| Something I often find myself getting asked from | | | | delight in the museums, while music aficionados will |
| friends and relatives who know my expertise in | | | | be truly taken with the salsa clubs and live jazz |
| the island is what the average Cuban holiday | | | | that is hard to miss in the city. The big city life |
| actually involves. This is a question I | | | | gives the capital a real energy, and with a |
| simultaneously love and hate answering - I love it | | | | population of around 2,000,000 it's hard not to get |
| because it gives me an opportunity to chat at | | | | caught up in the excitement of the place, which |
| length about a topic I love, but I hate it because if | | | | at times feels an uneasy mix between modern |
| they've asked that question it means I'm going to | | | | metropolis and 1950s throwback - part of the |
| be there for a while. You see, simply put, there is | | | | charm of the place is its seeming fixation of |
| no 'average' Cuban holiday, and everyone goes to | | | | classic cars that you just don't find (still working) |
| the island for different reasons and receives a | | | | anywhere else in the world! And escaping the big |
| unique experience in return. The experience | | | | city life is easy - the beautiful white sands of |
| holiday makers get on their Cuba holidays can be | | | | Havana's beach is just a 30 minute trip away |
| relaxed, cultural, exhausting or breathtaking - but | | | | from the town centre. |
| never forgettable. | | | | But a Cuban holiday isn't just about Havana, and |
| For a start there's the accommodation - your | | | | while it would be very easy to spend your whole |
| 'average' Cuba holiday maker will first have to | | | | holiday there and feel you'd taken in so much that |
| decide whether they want to stay in the lap of | | | | you must have seen everything, the truth is that |
| luxury in a five star resort, or to opt for the | | | | you'd be majorly missing out. |
| basic but more authentic experience of staying in | | | | Take Varadero for example - as Cuba's biggest |
| a private house with a local. Whichever style | | | | beach resort with an impressive 12 mile long |
| accommodation you opt for, what you choose to | | | | peninsula, this is the ideal spot for those looking to |
| with your days is the next point at which the idea | | | | experiment with water sports or diving on their |
| of a stereotypical Cuba holiday shatters: You | | | | Cuba holidays. Then there's Trinidad, which history |
| could choose to enjoy the breathtaking | | | | buffs will delight in: the quant village feels virtually |
| landscapes and charming caves at the stunning | | | | unchanged in 300 years and as a result is |
| Vinales Valley, enjoy the open roads and | | | | positively steeped in history. Or for more recent |
| unexplored areas of the island with a hire car (the | | | | highlights in the island's history, who could resist a |
| roads are virtually deserted, as evidenced by the | | | | trip to Santiago de Cuba - cradle of the Cuban |
| dozens of hitch-hikers) or be that little more | | | | revolution and nowadays a luxury spot for foreign |
| active with some horse-riding or diving to discover | | | | visitors to the island? |
| the wreckages of sunken ships! | | | | There are hundreds of ways you could spend |
| Havana is an area I have already written articles | | | | your Cuban holidays and I'm really only scratching |
| about (and no doubt bored those who have | | | | the surface. Spend your whole time on one |
| asked me to death with my desire to share my | | | | activity, or mix and match your hobbies to create |
| enthusiasm) but it really does deserve a mention | | | | a unique Cuban adventure, one thing's for sure: |
| here for the ample and varied opportunities it | | | | There's no such thing as a typical Cuban holiday. |
| provides Cuba holiday makers. Culture vultures will | | | | |