Varadero is on the Hicacos Peninsula, an uninterrupted 20km stretch of white sand that is undoubtedly one of the Caribbean’s best. But, while this large, tourist-friendly mega-resort may be essential to the Cuban economy, it offers little in the way of unique Cuban experiences.

We flew in to Havana and took a 1950’s american taxi to Varadero – about 2.5 hrs drive.  We stayed at the Royalton Hicacos Resort which was a beautiful resort, large comfortable rooms with butler service, two pools and access to the beach just 50m from our room.  My research into Cuban resorts before the trip revealed that the food was terrible so we didn’t have great expectations, thankfully, as the buffet and 4 restaurants were very average.  But the resort really was lovely and our early morning walks on the beach and lazy days on the beach were amazing.

It was certainly not typically Cuban, but was a fantastically relaxing few days before we got to experience the ‘real Cuba’.