Varadero, Cuba

[Marshy]

Thinking of going in January next year,and spending a bit of time in Havana as well.
Wondering what others have experienced?

Food is terrible, bring snacks.
Beaches are beautiful.
Music [in Havana] is amazing and street singers everywhere who sing at an amazing standard.
Varadero is really long and spread out so no "town centre" to speak off. All inclusive is the norm so people tend to stay in their own resorts.
Got a lot of hassle as a female in Havana. Couples or large groups seemed ok but two women travellers, followed constantly.
Mohito's are delish but you wont touch another one for years when you come home
Local wine is vinegar

HUGE caveat. This is 10 yrs ago but anyone I know who has visited recently has said similar things. Really do your research for restaurants before you go.

SIL went recently and it really is a bit of a marmite holiday. if you are going alone as a single female then echo what tread said. sil didn't want to venture out alone because of this. if you stay outside of the main hotels then it is very basic plus you might have to consider zika virus if this is an issue for you (pregnant or ttc)

why do you particularly want to go to cuba? who are you travelling with and what are your expectations of this sort of holiday/

Cuba is a fascinating place to travel round, but if you want a Caribbean beach holiday, I'd go elsewhere: the beach resorts (Varadero and a couple of others) are mostly all-inclusive resorts with pretty awful food, and facilities nowhere near as good as you might get elsewhere. Look up a few places on Tripadviser for a flavour of what to expect.

Our holiday in Cuba (me plus two DCs aged 10 and 15) was one of our best ever - we spend time in Havana and Trinidad and some smaller places, heard lots of music, went swimming in rivers etc, but the last two days spent 'relaxing' at a beach resort were a complete let-down.

Food in large hotels all over Cuba is generally low-quality and boring (nearly always buffet-style, with the same things on offer every day), but you can now get much better food by going to little, privately-run restaurants, mostly in people's homes.

my in laws went late last year, said the food was bad.
They enjoyed havana but said it was like stepping back in time, not in a good way.
Not sure they enjoyed Varadero much. Said they could have been any where.

Thanks for comments. We've booked it

We did Havana and Varadero in January a couple of years ago and absolutely loved it. The food was great, I really don't understand what all the fuss is about Cuban food not being good generally - we didn't have a single bad meal. Hope you like rum cocktails!

Vibrant music and culture- a tour of Havana is a must!.... We stayed AI in Varadero, food not great but there were 'themed' restaurants at our resort which were decent...staff were very friendly but be aware of being pestered...very reasonable eating out... Do take some gifts for hotel staff , they really appreciate it ....enjoy it before the Americans take over!

I've been to Cuba - Havana & Varadero - 3 times solo and never had a problem walking around.

Cuba is wonderful, the people are very friendly. Just don't expect to have a political discussion

Loved a tour in Cuba. However, didn't Varadero was not for us. The soviet-looking hotel, the wrist bands, the food. Rest of the time in Havana, Trinidad etc was fab.