Well, here's my take on this and we're heading to Cuba in less than two weeks!

I'm a Brit but I'm subject to US regulations as a US resident and I'm married to an American. As mentioned above it was the US not the Cubans who enforced these regulations for their own citizens and permanent residents. According to existing Treasury Department rules is illegal for Americans (to spend money) to go to Cuban in a purely touristic manner. To visit you had to conform to one of a long list of approved travel categories including People to People Tours which are educational, visiting family, support of the Cuban People, Sports, religion etc. Ok, the significant change is that the Treasury Department no longer seems to be policing whether you conform to these categories, thus you self report which one you fit into. My brother suggested I go as a high jumper and my husband as a religious leader - Yoda perhaps!

Some of the People to People Tours look incredible (contemporary art, architecture etc) but the prices are incredibly high, shockingly high in the case of a number that I looked at. $4,500 for five days not including air fare, really? At that price I'd rather go on safari!

So we are going independently and I am planning to make an educational tour as I do with all out traveling, I'm setting up tours right now and if I'm asked for details I'd be happy to provide them to the government, though I don't anticipate this being an issue!. I'll also be blogging about it too which could put me in the journalistic category too! But it's all independently done and we will be traveling on our own. I'm finding Air BnB very helpful, they require you self report the category under which you are traveling as does the airline when you make your booking.

This is all a bit last minute, we've booked five nights in Havana and I've just booked a night on a cigar plantation (Pinar del Rio) which should be interesting too. Hopefully we will spend one night in Cienfuegos and then two in Trinidad. We will be flying in and out via Mexico City, the US flights are still run as charters and from what I can see tightly controlled by agencies that have benefitted from the legal requirements. They wouldn't see me a one way Havana to New York. Though I don't know a great deal about this as I'm not using the direct flights. As I understand it the direct flights could open up fairly soon.

Annhig - reading about Cuba in your TR put it at the front of our minds, so thanks for that!
As we were planning to go to Mexico City we thought why not Havana too and before I knew it we had a six week trip planned - three weeks in NYC at the end. Of course all this was before the Kardashians went and now I'm not feeling quite so enthusiastic!

wow, welltravelled - the responsibility! It's a wonderful place and I'm sure that you'll have a great time, despite what can be the frustrations of being in Cuba.

Sorry that I didn't get as far as Vinales in my TR - perhaps the thought that you're going to be there will inspire me to do some more.

one thing that I noticed about your trip - how are you getting from Pinar del Rio to Cienfuegos? if you are traveling by bus, you have a choice between the normal bus or Transtur which we thought was probably preferable, or private car of course. but however you do it, it'll take at least 6 hours, and with only one night in Cienfuegos, you might not be up for seeing much while you are there, which would be a shame - it's worth at least a whole day, IMO. Trinidad is a different proposition - it's not very far from Cienfuegos so you effectively get 2 days there if you set off straight away. Where are you staying there? There is some very good, but also some quite dodgy accommodation in Trinidad [ours was between the two]

I think I'm saying that depending on how long you've got in Cuba, an extra night in Cienfuegos might not be a bad idea.

You're right, annhig. No U.S. citizen has been prosecuted for traveling to Cuba in years, and no one official will likely find out if you ditch the tour group. I'm saying that if it gets out that, in general, tour participants of Company X are going off on their own, that tour operator is at risk of being able to offer tours. Don't do that to them. If you don't want the confines of a group tour, then don't sign up with one.

I have yet to have anyone ask to look at the logs of my daily activities last year, but I'm abiding by the rules and keeping them for four more years. Since I will likely go back again and again to do the same type of work, I want to do things properly.

good points Jeff - but I think it emphasises that worries about spending the odd afternoon on a beach are probably misplaced.

As I mentioned earlier, most people including myself did not go off on our own since the lectures, tours, visits, etc. were very interesting and I wanted to attend them. When I went the only way for a US citizen to go to Cuba was with an US certified group...Some people on my group had been signed up with another company which didn't get its recertification so they switched to RoadScholar.

The point is that you can go off on your own...not if it is ethical or morally right to do that to the tour company.

I guess the point above re staying with a tour group or not seems moot, at least to me. The rules have changed and it's very well explained in the NYT.

Ann - thanks so much for your reply. Yes, I'm putting the responsibility on you, lol . Lets just say this entire expedition is rather last minute and has the hallmarks of that all over the itinerary!

We have five nights in Havana in a very well reviewed a rather stylish looking apartment (Havana Bohemia) on Plaza Vieja in the historic area so I'm happy with that, we want to make sure we have enough time in Havana as we are very interested in the architecture/museums etc.

Then we planned two nights in the Vinales area, one night in Cienfuegos and two nights in Trinidad. As you know availability is a pill (all the better hotels seem to be block booked by tour groups) and in this regard it reminds me very much of Burma.

Anyway, the cigar plantation in PInar del Rio only had availability for one night so now I've got three one night stays, PInar del Rio, Vinales and Cienfuegos, followed by two nights in Trinidad. I agree that given the distances an extra night in Cienfuegos is a necessity if we want to see anything at all. Currently I have a possibility of a casa in Trinidad that has good reviews Casa La Salernitana. The place I fancied (Hostal Dr. Amaro and Dra. Yamira) had availability for slightly later dates.

Currently I have a final night in Havana at the end of the trip and our flight leaves for Mexico City at 3:20pm. One possibility would be to cancel this final night in Havana, add the extra day in Cienfuegos and for an added bonus this fits the availability at the Hostal Dr. Amaro and Dra. Yamira in Trinidad. However, this means we would go straight from Trinidad to the airport in Havana which could be possible if we took a private transfer and left early the morning. To be honest this makes me a bit nervous, what do you think?

Alternatively we could have one night in Pinar del Rio, two in Cienfuegos and two in Trinidad. I was keen to have two in the Vinales area as our neighbor loved that part of their trip but if we took a taxi we could perhaps leave in the early afternoon? In that case I'd take a private car for two days (Havana- Pinar del Rio - Cienfuegos) and then the bus or tourist collective which the taxi companies seem to offer for the rest of it.

All a bit chaotic but then again perhaps we'll wing the whole thing! I'd really value any thoughts you have, or any thoughts from others who have visited Cuba....

Jules 39 - sorry to hijack the thread. Have you thought about doing a trip on your own or would you prefer the group?

However, this means we would go straight from Trinidad to the airport in Havana which could be possible if we took a private transfer and left early the morning. To be honest this makes me a bit nervous, what do you think?>>

that would be my choice. If you are going to go by private transfer [and make sure that you have a proper taxi not a wreck] I can't see any reason why you wouldn't make it back to the airport for your flight - you'd need to be there by about 1pm which gives you plenty of time to get from Trinidad to Havana.

Another alternative would be to go straight through to Trinidad from Pinar del Rio as that day is more or less a write off anyway [it's another hour further on] then go back to Cienfuegos, which is that bit closer to Havana for your return trip.

So far I understand you've got this:

Day 1-5 [5 nights] Havana
Day 6 - drive to Pinar del Rio
Day 7 - drive to Vinales
Day 8 - drive to Cienfuegos [approx 6 hours]
Day 9 - drive to Trinidad [1 hour] 2 nights
Day 11 - drive to Havana, one night
Day 12 - fly out on 15.20 flight

Personally I feel that that's too many one night stands and you will be pretty tired by the end. one way to solve the airport problem would be to reverse the trip [and contrary to popular belief, there is a transtur bus from Cienfuegos to Vinales].

So how about this:

Day 1-5 Havana - 5 nights
Day 6 - drive to Trinidad - 2 nights
Day 8 - drive to Cienfuegos - 2 nights
Day 10 - drive Vinales/pinar del Rio - 2 nights
Day 12 - fly out on 15.20 flight

it's about 2 hours from Vinales to Havana so there should be no problems getting to the airport on time and you've lost all those pesky one night stands. I know that your timescales are tight, but it might be worth a try.

Thanks Ann,
I really appreciate your thoughts and I agree the current single night stays aren't feasible - so something need to change. Its less an itinerary than a statement of availability! I can't believe I'm even considering one night stays, our usual style is no less than three nights in one place! I agree that reversing it makes a lot of sense thanks for the idea but again the question is finding availability at decent places which I will look into today.

If I can't reverse things easily what did you think of the alternative with only a single night in Pinar del Rio? Or is it just not worth it for a single night stay? I could also add a night onto Trinidad giving me a one, two and three night stay. This would allow me to use places that are available...

Day 1-5 [5 nights] Havana
Day 6 - drive to Pinar del Rio
Day 7 - drive to Cienfuegos [approx 6 hours] 2 night
Day 9 - drive to Trinidad [1 hour] 3 nights
Day 12 - drive to Havana airport fly out on 15.20 flight

Thanks so much for your help!

If I can't reverse things easily what did you think of the alternative with only a single night in Pinar del Rio? Or is it just not worth it for a single night stay?>>

mmm - that's a hard one. We were not as enamoured of the Pinar del Rio and Vinales area as some other people, and although it's not that far from Havana it does leave you with a dreadful journey to Cienfuegos the following day. if you do decide to go with that option, I suggest getting an early start from Havana [do a private taxi transfer to maximise your time] and if you can, the next day book the Transtur bus which goes from from Vinales [though I'm not sure that it stops at Pinar, a guide book should tell you]. it leaves Vinales at 7am, and stops at a really nice place for lunch at about noon - there are tables laid out under the trees, you can have a sandwich [the ubiquitous ham and/or cheese toastie - who knew that they were so popular in Cuba?] and a fruit juice for about $5, there's a band, decent loos and even a few animals to look at. Much better than any british motorway stop I've seen.

as you will only be in Pinar for less than a day, you will probably miss the main point of being there which is walking and/or enjoying the valley of the indians - caves, rock formations, views - which are all linked by a HOHO bus. what are you going to do at the tobacco plantation?

At least you have given yourselves 2 nights in Cienfuegos - where are you planning on staying there? There is the town part, round the square which was where we stayed, and the other part down by the sea - both are nice but very different.

Am I helping? I'm trying to!

Thanks Ann - you are helping because at the very least it's a kick up the pants for me to get a move on . I'm hanging onto the night in Pinar del Rio only because the plantation looks interesting the reviews suggest it's fun to walk around and see the production cycle but as you say we won't have much time so perhaps I should just let it go. I'm thinking if I do it that way around I'll take a taxi for two days Havana Pinar del Rio and the Cienfuegos so hopefully we could leave a little later than the 7am bus!!!

I'm currently looking into doing it the other way around too.

FYi in Cienfuegos I was looking at the area in town rather than by the sea, although as you said it looked appealing.
http://www.cubacasas.net/cities/cienfuegos/D+D/

My key concern has been a good review AND somewhere that they speak English, my Spanish is very rusty. Having an English speaker means we may learn a little more as we go!

hi WTB,

I'm glad that you feel that I am helping.

In Cienfuegos we stayed here:

Hostal Sr Wensceslao Castellanos Garcia. e-mail [email protected]

The host speaks excellent english, is willing to talk about life in Cuba [he has lived and worked in Spain so he has a wider perspective than many people you will meet] and the hostel is very clean and nice inside. not luxury, but fine. it's about a 5 minute walk from the centre of the town part of Cienfuegos and tho the street it's in is not wonderful, it's all very safe.

it's also very easy to get a cab down to the other end of the town and walk back or vice versa. There are nice restaurants down there and the walk along the sea wall is very pleasant. Also there are some lovely buildings which are worth looking at. In town the theatre is very interesting, though somewhat rickety! [ditto the loo in the adjoining cafe! - note the bucket].

as for accommodation in Pinar, we didn't stay in a tobacco plantation so I can't tell you what that is like; we did tour one which is very interesting, and lasts about 30 mins. Views and walking are what you go to the Vinales area for and there are some very nice [and some not so nice] casas in Vinales. We decamped from our first one after one night and found somewhere a lot nicer though not top notch - it did have a lovely terrace on which to have dinner and breakfast which IMO is one of the things to look for. if you stay in town you can also walk round Vinales at night, go and get take away pina coladas from the cart in the middle of town, etc. the place we stayed at the spoke no english so that is probably out for you.

I think that you should be able to find somewhere decent in Vinales for one night if that's what you decide to do - what looked like the nicest casas were on the road out of town going towards Pinar. Alternatively both of the hotels looked fine too with wonderful views.

i have already pointed out to you on a different thread that advertising is not allowed here.

you are clearly slow learners.

WTB - I just received this month's edition of an online magazine about Cuba which amongst other things has restaurants recommendations for Havana, so I thought it might interest you:

http://www.havanainsider.com/cuban-r...os-mercaderes/

We didn't eat at this particular restaurant but I have no reason to doubt their reviews; sometimes they are quite critical.

Ann,
Thanks so much for the encouragement!

The whole thing has come together and I'm glad you encouraged us to add the extra day in Cienfuegos which led to us dropping the last night in Havana. Here's what we have -

Five nights in Havana at Plaza Vieja

Tobacco Plantation cabin in Pinar del Rio

Vinales for one night - nice looking place with an amazing view (near the "view" restaurant El Balcony) found it on Air BnB. It looks like it's always booked but the one night stay worked.

Two nights in Cienfuegos - some ideas but nothing booked.

Two nights in Trinidad which I've booked. The chap already has a Prof of Architecture from the local University to show us around. It looks like it will be no problem getting to the airport from Trinidad, apparently the travel agencies run collectives for 30CUC per person leaving around 8am.

I'll probably hire a car for three days to get us as far as Cienfuegos and then take the bus/colletivo. I have the name of an architect in Havana but still haven't heard back from them. I'm very happy to have your recommendation for Cienfuegos which sounds great, we want to stay somewhere where we can communicate and ideally, learn about Cuba, after all that's the advantage of a homestay situation! I took a year of Spanish at university but it has been twenty years! I can make myself understood in a very basic way but that's about it.

Overall Air BnB has been great and you pay in advance so it reduces the amount of cash we will be carrying. The hotels generally seem to have poor reviews and are booked up with tour groups so we are happy to go the case particular/apartment route.

I've taken your advice on the view in Vinales and here's where we are staying. I was planning to do some walking but if it's too hot we will just sit on the terrace and look out at the view!
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/6722483

Now things are coming together I'm starting to get excited about Cuba. Can you let me know if there are things you wished you had brought with you? I did see the TP memo in your TR, anything else or things to give/donate?

Many thanks again for your help and sorry to the OP for hijacking the thread...

Thanks for the link to the restaurant review, I didn't see it earlier!

What a fantastic looking place, TD. it's rather more expensive than the majority of casas but looks good for what you get if it lives up to its billing. I think that airbnb is a good option for Cuba [i wish we'd used it] as as you say it enables you to book and pay ahead, which may prove useful for you.

How are you taking money? If I understand correctly, you still can't use ATMs [which we found worked fine] because they don't accept US cards, so you will need to take currency, which is what we did, unnecessarily as it turned out. I think that most americans take canadian $ as that avoids the penalty on US$ - is that what you are doing?

Sweets and biscuits are what took to give as presents to casa owners - the shortbread we took went down very well and the packets had pictures of Cornwall on them which was a bonus. We just didn't take enough. We left monetary tips as well, adding on about 10% to the casa bill, and also leaving something for the chamber maids - and I know that that those tips were especially welcome as where they could they came up and thanked us for them. But so far as we could tell they have paper, pens, clothes, and all the other sorts of things that people have traditionally been encouraged to bring.

For yourself, a hairdryer would be a good thing to bring if drying your hair that way is important to you - most casas don't have them so DH suggested that I stand in front of the fan [all rooms had them as well as air con] and blow dry it that way, which worked surprisingly well, but an ordinary hairdryer would have been better. and of course adapters for plugs, [a plug-in anti-mossie device proved useful in Trinidad] anti-insect spray, and lots and lots of immodium. [anti -diarrhea medicine], plus all your normal medicaments - you won't be able to get paracetamol, ibroprufen, asprin, etc. except very expensively if you can get them at all. [the main hotel in Cienfuegos has a pharmacy for tourists I seem to remember].

Also a money belt, just for the ease of carrying quite large amounts of money around, plus your passport etc.

if i think of anything else, I'll come back.

Thanks Annhig,
Again very helpful. Our neighbors have kids and they brought loads of secondhand baseball equipment and made a donation at a school which apparently went down very well. I don't have kids hence no second hand equipment lying around, lol! Also no college tuition bills so not complaining!

Good to have a reminder on the medications. We are traveling for six weeks so I'll have everything I'm bringing for Mexico City and NY too.

In terms of cash I still have UK NatWest account but haven't had an ATM card on it in years, right now it would be kind of useful! But frankly I never thought I'd need it! We are planning to bring Euros. prepayment on Air BnB has indeed been very useful. The only other time we've had this was in Iran where they had the same sort of financial embargo. I still remember meeting the travel agent at Tehran airport and handing over $2,000 in cash, which was the payment for the whole trip. They had booked flights and hotels for us without any real guarantee we would show up.

The places in Pinar del Rio, Vinales and Havana are all more expensive than the regular casa rates. We'll see if it was money well spent or not! The reviews look reassuringly positive for all of them so I'm hopeful. The chap in Trinidad who is a surgeon by training speaks wonderful English and has been very helpful by email.

I agree Air B&B works well in Cuba. From what I can see most of the places are booked through intermediaries, often family members living in the States. Though I just read an interesting piece saying that Air B&B has been so succesful because their platform is essentially layered on top of the existing state-sanctioned rental system.

euros - great idea. In fact just before we left I changed all of my spare cuban cash into euros at the Cadeca inside the airport departure lounge, opposite the top of the steps down to the loos - you go through passport and security, then duty free and some shops, then get to the lounge proper. BTW, DO NOT use the land side loos in the airport building, wait till you get airside. [at least, that was our experience].

When you arrive, there is a Cadeca outside the arrivals building on the left as you exit so you can change some euros into CUCs [and CUPs too - just 5$ will probably be enough for the whole of your trip] - with any luck not too many people will have found it! There is a security guard outside and with most Cadecas and banks, they only let a few people in at a time.

as for the amount to take we reckoned on spending $100 a day and we actually spent more like £100, though of course we were paying for our accommodation as we went along which meant that we needed more cash than you will.

How are you going to travel around - you mentioned hiring a car? one of the worst roads we found was the main road [supposedly some sort of motorway] between Havana and Vinales - beware potholes, roaming animals, and even people. And DON'T drive at night, not because you will get attacked but because if you have an accident, you'll likely be there till morning. No RAC in Cuba. Taxis and buses are IMO a much better bet, though to be fair we did meet a lot of people, mostly germans and italians, who were driving hire cars and lived to tell the tale.

I'm getting so excited for you - it looks like a wonderful trip.

Thanks for the tips Ann,
When I said hire a car I meant a car and driver . One of the Air BnB people has a cousin who we can hire by the day, or it seems fairly straightforward to book transfers through a travel agent. Either way I'd like to have the first few days sorted and then wing it.

I hate having to carry cash but we've tried to minimize it where possibly.

I'm glad to have the accommodation booked and I'm starting to get excited too. To be honest this was a rather last minute idea and I'm glad it is coming together in the nick of time . Although this kind of, "oh we've been home for three months where are we going next?",seat of the pants travel seems to be our hallmark recently! I still can't quite believe we went to Colombia on the way home from NYC to San Francisco .

When I said hire a car I meant a car and driver>>

Good idea! but if that's what you want to do I strongly urge you to get it sorted out before you leave. Transport was one of the hardest things to sort out during our trip - for example we found out about the Transtur bus transfer from Remedios to Havana purely by luck and it saved us about £100 as against the cost of a taxi. The hardest bit of your trip is going to be Vinales to Cienfuegos - the rest should be relatively simple!

don't worry about organising the trip at last minute - in fact you seem to be doing a much better job than us, and we had months and months!