Car rental in Cuba

Renting a car in Cuba is how you stop waiting on someone else's schedule and start setting your own, from the Malecón in Havana to the far reaches of Guantánamo and Baracoa. The island runs on a handful of rental names you'll see again and again: Cubacar, Havanautos, Rex, Vía and Cuba on the road, each holding its own patch of territory rather than blanketing the whole country identically. Havana and its districts, Miramar, Vedado, Centro Habana, Old Havana, are covered by several of them at once, while somewhere like Viñales or Moa you'll find Vía as your one option, and Siboney answers only to Cubacar.

What you drive shapes the trip as much as where you drive it. Cubacar and Havanautos share a run of practical, economic cars, the Kia Picanto, the MG 3, the Renault Sandero, easy on fuel and easy to park outside a casa particular. Rex leans into comfort and status, with the Hyundai Elantra and Santa Fe, a Mercedes-Benz C 200 or E 200 for anyone who wants the drive itself to feel like part of the holiday, and, if you're chasing an occasion, the C 180 Cabriolet with the roof down. Vía carries the Suzuki Jimny and Vitara for rougher ground, plus the Peugeot 2008 and 508 for something between rugged and refined. Want to bring the whole group or the whole trip's luggage under one roof, quite literally? Cuba on the road rents a Fiat Ducato camper, and even a Piaggio scooter if two wheels suit you better than four.

Coverage stretches from Pinar del Río to Santiago de Cuba, through Varadero, Cayo Coco, Trinidad and Camagüey, so wherever your itinerary bends, a car is rarely far from the plan.