Looking for any personal experience with either Gap Adventures or Macqueen's/WowCuba cycling tours. Any info is appreciated!
I don’t have direct experience with WowCuba in Cuba, but I do have experience with the branch of their company here in Canada – MacQueens Cycle Tours in PEI..
http://www.macqueens.com/pei2.html
MacQueen's has been around Charlottetown for a long, long time and have built a solid reputation for excellent product and service. Charlottetown is a small city, so building & maintaining a good customer base is important.
I used MacQueen's for bike rental and trip support including recommendations for accommodations and routes. They were very professional and very flexible.
MacQueen’s & WowCuba were instrumental in bringing some of the Cuban women’s Cycling Team to the Tour de l’ile in Prince Edward Island prior to competing (and medaling!) at the Beijing Olympics.
WowCuba has a Facebook page where you might be able to garner more info on their Cuba offerings: https:
//www.facebook.com/WoWCuba?sk=wall
No direct personal experience with WOW but several friends/acquaintances have used them and were very pleased, especially with the customer service in Cuba - and except for a few notable exceptions "customer service" is basically unknown in Cuba...
Cheers,
Terry
Dang ... another of my links didn’t work. Try this:
I’m in the travel business and have done bike tours with many of the best companies in the world. WOWCuba does the best bike tours I’ve been on, especially considering that it is not east to operate in Cuba.
There is no comparison between GAP and WOWCuba. GAP specializes in all types of low cost travel experiences all over the world. WOWCuba specializes in providing the best possible travel experiences in Cuba.
Disclosure: I am friends with the MacQueen Family the owners of WOWCuba. That said I first became friends with them because I was blown away by how well they do their bike tours. You can read more about my bike tours in Cuba at http://www.vacationtimeisprecious.com/categories/?destination=1&categorie_show=64
I have done three cycling tours with Wow Cuba (McQueen) of PEI Canada and all have been professional performed with good buses, a educated cuban guide along with a member of McQueen Tours. All hotels are the best in Cuba and the mix of enterainment, cultures events, surprise local food along the ride and wonderful cuban music will enlighteng you to come back again and again. (I plan on another tour in 2012).
A suggestion for the tour should most certainly include Western Cuba and perhaps along with the Central tour. The Eastern tour is a must also.
John
From: Nova Scotia, Canada.
Thanks for all the feedback. Looks like MacQueens/WowCuba is the company to go with. It seems like they are familiar with the peculiarities Americans have to deal with. Probably going to do the Western Cuba itinerary.
TravelerPhiladelphia, there are actually very few "peculiarities" to deal with anymore. A little research makes it a complete non-issue for an American to visit Cuba illegally as a tourist. Have a read through the first 4 posts here:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g147270-i91-k4402971-US_travel_experiences_to_Havana-Cuba.html
Have fun.
Cheers,
Terry
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