Cuba by car
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Yank Tanks
You will find an unusually large number of old U.S.-made cars on the street. Popularly known as "Yank Tanks," these are pre-revolution imports from the 1950s that have been nursed along for half a century, because the Soviet-made cars available during the Cold War were too scarcely allocated for most Cubans to buy (and other cars remain too expensive today).
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In Cuba, all vehicles drive on the right hand side of the road.
Car rental starts from CUC 65 per day (including insurance) plus the cost of a full tank of gasoline. The refundable deposits start around CUC 200. Rental cars are for the most part fairly new, imported European or Asian models. Any traffic tickets received are noted on a rental car sheet and are deducted from your rental deposit. Note that if you are involved in a serious traffic accident involving injury or death, you will be detained in Cuba until the legal process sorts things out, which can take from several months to a year. For this reason, many countries advise their citizens not to rent cars in Cuba.
Busier roads and city streets are generally of fair (drivable) quality and should not pose much trouble if due care is exercised, however some quiet rural roads are in need of serious repair.
Generally traffic is light, especially away from Havana. Outside of towns and cities traffic is usually very light, with no cars for miles on some rural roads. Be warned - you also share the highways with local salespeople selling cheese, snacks and onions(!), cyclists (sometimes going the wrong way, and at night usually without lights) and horse-drawn vehicles. Also note that the Autopista (the main highway running down the center of the country) is crossed at occasional intervals by railway tracks - take care to slow down before going over to avoid damage to the tires or suspension. Many of these have a stop sign ("PARE" in Spanish) which you should carefully heed - or risk a fine of CUC 30, even if no train is coming.
Roads are poorly signposted (and frequently not at all), so if you do plan to do serious driving, it would be well-advised to get a detailed map and ask for directions when not sure.
Be aware that many traffic lights, especially in cities, are placed on the FAR corner of the crossing,, not where you are supposed to stop, thus inviting you to stop in the middle of the intersection! Something that you obviously don't want... Also most of them have light as weak as a glow-worm.
Expect to encounter checkpoints when traveling in the interior of the country. These usually require you to slow down to 40. Respect this or get fined 10 CUC!
Gasoline costs CUC 0.85/Regular, CUC 0.95/Special and 1.10/Super per litre. Tourist rental cars are not supposed to use regular.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Cuba
