I am part of a travelers group on Facebook, and on this group, we can read, too often, “don’t go to Varadero, it’s too touristy”. Luckily I did not listen to this bad advice. It’s in Varadero where I could enjoy the most beautiful beach in the world ! ! Part 1: Travel Diary Part 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diary Day 1: Boca de Camarioca Our bus Viazul Trinidad -> Varadero leaves at 7am, hence our presence at the terminal from 6:15am to do the check-in (no check-in -> our tickets will be resold to other tourists at 6:30am). After a forced lunch break at 11am, we arrive…

Part 1: Travel Diary Part 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diary How to get there? We go to the Viazul office in Cienfuegos 30 minutes before departure to check in, as indicated on our tickets purchased 2 days earlier. Attention! The bus does not leave in front or behind the bus office, but on the right. You should not wait for the bus in the cool, but in the street! Day 1 : Cienfuegos -> Trinidad Trinidad is THE city where there are the most reps. I think everyone understands this, including Viazul. The Viazul bus stop in Trinidad is now equipped with a dividing line between reamers and…

Like Playa Giron, Playa Larga is part of the Bay of Pigs. The beaches here are more beautiful, but that comes at a cost. Part 1: Travel Diary Part 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diary How to get there? From Playa Giron, we take the shuttle (turistic bus) Guama Tour at 10:00 am (3CUC/person) and arrive at Playa Larga at 10:30 am. At the exit of the bus, a cyclo approaches us and offers us 2CUC to take us to our casa (1,5km away). It is 1CUC normally, but we accept because we have the laziness to negotiate Day 1 : Our casa is ” Casa de Yeni “.…

Playa Giron, does that mean anything to you? No ? And the Bay of Pigs? Yes, this is where the aborted landing of the anti-Castro Cuban exiles trained by the CIA took place. But we did not come here to revise history, just to enjoy its dream beaches. Part 1: Travel Diary Part 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diary How to get there? Playa Giron is a small village nestled in the Bay of Pigs. It is only 70km from Cienfuegos as the crow flies, but the direct road is so bad that it is necessary to make a small detour. All of a sudden, the route passes at…

  Part 1: Travel Diary Part 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diary How to get there? We wake up before the city roosters to check in at the Viazul bus office in Vinales at 6am. The bus starts at 6:45 am, if we don’t check-in on time, our tickets might be sold to someone else. It’s a 7h ride, at 60km/h, in a refrigerated bus We have 2 pee breaks, a restaurant stop and a quick stop at Jagüey Grande where some tourists get off to take a colectivo to Playa Larga At this moment, some take the opportunity to go down for a toilet break, and the driver…

Note: the photos will be added and the layout done when we return to France Part 1: Travel Diary Part 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diary How to get there We try to take an old American car to go to the bus terminal, but the prices are too high (20 CUC). So we take a normal cab for 8 CUC (the real fare is between 5 and 7 CUC). As expected, the guy doesn’t have change for 10 CUC, JB has presence of mind to ask him to give us change in moneda nacional, otherwise we would have had to leave him 2 CUC tip, just like that,…

Cuba has been a destination on our “to do” list for years. The American embargo will soon be lifted, it is time for us to visit this beautiful destination before the old colorful cars are replaced by modern ones and mass tourism distorts the charm of this country. Part 1: Travel Diary Part 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diary Day 1 : After a long trip with a 5 hour stopover in Madrid, we land in Havana at 10 pm with hundreds of other European tourists travelling during the Easter vacations. We go through immigration very quickly. Because of a small inattention, we wait for our luggage in the…