Planning a trip to Pinar del Rio
The Autopista Nacional ends and turns into Calle Martí as it enters Pinar del Río from the east. As you enter town, you'll see the Hotel Pinar del Río on your right. The heart of downtown is straight ahead. At the western end of downtown, you'll find the small, triangular-shaped Plaza de la Independencia. The main north-south byway, Calle Isabel Rubio, is also the old Carretera Central, and bisects Calle Martí by the post office.
Havanatur, on Calle Osmani Arenado at Martí, is an excellent resource for tourist information. For currency exchange, there's a CADECA on Calle Gerardo Medina, next to the local Coppelia ice-cream outlet and at Martí 46, virtually opposite the post office. On the same street, 2 blocks east of Coppelia, there's an Etecsa phone office where you can make local, national, and international calls and connect to the Internet. The main post office is located at the corner of Calle Martí and Calle Isabel Rubio (tel. 48/75-5916); it's open Monday through Sunday from 8am to 8pm. The León Cuervo Rubio hospital (tel. 48/75-4443) is at the junction of the Carretera Central and the Viñales highway.
Watch Out -- If you're driving a rental car, you will be swarmed by bicycle-riding jineteros (hustlers) offering you casas particulares and paladares (private-home rooms and restaurants) as soon as you enter town. They will latch on to your car at any traffic light, stop sign, or slow section and follow alongside if their pedaling can keep pace as you drive through town. For some reason, they are particularly aggressive in Pinar del Río. If you want to lessen the attention, you might have to roll up your windows and shake your head a lot.
Getting There
By Bus
The bus station (tel. 48/75-5255) is located at Calle Adela Azcuy, between Avenidas Colón and Comandante Pinares. Víazul (tel. 7/881-1413 in Havana, or 48/75-2572 in Pinar del Río; www.viazul.com) has buses at 9am, 12:40pm, and 2pm from Havana to Pinar del Río. The trip takes 2 hours and 40 minutes and costs CUC$11 each way. This bus continues on to Viñales. If you pick the bus up here, it costs CUC$6 to Viñales. From Havana to Viñales, buses cost CUC$12 one-way. Víazul buses to Havana leave Pinar del Río at 8:50am, 2:50pm, and 6:50pm daily.
By Car
Take the Autopista Nacional (A4) west to Pinar del Río. It's a straight shot, and the Autopista actually ends as it enters Pinar del Río. To get on the Autopista Nactional from Havana, drive south out of Havana on Av. Independencia. At the spaghetti junction at Alturas de la Habana, turn right on Av. San Francisco (Calle 100). At a second spaghetti junction, turn left (west) onto the unsigned Autopista (A4) for Viñales. (Just before Pinar del Río, there's a sign marked Las Ovas to the east/right: this is the western route, a winding cross-country shortcut to Viñales.) Two alternative routes are the old Carretera Central, which runs roughly parallel to the newer Autopista, and connects Havana with Pinar del Río, and the Circuito Norte or "northern circuit," a road that runs from Havana to Mariel to Bahía Honda. At La Palma, you'll want to head south on the Viñales highway and then on to Pinar del Río. Both of these routes are two-lane affairs that are slower and more picturesque than the Autopista. On either of these, slow-moving ox carts and trucks combine with bicycle traffic, pedestrians, and potholes to slow you down -- not a bad thing if you want to take in some of the scenery. I recommend integrating the Circuito Norte route into an itinerary that encompasses Pinar del Río, Viñales, and either Cayo Levisa or Cayo Jutías.
Getting Around
You can easily walk to most places in Pinar del Río. Taxis are also readily available all around town, and are either at hand, or can be called, at most hotels and casas particulares. Call Cubataxi (tel. 48/75-8080) for a cab ride. If you want to rent a car, contact Havanautos (tel. 48/77-8015), who has an office at the Islazul Hotel Pinar del Río, or Cubacar (tel. 48/77-8278).
