Travel advice for Cuba
From travel safety to visa requirements, discover the best tips for traveling to Cuba
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written by Rough Guides Editors
updated 27.07.2021
By the time we left Havana I’d run out of cigars. I had puffed away my last Churchill the night before amid the haze of daiquiris and exuberant salsa dancing. Behind the rental car’s wheel the fresh sea air of the Malecón – Havana’s iconic sea wall – was banishing the fuzz that three days of Cuban hedonism had left at the back of my throat.
We were driving to Viñales, tobacco-producing country one hundred miles west of the capital. The region contains a spectacular national park. Visitors can drive between granite bastions, ancient rock formations that burst out of its rich alluvial plain. Easily accessible for an overnight trip, we cruised the island's northern coast, heading west from the capital.
15 days / from3008 USD
Cuba - Family, Beach, and Culture
Enjoy a 2-week family adventure visiting highlights and hidden gems of Cuba. Marvel at the colonial architecture in Havana, enjoy a ride in a Classic Car, explore the forests close to Trinidad, and relax on white sandy beaches of Cayo Levisa - this trip packs it all into one itinerary.
view tour ⤍5 days / from1023 USD
Bike Cuba
A moderately challenging cycling holiday through Cuban countryside visiting the tobacco fields of Viñales Valley and a pristine Caribbean beach in Cayo Jutias.
view tour ⤍13 days / from3566 USD
Western and Central Cuba by E-bike
Combine a leisurely activity with an insight into some of Cuba’s most fascinating cultural highlights on this new e-biking tour of Western and Central Cuba. Explore the tobacco region of Viñales, cycle along the Bay of Pigs and relax on the fine sandy beaches of Cayo Las Brujas.
view tour ⤍8 days / from1919 USD
Family Trip - an active adventure
Take the family a step back in time: Explore Havana in classic cars and on foot, take a boat trip to the Cueva del Indio in Viñales and relax on the white, sandy beaches of Cayo Levisa.
view tour ⤍8 days / from1952 USD
Salsa Cubana
Only have a few days? Take this Highlight Tour of Western Cuba to explore the main areas: From Havana over the Viñales valley to Trinidad and Che's monument in Santa Clara. This fast-paced itinerary is packed with highlights.
view tour ⤍11 days / from2240 USD
Salsa Cubana - Extended
Cuba, the island of rum, salsa, and the revolution. Explore the island's Western highlights on this trip: From Havana over the Viñales Valley to the famous Bay of Pigs and Trinidad - this trip has no shortage of highlights.
view tour ⤍6 days / from1495 USD
Compact Cuba: Havana to Trinidad
Fall in love with Cuba as you explore Havana’s enticing and fading colonial streets, where salsa music emanates from every window, and the sweet pungent aroma of cigar smoke holds the air. Continue to the beautiful colonial city of Trinidad, and the fascinating Bay of Pigs.
view tour ⤍8 days / from1950 USD
The Culture and Beaches of Cuba: From Havana to Varadero
This trip takes in three distinctly different areas of Cuba: begin at the iconic, cultural hub of Havana, before travelling to the picturesque rural town of Viñales, and then onto the picture-perfect Varadero Beach, one of the best in the Caribbean. Strike the perfect balance with this unique trip!
view tour ⤍15 days / from2687 USD
Cuba Completa - Off the beaten track
Go off-the-beaten-track in Cuba. Explore the birthplace of Fidel Castro, relax on Cayo Saetia, an island that used to be Fidel's private holiday home, and explore the Eastern part with Santiago de Cuba.
view tour ⤍15 days / from3191 USD
Complete Cuba: Nature, Tradition and Sights of the Revolution
This evocative country offers everything from rich history to exquisite cuisine, idyllic beaches, unique landscapes and charming, colourful cities. Discover the best Cuba has to offer with the complete itinerary encompassing sights related to its literary past and the revolution.
view tour ⤍8 days / from1836 USD
Highlights of Cuba: Havana, Trinidad and Cienfuegos
Discover the charismatic country of Cuba. Begin in the iconic city of Havana, where you'll explore the old town, and enjoy a classic car tour! Head into the country, to Viñales and then Trinidad, the former centre of Cuba's sugar production. Continue to the Bay of Pigs, then return to Havana.
view tour ⤍8 days / from1663 USD
Western Skyline Ride
Saddle up and enjoy a week-long cycling holiday through Western Cuba. Cycle through the countryside visiting Las Terrazas and the tobacco fields of Viñales via the spectacular Skyline Trail.
view tour ⤍5 days / from1062 USD
Havana: History and Hemingway
Havana is like nowhere else on earth: the jewel in Cuba's crown effortlessly blends dishevelled beauty with risqué and vibrant charm. Spend a few days exploring Havana, including the old town, Ernest Hemingway's favourite cigar smoke-filled jazz club, and a tour of the city in a classic car!
view tour ⤍10 days / from2320 USD
Cuba: A Feast for the Senses
Welcome to Cuba, an unbeatable bucket-list destination that is a feast for all the senses. This trip will take you beyond Havana's city limits, with its cigar smoke-filled jazz bars, to discover other towns, rural villages and plantations across Cuba, not to mention the idyllic Varadero Beach.
view tour ⤍17 days / from3695 USD
Mi Cuba Linda
Your journey starts and ends in Havana, with stops in Viñales, Cienfuegos, and Trinidad in between. Staying at Casa Particulares and dining at private restaurants allows an authentic peek into Cuban life. The grand finale awaits at an all-inclusive resort in Cayo Santa Maria, promising relaxation.
view tour ⤍Driving a rental car in Cuba is an extraordinary experience. The stately '50s relics which cruise along the Malecón are so much the norm that one forgets how a modern car looks. The remote control central locking of our SEAT Ibiza felt a betrayal to the happy memory of the hulking Ford town car we'd clambered into the previous day, given that its rear doors had stopped working thirty years before.
Whisking us away from the crumbling decadence of old Havana and its bleaker outskirts, the automobile announced its arrival in the Cuban countryside with a jolt: the first pothole of many.
The day had started in a Cuban supermarket, stocking up for the road. Grocery stores in the Caribbean’s last bastion of communism are a counter-service affair, requiring both excellent eyesight to read the minute labels behind the scowling attendant and a well-tuned ear to understand Cuban drawl (the rolled ‘R’, trilled throughout the Spanish-speaking world is muted in Cuba).
It only left us to find ice, and the villages have this eventuality planned for. Stopping at any house, one need only ask the nearest matriarch and she will produce a litre bottle of the stuff from the closest freezer. How you break it up into useable chunks is your problem.
Cuban villages stretch along back roads, their architecture more stately than other Caribbean nations, and the towns' residents more gregarious. Children playing on the main street run past men congregated around the liquor shops, sipping Buccaneer Beer and putting the world to rights.
Further along our route, a barn stood on the crest of a hill. Made entirely of thatch, its rustic triangular form rose above the sweet-smelling guava groves. Pulling up to the structure we notice a squat house and fields of tobacco. A woman waved from the porch and signalled us to accompany her to explore the workings of the farm.
Tobacco is cultivated throughout the year in Cuba. Native to tropical America, seedlings are grown according to the leaves that they will produce. Following the annual harvest, the tobacco is 'air cured' in humid barns. Next, it's sold to the government, the farmers’ only possible client.
"We earn next to nothing", said Rogelio, the rugged and dark-eyed farmer who had come in from his work to hand-roll his tabaco. "It's very difficult to expand the operation. The government is fastidious about private enterprise."
A cigar consists of three different types of tobacco leaf, all cultivated separately. The “filler”, which makes up the bulk of the item, the “binder” which holds its contents in place, and the “wrap”, a larger and unblemished leaf which forms the cigar's skin. Cuban torcedores (cigar makers) are highly regarded in island society and considered to be the world's most skilled. Cuba exports on average 60 million cigars annually.
We arrived at Viñales with Rogelio's hand-rolled cigars safely in the glove box. Strolling through to the hotel poolside to take in the astonishing view across the national park, we sat down. We ordered daiquiris and breathed deeply after the day's voyage. The wind, cool in the evening, still carried the sweet scent of the fresh tobacco fields below – the Caribbean's most spectacular tobacco country.
For more tips on visiting Cuba, watch out Things to do in Cuba video below:
written by Rough Guides Editors
updated 27.07.2021
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From travel safety to visa requirements, discover the best tips for traveling to Cuba