This is not Asia! Food prices in Cuba are quite high, almost European. Find out how to save money and where to eat tasty and inexpensive.
Exchange rate: 1 CUC = 1 US dollar = 25 CUP.
Take a look: How to go to Cuba now - there you will find the latest tourist reviews, conditions of entry in case of a pandemic, a list of available resorts and prices for tours. See also the list of open countries.
Shocking prices in Cuba
Cuba is a country of contrasts: everything here is either expensive or very cheap. This applies not only to food prices, but also to other goods and services. See for yourself!
What's cheap in Cuba:
- 1.2₽ - a ticket on any city bus.
- 2.5 rubles - a cup of natural coffee in a cafe for locals.
- 5 rubles - ice cream cone.
- 5 rubles - lemonade, a glass of juice from a bag or a non-alcoholic cocktail Pina Colada.
- 5 rubles - toilet.
- 20-25₽ - a sandwich with sausage and cheese.
- 7.5-25 rubles - entrance to the museum for locals, and for foreigners it will be 25 times more expensive.
- 50 RUB - travel in an intercity bus for locals (100 km).
- 100-160 rubles - alcoholic cocktail.
- 530₽ - lobster with a side dish in a cafe, a very humane price for such an exotic meal.
- 1200 RUB - apartment in the center of Havana per day.
What is expensive in Cuba:
- 63-100 rubles - one and a half lakes of water.
- 80 rubles - a can of beer 0.35 l.
- 80 rubles - a pack of regular tea bags.
- 190-310₽ - coconut on the beach.
- 310 rubles - a modest breakfast in any guest house.
- 1600 RUB - bus ticket for 300 km.
- 3000 RUB - night in a budget guest house in the resort of Varadero.
Find out 18 reasons to love Cuba.
Level.Travel and Travelata - will find tours to Cuba at the best price. I use these services to buy vouchers. See also my tips on how to buy cheaper tours.
Airbnb - a large selection of apartments and rooms in guest houses, choose the best accommodation according to reviews. I have booked all accommodation in Cuba there.
Shops in Cuba
Prepare for the fact that you will not be able to buy anything in stores in Cuba - there are scarcity and empty shelves. Therefore, you will have to eat exclusively in a cafe, which increases spending on vacation.
Bottled water is sold to tourists at an inflated price. In shops in tourist places, they do not specifically write a price tag for water, because for locals and visitors the price is different. They ask for $ 1.5 for a poltorashku or $ 1 for a half liter.
Fruit selection also meager: except for bananas and papaya, there is nothing to buy.
Fast food and cafes for locals
Cubans eat poorly. This is due to the shortage of goods, the blockade, and low productivity in agriculture.
The most popular dish among Cubans is sandwiches... A large loaf of cheese and sausage is sold everywhere and is very cheap - less than half a dollar. But the quality of the products is low, such a sandwich looks unappetizing, it tastes so-so too.
The second line in the popularity rating is occupied by small pizzas, similar to those sold at bus stations or student canteens in Russia. The price is also about half a dollar.
Of course, such snacks are far from the norms of a healthy diet. I guess these sandwiches, pizza, and indeed the bread, which is the basis of food in Cuba, explains why many Cubans have a bad figure.
In addition to stalls with sandwiches, Cuba has a few canteens and cafes for locals... The settlement currency in these establishments is the national peso, the prices are reasonable, but still higher than in Russian canteens. I can recommend the cafeteria Don pepe in Central Havana (23.130564, -82.379551) - food prices are low, the food is delicious, the staff is polite and speaks a little English.
Cafe for tourists
There are also catering establishments with prices in cookies; not only tourists, but also the Cubans themselves go there. For most Cubans, going to such an establishment is a small celebration. They often come with the whole family. The choice of dishes in such places is wider; there are almost always cocktails and seafood on the menu.
Cubans eat simply, the basis of their diet is just a few products: bread, rice, beans, vegetables, meat and fodder unsweetened bananas, replacing potatoes. So be prepared that almost all dishes will be based on rice, some vegetables and feed bananas, and only meat will be different.
The average bill for two of us was always in the region of $ 12-23, including cocktails and tips.
Breakfast
Breakfasts throughout Cuba are of only one type and for the same price! Amazing loyalty to tradition. They cost $ 5 per person, you can order at a guest house or in a cafe for tourists. The composition is unchanged: coffee, scrambled eggs or scrambled eggs, fruits, bread, butter. It makes no sense to search for cheaper - you won't find it. I know of one exception though: the aforementioned cafe Don pepe, where we had breakfast on 64 pesos national, that is, $ 2.5 for two. But this cafe is for locals and it's quite difficult to find one.
In Varadero: La Vicaria (23.147173, -81.265766).
