- Sky, plane, new year
- How they meet
- The cultural program
- New life in the new year
When there is no trace of a summer vacation, even in the form of a sunburn, and the calendar more and more clearly reminds of the onset of deputies, the soul begins to ask for a holiday, warmth and good mood. The idea of celebrating the New Year in Cuba may seem too exotic, but compatriots are increasingly choosing tours to Liberty Island as a Christmas gift for themselves and their loved ones.
Cuba welcomes guests with pleasant weather and warm sea at the height of winter. There is no intense heat, the humidity is low and you can sunbathe and swim in the New Year holidays with great comfort and pleasure.
Sky, plane, new year
Traditionally, winter holidays become a reason for raising prices for all airlines, without exception. You can buy tickets for a reasonable price only with early booking. For example, if you ask specialized sites about tickets to Cuba for the New Year in advance (for example, in April), the picture will look something like this:
- Direct flights to Havana from Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport are operated by Aeroflot daily. The cost of a regular round trip flight will be about 680 euros, and passengers will have to spend 13 hours one way and 11 hours on the way back.
- Booking in advance will allow you to purchase connecting tickets even cheaper. Air France and KLM offer a variety of in-house travel options with connections in Paris and Amsterdam, respectively. The cost of such a ticket starts from 640 euros round trip. You will have to spend 14 to 15 hours in the sky. Both the French and the boards of the Dutch airlines start to Havana from Sheremetyevo.
- The cheapest way to get from Moscow to the famous resort of Varadero on Svoboda Island will be provided by connecting flights of S7 and Air Berlin. On the way, you will have to make two transfers - in Munich and Dusseldorf - and spend a total of 15 hours in the sky. The cost of pleasure with early booking will be approximately 1000 euros in both directions. Aircrafts S7 are taking off from Domodedovo.
Traditionally, tickets to the Varadero resort are more expensive than to Havana, and to reduce the cost of traveling to Cuba for the New Year, consider all options for flights between the capitals. Cuban taxi drivers (from 100 euros from the airport and from 70 euros from the center of Havana) and tourist bus guides who meet package tourists at the exit of the terminal and are ready to earn some money on the transfer of independent travelers to Varadero (from 15 euros per person, if you're lucky).
If you decide to fly to Cuba in winter, start planning your trip in advance. Booking tickets in advance will help to significantly reduce costs, and on New Year's holidays, this savings can reach 50% or even 80%. Electronic subscription on the official websites of carriers will help you to keep track of the prices for air tickets and not to miss special offers.
How New Year is celebrated in Cuba
Cubans are a cheerful and fiery people, and any holiday on Liberty Island turns into an additional reason to meet friends and relatives, set the table and spend time in a pleasant company. The traditions of celebrating the new year came to Cuba from Spain, where it is customary to perform several special rituals, starting on the evening of December 31st.
First of all, at nightfall, Cuban housewives fill all empty containers in the house with water. During the striking of the clock, it is customary to eat grapes, only a dozen - according to the number of strokes. After the chime dies down, the Cubans begin to throw out all the water they had collected the day before through the windows. This custom symbolizes cleansing and getting rid of the troubles and problems that accompanied the family or person in the past year. In the year the new inhabitants of the island of Liberty enter joyful and full of hopes for the best.
Occasional tourists who look into the streets of Old Havana have to fall under the streams of poured water, but it even happens on a pleasantly warm Cuban night.
The Cuban hostess's New Year's table is replete with national dishes. They prepare for the holiday in advance, stock up on particularly scarce products and make up the menu. Usually on the tables flaunts a fried pig, a dish of stewed with spices black beans, mashed potatoes from a special variety of bananas with garlic and butter and, of course, rum. Cuban rum is the most favorite means of communication among both Cubans and guests of the country. Numerous cocktails are made on the basis of white, including the famous mojito. Dark rum is often consumed neat or on ice.
Top 10 Cuban Must-Try Dishes
The cultural program
But it is not only the feast alone that the Cubans are alive on New Year's Eve. Usually, after a hearty dinner, they go out into the streets and arrange festivities in the streets and squares of the capital and other cities. In Havana, the Malecon becomes the center of such events. The famous promenade stretches along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean for almost seven kilometers, and on New Year's Eve, each section of it becomes an impromptu stage for the performance of street musicians, dancers and just everyone who wants to have fun.
Top 10 attractions in Havana
Useful information for Russian tourists in Havana:
- If you have planned a visit to a nightclub, restaurant or discotheque, get ready for the fact that everything will be busy on New Year's Eve. It is advisable to book places and tables in advance - a month or even two before the holidays.
- The cost of shows in nightclubs starts from 50 euros without dinner and from 75 euros if drinks and snacks are included in the ticket.
- Tourists from Russia on New Year's Eve usually gather at the place where Malecon intersects with Paseo Boulevard opposite the Melia Coiba and Riviera hotels.
Be sure to take care of transport if you plan to visit some club or place in the city remote from your hotel. On New Year's Eve, finding a taxi in Havana is almost impossible, and public transport does not work. It is best to agree with a taxi driver or a guide about delivery in advance, but the price of the service can be significantly higher than usual.
New life in the new year
It was on January 1, 1959, that Cuban rebels led by Fidel entered Santiago de Cuba, and therefore the first day of each new year was proclaimed on the island of Liberty the "Triumph of the Revolution" holiday. Together with local residents, tourists can take part in celebrations taking place throughout the country. At 10 o'clock in the morning on Revolution Square in Havana, a festive meeting begins, smoothly turning into mass festivities with dances and songs.
All prices in the material are approximate. Follow the up-to-date information on the official websites of carriers and service providers.
