Can you believe that was all in a day? We still can’t! If you missed it check out our Part Uno retelling of our fabulous trip to Cuba and how you can do it too!
What we did: Day 2 we had planned a private day trip to the countryside area of Vinales (we did have 10 people!). The van that was supposed to meet us had some sort of transmission issue and, well, this is Cuba, so finding another van at short notice is not an easy task. We ended up having to wait about an hour and a half, but they did find a replacement and off we went. We utilized Havana Tour Company for all our tours and they gave us the same tour guide for everything which was fantastic! Our tour guide – Hi Joe! – was very nice, well spoken, funny and made our time quite enjoyable.
Vinales is about 2 hours from Havana. We drove through some areas of Havana that we had not seen before and it was interesting to see the wealthy housing of the military and government leaders in contrast to the crumbling homes of the rest of the area. As our journey continued through the countryside we saw lots of infrastructure in disrepair and half finished bridges, oxen pulling carts in the farms, and tons of people trying to hitch-hike! It really gave us a deeper insight into the life of the Cubans. As we rolled down the highway, our van played some Cuban music videos and our group fell in love with Jacob Forever! Look him up, we promise you won’t be disappointed!
Our first stop was a tobacco farm. We met the farmer, toured the farm, used his private bathroom (no toilet seats), saw a demonstration on how cigars are rolled and got to sample fresh cigars and rum. Our second stop was to view a huge mural on a mountain-side created to depict evolution. Let’s just say there’s a reason it took almost five years to complete. Painting on the side of a mountain, it looked terribly difficult! The third stop was lunch! We ate at Finca Agroecologica. The restaurant is on a hilltop surrounded by the family farm, where the produce for our meal was being harvested. Talk about farm-to-table! The food was served family-style and was plentiful. The signature cocktail is super yummy too- we’ve heard that they had the recipe posted in the restaurant and we missed it. If you have it please share! And of course you can’t beat the views of rolling hills in the background. Keep in mind it’s open air, so depending on the time of year you visit it may be pretty sweaty!
The last planned stop on the tour was a boat ride through a cave. Typically the tour company likes to start here early because the lines get long later in the day. Due to our morning van mishap we still tried to go and the line was 2 hours long! Our group opted to do something else instead and Joe took us to a nearby cave with a bar in it! Now, that’s our kind of cave! Because we had skipped the boat tour we had a little time to explore the town of Vinales and their open air market full of handicrafts, jewelry, cigars, rum and other souvenirs. It was interesting to see how people lived in the more rural areas of Cuba.
How you can do it: You can easily book this tour through the Havana Tour Company’s website. It was a great way to see another area of Cuba in air-conditioned comfort. There are other ways to experience these spots as well. You can hire a taxi from Havana who will drive you around for the day for around $130 . TIP: If you want to buy cigars, get them at the tobacco farm. You could buy them there for around $1 each, whereas in town they are easily $10 and up!
What we did: We arrived back to our apartment to get ready for dinner. After a shower and an attempt to make ourselves presentable, we grabbed a taxi to head out to our evening dinner reservations. Everyone was SO EXCITED for dinner because we had reservations at San Cristobal. Oh you know, the restaurant where Obama and the Kardashians recently ate at (Obvi we only eat with the elites…). Our experience was top notch (all the waiters were really attractive young guys btw, so did it really matter how the service was?!). The food was great, the drinks were great and did we mention the service was also great? We did? Just checking!
How you can do it: As we mentioned in our previous post, utilize your AirBnB hosts! Ours were able to get us a reservation at this super hard to get into restaurant- only a couple weeks out! This place is a must see. With it’s quirky decor on the wall, it is somewhat reminiscent of a classy Cuban TGI Fridays. “Classy” and “TGI Fridays” in the same sentence? IKR?!
What we did: For our last half-day in Cuba, our flight wasn’t leaving until 6PM so we took this opportunity to see more of Havana. We had arranged a walking city tour through the same tour company and were lucky enough to have the same guide; Joe. We met in front of the beautiful Hotel Inglaterra off of Paseo de Marti (or El Prado). This street was completed around 1835 and the original idea was to create a boulevard as splendid as any found in Paris or Barcelona. It greatly resembles Barcelona’s Las Ramblas! The pedestrian path in the center is lined with vendors selling artwork and handi-crafts. We walked through this area, learning about Cuba’s history from Cuba’s point of view, which was quite interesting. We ended the tour walking down Calle Obispo which many call the liveliest street in Havana. Here you can sample street food, shop for souvenirs and listen to live music while you sip a cocktail at many famous bars (some where Hemingway used to frequent). Make sure to try to the rum-filled fresh coconuts along your way!
How you can do it: We arranged a tour ahead of time, which you can do too, but if you want to wander on your own this is a great area to do it in. There are a few interesting museums in the area and Calle Obipso is must! Like, go now. You’ll love it. We promise!
That wraps up our whirlwind of a weekend in Cuba. Hopefully you can come back and tell us about your experiences as well! Happy trails and go watch the Jacob Forever – La Dura video. It has a surprise ending! If you missed the first part of our trip, check it out here!
