[Closed] What to do in Cuba ?

If you want to get off the tourist trail get youself to Santiago de Cuba and hire a car and driver to take you out past Guantanamo to Baracoa on the eastern tip of the Island. It's a day's drive on a narrow scary road over some big mountains. Once in Baracoa, escape the Chaos by heading out to the Villa Maguana, a 4 bedroom hotel all alone on a storm tossed beach. You'll eat Fish caught daily and generally live too well. A short taste of living like a Party BigWig!

Presuming you're flying into Havana...
- 3 nights in Havana. Go to Tropicana - it's expensive but awesome. Check out Playa del Este, see the Malecon, etc.
- Rent a car, if you can. It really gets you out of the way and off the beaten track; plus driving between places is fascinating of itself.
- Vinales, Pinar Del Rio, Cayo Jutia. Beautiful part of Cuba, lovely to explore, and easy driving.
- You may find it worth heading further to Maria La Gorda, which is an "end of the road" resort on the western end of the island. It was cool when I went, but that was a few years back.
- Varadero may be worth a visit, or not. It's a slightly faded resort peninsula, but kinda fun to see.
- Trinidad
- Sancti Spiritus is well worth checking out.
- Santa Clara, personally I didn't rate, but it has a lot of historical stuff from Che.
- and think about spending your last few days at Cayo Santa Maria or similar, in an all-inclusive 5* (for Cuba) hotel. After beans, rice and chicken/ pork/ fish for 3 weeks, you may appreciate it!

I haven't been east, but I've heard Santiago is fantastic, although a long drive.
There are some cool places up in the hills from before the revolution, IIRC one's San Miguel de Los Banos, which used to be a spa town but now is abandoned. It's very safe as a country (apart from the usual bar bill/ currency exchange scams), so explore!

Hire a jinitera for a week, then relax.

Coke and hookers.

DON'T EAT THE LOBSTER THREE DAYS IN A ROW.

+1 Baracoa. Havana.

Cigars, nobody's mentioned the cigars !

Or the competition onions.

Based on the STW recommend what you own principle I'd move in with 2 cabaret dancers for 2 years and fund it by moving cigars to Nassau. HTH.

Go to the Museum of the revolution, I was around at the time of the bay of pigs, but had no idea it was a fully fledged invasion attempt with battleships, air cover, the whole deal, then the rest of the CIA attempts to poison crops, blow up Castro, eye opener.

I love the place, have been there are couple of times and always marvel at how happy everyone is and how free of advertising bullshit.

There's loads to do if you look, all the normal tourist stuff, but note the lack of racism, the lack of envy and the music and joy that springs up on street corners..

Such a shame the entire world tried to strangle an attempt at a truly fair society.

Club Tropicana, wonder round Havana on your own where the tourists don't go, snorkelling round the cayos and chillax!

Vinales area is stunning.

Trinidad in the south was a great place to stay - people dancing to a band outside an open air bar whilst the locals were intently watching the big local rivalry baseball game.

Santa Clara for the Che stuff.

In good old biking fashion I cycled across it a few years back..recomendations? Music, rum and get to places outside Havana - Havana's great but the rural parts are lovely....and go to the revolution museum and Che's mausoleum...oh, and outside of tourist destinations the Cubans speak hardly any English - Spanish was necessary to talk to the locals...(well, they didn't fifteen years ago)

Thanks all , some good ideas. Not sure the wife would be up for the Coke and hookers but I'll see what she says.