Thank you for all the info!!! For those who went to other places, did you just take a taxi? We plan to buy insurance since we not planning on going until June or July and a lot could change. JoJo - Thanks for the blog link, I'll check it out. Gimesalot - Great idea on writing down all the educational activities, we'll do that.
For going to other places, I recommend asking your casa owner to find a "taxi colectivo" This is door to door service for just a couple more dollars than the bus. For example, we paid $20 apiece for ride from Havana to Vinales, and then $20 for a ride from Playa Larga to Havana. Usually it's in an old car, no AC but with windows open it's comfortable enough. All of our casa owners were able to book these - every one seems to know everyone.
We did Transtur bus from Vinales to Trinidad. I don't recommend this. In some cases you waste part of your day going to the bus tickets, only to find out they're sold out for the next 3 days. In our transtur bus, we left town on time (yay!) but then turned back 45 minutes later when they realized they left 2 people behind - so we lost almost 2 hours. Then they have extended stops at roadside restaurants where they serve overpriced drinks & ham sandwiches. We easily would have had an extra 1/2 day in Trinidad had we taken a colectivo, which was only $3 more than the bus!!!
There are also plenty of private taxis but you'll definitely pay more. But, if you have a specific time you need to travel that might be your only route. Colectivos tend to leave in the mornings - like around 7 to 8 am.
I highly recommend Vinales - easily my favorite place, but I like countrysides. Vinales isn't an architectural place. I'm hoping to put more stuff on my blog about the Destinations with lots of pictures this weekend. I'll report back here when they're up.