Our route around Cuba was guided mainly by a book by Wally and Barbara Smith called Bicycling Cuba. Wally and Barbara have cycled in Cuba many times and have written an excellent guide.
We chose to combine two of their suggested tours. Starting from Holguin we took on their Far East Tour, a 561 km route which ended in Santiago de Cuba. From there we picked up their South Coast Loop, choosing to travel round it in reverse from the way detailed in the book. Instead of completing the South Coast Loop, once we reached Bayamo, we headed back to Holguin.
How We Found Cycling in Cuba
We loved it! That is no overstatement. The roads were rough but very light on traffic. The locals were, generally, friendly and the sights were amazing.
This was our first cycle tour holiday and it was certainly not the easiest we could have picked. There were a lot of tough climbs on unpaved surface and the heat was pretty relentless. I wouldn’t have changed any of that.
Altogether we had thirteen days of cycling, covering just over 1000 kms. We had rest days too, to explore the areas more, and were in Cuba for around three weeks.
The Route Day by Day
Below is a break down of our route, day by day. Click on any section to be taken to the blog entry for that day. Blog entries contain more detail about the route as well as information about our accomodation:
Holguin to Guardalavca, 57kms – Guardalavaca to Nicaro, 104kms – Nicaro to Moa, 83kms – Moa to Baracoa, 76.5kms – Baracoa to Yacabo Abajo, 76kms – Yacabo Abajo to Guantanamo, 78kms – Guantanamo to Santiago de Cuba, 83kms – Santiago de Cuba to Chivirico, 76kms – Chivirico to Marea del Portillo, 99kms – Marea del Portillo to Niquero, 56.5kms – Niquero to Manzanillo, 73kms – Manzanillo to Bayamo, 66.5kms – Bayamo to Holguin, 75kms
