Renting a car + driver in Cuba

Laurence206
Level 1
Antwerp, Belgium

Renting a car + driver in Cuba

Hi there,

 

I asked a Airnbnb how to address my question on experiences on renting a car plus driver in Cuba and she suggested to submit it to the Airbnb community so here I am.

 

Apparently renting a car is difficult in Cuba (tried already via VIA Rent for November and no cars available). So wanted to check if anyone had a recommendations on this subject.

 

Thanks

Laurence

14 Replies 14
Lisa658
Level 10
Hervey Bay, Australia

@Laurence206

 

I have been to Cuba twice and it is not the sort of place that you would expect to organise this type of thing in advance in my opinion.  You will likely get a better rate and better recommendation if you organise this when you arrive.  We were just invited for drives with the people we met.  One of them took us to his mom's house for a lobster dinner.  They didn't talk about a price with us but it is nice to offer a generous gift of money in these circumstances or set up a clear business transaction from the onset.  If you are travelling with AirBnB maybe your host can recommend someone for you.

 

Hope you have a great visit!  Lisa

Thank you Lisa for your feedback. Maybe indeed best method to share a taxi collectivo and organise once you are there. Renting a car seems not evident. 

 

We are planning to visit Havana, Vinales, Pinar del Rio, maybe Cayo Levisa, Cienfuegos, Trinidad...any other suggestions of places to see or a nice beach (but not Cayo Coco, Veredano...) 

 

Thank you 

 

laurence 

Hi @Laurence206, i dont know if it is too late. To rent a car in November in Cuba is very hard, this is high season and everyone is trying to get a car. I have known many people with the same issue. And alternative is to move by bus from town to town through Via Azul company, in Havana in front of the zoo is located the company. You can go everywhere from here. Also, maybe you have the option to get a private taxi with your host to move to Viñales, Trinidad, Cienfuegos. We are expecting a couple from England and they are planning to move through these busses that I mentioned to you before to these places.

 

I hope this help.

 

If you have any question will be a plesaure to help you.

 

Regards!

Thank you very much Maria for your advice. 


All the best. 

 

Laurence 

Hi Laurence!

 

Sorry if I’m too late in replying to your comment… I’ve only just seen it but think I could be of some help!

 

I recently got back from Cuba where I was staying with my boyfriend Leo in Vinales (who’s Cuban). I had also thought before this trip of renting a car, but had the same outlook as you probably: expensive, can’t book in advance, will end up being more hassle than is worth. There isn’t a lot of positive information on the internet about hiring a car, so I gave up and didn’t reserve one. I then spent a lot of money on taxi collectivos…

 

Whilst I was out there I mentioned to Leo that I’d like to rent a car to get off the beaten track of Havana-Trinidad-Cienfuegos-Varadero etc. Leo said it’s super easy + cheap to rent a car, so one day we spontaneously went to Pinar del Rio (wouldn’t recommend spending much time there btw…!). We went to the main hotels that all have Rent-a-Car, and we went to some smaller places as well. We were out of luck hiring that day, because basically there weren’t enough cars. They all looked at us like we were crazy because we hadn’t rented online before coming. It turns out most people reserve their cars weeks in advance.

 

We later ended up in a smaller village near La Guira where there was a hotel that also had Rent-a-Car, and had available cars! It cost $80 per day (I think this was too expensive, talking to many people if you reserve in advance you can get it for $40 a day). There was the usual insurance deposit to pay, just as you’d expect, but it was all super easy from then on.

 

Anyway, I hope this insight helps. Basically, and from experience, I would strongly recommend you to reserve (with Rent-a-Car) before you get there. The easiest bet is probably via the bigger hotels in Havana because they’ll have more cars there. The cars are modern, often automatic. You’d pay a lot more if you wanted to rent a private old American car…

 

I just re-read your first post and saw you wanted to rent a driver as well. A friend of mine offers a guide service like this. I can give you his number if you'd like - I think his rates are pretty good. 

 

 

Hi Cassandra,

 

I’ve just read your comment and found it very usefull for others as well (like me) 😉

I will travel to Cuba end of October with my boyfriend and wanted to know if you could give me your friend’s contact because we will need a driver there

!

 

Thanks a lot 

Melanie

Hi Cassandra! Is there a chance that you still have this contact? 🙂

we’re visiting Cuba with my husband in February and we’d like to rent a car with a driver. 
thank you very much in advance:) 

Hello Cassandra I hope you are well 🙂

Im on the same situation and was wondering if you could provide me this contact please 🙏💫 will be so usefull because I think after the pandemic everything have gotten even harder 😞

Hi Cassandra, I just noticed your reply and my apolgies for not thanking you before. We will check your tip about renting a car, but the problem is we do not go back to the original place, so then it's quite expensive again if you want to drop off the car for example at the airport. 

Did you finally go to Cienfuegos? How was it? Any other places to recommend? 

Allt he best and thank you again

Laurence

 

Kamila48
Level 1
Hostivice, CZ

Hi,

can someone recommend to me reliable driver with car for 8 days round trip around Cuba? I would very appreciate if someone could send me an email on good driver. We are couple and the round trip should start in Havana in the morning on 29th April 2020 and end on 6th May  2020 in the evening on Havana. Thanks a  lot for your recommendations in advance, Best regards Kamila

 

Also looking for a driver for a week. Biking and need someone to carry our stuff between stops. 

Hanna1596
Level 1
London, United Kingdom

@Stephen1021 @Kamila48 did you manage to find a driver for your round trip? I’m planning one and would be great if I could use a reliable contact. Thank you. 

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

Have you tried asking for recommendations on one of the travel/tourism forums such as Lonely Planet or Trip Adviser @Hanna1596