Cuba

For UK, EU and Canadian visitors entry is straightforward: a mandatory e-visa (which replaced the old paper tourist card in mid-2025, good for up to 90 days), mandatory travel medical insurance, and the online D’Viajeros arrival form that returns a QR code. For US citizens it’s a legal exercise: no pure tourism, travel under an OFAC category, and a further tightening in 2026 (Executive Order 14404 and new regulations effective 30 September 2026) that suspended individual self-directed “people-to-people” travel — leaving organised group travel under an authorised sponsor as the main route — with record-keeping and no stays in US-blacklisted hotels.

One rule bites every nationality: because of Cuba’s US terrorism designation, anyone who has visited Cuba since 12 January 2021 can no longer use the US ESTA visa waiver and must obtain a US visa for any subsequent trip to the States. It’s a genuine trade-off for travellers who also visit the US — factor it in before booking.

The ESTA consequence is the one that blindsides European and other visa-waiver travellers: it’s not about your passport or your Cuban visa, it’s about having set foot in Cuba since 12 January 2021. A weekend in Havana now means that your next trip to the US — however unrelated — requires a full visa appointment at a US consulate instead of a quick ESTA. Decide which trip matters more.

Cuba runs on cash. US cards are useless island-wide, and even non-US cards and ATMs are unreliable, so you must arrive with enough physical euros or US dollars to fund the whole trip — there’s no dependable way to top up once you’re there. The currency is the Cuban peso (CUP) (the convertible CUC was scrapped in 2021), and inflation has opened a wide gap between the official rate (around 120 to the dollar) and the informal street rate (around 500-plus), where most travellers change money. Those rates move week to week, so treat any figure as a snapshot.

Practical upshot: calculate a generous daily budget, bring it in cash, keep it secure and split up, and change modest amounts as you go. The state-run MLC “hard-currency” shops exist for scarce goods but run on a digital card balance; for a traveller, physical cash is what makes the trip work.

The honest picture: Cuba is enduring severe shortages of food, fuel, water and medicine, and its power grid has suffered repeated full island-wide collapses — several nationwide blackouts in 2026 alone. The UK advises against all but essential travel to the whole country. Come prepared — bring your own medicines, toiletries, and a torch or headlamp — and expect blackouts and interruptions to water, connectivity and transport.

Getting around reflects the strain. Viazul tourist buses are the backbone but now charge in hard currency by card (no cash, no US cards), and a paid ticket doesn’t guarantee the service runs amid fuel shortages, so book ahead and reconfirm. Classic-car and shared “colectivo” taxis and private transfers fill gaps at a price; there’s no real ride-hailing, and car rental is scarce and expensive. Internet comes via the state monopoly ETECSA — patchy Wi-Fi and data, worsened by the power cuts — so plan to be largely offline.

Come self-sufficient, because you can’t rely on buying essentials there. With severe shortages of food, fuel, water and medicine and repeated island-wide blackouts, pack what you’d depend on — a full supply of any prescription and common over-the-counter medicines, toiletries, a torch or headlamp and a power bank — and don’t assume a pharmacy or shop will have it. Base yourself in casas particulares, which ride out the shortages and power cuts far better than the state hotels.

What Cuba is for is atmosphere found nowhere else. Havana — the crumbling grandeur of Habana Vieja (UNESCO-listed since 1982), the Malecón seawall, the classic American cars and live son and salsa — is the heart of it. West lies Viñales, a UNESCO valley of tobacco fields and dramatic limestone mogotes; in the centre, the perfectly preserved colonial streets of Trinidad and the French-flavoured bay city of Cienfuegos. The resort strip of Varadero is the beach counterpoint, and far east, Santiago de Cuba brings the island’s Afro-Caribbean musical soul and its revolutionary history. Cuba holds nine UNESCO World Heritage Sites in all.

Cuban food is hearty and comforting rather than fiery: ropa vieja (shredded beef), moros y cristianos (rice and black beans), slow-roast lechón, and tostones with everything. The shortages mean variety is limited and the best meals are at casas particulares and private paladares, not state restaurants. Where Cuba still dazzles is the drink: it’s rum country, home of the mojito and the daiquiri (see the figure), and of a strong, sweet café cubano — and the cigars rolled from Viñales tobacco are the famous souvenir (beware the fakes hustled on the street).

Cuba’s culture is its great resource, and music is its pulse: son cubano, the root of salsa (see the figure), plus rumba, trova and the Buena Vista Social Club legacy, heard live everywhere. The religion beneath the Catholic surface is often Santería, the Afro-Cuban faith blending Yoruba traditions with Catholicism. Spanish is the language, the 1959 Revolution and the long US embargo are the ever-present backdrop, and the characteristic — and now most reliable — way to stay and eat is with Cubans themselves, in casas particulares (homestays) and paladares. Travelling here is, inescapably, an encounter with a society under strain and the resilience of the people in it.

On weather, the dry season (November–April) is warm, sunny and the best time — and the peak for prices and crowds; the wet season (May–November) is hotter and more humid and overlaps Atlantic hurricane season, which peaks September–October and can add real disruption. But the crucial point is that Cuba’s crisis is not seasonal: the blackouts, fuel queues and shortages are a constant through the year, so choosing “when to go” is about weather and storms, not about finding a window when the country runs smoothly — there isn’t one at present.

• you want the best weatherSkipthe hot, humid, hurricane-prone May–November wet seasonGothe dry November–April season (the priciest and busiest, and the crisis still bites)
• you also travel to the US visa-freeSkipoverlooking the ESTA ruleGoaccepting that a Cuba visit since Jan 2021 ends your ESTA eligibility
• you expect to pay by card or draw cash outSkiprelying on cards and ATMs that don’t workGobringing all your money as physical euros or dollars

Cuba has historically had low violent crime, but petty theft and scams are rising amid the economic crisis: watch for pickpocketing in crowded spots, jineteros (hustlers who steer you to casas and restaurants for commission), and the perennial fake-cigar sell. Bring everything you might need — medicines, toiletries, a torch, offline maps — because you can’t count on buying it there. Above all, travel to Cuba now with patience, supplies and flexibility: the culture is extraordinary, the infrastructure is not, and a good trip is one planned for the country as it actually is.

A note on the advisory split: the UK Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to the whole of Cuba (since early 2026, over the shortages and grid collapses), while the US State Department still rates it only Level 2. That gap reflects judgement about infrastructure and disruption rather than any danger to visitors from crime — but it does mean travel insurance can be complicated for UK travellers, so check that your policy still covers a trip taken against FCDO advice.