Get in
It may also be possible to get on a hotel transfer bus for about CUC 10, by negotiating with the driver.
If you are planning to continue to another town such as Matanzas or Havana by Viazul bus, you don't need to go to Varadero, because the bus stops at the airport after departing from Varadero and then continues to other destinations.
Get around
Many visitors do not stray far from their package tour hotel, which is a shame. Depending on how close to the town of Varadero your hotel is, many opportunities to explore either on foot or with a vehicle of some sort are present. Visitors staying at Varadero beach hotels (pretty much from the Internacional Hotel or past) end up walking the beach. Any trip to town will require a ride. Those staying in Vardero proper have many options on foot.
There is a double-decker open-on-top bus that runs on a regular schedule from the tip of the peninsula (up by the Barcelo Marina Hotel and Princessa del Mar) all the way into the town of Varadero, with stops at the International Centre (shopping mall--about 100 stores, restaurants), the open-air marketplace, and most major hotels. Look for the blue sign-posts to indicate stops, routing, and schedules.
All hotels will have a taxi stand. Fares are either metered or set by distance. Some hotels, mostly the better ones, have car rentals available right at the hotel. There are also several rental outlets in Varadero.
In town, there are motorized trikes with a round enclosure (think of a car-sized orange) that are available for hire, either for sightseeing or point-to-point travel.
There are horse-drawn caleches (carriages) available for hire. They are more prevalent in town, but any hotel concierge or front desk can arrange one upon request.
See
Do you dream of an unspoiled Cuba? A gracious Cuba of cane fields and friendly people. There is the Cuba world knows, but there is another Cuba that waits to be explored and seen. Visit for more photos, travel tips, and Cuban history as well as places to see.
Do
Eat
Many packages are "all-inclusive" at major resorts, especially those further up the peninsula. These cater primarily to North American tourists, who make up the bulk of visitors. Some of them do offer room/hotel packages (EP, or European Plan), but they are becoming harder to find. Most hotels past the golf course are all-inclusive by circumstance, as there are few nearby restaurants. There is a very good restaurant at the Marina, and several at the International Shopping Centre. The clubhouse at the Varadero Golf Course (this was the old Dupont Mansion) has an extensive menu and a lovely setting overlooking the ocean on one side, the golf course on the other.
In the town of Varadero, there is everything from open-air marketplace-type food stalls, to the local version of fastfood - Pollo Loco (pronounced Po-Yo Lo-Ko, or crazy chickens), hamburguesas con queso (cheeseburgers), sandwiches (surprisingly, pressed Cuban sandwiches are hard to find), the odd pizza joint, to restaurants serving sit-down dinners and lunches. Chicken, pork and fish are the most frequent items, but beef is not hard to find. Menus are usually posted outside.
Visitors staying at any of the hotels in town have many choices. Many of these hotels are older and nowhere near as fancy as the beach resorts, and they cater to a different clientelle.
Stay safe
Cuba in general, and Varadero in particular, are very safe places for travellers. Varadero is pretty strictly a tourist enclave, with limited access for locals, and routinely policed. This is not the real Cuba, but an attempt to gain hard currency by selling the very beautiful white sand beaches in a controlled tourist environment.
Elsewhere in Cuba is much different. It is, however, arguably the safest country in the Caribean for travelers, including single females. People are generally genuinely friendly and curious, often speak a minimum of English , and want to talk to visitors, not yet having been overwhelmed and burnt out by hordes of obnoxious tourists.
Use your common sense, don't be stupid, and you'll be fine.
Get out
There is CUC 25 departure tax in the airport. Also possible to pay in EUR.
Varadero is a resort town in the province of Matanzas, Cuba, and one of the largest resorts in the Caribbean. Varadero is also called Playa Azul, meaning "blue beach" in Spanish.
Geography
It is situated on the Hicacos Peninsula, some 140 km east of Havana, at the eastern end of the Via Blanca highway. The peninsula is only 1.2 km wide at its widest point and is separated from the island of Cuba by the Kawama Channel. This spit of land extends from the mainland in a northeasterly direction and its tip, Punta Hicacos, is the northernmost point of the island of Cuba. At the northeastern end of the peninsula there is a nature reserve with virgin forests and beaches.
History
The first mention of Varadero was in 1555. However, the foundation date of Varadero as city was only on December 5, 1887, when ten families settled in the area that now occupies the famous resort.
Tourism
Varadero is first and foremost a tourist resort, boasting more than 20 km of white sandy beaches. Tourism grew as Irénée du Pont Nemours, an American millionaire, in the early 1930s built his estate on the peninsula. But the first tourists visited Varadero as early as the 1870s, and for years it was considered an elite resort. However, hotels began to appear in the 1950s, and after the Cuban Revolution in 1959, the beach's many mansions were expropriated from their rich owners. Many famous and infamous people have stayed in Varadero, like Mafia boss Al Capone.
Its most valued resource, the beach, has added natural attractions such as the caves and rasp, a rosary of virgin keys easily accessed, the wealths of a natural typical scenery that conserves in the most oriental portion of the territory, and others of cultural, historical and environmental character narrowly related to the cities of Matanzas and Cárdenas, the Peninsula of Zapata and the resort of San Miguel de los Baños. The fact that the city also counts with the Convention Center Plaza America, reinforces its potentiality as destination for congresses and incentives tourism. Varadero, which is a free port, possesses good conditions for the scuba diving, deep-sea fishing, yachtism and as well other kinds of nautical activity.
Since the early 1990s, most of the peninsula has been developed for tourism, with many of the hotels being operated or co-owned by foreign businesses.
As of 2006, Varadero is primarily visited by European and Canadian tourists. The number of American tourists visiting Varadero, although increasing, has been limited because of the restrictions that prevent U.S. citizens from flying directly from the U.S. to Cuba.
Unlike many other Cuban tourism centers, Cubans can visit Varadero (though their use of some of the hotels is restricted). The town has a population of 8,000 inhabitants.
Juan Gualberto Gomez Airport, situated west of the peninsula, is Varadero's airport. It is the second-most-important airport of the island after José Martí Airport in Havana, and serves international and domestic flights.
Photo gallery
Image:Cuba_Varadero.jpg|Town of Varadero
Image:Varadero-Park.jpg|City Park in Varadero
Image:Varaderobeach aerial.JPG|Varadero from the air
Image:Varadero beach.jpg| Varadero Beach
External links
