Travelling around Cuba on the usual backpacker budget is nothing easy to accomplished. Due to the closed economy of the country, the absence of hostels (which are substituted by homestays called casas particulares) and a whole transport system created for tourists, everything ends up being a little more expensive than your average latin america country.
Most importantly, in Cuba there are two currencies, the Moneda Nacional or Cuban Peso (CUP) and Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC), which are very different from each other. Consider that 1 CUC is roughly worth 24CUP (at the time of our visit) and therefore things bought in CUP will automatically be several times cheaper. The earlier you’ll learn to distinguish between the two, the easier will be to save a little more money. To learn more, read our full article Cuban Currencies | Two Versions of the same Peso !
Here follows a collection of our budget experience during our one-month roadtrip throughout Cuba. We tried putting together a comprehensive guide to help you organize your trip from the start, just choose your budget and go with it!
1# Accomodation Cost
Differently to other countries, hostels in Cuba don’t exist but are instead substituted by another low-budget accomodation type called casa particular.
Usually, a “casa” owner rents one or more rooms of his own house to tourists similarly to the concept of private room on AirBnB; most of the times breakfast is not included but can be requested for a small additional fee pp (3-5CUC).
Staying in casas can be pretty cheap with prices ranging from 10-20CUC (in low season) up to 30CUC in very touristy areas such as Varadero; this rate can vary also depending on your ability to bargain.
The step up are hotels (not very common except on main tourist routes) which usually start at 65-75CUC per night but can vary a lot depending on location & amenities. All prices refer to the price of a room for 2 people (although in most of the casas sometimes you get 2 doubles/1 double + 1 single).
2# Food & Eating Out
Due to the bi-currency system present in Cuba, the price for food in Cuba can vary a lot. Street-food e.g. pizza (unexpected, I know!), ham/cheese sandwiches, hamburgers etc… is usually quite inexpensive with prices gravitating around 5-25CUP (0.2-1CUC).
Similarly, main dishes at local Cuban restaurants (rice + meat/fish + sides) can be as low as 1-2CUC (chicken, pork, pescado) up to a maximum of 3-4CUC (beef, shrimps, crab).
Normal restaurants (around touristy areas) can have prices varying from 6CUC (lesser known cities) to even 10-15CUC in more touristy areas (e.g. Varadero, Habana Vieja); nonetheless, sometimes these could offer super-covenient fixed menus (including a cocktail and dessert) at lower prices.
For those willing to taste lobster, we’ve rarely seen prices lower than 10CUC/dish and even peaking at 30CUC/dish in some places.
Supermarkets don’t offer a great variety of things but just as a comparison, here the average prices for some necessities: water (2L) 0.7CUC, national sodas 0.6CUC, national beers 0.8-1.2CUC, pasta (500g) 1.5CUC and Rum Havana Club 4-5CUC.
3# Transport & moving around
The cheapest option to travel around the country is by bus; unfortunately, foreigners are not allowed to use any of the cuban buses (e.g. transtur, transgaviota etc…) but the one & only tourist bus company Viazul.
Fixed fares & times make the Viazul buses a very efficient (cheap) and easy way to move in-bewteen most of the country’s known cities (check our post about How To Move Around Cuba).
Similarly, for those who need more flexibility, taxis are the best bet; in low season, if you sharing the taxi with more tourists, the chance of paying the taxi the same fare of the bus is very high !
On average, though, taxis are pretty expensive way to travel (e.g. for the route Holguin-Santiago with Viazul 11USD/pp & with taxi 80USD).
4# Tours & Day-Trips
In the country, tours & short day trips organized by tour operators are usually the most expensive. The ideal option for budget-travellers is to book excursions face-to-face with guides/taxi drivers so to avoid the “management” fee. Additionally, with just a little background knowledge, the majority of tours can also be self-guided but be sure to organize the get-there & pick-up transport yourself ! Whether you like city-tours, hiking, nature, snorkelling or night-life, Cuba will have the right excursion for every taste !
Here are some examples of tours and general tariffs from our experience:
2-3hrs – Castillo de San Pedro de la Roca in Santiago 15CUC
Half Day – Horseback ride in Viñales 15CUC/pp
Half Day – Valle de los Ingenios in Trinidad 30CUC
Half Day – Snorkelling Tour in Varadero 13CUC/pp
Full Day – Topes de Collantes in Trinidad 35CUC
Full Day – Canyon del Rio Yumuri in Baracoa 25CUC
Final Thoughts
Thankfully, doing a bit of homework before leaving for Cuba gave us the idea that travelling in Cuba on the cheap was nothing easy to accomplish. Amazingly enough, the fact that we travelled there in October (just at the end of the rainy season) helped bring our costs down a lot because it was low season. On the contrary, the recent hurricane made so that buying food from supermarkets (when available) or farmers was much more expensive because of shortages.
During our trip, we also realized that travelling as a couple to Cuba (or a group of three) is definitely the most budget-friendly way to do it because the casas particulares would often charge you a double/triple/quadruple room the same independently of the number of people staying. During our trip we did a lot of activities, travelled a lot through the country but only gifted ourselves a nice night out in just a couple occasions. Once again bargaining was an important factor for lowering down our budget by at least say 30-50%!!! The final budget for Cuba was 73CUC/day for the both of us and it was broken down into the following:
Food & Eating out – 27CUC (23.15€)
Accomodation – 15CUC (12.85€)
Transport & Moving Around – 18CUC (15.45€)
Tours & Day Trips – 13CUC (11.15€)
TOTAL – 73CUC/day (62.60€)
PLANNING A TRIP TO CUBA? CHECK MORE GUIDES BELOW!
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