New Habana Tourist Buses

[cubano]

Since a few days new double-decker (open-top) tourist buses circulate in Habana :

Oh, La Habana entera!

For 5 CUC you can get on and off these buses as many times as you want, they have 63 stops in total.

3 Main routes :

* T1 Alameda de Paula (Railway Station) to Plaza de la Revolucion

* T2 Plaza de la Revolucion to Marina Hemingway

* T3 Alameda de Paula upto Playas del Este






Courtesy of Marco http://cubanite.blog.dada.net/
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"Like stones rolling down hills, fair ideas reach their objectives despite all obstacles and barriers. It may be possible to speed or hinder them, but impossible to stop them." - José Martí

[jack]

Alameda de Paula Promenade goes from the Train Station to the foot of Santa Clara street which is very close to where the ferry to Casablanca departs from.


First city promenade finished in 1776. It was a social and cultural place in the city. Built by Antonio Fernández de Trevejos following instructions from the Marquis de la Torre, our first urban developer. It was named Paula because it was rear the old Hospital of San Francisco de Paula. In 1841, Captain General Leopoldo O’Donnell erected on it a fountain n honor of the Spanish Armada. This provided the promenade its final look.
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[siemprepatty]

This is the first I have heard about this bus. They have them in most major cities, but must admit I am very surprised to see them in Havana. How long have they had them there? Cuba IS changing....

[cubano]

Apparently only since a few weeks - Marco was also surprised to see them.
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"Like stones rolling down hills, fair ideas reach their objectives despite all obstacles and barriers. It may be possible to speed or hinder them, but impossible to stop them." - José Martí

[dipchick]

I need to head into town, I guess! I haven't seen these, either.
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[siemprepatty]

Do you know, Cubano, if there is only one of these so far? Or how many? 5 CUC's is really cheap compared to the (average?) $30 +plus you pay in Europe, so maybe just a trial bus/test fare?

[jack]

I remember the first year they had one in Varadero, was $1 for on off all day, the next year it was $2 and the last time I was there 4 years ago it was $5.

$5 as a fair price for a bus going from Alameda de Paula to Plaza de la Revolution and $5 from there to Marina Hemingway if it's along the Maleccon

It's a
$5 cab ride between.

$5 to Playas del este is excellent, cab one way was $20 3 yrs ago.
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[cubano]

It is 5 CUC for either of the 3 routes. Maybe we should test them in September ?

Playas del Este is very cheap, as Jack says the average is about 20 CUC one way by taxi. But less than one CUC in one of the local buses (provided yu have the patience to wait for one !
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"Like stones rolling down hills, fair ideas reach their objectives despite all obstacles and barriers. It may be possible to speed or hinder them, but impossible to stop them." - José Martí

[darkhorse]

[jack]

Will be interesting to see what the actual routes are
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Let the adventure continue

[radar]

Yes it's true. Ms.Radar and I rode it this week.
This is one of the great tour deals in Havana.
There are at least two double deckers running the La Habana route.
Service from Parque Central begins at 09:10.



The Santa Maria/ Playa del Este and Marina Hemingway routes are service by smaller air conditioned vehicles.

While the Santa Maria bus can be caught at Parque Central the connection for the Marina Hemingway route is made at the Plaza de Revolucion.


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[radar]

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We are realists, we dream the impossible.
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[jack]

Hey Radar, you rock amigo
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[First Light]

[havanajournal]

Wow!

Great information and great photos.

Thanks.
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Read. Discover. Understand. http://HavanaJournal.com

[siemprepatty]

You could get a really nice tan riding up on top in the warm September sunshine.

Radar, you're a gem. You even got the timetables in your photos just as we ordered! Thanks.

[darkhorse]

cheers Radar! chapeau!

[radar]

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[darkhorse]

good view! looks fun . do we need the hats and shades?

[cubano]

Tour buses a hit in Cuba
Javier Galeano, Associated Press
Andrea Rodriguez, Associated Press



A double-decker passes the Malecon. The 12-bus fleet offers some of the few direct rides from downtown to public beaches east of Havana.
Not only are they popular with visitors, Havana residents have begun to hop aboard just to get around the city.

HAVANA -- Red and blue double-decker buses have begun bouncing down the potholed streets of Cuba's capital on sightseeing tours inspired by those in tourist spots such as London and Mexico City.

But instead of Piccadilly Circus, this ride takes visitors past crumbling buildings frozen in the 1950s and lets them gawk at billboards featuring images of Fidel Castro and Ernesto "Che" Guevara that loom over Revolution Plaza. Stops include the Havana Hilton -- which Castro seized and renamed the Havana Libre, or Free Havana hotel, when he took power in 1959 -- and Ernest Hemingway's favorite watering hole, El Floridita.

Fitting on an island plagued by woeful public transportation, the tourist fleet features just 12 buses, three of them double-decker. Still, Havana residents have begun to hop aboard just to get from place to place, since the tour buses offer some of the few direct rides from downtown to public beaches east of Havana.

"It gives you a good overview of the city," Argentine tourists Karina and Carlos Oxandaburu said almost in unison aboard the upper deck of a bus on a recent Saturday.

They were looking forward to touring Revolution Plaza, a sprawling square of concrete where Fidel Castro and his brother Raul have offices. The towering Guevara sculpture is affixed to an Interior Ministry building nearby.

Stenciled with the English phrase "Hop on! Hop off!" the tour buses cover 95 miles along three routes. One leaves the plaza and heads to the historic district, stopping at La Floridita and the nearby Capitolio, a replica of the U.S. Capitol that's slightly taller than Washington's version.

Another route goes down the beach-front Malecon boulevard. The third leaves from Central Park and ends at Santa Maria, a beach east of the city.

All three double-decker buses ply the Malecon. Two were special orders from China and the other is on loan from the beach resort of Varadero, 90 miles east of Havana.

Gretel Gomez, commercial director for the state-run concern that handles transportation for tourists, said officials plan to add more double-decker buses by the end of the year.

More than 2 million visitors come to Cuba a year, even though Washington's trade embargo prohibits visits by U.S. tourists.

Gomez said more than 20,000 people have ridden tour buses since they began running May 6.

She said officials first proposed double-decker buses for Havana in 2002, but tabled the plan because public transportation was so spotty that snazzy tour buses might have been seen as an insult by Cubans.

Problems persist, but the government is spending $2 billion to import 3,000 accordion-style buses from China.

"We had to wait until transportation got better," Gomez said.

Tour bus tickets cost 5 convertible pesos, about $6, and allow riders to get on and off at 44 stops. That's a lot of ground for not a lot of money, so much so that some Cubans who live east of the city have begun climbing aboard as if they were normal buses.

"Every day it's more Cubans," tour bus driver Ernesto Gay said.

Still, almost everyone in Cuba works for the government, and the average state salary is $19.50 per month, meaning the trip is a luxury for many.

"It's ideal for getting to know the city," said Edelma Rodriguez, 54, who was riding a tour bus during a recent visit from her home in Matanzas province. "It's a little expensive for Cubans, but once a year you can afford to have this kind of fun."
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"Like stones rolling down hills, fair ideas reach their objectives despite all obstacles and barriers. It may be possible to speed or hinder them, but impossible to stop them." - José Martí

[jack]

[radar]

The building in the left of the photo (with the points) above is Lava Dia.
They have great cheesecake.
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[First Light]

[radar]

First Light .... should we find ourselves in Havana at the same time Lava Dia is my treat.
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We are realists, we dream the impossible.
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[felo]

i took a city tour in vintage cars from the 50s and was a wonderful experience, i book the tour at nh parque central, i was also thinking to take the double decker bus but finally decided to take the old car and i was not desappointed, beautiful place despite the years of despair
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