Cuba is an actual postcard
Cuba has forever been on my bucket list. I’ve long been sucked in by the images of 1950s Chevrolets rattling down the colourful, colonial streets of Havana. Fascinated by the country’s contradictory mix of creativity and neglect. Allured by the romance of a time-warped island that’s like nowhere else on earth.
Yet, visiting Cuba comes with a handful of unique travel challenges. There’s the lack of connectivity, a bubble of bureaucracy to navigate and hurdles around accessing money, to name a couple. So, when a holiday in Cuba moved from dream to reality, I decided I wanted to enjoy my trip and not spend the entire time moonlighting as a logistics officer, so I started researching tours.
Apparently there’s more to Cuba than Chevrolets, cigars and rum
Intrepid Travel’s Beautiful Cuba eight-day tour
I settled on Intrepid Travel’s eight-day Beautiful Cuba tour. It captures all the clichés (like salsa dancing and cigar smoking), takes in a big chunk of the island and is reasonably priced at approx. $2,135 AUD per person.
Good choice by me! Having since returned, the tour definitely has my full, unpaid for, endorsement, so I thought I’d share some word vomit about the experience.
Watching the artisan at work on a tobacco farm in Viñales
Day 1: Havana
Kick-off day. Upon arriving in Havana, we got ferried to our guesthouse with a complimentary airport transfer, and then met our tour crew and leader at the welcome meeting. Bless his Cuban socks, our commander-in-chief for the week, Willmar (or Will), completely overloaded us with everything we possibly needed to know about spending eight days in Cuba. From not to flush the dunny roll to how to access the internet – yes, much to my disappointment, it is possible.
The unsociable rascals that we are, Jude and I skipped the optional team dinner that night so we could get lost in the streets of Havana – and lost we damn well did. My internal GPS was drunk on Havana Club navigating the labyrinth of streets that are rich with atmosphere.
Cuba’s more colourful than Mardi Gras
Day 2: Havana – Soroa – Viñales
The next morning we regrouped and loaded our things onto the tour bus, to which I was in shock. I was not expecting the mode of transport we had for the duration of the tour. It’s Cuba, I was expecting some old bus in need of an engine overhaul. I was expecting a rickety trailer hitched on the back for our luggage that also housed a family of chickens. I was not expecting this…
Our tour bus was 10x more luxurious, with better aircon, than the 379 Bronte to Bondi commuter bus
We also met our tour driver, George, and what a driver! He proved he could wield that tour bus through the narrow laneways of Havana and over the cobblestone streets of Trinidad like it was a lithe ballerina. He even expertly missed a horse on the bolt.
After a morning walking tour of Old Havana that doubled as a streetscape ogle and serious history lesson, we left Cuba’s capital via the Malecon esplanade, stopping for an included lunch in the garden district of Soroa. Here, I became acquainted with Cuban chips – fried plantains – get on board!
After a tour of Soroa’s orchid garden we were on the road again, headed for the tobacco town of Viñales – and what a disgustingly beautiful place to spend a couple of nights.
The view across Viñales Valley and Hotel los Jazmines
The guesthouse in Viñales is the only standard accommodation on the tour (everything else is premium). Ours was basic but perfectly liveable, albeit very pink.
Day 3: Viñales
My favourite part of the tour was the time we spent in Viñales. How could you not enjoy a town where horse and carts rattle through the streets, the locals are always up for a chat and there’s a gorgeous backdrop of limestone mountains you can’t help but stare at. There’s also plenty of live music, a couple of good restaurants (we enjoyed Tres Jotas and El Olivio) and navigation is a breeze with only one main street to deal with.
Yep, this small tourist town is a real charmer
After finishing a walking tour of the valley and visiting a tobacco farm, we were left to our own devices. Originally, Jude and I wanted to go caving at Cuevas de Santo Tomas. Instead, we spent the afternoon slothing around the pool at Hotel los Jazmines, where I wouldn’t have been surprised if I saw Sean Connery hoist himself out the water. The place was utterly reminiscent of 1960s Bond.
Yeah we did!
The included dinner was spent on an organic farm in Viñales
Day 4: Bay of Pigs – Cienfuegos
On day four, we buckled in for a big day of travel, covering nearly 500 kilometres, driving from Viñales to Cienfuegos. Eight hours on the road may sound like a punch in the guts. But, in between a couple of naps, several documentaries on the history of Cuba and a layover in the Bay of Pigs (where we had two swimming options), before we knew it, we were arriving in Cienfuegos.
Swimming option 1: natural, inland watering hole
Swimming option 2: warm Caribbean ocean
Once in the French-flavoured, seaside town of Cienfuegos, Will organised an optional group dinner at Resaurante Bahia (I recommend), as well as a bus tour along the coast and a pre-dinner rooftop drink at Palacio de Valle.
The view of Centro Recreativo la Punta from Palacio de Valle in Cienfuegos
Later that evening, with a couple of $3 mojitos down the hatch, a home-style feed of honey chicken in my belly, cruising through the streets of Cienfuegos with Despacito putting the Tourista bus’s speakers to the test, heading back to our luxuriously impressive digs, I was loving Cuban life.
The streets of Cienfuegos
Day 5: Trinidad
The next morning we were on the road again, this time en route to the utterly fascinating town of Trinidad – a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
If visiting Havana is like taking a trip back to the 1950s, visiting Trinidad is like taking a trip back to the 1850s. Time has passed this old sugar town by. With a walk down the ankle-twisting cobblestone streets revealing perfectly preserved Spanish architecture and colonial character from a time when the actual pirates of the Caribbean roamed the land.
Of course, arriving in Trinidad was the moment I mismanaged my water intake. And, let me tell you, riding a bus down cobblestone streets with a dangerously full bladder is about as much fun as blocking Cuba’s sewage system with toilet paper.
That night the tour group gathered at Casa de la Musica – an outdoor venue on the steps off Plaza Mayor – for live music, salsa dancing and mojitos. The seriously intrepid in the tour group kicked on at Disco Ayala – a nightclub in a cave – Jude and I went to bed.
Plaza Mayor in Trinidad
Day 6: Trinidad
Yes, Trinidad is incredibly charming, fascinating and photogenic, but it’s also stinking hot. Like sweat moustache hot. So, we spent our free day on the tour getting massages and loitering in the airconned bar at Iberostar Grand Hotel (maybe using their wi-fi). The thought of riding a horse to the Salto del Caburni waterfall or, even worse, hiking the five-kilometre trail made me break into a sweat rash.
You need steel cap boots to conquer the streets of Trinidad
That afternoon, Will kindly organised a group trip to Playa Ancon. Being able to wash my sweat moustache off in the ocean was absolutely divine.
Keeping an eye out for Jack Sparrow
Day 7: Santa Clara – Havana
Back on the bus, in George’s safe hands, there we were, travelling 400 kilometres back to Havana. Again, we had some naps, watched some documentaries and made a few stops – the Che Guevara mausoleum and memorial, and the old Manaca Iznaga sugar and slave plantation – to pass the travel time.
The slave watch tower at Manaca Iznaga
Once back in Havana and after saying goodbye to our Cuban friends, Jude and I headed to Lamparilla Tapas & Cervezas (on Will’s recommendation) for a final Cuban dinner and had the most amazing feed. These guys are hitting plenty of high notes, proving Cuba’s food scene isn’t all rice and beans. It was the perfect way to spend our last night in Cuba.
Another mojito? Oh ok.
Day 8: Havana
Us lucky rats had a 6am flight out of Cuba, so not only were we fortunate enough to wake up to a 1:45am alarm, we also missed out on the final tour breakfast. Not that we felt short-changed. We’d enjoyed an amazingly rich travel experience.
Would I recommend this tour of Cuba?
Yeah, yeah I would. I really enjoyed Intrepid Travel’s Beautiful Cuba tour. I think it’s really well done. You get to see so many pockets of Cuba, observe lots of layers of a complex culture and learn loads of history. Plus, not once did I feel lost, confused or overwhelmed by travel logistics. I just got to sit back like a smug pig and be shown what a beautiful country Cuba is.
The view from the slave watch tower at Manaca Iznaga
I also hope you get the sense that our tour guide Will was incredible! He was always upbeat, always informative and always helpful. On the tour there’s quite a bit of dedicated free time and, being the planning pompous I am, I’d done a shit tonne of research beforehand to ensure that when we were left alone we weren’t roaming the streets like lost street urchins. This was so unnecessary…
Each day Will pointed out the best restaurants in town, helped advise on activities and never let us escape until we were utterly confident in our movements.
I have no doubt that I flew out of Jose Marti Airport with a much deeper sense of Cuban culture and history than what I would have if I had slogged through Cuba without a Will.
If you’re still unsure whether a tour is right for you, just consider the story of my friend and her man, who rolled into Cuba with no plan and no Spanish. They were ripped off exchanging money, downright struggled with the language barrier and ended up being hospitalised for food poisoning. Not sure they had the best time.
