Cuba
If you're three people or more using a taxi to travel between towns is actually slightly cheaper than the Viazul bus. Find yourself a vintage Cadillac and travel like Elvis!
Hackneyed though it may be, the hop on/hop off tourist bus in Havana makes a lot of sense. First off, in a city where transport is pricey for tourists, these CUC$5 are well spent if only as a means of getting around. Secondly, while you won’t be using the bus to explore the crumbling splendour of Havana Vieja’s side streets, you will hit other more distant spots like the Plaza de la Revolucion, with its somewhat scary murals of Che and Camilo Cienfuegos, and the artisan market. But nicest of all, in a city where much of the life (and best photos) happen one floor up on the bustling, colourful balconies, the open-top bus gives you some of the best views in town.
From the Hotel Inglaterra in the Parque Central, and various other points around the city.
Google map: bit.ly/e5glFN
Hello, I found this wonderful page about bus schedules on Cuba. It was very useful on my trip to the island a few weeks ago.
Cuba is great and part of the fun is discovering places to stay by yourself - we stayed in many casas particulares (private homes) - some better (and friendlier) than others, but none were dire. A great way to meet locals, especially if you find ones where you can communicate with the owner (ie if you speak Spanish, or they speak English).
When travelling around, taxi drivers (some licensed, some not) hang around bus stations to offer shared rides - which can be cheaper and get you to your destination much quicker.
Remember to take cash - cards don't work in ATMs and changing money on a card, or buying anything on a card is punitively expensive - around 12% charge.
Avoid Varadero if you can - you may as well go to the Costa Del Sol.
Havana is too big to see on foot. Take a ride in a horse and carriage, the driver is a proper tour guide.
We had a two-hour drive up to Plaza de la Revolution and back, stopping where we wished for photos and finding out lots of local knowledge.The funniest part was the driver chatting up girls walking along the street while we trotted along beside them.
Central Havana, we found Leonardo and Picasso outside the Hotel Inglaterra where there is a bar where you can sit and look out on the busy street.
Little yellow bubble taxis (there should be a photo of one in the gallery) are a great way to get around Havana. You get great views, plenty of fresh air (and petrol/diesel fumes if the wind is in the wrong direction), and they can get in and out of traffic and small spaces faster and better than the larger taxis. However, as they run on small motorbike engines, what seems to be low grade fuel, and have fibre-glass shells, they may not be for the faint-of heart worried about safety or those with too strong an environmental conscience.
Also, watch out for the prices - although they are meant to be metered, these often don't run and you may need to check/negotiate the price before setting off, to avoid a nasty surprise. But the drivers are usually willing to haggle.
All over Havana.
Search Been there