Thinking about Cuba for next month.

Ballard

I woke up this morning with the idea of a week and a half or so in Cuba mid February. I need to do some research but any advice would be welcomed.

I would almost certainly travel alone and am not interested in all inclusive.

As far as I can tell Virgin Atlantic are the only direct flights.

The earliest I can go is 15 February.

Thanks in advance.

Voyager2002

Several charter companies (Thomas Cook and perhaps Thomson) operate direct flights. To use these, you would probably need to stay for one or two complete weeks.

Cuba is a fantastic place for the independent traveller. Do remember that it is very long: if you visit Havana it would not be practical to see Santiago (the centre for music, dance and radical politics) and vice versa.

Millerdog

We used this company which is run by Cuban ex pats. They were most helpful and will suggest an intinary if you give them your budget and expectations.

The CubaDirect.co.uk Team

Tel - +44 (0)20 7148 3042
Web - www.cubadirect.co.uk

spursman

Went 2/3 years ago LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT. Lots of charter companies go & if you find any with 2+ flights a week you can do 10/11 days, I did 3 days in Havana then a week in Varadero but there are plenty of beach locales to choose from. I'd always recommend a Havana stay, I never went to Santiago as as previously stated its a very big island.Cuba will always be in my top 3 places ever(sweeping statement as I haven't been everywhere)

Ballard

Thanks for the replies.

Thompson don't have any flights until May and Thomas Cook have one option for a fortnight but it's £1,900 all inclusive so isn't for me.

Virgin Atlantic probably have seats on their flights but their website constantly displays script errors and/or "Sorry, a system error has occurred" when I try to get prices using their airmiles. I'm not sure what difference they'll make but the price without them is higher than I'm willing to pay.

leylandsunaddict

Where abouts in Cuba do you want to fly to? Thomas Cook have flight only to HOG, CCC and VRA. They have 3 flights a week to VRA so you could do 9 nights.

Pincher

It looks like going independent is dirt cheap once you are there.


KLM does Havanna for about £704 return.




Virgin Atlantic did an air miles sale for about six weeks around November 2015: hurricane season.


There were in fact two hurricanes, and it sounded pretty bad.


On the other hand, does it matter if you are cooped up in a hotel during the hurricane? Provided the roof doesn't blow away, it could be quite atmospheric. I wish I went now.

NiftyDigits

You can get there for a lot less than £704. Even British Airways/Iberia are cheaper than that. at £600 to £620. Air Canada under £600 and AeroMexico cheaper still(but longer stopovers).
If really wanting to save money and having FF points for positioning flights one can go via STO for around £430 or AMS for £450. There may be other options, but those are from a cursory search.

Ballard

This is all very interesting information and I'll look at it in greater detail later. Virgin were around £700-750 which is within my budget but they only fly a couple of days a week which makes the idea rather awkward. I'd rather not spend too long waiting in an airport for a connection but it would depend on the price I suppose.

I've long since wanted to go to Havana so that's a must really but Santiago sounds interesting. I do need to do some proper research before I go any further.

All of these replies are very welcome.

Ballard

I'm limited as to when I can go and Iberia doesn't look great to me as all of the return legs that I've managed to find take 25+ hours and they're not particularly cheap.

KLM are a better option as they've got more flights than Virgin but it's more or less the same price.

I can go for just a week on Virgin 17-24/2 for £706. It's not as long as I'd like but I am supposed to be looking for a job so taking a fortnight out wouldn't be the best choice at this stage (I've only been back home a month after 6 weeks down under).

I've finally got the awful Virgin Atlantic website to give me an option with airmiles and I can get 15-24/2 for £812 plus a few miles.

I can't decide at the moment and don't want to rush into things. I might even be able to get two separate one way flights cheaper.

Kernow666

shame you dont to go in June its like £460 with air france from london to havana

i'm tempted now at that price