Transportation

Air Travel
Bus
Train
Car Hire
Local Transportation
Taxi

Cuba has a good infrastructure of transport, so much by road as by air and by rail that facilitates the connection among all the points of the country in term of hours. It's necessary to do distinction among the transportation that are paid in dollars (of very good quality) and those that are paid in Cuban pesos (the national currency) that are in general of mediocre quality, most tourist, obviously, will use services of transport paid in dollars.

Air Travel

The only way to go get to the Island of Cuba is by Air. The country has 9 international airports, and 8 local ones with domestic charters and air taxis.
Cubana is the nation’s national airline. Cubana doesn’t fly to the United States, but does serve many other countries. It serves a network in the Caribbean, South America, Europe and Central America, as well as Mexico City, Toronto and Montreal in North America, also including domestic destinations.

Other non Cuban Airlines also fly to Cuba. Earopostal, Air Canada, Air France, Aero Caribbean, Aeroflot, Earogaviota, Air Jamaica, Turkish Airlines, Cayman Airways, Cubana de Aviacion, Iberia Airlines, LTU, Martinair, Mexicana, TAAG, TACA, KLM, British Airways, Thomas Cook Airlines Condor. That is a list of airlines serving Jose Marti International Airport which is the main airport of entry to Cuba.

However you don't need to fly out of the United States to fly to Cuba. Miami International Airport does have frequent service to many Cuban destinations. Continental Airlines and American Airlines has charter service to Cuba. You must book these flights with a travel agent.

Cuba also has an extensive domestic air network that services all of the regional centers and flights within the country are not very expensive. Most domestic flights are on smaller propeller aircraft and they are 25% cheaper if booked in conjunction with your international ticket.

Bus

Since 1991 long-distance bus services have been wound back and nowadays getting a ticket can be difficult; an in-person advance purchase will be required as well an in-person reconfirmation 2 hours prior to departure.

Although train travel is now much more viable there are still some important connections that are only serviced by bus. Some enterprising locals have converted large trucks (camiones) into public transport vehicles and offer trips along the popular bus runs.

There are several bus lines but more advisable is the Via Azul (the terminal is in 26 street, Nuevo Vedado, City of Havana) that connects all the tourist destinations with the capital with exact schedules, acceptable comfort and economic prices, which you can see on their website; www.viazul.cu. Few Cubans travel by Viazul due to the cost, which must be paid in hard currency.

There also exist other companies of trips for bus and minibuses like Veracuba or Astros. Astros are the main company of national bus and gives service so much to Cuban as to foreign tourists, it is but economic but with less execution in the itineraries (the terminal of Astros is the National Terminal of Bus and it is in Ave Rancho Boyeros, near the Square of the Revolution).

Be aware that Cuba has some tremendous distances between cities. The trip from Havana to Santiago de Cuba can take nearly 15 hours by bus. Better to fly that long way because the bus goes through some very rural areas (nothing to see) and most of the trip is at night. However, if you plan to visit intervening stops the bus may be a good choice.

Train

The demise of the Jamaican railway in 1992 means, that Cuba is now the only Caribbean country with a functioning railway. Trains service all of the regional capitals and are a much more reliable and hassle-free way of getting around Cuba than buses. Tickets are easy to get and Cuban train travel can be a relaxing and colorful way to see the country.

Although the country has a wide railroad network in general the equipment have not been modernized and don't respond to the European or Americans standards. With everything it is mainly a good means of transport in the long distances. Advisable is the special train Havana-Santiago de Cuba (USD 51 the passage), the other ones are only recommended to tourists with adventure spirit and good patience. In Cuba all trains have only seats; they don't have bed cars neither restaurant cars.

Car Hire

The easiest way to explore Cuba is to rent a car. There are several companies rent cars to tourists to prices that begin in 30 dollars the day, without including the fuel (the price of the fuel is of around 1.00 dollar the liter of gasoline and 0.80 dollars the liter of diesel). The companies of rent a cars but acquaintances are: Havanautos, Transautos, Panautos, Micar, Veracuba, Cubacar, Transtur, etc, that generally have agencies in all the tourist destinations, airports and hotels of the country. It's even possible to return the car in a different city than where you rented it.

With the exception of some keys like Long Key of the South, the Queen's Gardens and Cayo Levisa all the other places of tourist interest of the island have access by road. This is a good way to know the island and their people because in general Cuba has a network of highways asphalted in acceptable state and that it communicates all the main cities, towns and tourist destinations to each other and with the capital. However in the rural highways you need to be aware of the many pedestrians, bikers, horse carts and even oxen that travel slowly even on the highways.

Anyway consider that in some parts of the island driving is for the adventurous, and car rentals are not inexpensive. Many drivers do not use their lights at night, and many roads have few or no markings. You may be able to hire a car and driver for nearly the same cost. This varies by city; in some areas tourists are forbidden to ride in private vehicles and must use only the hard-currency taxis.

Many Cubans hitchhike as a means of getting around and locally the activity is known as 'hacer botella' (literally to make a bottle with the hand). Government vehicles are legally required to pick up hitchhikers if they have the room and town exits and major crossroads often have yellow-clad 'Amarillo' officials armed with clipboards to organize the Cubans waiting for a ride.

Local Transportation

If you stay in a resort or a hotel in a resort area, it is easy to get a taxi, horse drawn buggy or a little motorcycle/golfcart type of vehicle to take you where you want to go. Make sure you confirm a price before accepting the ride. It is also quite easy to walk up to the main road and wait for a bus going in your direction. The driver has a partner who decides if they are going where you want to go and then decides on a reasonable fare.

Tour buses in Havana and Varadero cover the major sites of interest. For special excursions, contact the tourism desk at your hotel. Havana and Santiago have an acceptable guaguas network, conventional buses that communicate downtown with the outskirts. The frequency of guaguas is insufficient to gather the users, reason why they overload at rush hours. In the island there’s also another type of three floors bus known as camellos.

Taxi

The island has several types of taxi. Those known as Panataxis are for exclusive tourist use, and have to be contracted for a precise service of hours or days. You can usually find them in front of hotels, restaurants, cabarets and nightclubs. The same benefits have the Turistaxis, but they are more expensive. The conventional taxis are taken in any place but there are quite little.

Although they have a taximeter, it’s not usually used, since they agree to the price of the service with the client.
Also exist taxis for the locals, known as colectivos, that in principle cannot take foreign passage but they skip the rule generally to gain a few dollars.

Finally are the particular taxis, known as boteros. They are private cars without license that offer themselves to the client in strategic places of the city. The taxi stops are known as piqueras. The important cities have a bike-taxi service, offered as a tourist stroll but also is a good way to move by the centre of the great cities. In Havana they are of 2 passengers and in other cities, like in Baracoa, of one.