A quick checklist for your Cuba holiday

Travellers from the UK require a Tourist Visa to enter Cuba. For travel from 1st January 2025, Cuba has moved away from the old, paper Cuba Tourist Card and moved to a new, online Tourist Visa which clients can purchase directly via the Evisa website.

While most nationalities can travel to Cuba using the Tourist Visa, some passport holders require a full visa which can only be obtained via the Cuban Embassy.

To enter Cuba, your passport must have an expiry date at least 6 months after the date you arrive and 3 months after your planned departure date.

Furthermore, and in addition to the online Tourist Visa for Cuba, anyone travelling to the island must now also complete an Advance Passenger Information (D’Viajeros form) declaration online from 7 days before arrival in Cuba.

When you purchase your online Tourist Visa, you will be provided with a 10 character code which you will need to complete the D’Viajeros form. This will generate a QR code to be presented to the immigration authorities at the border.

Current policy is that visitors to the island will not receive a Cuba stamp in their passport. Naturally, this is not something that Beyond The Ordinary can guarantee and the policy is subject to change at any time without notice.

Cuba welcomes all visitors regardless of their nationality.

The issue with Americans visiting Cuba is therefore one related to rules and regulations applied on its own citizens by the US government.

The short answer is that US citizens can visit Cuba, but not on holiday. For more detailed information, please get in touch by email.

Spanish is the official language of Cuba although English is widely spoken in most tourist hotels and casa particulares. Naturally, the further off the beaten track one travels, the less likely you are to come across English speakers.

The Cuban unit of currency is the peso, also known as the CUP or Moneda Nacional which is further divided into 100 centavos. It is not possible to purchase or sell the CUP outside of Cuba.

Due to the current situation in Cuba, it is also possible to pay for most (not all) goods and services in hard currency, using either US$ or Euros. British £s are not widely accepted or changeable.

As a result of the complexity of the situation, as well as things being subject to change, we provide all our clients with personalised, up-to-date advice shortly before they travel.

Cuba is 5 hours behind GMT / UTC and observes Daylight Saving Time during the summer (although not at the same time as the UK).

There are no compulsory vaccinations for travel to Cuba from the UK. If you are travelling to Cuba from a country at risk of Yellow Fever, you may have to provide proof of vaccination.

Well before travel, we suggest you speak to your local medical professional or, in the UK, visit the Travel Health Pro website for guidance.

Visitors to Cuba are required by law to have travel insurance in place, including full medical cover. Although it is extremely rare for visitors to be asked for proof of insurance, failure to do so will result in the visitor having to take out health insurance locally.

Quite aside from Cuba’s own regulations regarding insurance, it is a condition of booking with Beyond The Ordinary that clients have full travel insurance in place before travel.

Value for money is a very subjective concept and depends on one’s individual circumstances, where one lives, personal travel experiences etc.

Generally speaking, accommodation prices in Cuba are low compared to the rest of the Caribbean and Central America.

Long distant transport, car hire and private Driver / Guides are relatively expensive although no more so than the region in general.

Prices for drinking & eating out are best described as mid-range and are highest in Havana.

Cuba has no real consumer economy so prices of basic medicines, sanitation products and general tech can be high and quality low. If you think you’ll need it, take it with you.

Voltage in Cuba ranges from 110 to 220 volts at a frequency of 60 Hz. Generally speaking, older hotels and most casa particulares operate on 100v while newer hotels and some casas operate on 220v.

Most modern appliances can operate on anything from 100 to 240v so you will only require a converter for some, older tech.

Cuba uses no less than 4 different types of plugs – Type A, Type B, Type C and Type L.

So, travellers from pretty much around the world will need a universal adaptor which are easy to pick up before travel or, if you forget, at the airport on departure. However, they are very difficult and / or expensive to find in Cuba so make sure not to arrive without one.

Cuba boasts countless great beaches, the vast majority of them located along its lengthy Atlantic coast, running all the way from Jibacoa in the west (just an hour from Havana) all the way down to Guardalavaca & even Baracoa in the east of the island.

What comes as a surprise to many visitors is that Cuba’s Caribbean coastline is almost entirely lacking in beaches. The one exception – and a very notable exception it is – is just a short drive from the beautiful colonial-era town of Trinidad. Unlike the beach resorts on the north coast, this is the one place in Cuba where one can combine beach, culture and countryside from a single base.

One can easily spend over a month in Cuba and not run out of things to see and do. There is therefore no real need to look beyond Cuba for the standard 2 week holiday.

For those travellers who do like to mix things up, it has to be said that flight connections to Cuba’s near neighbours are very limited.

There are flights to Mexico, both Cancun & Merida, although these are changeable and not always reliable.

The most consistently reliable flights within the region are with COPA to Panama City and onwards to countless other Central & South American destinations. However, these tend to be expensive.

While there are flights between Cuba and the US, for political reasons these are very problematic for non US / Cuban citizens and best avoided.

There are currently no direct flights between the UK and Cuba but, if there were, flying time would be approximately 9 hours. Flights from mainland Europe to Cuba take from 9 to 11 years.

Flying indirect from the UK to Cuba, generally via Madrid or Paris, will typically take around 15 hours.

Cuba is a genuine year-round destination although November through April is considered the high season. The weather tends to be better during this period (no guarantees though!) which coincides with the weather being at its worst in Canada & Europe.

During high season, hotel prices tend to be at their highest, especially at the beach and the top hotels in Havana.

Private casa particulares (B&Bs) don’t tend to raise or lower their prices much throughout the year, the only exception being over Christmas, New Year and Easter.