mister_e

Firstly thank you for taking your time to read my querIes and patiently giving it a thought and response. This is probably my only time to Cuba.Going for two weeks.Interests include photography.Am middle aged,single .

Travelling solo but would love to meet people and where appropriate share travel expenses or do a journey together. Duration 17 Dec to New Years day.

I thought spending more time in Havana and then split time across Trinidad Vinales and Cienfuegos.Reading about Parrandas thought about including a day split wth Santa Clara for Che memorial then evening at Remedios on Christmas eve.

Would value your opinion if allthis is doable or too much.Would value your advice regarding logistics of buses etc. Also your recommendations.

Would love to know what you would recommend in these places particularly Havana and the rest, not the usual old town monuments but specific experiences that you personally loved.

I also am thinking the boring question where and which casa particulars. Do they have inroom safes? How would you carry cash ?

So my rough itinerary open for changes fuelled by your wisdom and thoughts:

17 18 Havana

19 20 21 trinidad

22 23 Cienfuegos

(Shd i give one more day to trinidad and just a day in Cf?)

24 santa clara remedios (so travel by bus to santa clara frm cienfuegos then go remedios.do i return to SC at night after Parrandas or stay back to go next day.?

25 santa clara to trinidad to vinales

My destination is Vinales after this and this journey am unsure how best to do it.I know it is a long day.that too on christmas day!I could look to do the journey other way round as in 19 20 21 vinales then Cienfuegos 22 23 ,24 santa clara remedios ,25 26 27 trinidad then havana..what wd you suggest .)

26 27 vinales what do i do in two days?

28 back to havana

29 30 31 havana Assuming have done main sights in first two days,how do i best do these three days..how do i spend new years eve.

1st jan fly back

Once again thank you would truly appreciate your suggestions.

Sam

annhig

Hi Sam, you are attempting to do in 2 weeks what we did in three so it won't surprise you to hear that I think you are trying to do too much.

Firstly, casas will be great places to meet other travellers - we became friendly with an Australian family that we are still in touch with, for example. So you will probably find people there to socialise and even do trips with. Otherwise the various tourist offices will arrange things for you, and on occasion will organise your onward travel too. The trick is to find the right one - for example in Trinidad there are at least 5 and they all do slightly different things.

Secondly, I think that you are underestimating the amount of time it takes to get from one place to another. For example your itinerary has you going from Santa Clara to Trinidad to Vinales in one day - the bus from Trinidad to Vinales takes approx 7 hours so I honestly don't see how that is possible.

I think that you have to decide whether you are going to go to Santa Clara and Remedios or Vinales - you can't do both unless you ar prepared to spend a lot of time in buses which I guess is not what you have in mind.

if you opt for Vinales [which is primarily an area for hiking, and sight seeing] I suggest the following: Havana 2 nights, bus/car to Vinales 3 nights, bus to Cienfuegos 3 nights, bus to Trinidad 3 nights, bus to Havana 3 nights.

Alternatively, if you opt for Santa Clara/Remedios [which is mainly about seeing the Che monument etc. and the cigar factory in Santa Clara, and using Remedios as a stepping off point for Santa Maria] you could do Havana 2, Cienfuegos 3, Trinidad 3, bus/cab Remedios/Santa Clara 3, [we ended up taking a cab from Sancta Spiritu to Remedios as we couldn't find a bus] bus to Havana 3 [you can organise the bus to Havana through the tourist information office in the main square in Remedios].

As for how you spend New Year's Eve, I would suggest staying in a centrally placed Casa and seeing what develops.

for specific sightseeing suggestions the Lonely planet guide is good.

Remember, 2 nights = 1 day, and 3 nights = 2 days, so your first 2 nights in Havana give you only one day, in which you will only touch the surface of Havana - you'll find plenty to do at the end of your trip.

annhig

for events listings, accommodation, travel tips and lots more, this magazine is very helpful:

http://www.lahabana.com/content/monthly-guide/