General Tips
Getting In
U.S. Citizens will need a visa to enter Cuba.
Visas can be purchased via travel services companies, such as Cuba Travel Services
(http://www.cubatravelservices.com/). Generally, the airline you use to purchase your tickets to Cuba will have
a relationship with a company that specializes in helping visitors obtain visas.
Visas should cost $85 (using Cuba Travel Services)
When applying for and purchasing a visa to enter Cuba, you will be expected to indicate your reason for visiting
Cuba. Most American tourists will apply using the “Educational – People to People” designation. It is very rare
that you will be asked to prove that the purpose you cited aligns with your itinerary, but we recommend having
copies of your itinerary with you in case you are asked what you plan to do (make sure your itinerary has some
activities that are focused on interacting with Cuban people and learning about the Cuban lifestyle). Visas are
generally shipped to an address you specify (we did not have any issues in delivery using Cuba Travel Services).
At your departing airport (the last U.S. airport you are at before you fly to Cuba), make sure you find the Cuba
Travel Services (maybe called something else) booth to have your passport and visa stamped before going to
your gate (in Charlotte, the booth is next to the gate most flights to Cuba depart from).
Money
American credit and debit cards won't work in Cuba. Some foreign cards may work, but you should expect to
pay cash basically everywhere.
There are two currencies in Cuba. The most common, the Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC), and the Cuba Peso
(CUP). Most places will accept the CUC, and it is the currency most used by foreigners. As of December 2016,
the exchange rate between USD and CUC is 1:1 (for reference, 1 CUC ≈ 24 CUP).
It is advisable to exchange USD to EUR in the U.S. and then exchange EUR into CUC in Cuba. Banks/money
exchanges will charge a 10% fee to change USD to CUC in Cuba. You can exchange money at the airport though
you are likely to get a slightly better exchange rate in Havana. At the Havana Airport, the currency exchanges
outside are generally quicker than the ones in the Departure/Check-in area. There are banks/money exchanges
throughout the city, but they will generally have long lines. Most banks/money exchanges will be closed on
Sundays and only open until 6 PM. You should have some sort of identification on your persons when you
exchange money (a passport is preferable.
If you find yourself in need of a visit to exchange USD to CUC, visit the money exchange teller in the
lobby of the Hotel Nacional de Cuba. While it is technically reserved for hotel guests, we have not heard
of anyone being turned away. The USD:CUC exchange rate at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba was 1:0.87 as of
December 2016. The money exchange teller at the Hotel Nacional is open late (until 10/11 PM).
While it is possible to be quite frugal during your visit to Cuba, in the event you want to have nice dinners and
buy cigars/paintings, you should plan to have about $150 CUC/day to be safe. You can definitely get by with
~$60 CUC/day if you want to be more frugal .
Wi-Fi/Cell Service
It is unlikely you will have access to wi-fi during your stay in Cuba. Depending on your U.S. cell service provider
and whether you have signed up for an international plan, you may be able to have access to roaming
voice/data service in Cuba.
Some hotels have internet cafes that can be used, but these require users to have an internet access card that
needs to be purchased at convenience stores (which are generally not near the hotels).
Maps
Because you will unlikely have access to wi-fi or cell service, it is important that you have an offline map of the
cities you will be visiting available on your phone. A useful app for this is called MapsMe. You can download
country/city-specific maps and pin restaurants, bars, sites, and attractions. The GPS on your phone will work in
offline mode. It cannot be stressed how useful an app like this can be as you are wandering around Cuba.
Getting Around
The easiest way to get around Havana is by flagging down taxis (which will generally be 1950s Chevy). At a
maximum, you should be able to fit 6 people into one taxi (but you may pay a premium for this, particularly at
night). A general rule of thumb is not to pay more than 3 CUC/person when negotiating the cab fare. A group of
6 were able to regularly get cabs from inner-Havana to its suburbs for 10/12 CUC total.
We did not use Yellow taxis, but were advised that they were potentially cheaper than the 1950s Chevys.
A cab ride to/from the airport should be 25-30 CUC.
Buying Cigars
You’ve made it to Cuba! This means you likely want to buy some pure, Cuban cigars to take home to the U.S. as
gifts or for yourself to enjoy on a special night. The problem is that Cuban cigar peddlers know this and may try
to take advantage of you.
As you wander Havana, particularly around Fabrica de Tabaco Partagas (Partagas Tobacco Factory), people on
the streets will try to pull you into their apartments and sell you cigars. These apartments where they sell cigars
(to mainly tourists) are called cooperativas. When they bring you into their apartments, they will likely tell you
that today is a special day (a “festival”) where cigars are discounted – THIS IS NOT TRUE. The cigars in these
apartments are either smuggled out of cigar factories or are fake – it’s hard to know which, but you may want
to ask to smell the cigars in the box so you can see if it smells real or not.
For reference, here are some prices our group paid for cigars (negotiate aggressively!):
300 CUC for 5 boxes of 10 Cohiba Siglo VI, the original price quoted was 150 CUC per box
90 CUC for a box of 25 Cohiba Esplendidos, the original price quoted was 200 CUC for the box
You can also purchase “organic” cigars at the cigar plantations in Viñales. We bought batches of 10 of these
“organic” cigars for 4 CUC a cigar. They may claim that they only sell cigars in batches of 25 or 15, but you can
negotiate with them to get batches of 10 or even 5. These cigars dried out VERY quickly, so unless you are
planning on using them immediately, we recommend passing on these.
Note that if you are taken to a cigar transaction by a guide or someone on the street, he or she is expecting a
commission for bringing you to the seller. If you walk away without buying anything, he or she may pester you
for a tip for “giving you the opportunity to buy cigars.”
2-5 Days in Havana
Most of the day-time activities and things to see in the city of Havana can be seen in about 2 days if you plan
effectively. However, you could easily spend 4-5 days using Havana as your home base, with day trips to nearby
towns and, in particular, beaches.
Town nearby Havana: San Francisco de Paula (home of Ernest Hemingway’s Cuba house, Finca Vigia, and
about 10 miles southeast of Havana)
Beaches nearby Havana: Santa Maria del Mar (20 min east), Playa Jibacoa (1 hour east)
Slides 8-14 provide more information on a recommended walking tour of Havana, places to eat, and places to
go out for drinks and dancing.
1.5 Day in Viñales
A popular day trip that many tourists take from Havana is the one to Viñales. The most popular guided
tours to Viñales are the ones organized by Discover Viñales (http://www.discover-vinales.com/).
While the day trip tours are certainly the most popular (leave Havana around 8 AM and arrive back
around 6 PM), we would suggest looking into booking the overnight stay option. It was nice to get out of
Havana for a night and experience nightlife in a smaller, more low-key town.
The default overnight tour organized by Discover Viñales has a number of default activities that we would
recommend removing from your Viñales itinerary. The Discover Viñales team is fairly open to negotiating a tour
that matches your preferences. This is the itinerary we would recommend negotiating (we paid 170
CUC/person for two full days so you should be able to get this itinerary for around 120 CUC/person):
Pick-up in Havana at 8:00 AM
Visit to the Lookout of Los Jazmines (great photo opportunity)
Tour of cigar plantation (opportunity to buy organic cigars)
Lunch at Finca Agroecologica El Paraiso (this restaurant is one of the better meals you will have during
your time in Cuba. The food is all organic – grown or raised on the farm where you are eating. The tour
guide will set you up with a multi-course lunch including a platter of vegetables, soup, a number of
different meats, dessert, and one cocktail. We suggest ordering the Pina Colada as your one cocktail).
Ask Discover Viñales to suggest a beach in Piñar del Rio where you can spend the afternoon before
returning to Viñales for the evening (staying at a Casa Particulares)
Return trip to Havana the following morning
Note: other activities (ziplining, cave boat ride, farm/oxen ride, botanical gardens) were OK but skippable