This Cuba budget calculator will allow you to approach your real budget as closely as possible by using the many options provided. I tried to make it as flexible as possible by providing many options. All costs are based on what I spent during my trip to Cuba in October 2018.
Before diving into your own budget, I will first give some general information about how much I spent as a solo backpacker travelling through Cuba. If you are travelling with a group: please use the button below to transform the information on the page to be relevant for group travel. I have tried to sensibly recalculate the costs depending on the amount of people. For example: if you go to dinner with 2 people you will probably spend about double of what you would spend alone. When you take a bus or taxi collectivo the price per person will not change. However when you rent a room in a casa particular (e.g. 20 CUC) this often has at least a double bed, yet the price for the room stays the same, so you would pay only 10 CUC pp. I have made sure these differences are taken into account to recalculate the final price per person
With how many people will you travel?
Average costs in Cuba
The tables below should give you a first idea on how much you will spend travelling through Cuba. These overviews are based on my exact spending when travelling for 18 days through this wonderful country in October 2018. This means I went in low season, since high season starts around mid-November, when the hurricane season officially ends.
Important note: CUC (Cuban Convertible Peso) and CUP (Cuban Peso) are two currencies used alongside each other. The CUC is the tourist currency and is linked to the dollar, so $1 is always 1 CUC. The CUP is the local currency (Cubans get paid in CUP) and 1 CUC is about 25 CUP.
Cost per day in each place I visited
The table below is based on what I spent in following categories: food, drinks, transport, entrance, lodging, internet and entertainment. It does not include the cost to get to and from the cities or extras like souvenirs, laundry or diving/snorkeling. You will have the option to add that below. Click on the name of the location to see my full experience for each place
| Place | Cost/Day (and Night) (CUC) |
|---|---|
| Havana | 66 |
| Viñales | 76 |
| Cienfuegos | 33 |
| Playa Giron | 54 |
| Trinidad | 61 |
| Santiago de Cuba | 45 |
| Varadero | 55 |
This means that you spend an average of 56 CUC each day!
Cost per day per category
The table below is based on my Cuba budget for each category per day, again not including cost to get to and from a place.
Food: includes any meal in a restaurant, on the street or supermarket including the drink that went with the meal and any water.
Drinks: include all alcoholic/non-alcoholic drinks bought separately in bars or clubs except water.
Transport: includes everything to get around in a place (taxis, bicitaxis, motos, bus,…). It does not include transport from one place to the other.
Entrance: includes any fees to get into a historical or natural site or a museum.
Lodging: includes hotel, hostels and casas particulares.
Internet: includes the fees at casas and the Etecsa WiFi access cards.
Entertainment: includes the entrance fees to clubs and the tips for performers.
Other includes visa costs and costs like charges to withdraw money.
| Categories | Per Day (CUC) |
|---|---|
| Food | 16 |
| Drinks | 16 |
| Transport | 6 |
| Entrance | 4 |
| Lodging | 15 |
| Internet | 1 |
| Entertainment | 1 |
| Other | 2 |
Let’s calculate what you have to save up!
You can first fill in how many days you will spend in each destination. Once you decided to spend at least one day in a destination, you can pick what you want to visit there and it will add the admission price and transport if needed. Next you can choose if you want to go dive and how many times. I only included options I actually did myself or know the price of for sure.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Although these prices are based on my actual budget, the result will still be an approximation. Prices will always depend on your bargaining skills. However this is about as close as you will get to the actual cost of your trip.
Where will you go?
| Place | Days you will spend there | Nights you will spend there |
|---|---|---|
| Havana | ||
| Viñales | ||
| Cienfuegos | ||
| Playa Giron | ||
| Trinidad | ||
| Santiago de Cuba | ||
| Varadero |
Transport
Below you can select what routes you will take and it will include this in the costs. Since both collectivos and buses are priced per person the prices are not influenced by the amount of people you are travelling with. Keep in mind collectivos are often more expensive, however they provide a door to door service. The Viazul Buses will require you to still get to and from the bus station. The cost of doing this will potentially add up to the price of a collectivo.
| From | To | Method | Price (CUC) | Add/Remove |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Add This Route |
Diving
I would like to do some diving:
Total Budget
Based on the data you filled in this would be your total budget:
Click the button to copy to clipboard!