Cuba

dceire

Me & my sister are thinking of going to cuba for a while in the summer. I'm just looking for general advice from anyone who has been there before, especially regarding flights as i suspect there are no direct flights available!

Gran Hermano

Most Irish people usually fly to Jose Marti airport in Havana via
Charles De Gaulle with Air France. Depending on which part you
are staying in you may be better seeing if you can get a flight
via UK (Manchester/Gatwick) into Varadero airport. If you are
staying in Varadero this will save you a 2 hour drive from Havana.
Personally I found the service with Air France on long-haul lacking
on several occasions and would at this stage fly with another
carrier if possible.

I've booked with these in the past
http://www.tropicalplaces.ie/locations.asp?sku=371
http://www.accesstravel.ie
http://www.gohop.ie/28/CubaDominicanRep/holidays.html
http://www.sunway.ie/longhaul/indexb.asp?Resort=CUBV&aff=

Both Havana and Varadero are worth seeing. The beach in Varadero is
one of the best in the world.... It's worth noting that a Cuban 5 star is
similar to what we'd rate as a 3 star here.

mikedragon32

Varadero beach is spectacular.

Be wary in Havana of people begging. It is frowned upon by the authorities, but it still happens. If you're taking pictures of people on the streets, particularly buskers or people sitting smoking ridiculously big cigars, be prepared to give them cash!

DO NOT travel with Air Jamaica (via Heathrow to Havana). They are terrible and make some budget airlines feel like first class.

There's lots to see further east. Guardalavacha in the eastern tip and Cayo Coco further along the north coast as you travel east from Varadero are nice resorts.

We booked with Travel Focus, but there may be charters flying out of Dublin this summer to Varadero, so ask around the agents.

Another option, if you feel like looking into it, is to go via Toronto. You can get cheap flights in summer to Toronto and there's quite a few flights from there to Varadero and Havana. Canooks tend to go to Cuba in Winter to escape the worst of the Winter weather.

wow sierra

Going at the end of March with Iberia. Dublin Madrid Havana - cheaper than Air France for the days I am travelling. Can't tell you anything else as I haven't gone yet. Doing it as a small group tour as I am travelling alone - maybe that would be a safer/more hassle free way if you want to travel around even if you are travelling with your sister. www.cubagrouptour.com sounded good to me - staying with local families but I decided on a Hotel based one in the end www.exodus.co.uk (I'M 40 and didn't want to be oldest on trip!!).Just google smallgroup tours and see if anything appeals.try www.cuba-junky.com for ideas of what to see

nodger

dceire wrote:

Me & my sister are thinking of going to cuba for a while in the summer. I'm just looking for general advice from anyone who has been there before, especially regarding flights as i suspect there are no direct flights available!

Don't stay in Havana for any more than 2-3 days. It's pretty to look at, but it's full of beggars and con-artists. I'd recommend just paying a bit of money and going on some guided tours, otherwise you'll be inundated with people asking you for cash, or wanting to be your "fren". We stayed in the Hotel Parque Central, which was pretty nice... I think it was rated as 4-star, and to be honest it wasn't too far from it. If you go walking around on your own in Havana, you can expect these dudes to stroll up alongside you and just start talking to you. They'll chat for a while before asking you if you want to buy some cheap cigars. Be very wary of this, because you won't be allowed take these cigars out of Cuba. Only cigars bought in legitimate outlets (which always have an official certificate on them) can be exported, and only in limited quantities.

We then moved down to the Blau Hotel in Varadero, which is one of those all-inclusive deals. It was rated as a 5 star, but in reality it's more like an Irish 3-4 star. The food is OK but doesn't vary much. Not much to say really... it's a nice place, with beautiful white beaches. There are also a lot of watersports, etc, to be done there.
The nightlife in the hotel was really poor... they'd have a sort of 'variety' show on every night, which might appeal to very young families or retired couples. There are a few external nightclubs in the area, but I don't know what they're like.

The one thing that surprised me about Cuba is that it's not cheap, regardless of what you may have heard. You have to tip for everything (these people earn very, very little) and the drink in the tourist-centric bars is pricey.