5 day itinerary, arriving in Cienfuegos departing Santa Clara?

Hi Brenda!

I will be honest with you, Cienfuegos has a reputation for being a boring city. A lot of travelers read great reviews about the city (travel guides always make everything sound amazing) and then once they get to Cienfuegos, they quickly see that it is just a small town with nothing much to do. I would mostly agree. But, if this is your first time exploring Cuba then you are unlikely to really get bored. Everything will be new and honestly Cienfuegos is a good city to start an adventure in.

You can spend an afternoon walking around the town. You will arrive there on a Saturday and there should be local craft fairs and lots of other people. It won’t be dead. Sunday will be slower. I recommend you visit El Nicho waterfall if you are into nature. It’s the top destination in the area. Most people who make a trip to Cienfuegos would go in order to see that attraction. There will be many taxis in town offering to take you to the waterfall. In a communal taxi (you ride with 6 or 7 other people) it will not be expensive. If it’s a nice day, you can go.

Trinidad is not far from Cienfuegos. It’s the most popular tourist area in central Cuba. There is a beach near the town. It’s an ancient town with lots to see and do. It’s one of the most expensive towns in Cuba because of all the tourism. Most people really like it. I recommend you stay at least a night in Trinidad.

On October 12 you can take a taxi from Trinidad to Santa Clara. If you leave in the morning, you will have more than enough time to get to Santa Clara. You might even have time in the early afternoon to walk around Santa Clara a bit. Always remember to arrive at the airport 3 hours before your flight departs.

Anyway, with only 4 nights, you won’t likely have time to travel to too many places and you are unlikely to get bored. I would not recommend that you go to Havana since your time is limited and your arrival and departure cities are a considerable distance from Havana.

My itinerary suggestion:

Oct 8, noon – arrival: Get out of the airport and go to your casa particular. You will probably arrive at the casa by around 1:30pm. Spend time walking around. Enjoy the nightlife. Mention to your landlord that you would like to visit El Nicho. Maybe they can hook you up with a cheap taxi ride.

Oct 9 – Visit El Nicho. Spend a day exploring

Or

October 9 – Go directly to Trinidad. If you leave in the morning you can get there before noon. Explore Trinidad and have fun with a Sunday night dance party in a cave. (Check the attached Trinidad Mini-Guidebook for more info.

October 10 – Trinidad fun. Explore the town and maybe hit the beach.

October 11 – You can go to the Topes de Collantes natural park. It is really nice. High up in the mountains.

October 12 – get to Santa Clara and depart.

So there you have it. You can either visit the waterfall in Cienfuegos or visit the natural park near Trinidad. No need to do both, in my opinion. So you either spend more time in Cienfuegos or go directly to Trinidad. Both options are fun and give you a good idea of what Cuba is all about.

take care and have fun,
Mario

• This reply was modified 8 years, 3 months ago by Mario.
• This reply was modified 8 years, 3 months ago by Mario.

Hi,

Havana is certainly possibility. Havana is 365km away from Trinidad. The drive would take 4 hours, maybe a bit longer. Most taxis will charge at least $160 for this trip (in a private car). If you car pool with a couple of other people you can split the cost. If you take an old car (taxi particular) which fits 7 people, it can go as low as 30cuc per rider, but it takes a bit longer and there is usually no air conditioning. For 4 or 5 hours it can be rough ride. But it’s an adventure.

I’ve been to Havana dozens of times. I love it. Since this is your first time in Cuba, I can understand you wanting to visit Havana.

Cienfuegos to Trinidad is about an hour trip and usually costs about 40cuc.

Your plan is good. If you don’t mind the long taxi rides then I think it will be fun. The drive is scenic. But it’s all highway, so you mostly see farms and trees, but there will be some mountains, valleys and tobacco fields too.

But you won’t have much time in Trinidad. Just the Saturday afternoon and night.

“Oct 9: morning in Trinidad” — Most taxis will insist on picking you up early in the morning and driving you to Havana as early as possible. This is because they want to get to Havana by about noon so that they can find new passengers and drive back to Trinidad on the same day. The drivers will really push for you to leave Trinidad early.. like at 8am or 9am, or earlier. So you might not have much time to wander around Trinidad on that morning.

The advantage is that you get to Havana by around noon and can start your explorations early.

You sleep in Havana on the 9th and 10th. Personally, I would recommend you sleep in Havana on the 11th too. Since you are already there, there is no point in leaving early. Santa Clara might have pockets of interesting things, but when compared to Havana, there is no competition. It would be like planning a trip to NYC but then leaving a night early so you could spend extra time in Hartford, CT.

On the 12th you can leave Havana in the morning and get to Santa Clara probably by around 11am or noon. And with 3 hours to explore the city you can see the major points of interest.

If it was me, I would choose plan A.

If I understand, you are from NYC or near NYC. Or at the very least, you are American. You probably know what a big city looks like. Havana is a big city. There are no skyscrapers and large parts of the city are in ruins, but nevertheless, there is a big city atmosphere. The locals are rougher and blunter than people in small cities. Walking down Obispo street in Old Havana (the main tourist shopping and browsing street in Havana) you might be reminded of walking down Canal Street in NYC. Havana has a lot of culture and it certainly is a fun place, especially if you are willing to get away from the tourist areas and get out of your comfort zone. But will you really do that? With limited time it will be harder.

With plan A, you have a much more relaxed experience. You breathe fresh air. You meet down to earth locals. You can go horseback riding in Trinidad. Bathe in clean lakes. Hike up the mountains. Playa Ancon is pretty good and the water should be warm enough even in October. To be honest, Trinidad is not really a city I like so much because it is filled with many tourists and the prices have shot up a lot. But still, it is a perfect place to walk around and see a mostly authentic Cuban lifestyle. And the town is big enough that you can walk away from the center, less then half a mile, and you won’t find another tourist in sight.

Also to consider, a small but popular town like Trinidad will be changing a lot faster than a big city like Havana. In a few years, Trinidad will be an even bigger tourist mecca and will have transformed a lot. A city like Havana is already a tourist hot spot, and although it will change in the future, I don’t think you will miss much by not seeing it on this trip.

In the end, whichever itinerary you choose, you will most likely want to come back to Cuba in the near future. It’s not like this is your first and last trip so you have to see everything.

Also, you asked about possibly getting a bus from Havana to Santa Clara. The main bus line in Cuba is called Viazul and their website is Viazul.com. I have attached below the schedule for the Havana to Santa Clara route. It might not be ideal, given your departure time. Either route on the left hand side would get you to Santa Clara, but the times are not so great. For example, the first bus leaves Havana at 9:30am and arrives in Santa Clara at 2pm. It’s 4.5 hours, vs only 3 hours by taxi. You will have just enough time to get to the airport for your departure flight. There is also the 6:30am bus. That is a bit quicker since it leaves before rush hour. But it requires waking up very early. You have to arrive at the bus station 30 minutes before departure to confirm your travel and check your luggage.

The bus takes a lot longer because it is generally slower and makes many stops along the way at each little town. A taxi is far more expensive, but is faster. If you plan on taking the bus, then you should reserve ahead of time. These buses get packed up fast. You can try reserving on Vaizul.com. I am not sure if Americans can use the website. If not, then you should go to the bus station and make the required reservations directly, as soon as you arrive in Cuba.

It will be great. I wish you all the best.

Mario

Hi, if you think you will not have much energy when you arrive then, sure, you can spend the first night in Cienfuegos. I would just stay in the downtown. Basically check some casa particular websites and find a nice casa, and just reserve it. Most casas are more or less the same and the city is really no that large.

I doubt you would have the time to visit El Nicho. It’s the kind of place that you will enjoy much more if you have time to walk around and see it fully. By the time you pass customs and then get to your casa and settle in, it will be past 1pm. Then finding a taxi to drive you to El Nicho… then driving there.. You might have only an hour or two to actually see the place. It won’t be much quality time. You can do it, certainly, depending on how much energy and how adventurous you are, but you won’t have a relaxing time. And I doubt you would have time to sit and paint comfortably.

My recommendation would be to spend more time in Trinidad and then day trip to other towns. Remedios is small and far from action. It only has a Christmas festival that is popular. Other than that, there is nobody there. Santa Clara and Sancti Spiritus are larger, but still small towns. You can go visit them on a day trip if you want. Given the choice, I would choose Sancti Spiritus as it is more charming and relaxed. It will be hot because it is in central Cuba, but it will be fun and you can say that you saw a small town without many tourists.

Overall, I would say, learn about these small towns before going to Cuba, but try not to make too many plans ahead of time. It is nice to wake up in Cuba and plan your day as you go. Plans are great, but they can get in the way sometimes. And in Cuba, plans have a way of falling apart sometimes through no fault of your own. So go with the flow and be open minded, but not stuck to a plan. Honestly, 50$ in taxi fare can get you a hundred miles, so it’s easy to make quick arrangements and not particularly expensive. Maybe it rains one day and you decide to check out Sancti Spiritus. Maybe it is sunny and you decide just to swing by the beach. Either way, it will be lots of fun.