Cuba

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View books by Conner Gorry.

My advice - use another guide book - Rated
I'm a big fan of lonely planet guides and use them religiously whenever I travel outside Europe. Great books. Unfortunately, this isn't the case with the Lonely Planet Cuba by Connor Gorry, and it’s the worst I’ve used.

My advice if you intend to travel round Cuba, and you're the kind of person who finds guide books indispensable, is to buy another guide book.

I travelled round Cuba in December 2005 / January 2006 and bought the Lonely Planet Cuba before I went. On reading the book prior to the trip, I found the author to be really contradictory. In the intro, she raved about Cuba, and all the fabulous places to go, but then she didn't have a good word to say about the same places later in the book! In fact, the author seemed to always focus on the negatives, rather than the positives. Or, if there was a compliment, then this would always be followed by a negative. This was quite frustrating especially when trying to plan my route.

Also, there are quite a few mistakes throughout the book - especially where buses are concerned which is quite critical in trying to get round the country! Distances, costs, bus times, and frequency are often incorrect, so it’s definitely worth checking on the Viazul web site.

Then there was the ferry! According to the book, there is only one boat crossing a day from the mainland to Cayo Levisa - at 9am I think? After a few days spent in Maria la Gorda (fab!), I'd already booked a beach bungalow on the lovely cayo levisa, so, using the book, I basically got a taxi at 4am to get to the dock in time. After a mental journey, I got there and there's a boat which will take you across for 10CUC's per person anytime, so wasn’t best pleased!

The maps are terrible! I got lost trying to find a restaurant in Trinidad and ended up wandering around for an hour! I never did find it! The Havana maps are poor too.

Disregard anything to do with costs in the book - despite the fact they're in dollars - they're all way out and there’s one price for locals and a much higher one for tourists!

I was planning on visiting the Che Memorial in Santa Clara, but got chatting to someone who got a taxi all the way there from Cienfuegos, and it was basically closed when they got there! There was nothing else to do there apparently, so best to make sure it’s open before you go. No mention of opening times in the book.

Food next! The book is generally pretty scathing about the food in Cuba, but I rarely had a bad meal – and the seafood was superb in places. The worst meal I had was at one of the Chinese restaurants the book recommended in Havana – we’re talking inedible! Avoid it!
Be wary of the opening times in the book too – especially in Havana. I went to the Havana Club shop / museum place, and the opening times were completely different to the book. Also, the open-air market was open on each of the 4 days I spent in Havana, whereas the book stated it was only there twice a week I think.

After 3 weeks of using this guide book, you’ll be cursing the author and that eye patch will really wind you up!!

Hopelessly out of date - Rated
Obviously things can change quickly, but this book (3rd edition) is obsolete. Prices are all listed in dollars, which are now useless in Cuba as you have to use the Cuban Equivalent Peso. The cubans have taken this to push prices through the roof, so you'll be paying extortionate amounts of money for things the Lonely Planet suggests are very cheap. Cuba is a hopless ripoff at the moment as a result, and you'll find yourself paying european prices for the most basic and sullen of service.

Also, I found some of the accomadation listed is actually for Cubans only, and tourists are not allowed to stay. Very very annoying when you find yourself forced to sleep in your car in the middle of nowhere.

not as helpful as I'd hoped - Rated
This edition of 'Cuba' was helpful but not fantastically so. On the good side, there is helpful information about travelling in Cuba (as one would hope there to be). However, on the negative side I felt that the writer made too many value judgements of her own that readers might not agree with (I certainly disagreed with a few). It is also not that easy to follow, partly because the writing is quite small. I have always gone for Lonely Planet guides, after this one I nearly changed my mind. Not bad, but Gorry's writing style annoyed me.

Comprehensive and detailed guide for the first time visitor. - Rated
If you are heading to Cuba for the first time then this book is indespensible. The latest edition (July 2000) has excellent up-to-date information to help you through the Cuban experience. There is a lot to understand about Cuba's rich mix of cultural diversity and turbulent history. This book acts as the perfect guide from the places to see through to the do's and don'ts.