travel

Cuba is the largest Caribbean island. The country has nine World Heritage Sites, as well as beaches, colonial architecture and distinct cultural history. It has had a communist government since the Cuban Revolution in 1959 and has been under a US embargo ever since.

Cuba can divided into three regions:

• Western Cuba (Pinar del Rio, Artemisa, Havana, Mayabeque, Matanzas, Isla de la Juventud) The capital, the rolling hills of Pinar del Rio and an off-the-beaten-path island with good scuba diving add up to an exciting region.

• Central Cuba (Camagüey, Villa Clara, Cienfuegos, Sancti Spíritus, Ciego de Ávila)

• Eastern Cuba (Las Tunas, Holguin, Santiago de Cuba, Granma, Guantánamo)

Some of the major cities and other destiations are:

• Havana – cosmopolitan capital with a swinging nightlife
• Baracoa – a quaint beach-side town, and Cuba's first capital
• Cienfuegos – a French-founded city that rivaled (and eventually overtook) Trinidad as Cuba's main southern Port
• Camagüey – Cuba's third-largest city is a maze of narrow alleyways, Catholic churches, and jars known as tinajones
• Matanzas – with a name that translates to "massacres," this industrial port city at the end of the Hershey railway is a hidden gem of Afro-Cuban culture and history
• Pinar del Rio – center of the cigar industry
• Santa Clara – site of the battle that won the Revolution and now home of the mausoleum to Ernesto "Che" Guevara
• Santiago de Cuba – coastal city rich in Caribbean influence and steeped in revolutionary history
• Trinidad – World Heritage Site with charming, colonial-era buildings
• Viñales National Park
• Cayo Largo – a small island with nudist facilities
• Gran Parque Natural Topes de Collantes – a national park in the Sierra del Emcambray mountains, straddling Cienfuegos, Villa Clara, and Sancti Spiritus provinces
• Isla de la Juventud – a large island south of Havana
• Jardines del Rey – an island chain of beach resorts including Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo
• Maria la Gorda – a tiny village with some snorkeling and diving options
• Parque Nacional Ciénaga de Zapata – similar to Florida's Everglades National Park, with vast swamps and world-famous birdwatching, scuba diving, and beaches; and the site of the 1961 American Bay of Pigs invasion
• La Güira National Park – another national park in Pinar del Rio province, with mountains and caves, but without many tourist facilities
• Reserva de la Biosfera Sierra del Rosario – a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in the Sierra del Rosario mountains of Pinar del Rio province; the principal sites are Soroa and Las Terrazas
• Varadero Beach – 20-kilometer-long beach of fine white sand and waters
• Viñales – a national park in Pinar del Rio province, with mountains and caves; it has the best-developed tourist facilities of Cuba's national parks

Tourist visa Visa policy of Cuba Cuba Visa-free - 90 days Visa-free - 60 days Visa-free - 30 days Visa-free - 28 days Visa-free - unspecified period Tourist card required (in advance) Visa required

A tourist visa card (visa de tarjeta del turista) is necessary for travelers from most countries. This visa, which is really little more than a piece of paper on which you list your personal information, costs US$15-25 (or €15-25) from most destinations, depending on where purchased. Costs US$50-100 from the US. It can be purchased at the airport in Cuba on arrival, but many airlines will require a valid tourist visa card before you board a flight. It is usually valid for 30 days and can be extended once for another 30 days at any immigration office in Cuba (for ~US$25) - beyond this you would need a flight out of Cuba within the extended visa period. Canadians are the exception, getting 90 days on arrival and can apply for a 90-day extension. Your passport needs to be valid at least six months past the end of your planned return. Canadian passports must be valid for at least one month beyond the date of expected departure.

From Canada, the tourist card is normally provided on the flight. It can also be purchased from most Latin American gateway airports if departing from there (Cancun: 250 Mexican pesos, Mexico City: US$25). If you are coming from Europe (this may apply to other countries), you need to have the visa before boarding the plane. Sometimes, the airline provides these at the airport, however check first that this is the case. Without a valid visa, boarding will be denied (the airline would otherwise get a US$1,000 fine from the Cuban immigration authorities).

Your visa will be stamped upon arrival in Cuba and must be retained in your possession to be stamped when you exit the country. There is a ~US$25 fee to replace a lost visa.

Regular tourists who renew their 30-day visa are eligible to depart the country (to any destination) and return immediately enjoying a further 60 days (30 days plus a 30-day extension). You are only allowed two consecutive stays in this manner.

Country-specific advice:

US – Although the government of Cuba permits United States citizens to visit, the U.S. restricts its citizens from travelling there, except with a license issued by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control 

UK – From 2017, the Cuban consulate only accepts postal applications for tourist cards. For most cases, it is probably better to use an online agency such as CubaVisa.uk or VisaCuba Online or CubaVisas or VisaCuba because it will be cheaper and involve less paperwork. Thomsons / TUI recommend an agency which costs almost three times these agencies. Check with your tour operator before purchasing one from the above.

Germany – You can obtain the tourist card through the Cuban embassy in post. Travel agencies may often offer cheaper and quicker services though. German airlines serving Cuba usually sell the card to their customers.

Visa-free

Citizens of Antigua and Barbuda (28 days), Barbados (28 days), Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, CIS (except Ukraine and Uzbekistan), Dominica, Grenada (60 days), Liechtenstein (90 days), Malaysia (90 days), Mongolia, Montenegro (90 days), Namibia, North Macedonia, Singapore, Slovakia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Serbia (90 days), Turkmenistan (30 days) can stay without visa. (The source of the previous sentence is unknown. Aeromexico staff at Cancun airport claim that only citizens of China and Russia need no visa.)

Tourists normally carry enough cash for a short Cuba trip. Most bring their own currency; confirm that yours is accepted, and calculate the most recent exchange rates at the Banco Metropolitano. Because Cuba imposes a 10% penalty on the exchange of U.S. dollars, it is not recommended to take larger sums of U.S. dollars to Cuba. Travelers converting over US$1,000. generally choose euros or Canadian dollars, and for the best rates, it's best to organize in advance. Finding the best exchange should never be left until the last minute: U.S. airport and retail forex kiosks offer some of the worst exchange rates.