Customer Reviews

The Rough Guide to Cuba

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

This guide is not bad at all. It's up-to-date, but I found some inaccuracies in it (like the distance between Holguin and Guradalavaca). We used this guide as a backup for the Moon Handbook, which is a bit outdated, but is much more extensive and better written.

I used this Rough Guide for Cuba on a recent trip to the island. After using LP guides for several European destinations, I grew weary of their maps (that don't label streets where you most need them) and catty editorializing. The Cuba guide had lots of information on restaurants at all price points that were not in my friend's LP guidebook. The asides on local culture were relevant and almost always addressed something I had seen and wondered about. In short, an excellent guidebook.

Cuba's government ability to control the internet has affected access to the Web. Thus, if you can find internet connections they will be very slow. Often you need to wait in line for a computer. A few private houses (casas particulares)have connections and may, may, let you use their computer but it is with a dial-up connection. Thus, for those who are fans of great sites like Tripadvisor or Yahoo travel you are SOL. Thus, Get a guide or even two if you are going to Cuba.

I took two Cuba guides with me for my three weeks traveling the island: Moon Handbook:Cuba (see review) and this Rough Guide. Both are great guides and both are worth taking (if you can afford it) but if I had to give the nod to just one guide, I would vacillate then choose Moon.

The strength of Rough Guide is in is thorough coverage of all of Cuba. It has more accommodation and eatery recommendations than Moon and the write ups of these are clear and informative. Rough Guide maps are easy to navigate and very useful. What put Moon ahead of R.G. was this guide's disappointing recommendations for both eateries and accommodations (especially casa particulares). Out of the nine times I used the guide to select places to eat or sleep I found three of them to be seriously sub-par. This made me hesitant to use the guide (heads-up - those to avoid list in the guide are: 'Casa Bastida' in Trinidad (an author's pick), 'Ache' restaurant/paladar in Cienfuegos (an author's pick) and the eatery 'Don Cangrejo' in Havana/Miramar.) Perhaps, the authors of this 5th edition did not revisit these places and used the reviews found in the 4th edition. Regardless, this does shake one's confidence of their reviews.

That said this is still a very valuable guide, with informative sections and excellent recommendations of what to see and why in Cuba... Footnote, I also recommend that you take with you 'Cuba: What Everybody Needs to Know' by Julia Sweig... this is an excellent overview of Cuba in all regards.