getting ready for a road trip in a Vintage car in Havana
Cost of Budget Travel in Cuba in 2018
I just traveled around Cuba for one entire month. As a budget traveler, I was relieved to find that Cuba is easily affordable, even for shoe-string budget travelers. It’s quite easy to eat cheaply, find inexpensive dorm beds & private rooms, enjoy all sorts of free & cheap activities, and even travel overland on local buses dirt cheap, if you so desire.
Prior to my visit to Cuba this October, I had been yearning to get there ever since I started exploring Latin America back in late 2015. But until mid 2018, I had only heard about how expensive Cuba is.
One main deterrent for me was the price of Cuba’s budget accommodation options. Basically, budget & mid-range travelers stay in ‘casas particulares’, which are private rooms in peoples’ homes. Essentially, they are guest houses set up along the lines of AirBnB.
Until this year, I’d always heard that the lowest prices for these rooms were $20-30 US per night. And while that’s a great price for couples and for people with higher budgets, that’s actually double to triple what I’m used to paying for accommodation.
Plaza Catedral – Havana
That all changed for me when another traveler I met told me about hostels in Cuba and recommended a website called HostelsCentral where I could find them. I checked it out and, sure enough, Havana now has a solid handful of hostels with dorm beds for low rates of about $6-10 US.
Once I discovered that, I excitedly started researching for my long-awaited trip to Cuba. I already knew that flights in Mexico to/from Cuba were super inexpensive, in the range of $100-150 US each way. I also found direct flights from Cuba to/from Florida in the same price range. So getting to/from Cuba is quite cheap.
(Later, in Cuba I met several travelers from Europe who told me they booked RT flights from various cities in Europe for 400 Euro / ~ $500 US)
I found all sorts of websites offering detailed information about budget travel in Cuba. They included several travel blogs, visa information sites and independent Cuba travel sites.
Havana skyline from El Moro Fort
Based on those sites, it seemed that it was possible to eat cheaply, visit free museums & attractions and get along without much expense. The only high cost that seemed impossible to get around was Cuba’s fairly expensive overland travel.
But I made my budget calculations based on my research, booked my flights and on October 2nd found myself flying to Havana from Mexico City at long last.
Soon after arriving in Havana and getting settled in, all of my budget concerns quickly evaporated. I was able to explore Havana and several major destinations for an entire month without spending much more than my usual travel budget of $600 US per month.
Following are my total costs, averages for room and meals, plus detailed explanations about particular expenses. Following that I give more thorough details about accommodations, meals and drinks. Finally, I explain some ways I could have kept costs even lower (for budget travelers with even lower budgets than I have).
hanging out with a with cat in Havana
TOTAL COSTS
Total Expenses for 28 days in Cuba = $624 US
Average daily expense = $22.29 US
My Total Expenses included everything: all my accommodation, food & drinks, transportation, museum entries and all other activities & personal expenses.
I visited 15 museums, rented a bicycle twice, joined a private tour in Vinales, made three day trips to beaches, drank cocktails and espressos at bars/cafes several times, worked out at gyms and took a boat trip in Cienfuegos.
I had my laundry done several times, got a manicure, bought a couple bottles of Havana Club Rum to make mojitos, regularly ate Cuban chocolate, pastries, fresh fruit juices, and three hearty meals a day.
This total is slightly higher than what I’ve spent in most other countries of the region, but not by much. Less than 10% higher, in fact. I’ve generally spent about $575-585 US per month in Mexico and C. America, sometimes up to $600 US, and occasionally more.
Traveling in this region, I’ve usually averaged $18-20 US per day. So $22.29 per day is only about 10% more than my usual average daily expense.
BREAK DOWN OF EXPENSES
Total Accommodation = $254 US
Average room per night = $9.50 US
This is about the same as I’ve paid for accommodation all over Mexico and Central America during three years of explorations. Depending on the country, my average was $8-10 US.
So accommodation in Cuba is now just as in expensive than in any other countries of the region. In fact, most places in Panama and Costa Rica cost more.
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Total Food = $154 US
Average daily food cost = $5.52 US
This is also about what I average for food in this region of the world and in SE Asia. More specifically, I usually average about $5-7 US per day.
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Total Transportation = $127 US
Museum entries (15) = $21 US
Tours/Daily needs/cocktails/etc = $68 US
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Additional Expenses
Unfortunately, $624 US total didn’t include several other expenses involved in visiting Cuba.
Flights = $63 US
Cuban Visas = $26
Fees for exchanging money = $37 US
Personal supplies I bought beforehand = $30 US
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Total additional expenses = $150 US
Grand Total for one month visit to Cuba
$624 + $150 US = $774 US
PLaya Ancon near Trinidad
notes on flight costs
I always include the costs of getting/to from a country in my total country expenses. In this case, I calculated my flights to/from Cuba differently than usual.
From Mexico City I was originally planning to fly to Florida. That would have cost me $200 US for the one-way flight. My total flight costs to fly first to Cuba and then on to Florida was $263 US ($161 MX to Havana / $102 Havana to Tampa).
So I subtracted the cost of visiting Cuba en route from the cost of flying to Florida directly. I looked at it as spending an extra $63 to visit Cuba on my way to the States.
If I hadn’t calculated it that way, I would have had to count $263 US additional into my expenses. And most people traveling to Cuba will have to do so.
Since Cuba is an island, visitors pretty much have to fly in & out. There are no cheap land borders to cross by bus or train, nor any ferries from neighboring countries.
It is possible to visit Cuba via a private yacht or cruise ship, but short of that, you basically have to fly. So that’s a fairly large expense that will significantly increase any visitor’s total costs to Cuba, particularly for budget travelers.
en route to Vinales mountains by bicycle
note on currency exchange rates
Another expense nobody can get around when visiting Cuba is the cost of exchanging money – aka, buying Cuban currency. Cuba’s two currencies are only exchanged inside Cuba, nowhere else. The Cuban government charges a 3% commission on all international currencies for the exchange. In addition, they charge a 10% fee on $US, making the total cost 13%.
I ended up spending $37 US just in commissions for exchanging about $750 US. That is outrageous! In all my 20 years of world travels, I’ve never thrown away nearly as much money just getting the local currency.
This is a significant expense that visitors have to include in their budget.
Following are more details about my costs for accommodation, food & drinks and transportation.
Panoramic view over Trinidad from my guest house rooftop
Accommodation
Budget accommodation in Cuba is very good value for money. For example:
In Havana I stayed at the wonderful, incredibly-well-located Hostel Mango for $8 per night in their 6-bed dorm. That included solid breakfasts. In total, I spent 13 nights out of 28 there!
Beyond Havana, I stayed at Vinales, Trinidad and Cienfuegos. At each place I paid $10 a night for a private room in a lovely Casa Particulare. All of my hosts were wonderful and their homes were situated in great locations.
In Vinales, my guest house was set on a hillside with phenomenal views of the limestone karst mountain range from a large tiled terrace.
In Trinidad, my small house had a rooftop terrace with sweeping views over the city and coast, complete with live Cuban music playing at a neighboring restaurant every afternoon & evening.
In Cienfuegos my room didn’t have any vistas, and I did have to share the room two nights with another female traveler, but the hosts were wonderful and their house was located right downtown, just a few blocks from the town’s pretty main plaza.
Every casa I stayed at was immaculately clean; had new furnishings, mattresses & linens in the rooms; offered equally-immaculate en-suite bathrooms; and were run by attentive, friendly & helpful hosts.
You can find $8-10 per night dorm beds in Havana at HostelsCentral. You can find $9-11 private rooms in casa particulares all over Cuba on AirBnB.
typical Cuban meal – beans & rice, pork and salad
Food & Drink
Breakfasts
I ate breakfast every morning at my casa particular. At Hostel Mango in Havana, breakfast was included in the rates, so that was a great money saver.
But at all of my other casas, I paid my hosts $3 for a home-cooked, hearty breakfast every morning. Although I think that’s quite expensive for breakfast, it was very easy, convenient and comfortable.
In Vinales and Trinidad I got to eat on the terrace with fantastic panoramic views. I also knew I was helping my hosts earn a decent income. For all those reasons, I decided to splurge on breakfasts.
But I easily could have spent just $1 for breakfast by buying groceries and preparing them myself. (see below)
Cuban pizzas
Lunches & dinners
Most of the time, I ate at local restaurants and ‘cafeterias’ where locals eat. Most were recommended by most hosts, others I found online. I paid in moneda national (Cuba’s second currency) at most of these places.
My meals cost $1-3 US. Most meals consisted of pork or chicken plus, rice, beans, fried yaro or yams, and a small salad. I also ate spaghetti and chop suey.
I also ate a few tourist restaurants that were recommended online. I generally paid $4 for these meals, but they were not very good. As a result, I didn’t eat at many of them! Food is much better at the local restaurants.
I also ate many snacks, fresh fruits & veggies and various drinks.
Fresh Fruits & Vegetables
I bought lots of fresh produce at local markets. I had to shop carefully as some produce was quite cheap, but other items were actually very expensive (like one small onion or tomato for 50 cents US!). Prices change a lot due to the amount available and the season. Obviously, seasonal fruits & veggies are the cheapest.
For instance, while I was there, avocados were in season. A large avocado cost 10 pesos MN / 40 cents US and they were sold all over the place.
I’m not going to list prices here since they change so much from month to month. But be assured that you can find some very inexpensive fruits & vegetables while you’re in Cuba. Meanwhile, here are typical prices on other food and drink items:
preparing pizza at a small pizza shop in Trinidad
Meals at local restaurants / cafeterias
spaghetti with cheese/ham – 25-40 pesos MN / $1-1.40 US
chicken or pork meals – 45-75 pesos MN / $1.75-3.00 US
Other foods & snacks
Fresh-baked roll at a bakery – 1-2 pesos MN / 5-7 cents US !
Fresh-baked pastries – 3-8 pesos MN / 8-25 cents US
Personal-size pizza – 10-15 pesos MN / 40-60 cents US !
Sandwich of ham/cheese/sausage – 10-15 pesos MN / 40-60 cents US !
Drinks
water – free! In Cuba, the tap water is potable. Most casas have a water filter.
Fresh-squeezed fruit juice at local shop – 3-5 pesos MN / 8-10 cents US !
Cuban espresso at local shop – 1-2 pesos MN / 5-7 cents US !
Espresso at a tourist restaurant – $1 CUC / $1.25 US
Can of Cuban coke/orange soda – 20-25 pesos / $0.80-1 US
Rum cocktails at a bar/restaurant – $1-4 CUC / $1.25-5 US
Bottle of Havana Club Rum 1 Liter – $4-5 CUC / $5-5.50 US
bottle of drinking water 1 Liter – 70 cents US
Cuban staff in a state shop in Trinidad
Cutting Costs
I was satisfied with my budget for Cuba. But if I’d wanted to, I could have easily cut costs on several items:
Food
As I detailed above, I paid $3 US for breakfast each morning, cooked by my hosts. I could have easily eaten breakfast for about $1 US if I’d bought some fruit, cheese, bread and ham and made it myself. That would have saved me about $30 US during the month.
Cuba’s wonderful vintage car taxis
Transportation
I took shared taxis overland for every trip I made in Cuba. It’s generally the same price to take a shared taxi or the fancy Cuban tourist buses, called Viazul. But the taxis are private, faster and more direct.
However, it’s possible to take the Cuban local overland buses to most destinations in the country. They are super cheap. Instead of $20-25 US for an overland shared taxi or Viazul bus, the regular Cuban buses cost about $1-5 US for the same trip.
I actually met several independent travelers who used them. The trade off is that using those buses takes a huge amount of time & hassle and the buses are often crazy crowded. Nor do they run very frequently.
I opted out of such hassles, preferring to pay for the huge convenience and comfort of direct, more upscale transportation. But shoe-string travelers could easily cut $100 or more off their budget by using local buses.
Cuban Visa
I actually had to buy TWO Cuban visas at the Mexican airport before I boarded my flight! That’s because when I filled out the first visa I bought, I made a mistake. So they made me buy another one!
So I actually paid $13 / 250 Mx pesos more than I should have for the visa.
Lesson – Be very, very careful when you fill out your Cuban visa!
gorgeous Vinales
Summary
That’s it for my budget in Cuba. In the end, I only spent a little more in Cuba than I did traveling around Mexico and the countries of Central America.
It’s quite easy to find very inexpensive accommodation, food & drinks. But overland transportation in Cuba is expensive, unless you use local Cuban buses, which are crowded and time-consuming.
When figuring out costs to visit Cuba, you must also take into account the cost of flying in/out of the island and to the price of exchanging Cuban currencies. Both of these will add a chunk to your expenses.
Next week I’ll be publishing an article detailing how to cut costs while traveling in Cuba. I have more than 20 tips for keeping expenses low in Cuba, so check out my article next week.
In the meantime, you might also like to read:
Preparing to Visit Cuba for Americans
Observations on the Cuban People
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Hi! I'm Lash, an American nomadic world traveler who's been traveling solo since 1998. I’m passionate about traveling the world nomadically and then sharing it all with you. I hope to inspire you to travel the world, to entertain you with tales from the road, and to help you reach your travel dreams. Welcome! 
