Transport in Cuba / timetables (#2)

• Transport in Cuba (Overview)

• Train Timetable 2020

• VIAZUL (Bus) Timetable 2020

Viazul timetable 2019

...Timetables are always in a changing process. I try to publish always the current timetable. Althought I suggest after you arrival to Cuba to check the timetable with Viazul's office. Be aware that the Website of Viazul does not always show the actual timetable...

Timetable of the diferent routes:

• Habana - Varadero - Habana

  

• Habana - (Las Terrazas) - Viñales - Habana

• Habana - Cienfuegos - Trinidad - Cienfuegos - (Santa Clara / Varadero) - Habana

• Habana - Holguin - Habana

• Habana - Santiago de Cuba - Habana

• Habana - Baracoa - Habana

• Varadero - Trinidad - Varadero

• Varadero - Santiago de Cuba - Varadero

• Varadero - Viñales

• Viñales - Trinidad

• Trinidad - Santiago de Cuba - Trinidad

• Trinidad - Santa Lucia

• Trinidad - Remedios - Cayo Santa Maria - Trinidad

• Santa Lucia - Habana

• Santiago de Cuba - Baracoa - Santiago de Cuba

• Directions and phone numbers of the Viazul offices

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Train Timetable 2019

Further down I will give you the most actual schedule. It includes all long-distance-trains. It's important to know that not every train is operating daily. Because on track-works there are a lot of changes on the timetable, so I recomend to inform you before your journey at the local train station about the actual departures.

In Habana you have to buy your tickets in CUC (like almost everywhere). They sell them for you at the train station "La Coubre". This station is located between the Central station (Estación Central) an the Harbor. You will find it easily because of its yellow color. When you buy your ticket you need to inform you where you have to catch the train. Some trains are leaving at "La Coubre" other trains are leaving at "Estación central".

At other train stations I recomend to ask first where you need to buy your CUC-tickets. If you don't do that you maybe make a queue at the wrong place... Very rarely you will get a ticket in Pesos. Sometimes you will get it at small stations and for local trains.

I suggest you to buy your ticket a soon as possible. At the moment you can buy the ticket 15 days in advance. At each train there are only 6 tickets available for tourists. Also you can buy at the moment only tickets on the following trains: La Habana - Santiago de Cuba - La Habana / La Habana - Guantánamo - La Habana / La Habana - Sancti Spiritus - La Habana.

National trains

National and local trains leaving from Habana (timetable january 2015)

National and local trains leaving from Santiago de Cuba (timetable may 2013)

National and local trains leaving from Sancti Spiritus (timetable january 2015)

National trains leaving from Camagüey (timetable may 2013)

National trains leaving from Santa Clara (timetable 03/2014)

National trains (with intermediate stops) (old timetable - 2010)

(Información de YahooGroupe Cubanrailways, June 2010)

Local trains

Hershey: Havana (Casablanca) - Hershey - Matanzas (update 14.10.2012)

Local trains from/to Santa Clara

Local trains : From/to Sancti Spiritus

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Public Transport in Cuba (Overview)

National Public Transport

Long-Distance coaches/buses

• ASTRO is the national bus company for Cubans. There are buses between cities and small towns but foreigners at present can't travel by Astro.

• VIAZUL (coach company). It is an enterprise of bus transportation. They sell tickets only in CUC. Due to this fact and that the routes include all capitals of provinces and important tourist sites, most passengers are tourists. Travelling with Viazul there are also Cubans living abroad, some others that have CUC and even some persons that are paid their fares by their enterprises. Viazul operates with Chinese buses (Yutong) similar to those of ASTRO. The air conditioner in a Viazul bus will make you feel as in a winter night in Norway and not like in a bus in a tropical country. Therefore it is better to take your winter clothes. Viazul is rather prompt. However if you have an important trip after finishing the bus one, such as an international flight for example, it is advisable that you have some spare time. It is always better to sleep one night in the city where you will continue next trip than missing your flight. The ticket always includes a weight of 20 Kg to deliver plus a small package to carry onboard. Luggage must be delivered at the station before boarding the bus and is picked up at your destine. If you carry more than 20 Kg, then you will have to pay additional charge according to the extension of the trip. Cubans who can afford the tickets in CUC: Bus ticket demand is greater than offers, so it is better to plan your trip and make your reservation via internet two or three months before the journey. This is Viazul web page: www.viazul.cu. Out of tourist high season it is possible to buy your bus ticket even few hours before the travel, but it´s an exception. Routes, current schedules and price samples are found here.

Shared taxis and trucks: options to Viazul

• Taxis colectivos - shared taxis / minibus taxis. Due to the fact that Viazul cannot deal with a growing transportation demand and thanks to new laws, a wide market has opened for private vehicle owners in Cuba: minibus taxis for tourists. These minibuses make the routes for the same price as Viazul. You may find these vehicles in front of all Viazul stations or in any rent house. You may talk to your hostess about when and where you want to go and he/she will arrange your trip. Normally they pick you up in the morning at home and take you to any destine. Depending on the size of the vehicle and the location of your house, picking up and delivering may take some time. Minibuses are very fast on the road and comfort depends on the type of car. It may be a vehicle with very close seats or an old car with enough room to relax your legs. You´ll never know beforehand. This service includes picking you up at the origin house and delivering at your destine point. Don't you expect comfort and courtesy; it might be a plus if you are lucky. Generally you will feel like a cargo and no complain will make any good…Other tourists will be travelling with you. Cubans travel in other vehicles starting in a bus station with many stops in each village and town along the way. These cars are much cheaper than those you find in your rent house, but you have to go to a bus station and wait a lot for one of them. If you, furthermore, need to pay a taxi to get to the bus station, then it won´t be profitable. These taxis are currently the main transportation means for tourists; these vehicles take you from one place to another with great flexibility, since one can reserve even one day in advance. Usually these are straight trips with no stopover. There is a place in Havana for stopovers (transfers). When travelling from Viñales they take you to Havana where you choose a trip to Varadero, Playa Larga or Trinidad. In fact, minibus taxis are the easiest way to travel though not the most comfortable.

• Camiones - trucks. Because of the difficult situation of the public transport, trucks are very important for the peoples´transport. Most of the trucks, which are only for passengers, are privat operated. You can travel by truck in the whole country, between cities as well as between small villages. They don´t have a timetable or something like that, be prepared for waiting a lot. You pay in Pesos, a ride costs between 5 and 20 Pesos.
  If you have time, and if you don´t travel with much baggage, you have to travel by a camion/truck, it´s something special.
  Look out for camiones at local bus-stations, or go to the street leading to your destination. Ask there for the "punto", it´s the place where the people are waiting for the camiones. Normally this place is just out of the city.
  

Railway

• The only Carribean Island with passenger transport by railway!
  The trains are rather slow, they aren´t very punctual and, except the main routes, they aren´t very reliable but I recomend them... You normally have to pay with CUCs
  

• Some hints for your train journey:
  
  - Normally you can buy some drink and food (very basic) in the train. But it's always better if you don't rely on this service. Always keep some crackers and water with you.
  - When you need to go to the trains' bathroom I strongly recomend to go with a pocket light because there's no light there but rather a lot of dirt.
  - If you like to sleep calm, I recomend to secure your bagage, so that nobody can steal it.
  - The special train between Habana and Santiago de Cuba (train #1 y #2) is also specially cold. You need a lot of clothes, because it's like a winter night in Toronto ( :-) ). Note that this train only needs one hour less than the normal one but the journey costs 8 CUC more. If you ask me, go with the regular one so you not only pay 8 CUC less for the train, you also don't catch a cold.
  - Between Pinar del Río and Habana you normally can buy the tickets in Pesos but you need to buy it at least one day before the journey.
  
  Finally, I strongly recomend you a journey by train. It's an adventure. At an other website about Cuba I've read "Driving car in Cuba, one of the last adventures in this world!" - I think going by train is much more fascinating than driving a car!!!

• Also have a look at the timetable I´ve published and the description of a journey through Cuba by train.

Airplane - Cubana de Aviación and AeroGaviota

• Cubana flies from Habana to all larger cities.The prices are rather cheap, but the service in the air nearly doesn´t exist. You will receive a candy or, if you´re lucky a coffee...
  To fly is a good way to save some time. For exemple you travel by train, bus, camiones from Habana to Baracoa and afterwards you fly back to Habana.
  Price exemple: Habana - Santiago de Cuba/ Baracoa (120 CUC)
  Book your flights in Habana or in Santiago de Cuba. The smaller officies haven´t got the computered booking system and because of that aren´t flexible. But there's also an other problem. The employees don't want to sell to you a ticket because you certainly don't think that you need to buy a littlebit more than 120 CUC for getting a ticket. Cubans do this, they pay about 5 - 10 CUC more than the oficial price, so they get a ticket...
  The Cubanas' main office where you can buy ticket is CUC you will find in Habana at Calle 23 between P and Infanta. Telf. 33-4949, 33-4446 to 33-4450. You will have to make a long queue so it's better to buy the tickets at a tourist office, for example in a Hotel. In Habana you can get you ticket easily by Havanatour, they have an office in the hotel Habana Libre. You can also try to buy your ticket at Cubana's website. Afterwards you receive your ticket at the Cubana's offices for example at Jose Martí airport in Havana at the terminal 1 (domestic flights) or terminal 3 (international flights).

• AeroCaribbean Since September 2015 all AeroCaribbean-Flights are operated by Cubana de Aviación. The company AeroCaribbean doesn't exists any more. But this not means that maybe you still travel in a aircraft, still painted in the AeroCaribbean-look...

• AeroGaviota It is the youngest airline of Cuba which does not mean that the airplanes can be counted to the newest ones. Aerogaviota, as a quite small airline, belongs to the tourism company Gaviota, who's owner the Cuban military is.The airline flies to the destinations as Baracoa, Holguin, Cayo Coco, Cayo Las Brujas (nexto to Cayo Santa Maria) and Cayo Largo, where you can find also the hotels of Gaviota. The airline has its own small airport situated in Western Habana - ''Playa Baracoa'' - not to be confounded with the town Baracoa at the Eastern end ofCuba. All in all it is a good airline with easy handling at its little airport. They have a good choice of various destinations, so for example, you can take a flight from Habana to Cayo Las Brujas, spend a couple of days in the small hotel at Cayo Las Brujas or in a bigger ressort on the neighbour island Cayo Santa Maria and then travel back to Habana passing through Caibarien, Remedios, Santa Clara and eventually also visit Trinidad and/or Cienfuegos. So in this case Aerogaviota can be an alternative to Cubana. You can buy the tickets in a Cuban travel agency in Cuba. Most of the time the tickets are available, because Aerogaviota will be used also for tourism, although a lot of Tickets are also sold by CUP. Try to buy your ticket at the Website of Aerogaviota!

Public Transport in Habana

• Cubataxi. The oficial taxi for CUC-paying people. Actually the driver should always drive with a working taxi-meter, but this is normally not the case so you should always ask before the journey how much it will cost. You will find the taxis waiting near the usual places (stations, hotels, restaurants and so on). You also call the Cubataxi so they send you a driver. For important journey like to the airport you avoid problems by catching a oficial taxi like Cubataxi.

• Habana Bus Tour. The hopp on hopp off concept is well known from cities all over the world. For Havana it's actually a good way to go. Specially because of two reasons: rather cheap (10 CUC for a day) and because there's no reliable public transport in Havana. There are three lines in Habana: Line T1 circulates between Parque Central (opposite Hotel Inglaterra) and Plaza de la Revolucion and is conecting Vedado, Centro Habana and Habana vieja. Line T2 is conecting Plaza de la Revolución with Vedado and Miramar to Marina Hemingway. Line T3 circulate between Parque Central and Playas del Este. For one day you pay for line1 and line2 some 10 CUC a day. And 5 CUC for the line3. Buses has an timetable. Have a look at the promotion!
  I suggest to be early in Habana at the Parque Central, because sometimes there are some long queues. Be also aware that maybe you will have to wait a lot of time in the sun, so be prepared with good sun protection if you need to!
  The same transport system (hopp on hopp of) you will also find at Viñales, Trinidad, Varadero/Matanzas and some more cities.

• Colectivos (shared taxis).Taxis which drives a fixed ride. You pay 10 Pesos for a short and 20 Pesos for a long distance. Don't pay more because you're a tourist, actually it would be good to have Pesos Cubanos (CUP) for paying them exact. In front of the Capitolio and Parque Fraternidad they leave in every direction. You can always stop them and ask them to where there are driving. A good place for catch a colectivo is always near the oficial bus stop.

• Taxi Rutero. Grey minbuses with a fixed ride. You pay 5 CUP per way. Tourists normally can get on.

• Guaguas (normal bus). A ride cost between 40 Centavos and one Peso (CUP). You need go on in front and pay the ride, you don't receive change. At the final stop are two queues, one for people which like to have a seat and the other for people which will stand. If you don´t travel to the final station go to the "stand-queue", you don´t have to wait as long here. Now, after you´ve found your queue you have to ask for the last in the queue (Quién es el ultimo?) and when you know who´s the last ask him after who he´s in the queue (y atras de quién usted va?), he will show you another person. You have to remember this two faces, because when the bus is arriving the people will form the queue. You ask for two persons because if the one before you leaves there´s another face you will remember...
  Be prepared for giving the answer to the next who´s asking for the last. Afterwards look for a nice place to wait, like the others. Have a look at the map with the actual lines.
  

• Particulares. There are also private drivers ofering a ride, although this is forbidden by law. If you catch one of these cars you need to know the normal price of the journey because the drivers normally want you buying more than in an official taxi! Don't catch a private taxi for an important journey, for example to the airport. For your own safety I recomend a taxi with licence.

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