.

The tourist visa card thing was purchased from Copa on check in for PTY-HAV.

 

[RooFlyer]

That's a great tip, I'm hoping to go via Cancun too. Infinity, would you recommend that Cubana Cancun option for the visa, it sounds much better and much cheaper than sending off the application to Canberra.

Rooflyer, how did you go with your visa, did you have any troubles getting it at the airport?

Thanks so much

Sorry, missed this question.

Didn't happen change of plans. Hope to get there soon , before American hordes.