cardenas city

This small colonial town, about half an hour's drive from Varadero, is off the beaten track and completely lost in time. If you'd like to see Cuba the way it really is, spend an afternoon in Cardenas: tricycles, horse-drawn buggies, no tourists.

Cardenas city is so relaxing and peaceful.You are close to parks and restaurants. To go to places you can rent scooters and cars. There's carriages with horses and taxis that are bicycles and motorcycle.

Went on a day trip with Ramiro Tours ramirorsigler@gmail.com . Drove through Cardenas thought it would be a great place for dinner .Went back next day to La Norte with with my wife .We used Ramiro tours again just as much as a cab but you get someone who speaks English and is very knowledgeable of Cuba. She loved the lobster and crab I loved the chicken wraps and spicey beans .Ramiro did it again another great time out.

I have been travelling to Cuba for a while now, as well I married a beautiful Cuban Lady ( she is on her way to Canada) until we finish all the paper work I am back and forth. We have stayed at a number of the resorts there but until you experience the real Cuban life you have not really been to Cuba.I love it, the food is amazing, and once you are part of the family you are no longer el turista, my wife and I plan on seeing more of Cuba, eg: Santiago.We brought in Christmas and new years together, which is celebrated on Dec 31st.buen dia, hasta pronto....

In the late 19th century and early 20th Century, Cárdenas was one of the main sugar-exporting towns of Cuba.The city is special because it is not being laid out in the traditional central-plaza Spanish custom, but rather, inspired on a North American grid pattern, modeled on the city of Charleston, USA.There are almost zero tourists and this town still remained pure cuban until today.You can see quite a lot of horse-drawn small open carriages which allow you to do a unique city tour with them.The "clack-clack" sound of their horsehoes can be heard allover the town.I recommend going to the old port where there is also the old train station with an incredible atmosphere. -The completion of the railroad in 1841 led to further development of Cardenas but today train-services are only very rare.There you can still see a kind of old touch of "glamour" which must have existed 100 years ago at the deteriorated 4-lane boulevard going to the port.But unfortunately as so many locations in Cuba it is terribly exposed to decay - on the other side this gives it very special dire touch which you cannot find elsewhere outside Cuba (if you like that)You will see some defunct rum factories etc. which are now in ruins.To say in short: Cardenas is not a town for the average tourist, but if you are into experiencing that old (decayed) Cuba I can recommend it.

My wife and I booked the “Sugar Tour” excursion through our Sunwing agents at Memories Resort. It’s a half-day tour and cost us about $48 Canadian each. We were able to pay with our Mastercard, which I prefer to do for such outings. We were picked up from the hotel at about 8:20 and returned by about 2:00. The tour didn’t include a lunch, so we packed some snacks. It includes a visit to a sugar cane field and a demonstration of how the cane used to be cut by hand. Then there was a tour of a former sugar processing plant. Many sugar plants were shut down after the breakdown of the Soviet Union, which used to help support the Cuban economy. This one has been turned into a museum for tourists. It housed about 20 old steam trains that were once used to haul the cut sugar cane and the finished sugar. It was like a scene from Thomas the Tank Engine. Guides gave a good explanation of the workings of the plant and made it clear how grueling it was to work in such conditions. After the factory tour we had a chance to sample freshly squeezed sugar cane juice. Everyone received 2 free bottles of rum as a souvenir! Then we boarded one of the old steam trains for a ride to the station where our tour buses waited. We drove through the town of Cardenas and visited a small museum in the centre of the town. Cardenas was really interesting, horse carts and bicycles predominate on the streets, far outnumbering cars and trucks. Our tour guide for the day, Dee, was great, she was very knowledgeable and kept us well entertained. We had a great time and I highly recommend this excursion.

Most employees who work in hôtels in Varadero live in Cardenas located about 20 km from Varadero. Worth a visit especially to admire the architecture of the lovely houses.

What a great little place to visit, good places to eat, small and easy to get around, locals are helpful, felt very safe even at night.

You just have to make a stop at Cardenas sugar cane plant and take a ride on the steam train just fantastic, they also provide lunch by the ocean at a restaurant beautiful view of the ocean and varadero in the background. Cardenas is also a venetian city and beautiful building to look at.

The tour we took, through Transat, gave us a much clearer picture of how the average Cuban lives, plus two exceptional attractions - the Sugar Factory, and Cardenas Museum. A superb lunch, at El Mirador de Playa Largo was the topper to this great tour!

More horse and buggies than cars - cobblestone streets - very interesting place to see. Most of the workers in Varadero live in this city that is 40 minutes drive from varadero. We spent a whole day there and was never bored and barely saw any of it. We took a horse and carrige around center of town for 40 minutes and it cost $1 CUC. Amazing - prices are so much cheaper the further in land you go from varadero. We also ate at the #1 Gourmet Restaurant in all of Cuba - Don Qko - amazing food, 3 course meals, dessert and multiple drinks for 13 of us cost a total of $100. Highly recommend taking a self guided tour of this place for a $60 cab ride return.

Cardenas is only 12km from Varadero. We had a great time with an English speaking, private tour guide. Roly hired our "old" car and driver for us and we were picked up at the front door of our hotel. Since Roly lives in Cardenas, we experienced local life: we rode the horse and buggy, walked the streets, and ate a local Cuban meal. The half-day trip was informative and fun, especially our stop for refreshments at Studio 55. The locals are very proud of this Prime city of Cuba. Among these "firsts" were: the first time the Cuban flag was raised, first monument to Christopher Columbus and first public electricity service. In fact, they have a list of 72 items in which the city was the leader.Being a very flat land you will find lots of the locals riding bicycles, and horse and buggies. Attractions: Crowded streets, local markets, museums (first of Cuba), handcrafts and unbelievable Paladares (private restaurants) with good service and food for a very reasonable price. I recommend "El Ranchón” restaurant with very typical Cuban food and environment.If you go on Facebook, look up Havana Memories and you will see our friend there. We've been to Cuba 7 times and we call our friend for private tours every trip. Cuba is a beautiful country.

Город достаточно полно отражает реальную, чуть удаленную от туристов, жизнь кубинцев. Узкие улочки, заполненные конными повозками и велосипедами, неспешно идущие по делам горожане, масса магазинов, торгующих за peso nacional. Туристов тут все-таки хватает. Но и они здесь уже другие. Это те, кто любит отдыхать, приближаясь к местной жизни. Тем, кто хочет этого же, но не желает ехать далеко, советую пожить в Карденасе.

Si vous en avez assez des rues trés touristiques de Varadero, prenez un taxi pour Cardenas (20km 50 cuc environ, à partager eventuellement) et allez vous plonger dans le vrai CubaIci, pas de boutiques de souvenirs mais des échopes sombres au fond desquelles on devine des petits comptoirs maigrement achalandés devant lesquels attendent des gens qui paraissent résignés. Pas de vieilles voitures américaines retapées et rutilantes comme celles qui qui se pavanent à La Havane, mais de rares voitures américaines toutes rouillées et noires de crasse qui roulent par on ne sait quel miracle, pas de carrioles romantiques qui vous promènent à Varadero, mais des charettes bringuebalantes qui doivent être les taxis locaux, pas d'autocars pour touristes, climatisés et tout beaux mais des bus rendus noirs par la fumée qu'ils dégagent;Ce qui frappe dans cette ville c'est cette odeur permanante de fumée noire et de moteurs diesels mal entretenus,mais aussi ces pavés disjoints, ces trottoirs incroyablement surélevés, ces vieilles maisons espagnoles qui ont du être superbes jadis et qui tombent en ruines maintenant (toujours habitées d'ailleurs) On ne se sent pas du tout en insécurité dans cette ville. Personne ne vous embête ni même ne vous aborde C'est la ville natale du petit Elian qui en 1999 fut emmené par sa mère aux USA , déclanchant ainsi les plus grands meetings de protestation de Cuba.Il y a beaucoup de pancartes révolutionnaires dans la ville Un musée est consacré à l' histoire d'Elian; un autre musée de l'histore de Cuba, ancien palais sans doutes, est le seul édifice de la ville aussi bien restauré.En une demi journée, vous voyez réellement comment et où vivent les Cubains

Кáрденас - развивающийся город в 10 километрах от Варадеро, который обеспечивает своим жителям трудовую занятость в сфере туризма.Однако город и сам достоин внимания туристов. Это и знаменитая бетонная скульптура Белого Краба на въезде по дороге из Варадеро, памятник Колумбу, а также красивые здания в центре, старинный паровоз на выезде. Все эти достопримечательности позволяют сделать интересные фотографии.Есть и рынок на окраине, где можно купить овощи и фрукты дёшево.Из Варадеро до Кáрденаса доехать можно на такси за 8-10 cuc, таксисты просят и больше, но не соглашайтесь, стойте на своём. На местные автобусы, где цены гораздо ниже, не всегда берут.За три последних года заметно увеличилось как количество туристов на улицах города, так и количество предлагаемых в аренду домов (casas).Удалось найти и ресторан уже любимого нами Шеф-повара по Варадеро (Cipriano Cortina Diaz), который открылся теперь в Кáрденасе (заслуживает написать о нём отдельно).