Cuba has always been a place of
intrigue and interest to backpackers and with the recent reconciliation talks
with the US, this little Caribbean country is now high on a lot of travellers’
bucket lists. Hence, along with my two
side-kicks, Irina and Oskar, I have put together a list of things that will
help you backpack your way through Cuba and get the most bang for your
buck. So whether you’re a novice
backpacker, been doing it for years or just a budget conscious tourist, this
guide is perfect for you!
However, before I begin, I’d like
to stress that while it’s great to travel cheap and barter when you think
you’re getting ripped off, these people are living on absolute pennies in a
country where prices continue to increase.
If you still think you’re getting a good deal and would be willing to
pay $5 for that necklace in any other country, then maybe it’s ok not to barter
to the absolute limits just because you know you can. A substantial tip for an incredible meal
under $2, is not much compared to what you would pay elsewhere. Just a little humanitarian pep talk! :-) Ok, on to the tips…
1. Travel with someone else
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| The awesome threesome - great travel buddies :-) |
In Cuba, there are no such things as hostels. Ok, well in Havana they have “hostels” where
you can pay by the bed, but it is just an apartment building with bunk
beds. Saying that, anywhere else in
Cuba, you stay at Casa Particulares, which are guesthouses and you pay by the
room. Therefore, if you have 2 or 3 or
even 4 of you, you can end up saving a lot of money!
2. But, if you want to travel solo
My advice if you don’t like travelling with
friends/family, you’ve got 3 options.
Number 1 – budget more for your accommodation (because you are looking
at $20-30 a night, compared to the $8-10 I paid). Option 2 – stay at the “hostels” in Havana
and find a travel buddy that way for the rest of Cuba. Or the 3rd option - which is
interesting - is try Couchsurfing.
Couchsurfing (anywhere else in the world) is a free mode of accommodation where you can
stay with locals on their couch and you can see the sights from a local’s
perspective. In Cuba you still
have to pay but I believe it is cheaper than a Casa.
3. Talk to the locals
The best way to save money is to talk to the locals!!
They are the ones that know the best and cheapest places to eat, they are the
ones who know the “real” prices of things and they are the ones who can give
you a better cultural experience to boot! We met a guy in line for a bar who
went and bought us a bottle of rum and mixers for $5; we met a couple who led
us to our favourite restaurant in Santa Clara and a local man (the one looking
after his mum on a minimal pension) who introduced us to the 5 peso ice cream
bowls!! Win! J
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| Enjoying our $5CUP ice cream bowls! |
4. Carry both currencies
In Cuba they have 2 currencies – Cuban CUC (pronounced
Cook) (1: 1 USD) and the Cuban CUP (national pesos). They are a lot of things you can only pay
with in CUC – accommodation, bus tickets, taxi fares and your departure
tax. Anything else, I guarantee you can
find somewhere where you can pay with CUP.
In some places, this price is just the exact exchange value from the CUC
price (i.e. for rum, cigarettes and other shopping), but in restaurants this
can mean a lot of savings for you.
Always change a decent amount of CUC into CUP (exchange rate at time of
writing is 1:24 (CUC:CUP)) and ask to pay in CUP every time. This leads me to my next tip…
5. Always ask for the CUP menu at restaurants
When you arrive at a restaurant that you see locals
in, they most definitely have a CUP menu or “locals” menu. We discovered a very popular restaurant for
locals in Santa Clara, where locals would line up for 2-3 hours for a
table. Being so popular, we thought we’d
try it, but when we entered, a serving of lasagne was $5CUC! For Cubans, this is incredibly expensive for
a meal and so we asked to see the National Peso (CUP) menu. The same serving of lasagne was now only
20CUP (under $1)! Always ask for the
local menu as you pay the local prices! We also managed to get a 3 course meal,
including a tip for $2!
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| Meeting a serenading local in Havana |
6. Use your Casa Particulares’ expertise
The ladies that run the Casa Particulares know
things. They are the best people to ask
about transport around the town, cheap places to eat or drink and also where to
stay in the next town! Often they will call and book you a room in the next
place and organise pick up from the bus station. It’s easy, convenient and you know you’re
getting a good price! Also, most casas offer cheap breakfast options from
$2-5! It’s normally heartier, tastier
and cheaper than what you would find in the street.
7. Catch the local buses
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| We loved our Casa "mum" in Santa Clara! <3 |
Any local buses in Havana costs 40c CUP (0.0125c
CUC). Therefore, look like a local and
just pay the bus driver the smallest coin you have. Locals pay this way too as it’s not often you
have 40c CUP in your pocket!! The buses are crowded, sweltering hot and
painfully slow but we all know it’s worth it compared to a $5 CUC taxi ride!
8. Buy Internet cards where it’s cheapest
Cuba is a country of disconnect. They have recently got some internet places
set up but it’s expensive, slow and often very crowded so you have to wait a
while. So my first sugestion is to avoid
internet in general, but if you really need to connect, research the places
along your route that offer cheaper internet.
All internet stations and one hotel in Havana that offers wifi (at time
of writing) use the same internet cards.
However, in Havana they are $8CUC for an hour, Trinidad $6CUC and Santa
Clara $4.50CUC. Therefore, if you know
you’re going to need the internet, buy cards at a cheaper location to take with
you to the most expensive places.
9. Catch route taxis where possible
In some places like Havana, they have taxis going back
and forward on a route (normally one long street) and will stop to pick you up
and take you anywhere you want on the route.
For us, it allowed us to travel from our hostel to the centre (Parque
Central) for only $10CUP (under 30c CUC).
It’s cheaper and convenient and you get to travel in those cool 1950’s
cars!!
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| Catching our first route taxi in Havana |
10. Bring necessities
Bring anything you need for your vacation – soap,
deodorant, tampons, etc – with you to Cuba.
Chances are you won’t find them in Cuba to purchase at all and if you
do, they are extremely overpriced, so worth the extra weight in the backpack!
11. You can barter with anything
Take cheap sunnies or jewellery, pens/pencils, etc to
use to barter with instead of money.
They love everything that they can’t easily buy in Cuba so whatever you
have and don’t really need, barter away!
I never tried it as I had nothing to offer but I’ve heard this is a
great way to avoid spending extra money.
If anyone does try it, I would love to hear how you went! Good
luck!
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| Even bread was hard to find!...And given it without a bag... |
12. Only carry minimal money when trying to barter
for something particular
The first price offered for things in Cuba is never
the final price, taxis included. I
always figure out how much I want to spend for something and then just take
that amount when I’m bartering. That
way, I can show the person that that’s all the money I have and 9 times out of
10, they’ll agree to your price. I
particular find this is useful at the end of your trip when you don’t want to
get more money exchanged or out of an ATM.
For example, my last day in Havana and I had to get to the airport – no
public transport there exists. The
original price of the taxi was $25CUC. I
managed to only pay $16CUC, just by asking for him to help me as I only had
$16CUC left. Sure enough, no problem!
13. Carry enough foreign currency for the
duration of your trip
ATM’s can be found in the major places but normally only
accept VISA and no American Cards whatsoever.
They attract large withdrawals fees and are often out of money or have
limited withdrawals amounts, meaning that you often have to go back a couple of
times. To avoid this and save some
money, I recommend taking foreign currency with you to exchange at the
bank. The exchange rates are pretty
close to the real thing and there are plenty of offices around. However, DO NOT take US dollars – it attracts
a 10% surcharge to exchange and so instead of an almost 1:1 conversion, you get
only 88c CUC for every US$1! Euros and
Mexican Pesos are the best currencies to take if you can get your hands on
them.
That’s the summary of the things
I found most useful to save some cash while travelling in Cuba. If you’ve been to Cuba and have some more
tips, please comment here so others can read about them. Prepare yourself for the culture shock, apply
these few tips and you’ll have an incredible (and cheap) trip through Cuba!! Hablamos pronto!
xxxx
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