How to get from Varadero to Havana and vice versa - the most convenient and cheapest ways. Transfer by yourself

It has long been one of the main attractions of Cuba. Their visit is an important item on the list of travelers. Soft white sand and crystal clear water, despite the rapid construction of beach hotels, make this resort a place where you can enjoy the beautiful nature and relax from the bustle of the city.

How to get from Havana to Varadero on your own? Varadero is not so far from Havana, only 134 kilometers away. This distance can be covered in a couple of hours, although several stops can be made along the way.

excursion tour

Often travelers arriving in Varadero for a few weeks want to visit Havana. If the trip is planned with an overnight stay, then it is better to take a tour. The tour operator will arrange overnight stay at the hotel and transfer to and from Havana. The tour will also include a sightseeing tour of the capital. Prices range from 120 CUC (7,500 RUB) per person for a day trip to 2,000 CUC (12,200 RUB) for an overnight tour. This trip can be booked in advance or booked at the hotel reception.

Independent travel

How to get from Varadero to Havana on your own? If you plan an independent trip, you can use the services of a taxi, regular buses or rent a car. Such a trip will save some money and time, because the tourist himself chooses what he wants to do in the capital: sightseeing, shopping or tasting local dishes and Cuban rum.

Bus

The easiest way to get from Varadero to Havana is by taking the Viazul bus. The cost of the trip is only 10 CUC (635 rubles). The bus station in Varadero is located on the corner of Calle 36. The station can be easily reached from any hotel, for example, by taxi - the cost is 3-5 CUC (150-200 rubles).

The bus is a great way to get to Havana quickly and safely. It is possible that it will be filled with other tourists who want to see the capital. It is better to book your seat in advance, at least a day in advance. Reservations can be made through the official Viazul booking system. After confirming the payment, a receipt is sent to the tourist’s e-mail, which must be printed out and exchanged at the bus station ticket office for bus tickets.

In Havana, the bus stops in Old Havana, and then in Vedado - the historic district of the city, the final stop is West Vedado.

Taxi

The option to take a taxi from Varadero to Havana is more comfortable, but much more expensive. The standard cost of a trip is usually around 80 CUC (5000 rubles), but you can find a cheaper car. Taxi drivers are waiting for passengers near the Viazul station, sometimes there are already one or two passengers in the car. You can try to join them and share the fare for the trip.

Getting to Havana by taxi will be much faster than by bus, because there will be no stops along the way, and the driver will bring tourists to the desired destination. You can and should bargain with taxi drivers about the price of a trip, because this is part of the Cuban adventure. Traded everywhere in Cuba, the original price can be significantly reduced. Even if the traveler does not speak Spanish, English is also understood by many here.

From the capital to the resort

From Havana, you can get to Varadero in the same ways: bus and taxi. You can also rent a car. Three major car rental companies - REX, Cubacar and Havanautos - offer good cars. The price includes a daily car fee, an initial deposit, insurance and a few additional fees (delay and damage to the vehicle). This option is only suitable for experienced drivers. After all, a trip along Cuban roads is still a pleasure and is often accompanied by increased stress.

Buses from Havana to Varadero depart from Viazul main station on 26th Avenue, right in front of the old zoo. In total, there are four flights per day: at 6.00, 8.00, 13.00 and 17.30. All buses are modern, air-conditioned and very comfortable. The journey lasts three hours. During this time, the bus makes stops where you can have a bite to eat or take a photo session.

There are also buses of different auto companies, for example, "Havantur", which go to Varadero, collecting passengers from various city hotels. This travel option is also safe and cheap.

Varadero Airport

From Havana Airport to Varadero can be reached by public transport - Viazul buses. Flights to the resort depart several times a day. The road takes about an hour, the cost is about 400-500 rubles per person. Cuban taxi drivers ask for about $40 (3,000 rubles) for their services, but you can bargain for half the price.

How to get from Varadero to Havana airport? The easiest way is a hotel transfer, its cost is often included in the ticket. If you go on your own, it is better to take a bus or taxi.

• Tours for May around the world
• Hot tours around the world

This Cuban city is easy to describe in one word - beach. 20 km of terry sandy coast, warm water of the Atlantic Ocean and an endless string of hotels create the atmosphere of Varadero. The local beaches have repeatedly been included in the top of the best in the world. And even though Cuba has not yet been spoiled by the benefits of civilization, and the journey here from Russia takes more than 13 hours, Russian tourists have long chosen this heavenly place.

Varadero belongs to the province of Matanzas and occupies the Hicacos Peninsula, which is 135 km from Havana. It is inhabited by 27 thousand local residents and X thousand tourists, and at any time of the year. People come here to swim and bask in the sun, listen to salsa rhythms and play golf, hang out at discos and sip rum. And, of course, breathe the air of Freedom.

It is possible to fly from Moscow to Varadero with a connection in Belgium and Germany. The price of round-trip tickets starts from 800 USD, the journey takes 22 hours or more.

It is convenient for Petersburgers to fly to Varadero with a change in Vienna or Frankfurt am Main. The total travel time is from 16.5 hours, a one-way ticket costs about 420 USD. The second option - through Moscow and further - directly to Havana.

From airport to city

Guides to Varadero

Entertainment and attractions

Return to the arms of Varadero in the evening for some reckless Cuban fun. Discos and dance shows are held everywhere in hotels and clubs; anyone can get here for 10 CUC. The most popular dance floors rumble in Casa de la Musica, Internacional hotels, Tuxpan. You can dance to live music in the Calle 62 cafe or Mambo Club, and Cuevos Los Pirates is famous for its location - the club is built in a cave.

5 things to do in Varadero

1. Do sand therapy on the beach. And forget about everything.
2. Dance with the local amigo.
3. Play golf or its mini-version.
4. Dine at Al Capone's house on Avenida Kawama.
5. Swim with dolphins.

Varadero for children

The Cuban resort is welcoming to young tourists. Many hotels provide children's zones, where neither a three-year-old nor a skeptical teenager will be bored. The main thing is to clarify in advance the conditions of residence, the availability of a children's menu.

Tired of beach and hotel animation, little travelers will not refuse to visit the dolphinarium. Here it is allowed not only to watch the dolphin show, but also to swim with them after the show. (off site).

For quiet walks, Josone Park is suitable. But even here the kids have where to spend their energy. For a small fee, they can ride a camel or train, and those who are older can go around the pond on a catamaran or play mini-golf. Nearby is another small park with carousels and children's cars.

Weather

Average monthly temperature, °C day and night, water

It is best to relax here in winter or off-season (November and April). There are many tourists, but the weather is more stable. In winter, the ocean warms up less and cold snaps occur, but they last only a few days.

We wanted to go to Cuba last year, but somehow it didn't work out. The azure ocean was very attractive from photos on the Internet and a lot of rave reviews.

The most common destination is Varadero, where hotels often operate on an all-inclusive basis. We decided to go there for 2 weeks, to the BelleVue Palma Real hotel (a detailed review with many photos is attached).

We were lucky with the location of the hotel, it is located in the very center of Varadero, it is there that all the sights are concentrated and there is where to take a walk.

Almost all sights are indicated on such street maps, which is very convenient. 3 parts of one card. From the right edge of the city to the left.

Chickens roam everywhere in Varadero, lizards with twisted tails run and some large birds fly, hawks, eagles or something like that.

Here they are.

Currency exchange in Varadero The first thing you will encounter when you arrive in Cuba is currency exchange.

There are pesos for locals, and convertible pesos (cookies) for tourists. You can change money at the airport, which is difficult, because there is little time, or at the bank at the most favorable rate. If you take an exchanger or a reception desk in a hotel, there will be a commission. As of today, the euro/cookie rate is -1.20, the dollar/cookie rate is 0.86. The hotel commission is 3 units. There are 3 banks in Varadero, one next to our hotel, 2 others on street 36. To exchange at a bank, you need a passport.

Center of Varadero

We walked the whole center on foot, standing places are the famous Beatles cafe and a very beautiful park - JosonePark. A large green area with several cafes, a pond in which ducks and goose swim. We also saw peacocks and a heron there. Admission is free, worth a visit. Beatles cafe by the way, is located on the edge of this park.

Josone and its inhabitants.

Getting around in Varadero

Various types of taxis ply Varadero, from vintage cars to mopeds with a round awning at the back and horse-drawn carts. We did not take a taxi, but tourists are often deceived and overpriced, so negotiate the price right away, or ask to turn on the meter. For mopeds, the normal price is 3 cookies, for horse-drawn vehicles 5 cookies, no more. To see Varadero, I recommend double-decker red buses, they constantly run around the city, everywhere there are stops with a bus on a red background. They charge 5 cookies per person and you can ride all day, go out as many times as you need. The schedule is from 9 to 19. All taxi drivers constantly honk to passing tourists and shout after them. On the streets they constantly come up with offers to buy cigars, buy at least something, or even just reach out.

Map of double-decker bus stops.

Shops Varadero

There were 2 shops within walking distance from the hotel, I unfortunately do not remember the exact names, one is Hicacos and the other is Panamericana. The rest is open markets. The first shopping center is just a lot of small shops. The second one is like a supermarket, but the choice of rum there is not very large, so they didn’t find anything special either.

It was on the red bus that we went to Plaza America, their main shopping center, we wanted to buy souvenirs. It is also a lot of different shops, but on the ground floor there is a supermarket like our Pyaterochka "Merkado".

Vigilance is the first rule of a trip to Cuba!

There is the richest selection of rum. We are happy to get it for souvenirs, go to the cashier and break through. They scored 25 cookies, 30 on the cash register. Well, we think, okay, maybe they didn’t look at the price that way. I ask for a check, the cashier gives, but there is no total amount on the check. We recalculate the check again, it still comes out 25 cookies. We approach the cashier and show the required amount on the calculator, she blushed and waved her hand and apologized saying that she made a mistake and gave us 5 cookies. Be careful, always take checks and count the amounts, if even in a large supermarket they try to heat it up like that, what can we say about other places.

By the way, when the money was changed in the bank, they were not yet so suspicious, they gave 120 cookies for 100 euros, although according to the bank statement they should have given 120.5. We did not pay attention to this, but I'm talking about vigilance. By the way, banks close at 5 o'clock and are closed on weekends.

Also, if you drive a little further than Plaza America, that is, a reserve with caves, you can get there by the red bus, but we did not have time, unfortunately, it worked until 5 pm. The cost is 5 cookies per person. You will be given a map that you will have to follow in order to find those very caves.

Beach on Varadero

In principle, I won’t say that we rushed around Cuba with sausage and visited a lot of things, because we just wanted to lie on the beach and have a calm, relaxed vacation. In terms of weather and water, November is not exactly the ideal month to travel to Cuba. Having read on the Internet that this is the beginning of the season, we went without hesitation, but out of 14 days there was only 1 day of calm, the rest of the time there were waves. Sometimes strong, sometimes weaker. But we swam almost every day, the storm was just literally 2 days, and in general even I, a person who swims poorly and never goes deeper than "up to the neck", was able to jump on the waves. They do not knock down, the maximum water will get into the ear. More often, the waves brought algae, then it becomes somehow garish. Algae are harvested with a tractor, all over the embankment, but not very high quality, anyway, they remain lying on the sand. The water temperature is very comfortable, you can go in calmly, probably 28 degrees. The entrance to the water is good, smooth and sandy, you need to go quite a lot to the depth.

As for the weather in general, it was cloudy for a couple of days and it was raining, just at that time there was a storm in the ocean. I was struck by the contrast of temperature in the sun and in the shade. If you lie in the sun and it starts to bake well, then going into the shade it becomes fresh and you can even freeze. It's not like in Moscow, if it's hot, then at least a shadow, at least not a shadow - it's still stuffy. Another pleasant moment, my husband and I did not burn out. We always burn in Cyprus, and then we peel off regardless of sunscreens, and here my white-transparent skin calmly accepted the Cuban sun and became tanned.

How to visit Havana

In addition to lying on the beach, we wanted to go to Havana. Not with a tour, not with a local guide, but independently. By the way, the tour from the tour operator cost 80 kuk per person, the services of a local guide 100 pesos and you can take up to 4 people. There is an option to go on your own, on 36th Street there is a bus mini-station (local guides on cars around it spend the day and spend the night without letting you go inside), there is a Viazul office, they carry for 10 kuk one way, for two it cost 40 kuk. There is a risk that there may not be enough tickets, since they are sold 30 minutes before departure and you have to stand in line. The drive is 3 hours, longer than more expensive alternatives, since the bus calls at the airport and also into the neighboring city. There are toilets on the bus, but they are closed, a stop is deliberately made at a cafe where there is a paid toilet. By the way, all toilets in Cuba are paid, except for the airport and individual restaurants. We left Varadero at 8 am, the last bus leaves back at 5 pm, and we left on it. It is extremely difficult for Cubans to learn something, they do not understand English well, or they are simply too lazy to explain, until the last they did not know where to wait for the last bus in Havana, since no one could really explain, and in Viazul's office they brushed it aside and said that any person prompt. But one local guy nevertheless informed us, for which many thanks to him, we got off at the bus stop of old Havana, and sat there, the bus was packed back, there were also only 2 empty seats, so I believe that the bus originally goes from Revolution Square ... in general, in order not to fly by with tickets, you need to look for Viazul's office somewhere there.

Havana certainly impresses. Narrow streets, shabby houses against the backdrop of the Capitol, the Cathedral and other sights, even seem romantic. We had a walking route, we visited: Cathedral Square, San Cristobal Cathedral, La Fuerza Fortress, Plaza de Armas, Capitol, Brotherhood Park, Malecon Embankment (La Cabaña Fortress and the Statue of Christ were seen from the embankment, we didn’t have time to get closer there ). We were also at the cigar factory. There are more cars in Havana, more people wanting to drag you somewhere, and more smells of vintage car exhaust fumes. It's stuffy, hot and you don't know where to go from attacking guides and bike taxi drivers. If in Varadero they are all calmer, then they are ready to tear them to pieces. But it is worth going there, there will be many impressions.

Local in Varadero

What are the infinitely white beaches on Varadero, when is the rainy season, where does the history of Cuba come from and other facts have already been written in the Internet space an infinite number of times.
Therefore, without dwelling on general information about Cuba and Varadero, I will immediately move on to specific questions that visited me when I was just planning to go to Cuba, for example: if you fly to Cuba through Havana, then how to go to Varadero on your own, what are the prices for a taxi and is it possible to pre-order a transfer from Havana to Varadero, and also if you fly to Varadero by charter, then how can you go on an excursion to Havana yourself. Perhaps you also have some of the above questions. Here I answer!

Moscow-Varadero: direct flights and flights via Havana.

When you plan to travel to a country on your own, in this case Cuba, the most expensive purchases are air travel and hotel accommodation. Therefore, I approached the purchase of a ticket to Cuba very carefully: I monitored prices from different airlines, followed promotions and discounts, subscribed to send cheap tickets from aviasales.ru , waiting for charter flights.
As a result, I bought a ticket to Cuba on the route Irkutsk-Moscow-Havana-Moscow-Irkutsk for only 57 thousand rubles, which by Irkutsk standards, taking into account the expensive flight to Moscow, is very cheap.

How to get to Varadero in Cuba direct flight Moscow - Varadero and through Havana.

Direct flight Moscow-Varadero it takes as much time as the Moscow-Havana flight, but such flights are not always the case. For example, Nordwind Airlines (North Wind Airlines) has charter flights in the direction of Moscow-Varadero.
For prices and the availability of direct flights from Moscow to Varadero, you can navigate using the low price calendar:

From Moscow to Varadero can be reached through Havana.
If we compare the prices for the flight Moscow-Varadero and Moscow-Havana, then the difference can be more than 10 thousand rubles in favor of the flight to Havana.

Flight over Varadero

I wrote about the prices of air tickets to Cuba (Moscow-Havana), as well as how to book and buy air tickets to Havana online in the article

You will find all the information on how, upon arriving in Havana, to find accommodation, book accommodation in Havana in advance, about the transfer from Havana airport to the city, see the article
If you are not going to stay in Havana and want to go to Varadero right away then…

How to get from Havana airport to Varadero on your own.

The distance from Havana to Varadero is 134 km.
Getting from Havana to Varadero You can independently take the Viasul intercity bus. In general, it is cheaper to travel around Cuba on these buses than on a taxi or a collective taxi. Buses have a convenient schedule, and bus stations are located only in Havana far from the center, and for example in Varadero, Trinidad, Santa Clara, etc. right in the city.
The fare to Varadero from Havana is 9.5 cookies (which equals 9.5 euros). Travel time - 3 hours.
Intercity buses from Havana to Varadero run several times a day. Bus schedule - a screenshot from the page of the official Viasul website):

Bus schedule from Havana to Varadero (screenshot from the Viazul website page)

When planning a trip to Varadero, you should once again look at the schedule directly on the website: http://www.viazul.com/index.php

Transfer Havana-Varadero, taxi prices from Havana to Varadero.

Transfer prices Havana-Varadero fluctuate around 150 cookies. If you catch a taxi collectively, then this cost is divided by all passengers. Approximately 25 cookies per person in a 6 seater car.
You can catch a taxi and a taxi collective in the central square in Havana or near the Viazul bus terminal, as well as at the Havana airport.
You can order a transfer from Havana to Varadero in advance through the service Kiwi Taxi .
You can book a Havana-Varadero transfer or find out the price using this form:

Excursions to Varadero: the island of Cayo Blanco and swimming with dolphins.

Resting on Varadero, travel companies offer a variety of excursions. We liked the excursion to the island in the Atlantic Ocean - Cayo Blanco. In principle, for sophisticated travelers, the island will not become something outlandish. Ordinary island, white sand, emerald water.

the island of Cayo Blanco, the sky was gloomy, as a result, a downpour struck)

The tour enticed us with the opportunity to swim with dolphins.
However, we were very disappointed with how it turned out.
And so, they are taken to the island on a comfortable catamaran.

Catamaran in Marina Marlin, Varadero

Drinks and snacks are included in the price of the tour. First, as in all sea excursions in countries located by the seas, oceans, the first stop is at the coral reef. Everyone is given masks and tubes for snorkeling.
If you have been to the Red Sea in Egypt, then you will most likely be disappointed with snorkeling off the coast of Varadero. Compared with the flora and fauna of the Red Sea, the Atlantic Ocean (at least in this part - near Varadero) loses a lot. However, colorful fish are still available.

Next - declared swimming with dolphins. Just for the sake of this pleasure, we bought this tour.
The price for an excursion from Varadero to Cayo Blanco is 110 cookies (110 euros). If without swimming with dolphins, then the price of the tour will be lower - 80 cookies.
On the tour brochures, photos of this attraction look something like this:

me and a dolphin, and no one around) And if it weren’t for a life jacket, one could say that this was a chance meeting in the ocean)

In fact, everything is much simpler - like this.

Mini oceanarium and trained dolphin)

A couple of trained dolphins swim in this mini-dolphinarium and free swimming with them is prohibited. You won’t be able to take photos either, since there are a lot of people and everyone is standing in a line and with their backs to the pier. A professional photographer works on site, who for 10 cookies (10 euros) is ready to take a picture of you without other people. The trainer will give commands, the dolphin will perform (for example, lie on the palm of your hand) and the photographer will photograph how you supposedly hold the dolphin. Photos will be ready in the evening of the same day and they will be brought to you directly to the hotel or to the box office.
Ride a dolphin for 10 seconds (one tiny circle) - 10 cookies. Only in this case it becomes possible to take pictures yourself. Otherwise, you need to order a photographer.

Of course, indescribable sensations, but I didn’t have time to enjoy the process in 10 seconds)

But there is a plus in this tour. Lunch is included in the price and this is the only place in Cuba where we managed to eat plenty of seafood. The excursion to Cayo Blanco for lunch provides a buffet and you can eat "until you burst."

Lunch at Cayo Blanco

The excursion to Cayo Blanca starts from the very beautiful bay of Marlin Marina. We envied a little those who lived in the BLAU VARADERO hotel - from the catamaran they immediately ran to their rooms to relax after such a busy journey through the expanses of the Atlantic) And we went to the center of Varadero, as we rented accommodation from the locals.

Excursion from Varadero to Havana: self-book a tour of Havana.

Arriving in Cuba on your own, you can book excursions at the offices of the CUBA TOUR company. In Varadero, Cuba Tour's office is located in a mall located right in the center of Varadero. This is one of the largest travel companies in Cuba. But small local travel agencies also sell trips to Havana.
Attention! If you buy an excursion to Varadero from a travel company, it will be either in English or in Spanish.
A tour of Havana with a Russian-speaking guide can be ordered from local residents:

You can go on an excursion to Havana on your own, without a travel agency. Take a walk along the streets of Old and New Havana or take a tour bus (omnibus), which leaves every 15 minutes from the central square in Havana. The cost of such an excursion is 10 cookies per person. The bus runs to the sights of Havana. From it you can leave and go during the day on one ticket. The audio guide talks about Havana in English.

Architecture of Old Havana

You can get from Varadero to Havana in the same way as from Havana to Varadero, in several ways:
1) on the intercity bus of the Viasul company, cost - 9.5 cookies, travel time - 3 hours.
Buses run several times a day.
Timetables and prices from the Viasul website from Varadero to Havana:

Varadero-Havana

2) by taxi. Prices start from 150 cookies.

3) by taxi collectively. The price is 25 cookies per person for 6 people.
You can catch a taxi and a taxi collective near the Viazul bus terminal in Varadero or on the main street of Varadero.

I wish you a wonderful holiday on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean.
Sincerely, Katya Bashkurova.
I would be glad if you share your impressions or your experience of vacationing in Cuba in the comments.

local people on Varadero beach, Cuba

Post-instruction on how to get from Havana Airport in Cuba to Havana and the most popular resort on the island - Varadero.

• Havana airport code: HAV
• International airport name: Jose Marti International Airport
• Airport address: Avenida Nguyen Van Troi, Boyeros, La Habana, Cuba
• Local time: GMT -5
• Opening hours: around the clock
• Visa: A visa to Cuba for Russians and Belarusians is not required when staying on the island for no more than 30 days. Citizens of Ukraine to visit Cuba must obtain a visa. The validity of a passport to visit Cuba is at least 1 month from the end of the trip. Upon arrival in Cuba, a migration card must be filled out in two copies.
• Currency of Cuba: Cuban peso, 1 peso = 100 centavos. Current exchange rate: 1 Cuban peso = 0.03 US dollars or 2.2 rubles. Money can be safely changed at the airport, because. the course is the same everywhere.
• Date of construction of the airport: 1930
• Passenger turnover of Havana Airport: more than 4 million passengers
• Airfare Moscow - Havana: from 390 USD two way
• Regular Aeroflot flights from Moscow fly from Russia to Havana Airport.
• Havana airport location: Cuba island, 11 km south of Havana
• Distance to resorts: Havana Airport - Varadero 170 km
• Airport Phone: (53 7) 266 4644 / (53 7) 33 5777
• Weather at Havana airport during the year: the hottest months and the warmest sea are from July to September (average air temperature: +30 +32 °С, average water temperature: +30 °С), the coldest and windiest months are from January to March (average air temperature: + 25 +27 °С)
• Services at the airport Havana: ATMs, post office, currency exchange offices, paid Internet, smoking areas, travel agency and tour operator offices, car rental offices, taxi counter, VIP lounge, pharmacy, elevators, children's playroom, rum and cigarette shop, restaurants, cafeterias . The airport does not have a luggage storage, no hotel, and no free internet access.
• Beaches closest to the airport: Playa de Este (42 km from the airport), Playa de Haimanitas (22 km from the airport)

Brief description of the airport

José Martí International Airport in Havana is the largest international airport on the island of freedom, a hub for Cuban airlines Cubana de Aviación. The airport connects Cuba with other islands in the Caribbean, with the United States and Latin America, as well as with Europe. The airport in Havana is the only airport in Cuba where regular direct flights from Russia fly. Travel time Moscow - Havana - 13 hours, flights depart every day.

Havana airport terminals

Havana Airport has 4 passenger terminals and 1 cargo terminal.

• Terminal 1 - domestic flights within Cuba
• Terminal 2 - charter flights from the USA
• Terminal 3 - international flights (including flights from Russia)
• Terminal 5 - flights from the Caribbean

Shuttle buses run between individual terminals.

Among the most popular ways to travel from Havana airport to the center and resorts are bus, taxi, shuttle, rental car.

shuttle bus

This travel option is available to those who have purchased a package tour with a transfer to their resort. When you leave the airport terminal, you will be met by a representative of your tour operator who will tell you which bus you need to take. Some tourists who fly to Cuba on their own agree with transfer guides in advance and go to their hotel in a bus with other tourists at a price of 25-30 cookies per seat.

Bus to Havana and Varadero

There are no direct comfortable buses from the airport to the center of Havana. Local buses depart from Terminal 1 but are charged in Cuban Peso (CUP) and not Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC). The fact is that the money that is exchanged in exchange offices for tourists is the Cuban convertible peso, created specifically for the tourism sector and currency shops. Residents of the country also carry out payments in Cuban pesos.

Some tourists get creative and leave the airport on the highway, where they can wait for hours for a P12 or P16 city bus to get to Havana on a budget. The fare on such a bus is 10 pesos for an adult and 5 pesos for a child. The operating time of the route is approximate, even the airport staff may not know it - from about 6 am to 9 pm. However, for me, the search for such a bus and its long wait in the heat is a dubious pleasure, especially after many hours of transatlantic flight.

To get to Varadero, you will first need to get to the bus station in Havana by taxi. Address of the bus station in Havana, from which buses depart: Ave. 26 y Zoologico, Nuevo Vedado. Buses on the most popular route - Havana - Varadero - run 4 times a day. Travel time is 3 hours, ticket price is $10. In Varadero, the bus station is located at Calle 36 y Autopista. Bus tickets are available online at Viazul.com or at the ticket office at the bus station. In addition to Viazul buses, Cuba also has a budget bus carrier, Astro Bus.

Car rental

All car rental companies at Havana Airport are located in the arrivals area or next to the car park. Terminal 3 houses the local car rental offices of Cubacar, Rex, Havanautos and Via Transgaviota. It is recommended to book a car in advance, because. during the high season, the demand for rental cars often exceeds the supply. Prices vary from 50 to 125 cookies per day, depending on the time of year and car class. It is obligatory to purchase insurance at the price of 15 cookies per day.

Taking a car at the airport makes sense only if you immediately go from the airport to your resort. If you want to first explore the capital - Havana - then you will not need a car in it. In this case, you can rent it later in the capital itself.

Travel time by car from Havana airport: 30 minutes to Havana, 1 hour to Playa de Este, 2 hours to Varadero. On the roads of Cuba, Russian cars of the 1950s are very often found: Zila, Zhiguli, Muscovites. The traffic is not too busy. By car, you can reach the most remote corners of Cuba and will not depend on public transport. For example, to popular among Russian hotels Iberostar, Amigo Atlantico, Brizas del Caribe.

If you do not want to steer yourself, you can order an individual tour with a driver around the island - in which all your wishes will be taken into account.

Taxi transfer from Havana airport

Airport transfer is one of the most convenient ways to get to your resort or hotel. Local taxis are available from stands located in front of all terminals. A taxi ride from the airport to the center of Havana takes approximately 20-30 minutes and costs 20-25 CUC (US$20-25 equivalent) one way. Always negotiate the cost of the trip in advance, because. despite the fact that some taxis are equipped with meters, they are rarely turned on. Please note that taxis for locals are different from taxis for tourists. They are not equipped with air conditioning, broken and not always clean. However, their fares are very low. There are fewer and fewer rare taxi cars in Cuba now, and orange modern taxi cars from Hyundai and Skoda drive from the airport to the city.