Due to the limited number of cars, it is advisable to make a reservation at least one month in advance. After much deliberation, we decided to use Holiplus to arrange car rental in Cuba. We can recommend this company for rental arrangements – it is definitely not a scam. However, the Cuban car rental company, in our case Havana Autos, is responsible for the rental process itself. When picking up the car, you must pay for insurance with a credit card or make a refundable deposit from your credit card, depending on the specific conditions. In our case, there was a delay of about two hours during the entire process, but this is not unusual in Cuba.

The worst situation occurred on the very first day, when we couldn't unlock the car due to a technical fault. However, we were lucky that we were still within walking distance of the car rental company and the staff solved the problem by replacing the car battery. If you don't speak Spanish well, communicating by phone in case of technical difficulties can be quite problematic.

During our visit, there was also a problem with gasoline shortages. At some gas stations, there was none available at all, at others it was necessary to wait several hours, and at some it was available but the pumps were not working due to a power outage. In the end, however, we always managed to fill up. Two types of gasoline are sold in Cuba – special and normal. Rental cars should only be filled with special. In one case, when special was not available, we were forced to fill up with normal, and the car handled it without any problems.

However, it is necessary to take into account that renting a car is relatively expensive – we paid around €80 per day for a standard Hyundai Accent passenger car. Gasoline prices are around €1.50 per liter, when it is available. If you want to explore more places during your stay in Cuba, renting a car will be the best option for you, despite the aforementioned pitfalls.