Individual guide in Cuba with a car. Guide to the cube. How to get to Cuba

Capital: Havana
Language: Spanish
Currency: Cuban Peso

ADDITIONALLY ABOUT Cuba:

Cuba is the “cradle of the revolution”, an exotic and freedom-loving country washed by the waters Caribbean Sea, has always attracted numerous tourists to its lands.

The architecture of Cuba, influenced by the Spanish colonial style, is presented ancient fortresses both in Havana (the capital of the republic) and numerous cities in the outback. Havana amazes with the picturesqueness of its ancient streets, in which the spirit of the legendary Che still wafts. The city has more than 600 cultural monuments, including the Museum of the Revolution, the El Templete chapel (built in the neoclassical style at the beginning of the 19th century on the site of the city's founding), and the José Martí memorial, opened relatively recently. Particularly noteworthy are the squares of Havana - Plaza de Armas and Plaza de la Catedral (Armory and Cathedral), on the territory of which there are many architectural structures marked by historical milestones of Cuban history. Not far from the capital is Bacuranao Beach - real paradise for divers. Near the beach, at a depth of 14 meters, a surprise awaits amateurs and professionals of scuba diving - a sunken ship. Bacuranao begins a chain of so-called “eastern beaches”, which are used by local residents.

In addition to Havana, a must-see city is the open-air museum Trinidad, founded in the 16th century and rich in ancient monuments and relatively small town with the name Santa Clara, where the memorial with the ashes of Che Guevara is located.

The most famous Cuban resort, Varadero, is famous for the Ambrosio cave, one of the few places on earth where you can see perfectly preserved examples of ancient rock art. Varadero has an extensive crocodile nursery where you can see not only crocodiles, but also iguanas and a variety of lizards. There is also an International Parachute Center and many yacht ports.

Holguin Province - most beautiful place with a series of waterfalls, including the largest in Cuba - Guayabo. On the territory of Holguin is the city of Banes, which is of interest to connoisseurs of archeology and seekers of memorabilia, because it is here that there is a museum of the history of Indians from numerous islands throughout the Caribbean. The Hill of the Cross is a symbol of the province, located on a 300-meter mountain, to the top of which a staircase of 450 steps leads.

Maybe this will happen when a bee hummingbird flies out of a bougainvillea bush in front of your face, which, it turns out, buzzes in flight, but more quietly and lower than a bumblebee. Or when your companions laugh when they notice that the local policeman is showing off dust on a motorcycle, wearing boots with spurs. Or you will suddenly experience a surge of respect for a peasant, in 30-degree heat, slurping strong rum from a tetra-pack without a snack. But most likely, the shock will overtake you when you realize that local beach the same piercing white and unrealistically blue as in the advertisement of the famous candy bar, but much more beautiful and completely real.

It is very likely that enlightenment will visit you in Havana - an amazing city, the Paris of the Caribbean, or even the whole Latin America, the place where, as the classic wrote, the Old World truly meets the New. Here everyone dances and sings, spends time in seething idleness, kindly pesters tourists and generally has fun in every possible way. But the fun here is thickly mixed with sadness, and not at all because of one of the largest cemeteries in the world, where visitors are admitted for five dollars and where you can wander among kilometers of marble angels of fine, feather-to-feather work.

Havana is dying. It was destroyed by the communists. Despite all the artistry of previous dictators, and what kind of dictators, suffice it to say that Batista, who was driven out by Fidel, twice - suddenly! - won first prize in the national lottery, the capital of Cuba prospered. Next to the colonial palaces and cathedrals of carved stone, blocks of villas and mansions were built, first in the Art Nouveau style, then in the Constructivist style. Havana architects were leading in America, and world stars built here all the time. And so, having dispersed the owners, the new regime called on fellow Shvonders and Sharikovs, who came to the city to strengthen the ranks of the Cuban bureaucracy. All vacated living space turned into communal apartments. Songs in the toilet and defecation in the jacuzzi have been going on for 55 years, and since everything around is folk, that is, no one’s, no one is renovating the houses. The effect is difficult to describe, but it is unlikely that American bombers would have worked better.

However, the half-corpse remained charming. The Cuban polygraph polygraph is not in every way similar to ours: he doesn’t get rowdy when he’s drunk, although drinking a liter of 40-degree alcohol is commonplace for a local man, he knows how to fiery salsa dance and sincerely respects the police. In the creepiest area of ​​Old Havana, you are practically in no danger. Of course, they will try to scam you out of some little thing or sell you a fake cigar (take it only from the factory, sir, the co-owner of the casa particular, the private household where we were staying, told me, and he was right), but once they are convinced that you are not interested, they will unhook you, sincerely wishing good afternoon- Cubans can teach Indians a wise attitude towards life.

“If in one of the local drinking establishments you hang a sign: “Ernest Hemingway has never been here, never drank an evening mojito or a morning daiquiri here, and never said a word about fishing!”, This will be the most original establishment in the city.”

If you don’t like magnificent decay mixed with cheerful poverty, stay around three central squares: Cathedral, Armament and Old - they and a couple of pedestrian streets between them have been beautifully repaired according to UNESCO programs. Here, not only is there no stucco on your head, but it is also truly comfortable, although noisy - boutiques where they sell for convertible pesos (currency for foreigners, equivalent to the dollar), public catering of various formats and countless folk music orchestras. In each of the bars they will tell you that Al Capone liked to have a glass here and Hemingway sat, smile and wave in response: Al was never in Cuba at all, and if in one of the local drinking establishments you hang a sign with the inscription in several languages ​​“Ernest Hemingway never We haven’t been here, never drank an evening mojito or a morning daiquiri here, and didn’t say a word about fishing!”, this will be the most original establishment in the city.

In any case, remember: you need to be more careful with local cocktails. They are, of course, tasty and easy to drink, except, oddly enough, for the too-sweet cube libre, which here is mixed not with imperialist American swill, but with ideologically correct and too sugary Chu-Cola. If the drink is not made in front of you, it will be twice as strong as a Moscow double portion.

Having noticed that...the eleventh mojito or daiquiri was unnecessary, arrange one of the most pleasant sobering sessions in the world: order for $60 a ride in one of the old American convertibles that stand in the center at numerous taxi exchanges. Take your time - choose the monster with the biggest fins and the most acidic colors, and after a two-hour trip, which most likely starts from the Malecon, you, of course, will not sober up, but the intoxication will move to a higher level. It’s enough to say just one thing about old cars in Cuba: these retro cars are not just an attraction for tourists. Somewhere in the provinces you will see for yourself how the owner is carrying hay from the hayfield in some shark-shaped 1956 Oldsmobile. In terms of numbers, only the old “kopeck” ships compete with these ships, and the Cubans are very upset when they learn that spare parts for them are no longer available even in Russia.

For walking, in addition to the old center, there is also the Havana Island, which can be reached through a road tunnel or on a rusty steamboat. There is an old Spanish fortress here, where there is a museum of the Cuban missile crisis with a replica Soviet rocket“Buran” and the museum-apartment of the handsome Che Guevara, who personally shot enemies of the revolution here. By the way, there are a lot of museums in Havana, and they show various curiosities like a real nickel-plated shower, which is already 300 years old (Museum of Plantation Culture), but they work in a constant and strict siesta. At nine in the evening, in the fortress, like in Peter and Paul Fortress, an ancient cannon fires and the locals gather to scream, dance, pick up a girl.

“Big-eyed Cubans will assure you that the local roads are terrible and the traffic is monstrous... These assurances can cause nothing but laughter among the residents of Russia.”

By the way, everything is fine here with sex tourism: the local meager wages and food on ration cards make people more flexible. If you come with your family and stay in a private house (cheaper and better than a hotel, a four-bedroom villa in good area with a garden, a swimming pool and breakfast will cost $300 per day - Google it, this is a widespread local business), they will not bother you, but if you are in a male company, expect evening visits from fat women who laugh. Well, or languid chicos, if you are homosexual. However, the stories about the legendary Cuban beauties are only partly true: Creole women are really beautiful, but the number of white Cubans is relatively small, and women with an admixture of African blood are too corpulent and short-legged for northern tastes. Real beauties can be seen on the stages of cabarets and nightclubs, for example, the legendary Tropicana, preserved by the communists, but that’s a completely different story.

However, Havana is not the only pearl of the largest Caribbean island, 55 years ago it was the most fashionable resort. Rent a car with or without a driver from Rex - this is not product placement, this is the only company that has branches throughout the island, buy some maps and hit the road: whether east or west, there is something to see everywhere. By the way, big-eyed Cubans will assure you that the local roads are terrible and the traffic is monstrous... These assurances can cause nothing but laughter among the residents of Russia. The only horror on the local highways is the price at which they will fix your broken car: local mechanics, with good reason, are confident that they are the best in the world, and value their services accordingly. Although, if you are impressionable, there is another unpleasant moment - once colored posters with Fidel, his brother Raul and all his accomplices, devoured by the tropical sun to an azure color.

So, in short, the length of the article does not allow me to confess my love to Cuba to the extent that I would like. If you are a fan of beach holidays, you are in Varadero, not the city of the same name, but a beach settlement, where locals are allowed only with documents if they work there. All include any degree of stardom, hotels, hotels, hotels... I would like to call this long spit of Sochi, but around the Caribbean, so the comparison will not be in favor of the capital of the Olympics. Trinidad de Cuba is a local analogue of Suzdal, where time stood still 300 years ago, UNESCO restoration, an ancient gingerbread town. Las Tunas is a city of sculptures, corrupt love and folk festivals, next to it are the most beautiful beaches in the Caribbean. Benales, aka Viñales (depending on the origin of the guide - a descendant of the Spanish colonists will remember that in native language there is no “v” sound, the Negro will not mind pronouncing “v”). Fantastic valley separated from the ocean mountain range, a lush tropical kingdom with cave-studded mountains. The luxury of greenery here is comparable only to Jamaica, but the local residents, when they are reminded that neighboring island the largest number of acclimatized cultivated plants in the world, grin and answer: “But we are the only island in the world where the mango tree reproduces itself, without the participation of human hands.” Matanzas is the musical capital of Cuba, that is, if not the world, then certainly Latin America. Santiago de Cuba - there are fewer police forces than in the capital, several tens of kilometers by water to Jamaica, according to many, the most fun place on the island, and not only because there is a characteristic sweet smoke in the air. The list could go on for a long time, but it’s better to take a direct flight from Moscow to Havana and see for yourself.

Oh, and when you fly back, don't forget to leave 25 convertible pesos in your pocket. You can’t fly away from socialist paradise for free - airport tax It is accepted only in local currency, and you obviously will not like standing in line at the exchange office, where a leisurely Cuban bureaucrat works.

Dmitry Sukhodolsky

• RealCuba

  Only those who are truly in love with it, who cannot imagine life without the narrow streets of Old Havana, the rhythm of salsa and always smiling Cubans, can talk about Cuba. My name is Inessa Severinova. I invite you to spend an unforgettable “Cuban vacation” with my help.

  Varadero, Havana

• Maximino Pena

  I'm Cuban. Studied Russian at the University of Havana. He graduated from the radio engineering department of the Odessa National Polytechnic University with knowledge and understanding of the Russian mentality. Married to a Ukrainian. I live in the city of Cienfuegos. Everyone in the family speaks Russian. We have been working with Russians for several years now...

  Varadero

• Maria Alvarez

  I, Maria Alvarez, am a Russian-speaking professional guide in Cuba. I organize exciting excursions from Varadero. I'm Cuban. I live in the city of Matanzas. She studied at the university in Volgograd. She completed courses for Russian guides in Cuba. Work experience 8 years. I'm waiting for you on my excursions!

  Varadero

An island of freedom and victorious socialism, rum and cigars, salsa and smiles, Cuba is the pearl of the Caribbean, no matter how banal it may sound. Of all the countries in the region, Cuba is considered the most colorful, and there is every reason for this: a long and glorious history, amazing nature and an indescribable flavor of local life that you just need to feel. To discover Cuba in all its crazy fullness, you can't do without the help of a private guide. It was he, the “native” of the island, who was devotedly and selflessly in love with his wonderful sunny country, will show you Cuba in all its glory - dancing and laughing, luxurious and poor, proud and always hospitable.

A private guide will significantly save your money by suggesting where it makes sense to buy souvenirs, rum or coffee best quality and at the right price.

For most travelers, getting to know beautiful Cuba begins with colorful Havana - perhaps the most atmospheric place on the island. A good introduction to excursion program will become individual tour By historical center capital in the company of a private guide. On foot, by car or in a picturesque retro convertible, you can feel the vibrant energy of Havana, visit the main attractions of the city - the Capitol, squares and the harbor, follow the example of Dad Ham, have a glass or two in a colorful local bar and even visit local residents. It is worth paying attention to gastronomic tours in Havana - after all, Cuba is a land of tastes and smells, during which you will taste rum, smoke a cigar, taste coffee and even learn to dance salsa.

Excursions to the islands of Cuba are a great way to relax beach holiday. On comfortable transport in company personal guide You will be able to draw on the best of Cuban experiences: see the lush nature of national parks, visit a sugar factory and cigar factory, relax on pristine beaches and sail to uninhabited islands by punt boat. Don't forget also that private guide will significantly save your money by telling you where it makes sense to buy souvenirs, rum or coffee of the best quality and at the right price. Choose the Cuba guide you like - and enjoy great holiday in an atmosphere of personal care!

Many tourists, going to Cuba in winter, mistakenly assume that they are going in summer. This is wrong. The fact is that Cuba is located in the same hemisphere as Russia, which means that in winter it is winter there. No, of course, there is no snow on Liberty Island, but the likelihood of encountering a cold front is very high.

Winter (December, January, February)

In winter in Cuba, a person who loves warmth may not find it very comfortable. During the day the sun burns mercilessly and you can get sunburned without any problems, but the evenings will be quite cool.

One of Cuba's winter problems is wind. It freezes hotel pools, making them literally icy. Keep this in mind, especially if you are going on vacation with children. Average temperature It stays around + 26 degrees, but the differences are great. But everywhere has its advantages - excursions, and they are very eventful in Cuba, it is better to visit at this time of year. If your vacation falls specifically in the winter months and you want to lie on the beach in the seal position all day, I advise you to go to the Caribbean coast of the country, where the weather is more stable and comfortable even in winter.

Spring (March, April, May)

Spring is almost the ideal month to visit Liberty Island. And if in March you can still catch temperature fluctuations, then April, May and early June will delight you with weather. read in full

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Cuba weather map:

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How much does a holiday in Cuba cost? April 2019.

Tour cost

In April 2019, my friend and I decided to fulfill each of our dreams and fly to Cuba. Tickets from Chelyabinsk (where we live) to Moscow (from where the flight to Cuba took place) were purchased for 11,000 for two. The tour was purchased a week before departure, but it was not last minute. The total cost was 162,000 rubles. for two for 10 nights (11 days). The tour was a combined tour, that is, we spent two days in the capital - beautiful Havana at the ISLAZUL BRUZON hotel (1*), in this hotel we only had breakfast included. The remaining 9 days we rested at the MEMORIES VARADERO BEACH RESORT (4*) hotel in the fabulous resort of Varadero, all-inclusive meals. They took 200 Euros with them - 14,400 rubles.

Among the excursions, we bought a sightseeing tour of Havana with personal guide. We were driven around in a convertible for 1 hour and 4 hours walking in Old Havana. The excursion cost 100 CUC (this is local currency) or 6,500 rubles - this is the cost per car, maximum 4 people. We agreed with the guide while still in Russia. We were very pleased with the excursion; the guide spoke interestingly about the history of the country and modern life. We did not buy any excursions in Varadero.

Souvenirs and other goods

There is no choice of goods in the stores, the shelves are empty. There are small markets with various handmade souvenirs. We bought wicker shoes, you definitely need to bargain, so we bought sandals for 10 kuk - 650 rubles. The quality is good.

Total money spent on vacation

Useful information?

Holiday impressions in December

December is the ideal time to relax on Cuban beaches. The rainy season is over, there are no storms or hurricanes in winter. On average, daytime temperatures are 27 - 28 degrees, at night 21, water 25. In January it is already colder. Varadero in the north of Cuba was chosen because at the time of contact the tour operator could only offer a hotel at this resort, which we subsequently did not regret at all.

Family vacation

Varadero – beach resort. No large quantity entertainment, natural thickets, jungle, the area is completely artificial, all the plants, mainly palm trees, appeared as a result of cultural plantings.

Where is the best place to stay?

In Varadero there is plenty to choose from - mini-hotels, hotels of various star ratings, bungalows... The staff usually speaks English, but Russian is also common. Basically, hotels offer All inclusive. Local All inclusive is noticeably different for the better from Egyptian or Turkish. We stayed at the Paradisus Hotel; territory upper class, we can say that all of it is a large beach going down to the sea, active animators who did not let you get bored throughout the day, many types of sports entertainment. The most impressive thing is when they start dancing, turning on the music, involving the vacationers. Cubans are divine dancers - flexible, flexible, with an excellent sense of rhythm.

What to do at the resort?

The resort is designed for a beach holiday; there are not many attractions here. The main ones are; The Dupont mansion, from which the Varadero Resort traces its history. This is a huge villa, built in the first half of the last century, which was considered at that time super modern and advanced. Hosone Park - There are many tropical plants with exotic fauna inhabiting the thickets. An ordinary dolphinarium, like everyone has seaside resort, but pelicans are a local specialty. Marine Park, in which several ships and an airplane were deliberately sunk to make it more interesting for divers. There is a bus that runs throughout the peninsula and throughout the resort area.

All beaches in Varadero are free, pleasant, clean, white, sandy, although there are areas with coral ledges. The sea is amazingly beautiful, the colors are amazing. Entry into the water is comfortable, flat, the sand is dense, your feet don’t get stuck, the bottom is shallow for many tens of meters. On the beaches there are cafes, often decorated in the style of tropical huts. Cozy, cool. In the evening it’s nice to watch the sunsets here. Interesting are the traders who offer souvenirs made with their own hands - beads, figurines, rosaries.

Three Cities (Cienfuegos, Trinidad and Santa Clara) + Caribbean Sea

Check out from the hotel: 08:30 am

Day 1: Travel by car to the city of Cienfuegos, founded by the French in 1819 and given the title "Pearl of the South". For its excellent street layout, taste and elegance of buildings, the city is called an architectural treasure of the 19th century. Here you will see the Cathedral of Our Lady, the Thomas Terry Theater, the Ferrer Palace and the José Martí Park, with the only Arc de Triomphe. Walk along the longest boulevard in the country, the Prado, and visit the Palacio de Valle. Next - lunch at the restaurant.

Continuation of the journey by car to the city of Trinidad, founded by Spanish colonists in 1514 and declared a UNESCO heritage of humanity. You will stroll along the streets with cobblestone pavements, explore...

Havana + Pinar Del Rio

Duration of the excursion: 2 days

Check out from the hotel: 8:30 am.

Day 1: Departure to Pinar Del Rio. Visit to tobacco plantations, Visit to the Sierra del Rosaio where the world biosphere reserve is located and the Las Terrazas complex is located, a wonderful combination of history and nature. The Viñales Valley is extremely beautiful, surrounded by the limestone mountains of Mogotes. You will visit the Soroa Orchidary, then have lunch at local restaurant. After lunch, you will visit the unusual Indian Cave and take a boat ride along the underground river.

Return to Havana, accommodation in a house with all amenities, dinner and breakfast. Next, you can choose from a visit to a cabaret or free time to relax.

Day 2: Sightseeing tour in the modern part of Havana, the Bedado and Miramar districts, where...