From Havana to Varadero and back

Hi, I think 2 days in vinales is enough. You might not have enough time to see every single thing, but you can hit almost all. The first day, when you arrive, take a walk in the valley an see some farms close to town. Explore the town. Keep it simple. If you have time and like hiking, go walking up a mogote (limestone hill). You dont need a guide for this. And tell your landlord to book you a horseback tour of the valley for the next morning. Then, on the next morning, take the horse tour. Its really good and you will get to go deep into the valley, tell the horse guide to show you the cave with the natural pool inside it. You can bathe there a bit. And then see the tobacco rolling and have lunch at a small cafe in the valley. It’s fun.

In front of the main town square in vinales you will see a tourist office. In front of the office there are taxi organizers. Tell them you need a ride back to Havana and they can set it up for you. Its easy. They can send a car to get you directly at your casa. The taxi from vinales to Havana is usually a minivan shared with other people. But if you a want a private one, just tell the organizer.

In terms of getting to vinales, we can organize a taxi, no problem. We can organize the casa too. We can even set up the return taxi (but as I said, it’s easy yo set that up in vinales too).

You can click on the taxi link in the menu above and book the taxis and use the casa link for the casas. Just put your date in the form and my assistant in Cuba will confirm that quick.

Have a great trip!

Mario

Hi, Varadero to Vinales would be possible too. I would have to know the dates and time of pickup and I can get a taxi for that. It would almost certainly be a private taxi. There are few group taxis that do this route (group taxis are popular with locals, but this route is not a popular local route, so it is hard to get a group taxi). In general, the Varadero to Vinales route is far less common, but I think I can get a taxi to do it.

If you are on a time constraint, you can do Vinales in 1 night. Let’s say you arrive in Vinales at 11am – You do the things mentioned above (farms, hiking, go walking up a mogote) and then the next day you take the horseback tour, and after the tour, let’s say around 3pm or 4pm, you take a taxi back to Havana. It’s a bit rushed, but you still get to see a lot.

But anyway, yes, I can get you a taxi from anywhere to anywhere. The less popular routes cost a bit more and would likely be private taxis rather than shared, but we can always find a taxi.

Hi Steve,

At the resorts there are usually only a handful of taxis hanging around the entrance of the resort (they are not allowed to enter the resort grounds usually). These taxis usually charge high fares to go to Havana (because there are not many taxis there, so limited competition).

Are you planning to go into the town of Varadero? If you go into town you can usually negotiate a deal with the drivers directly and save a few bucks. Maybe get the trip for like 80 cuc. Or you might be able to snag a shared ride for like 30cuc per person.

If you don’t plan on negotiating with drivers off the resort, you might want to book your taxi ahead of time. Then you are sure to have a ride. And if you are able to get a better deal in Varadero, you can always cancel your booking (please 1 day in advance). My assistant Claudia or Isabel can give you their cell phone numbers in case you have to cancel.

Have a great trip!

Mario

Ok, perfect. My assistant will be in touch with you, or has already written you back.