MAIN Travel Caribbean Cuba

The largest island in the Caribbean, Cuba lies just 90 miles from the southern tip of Florida, between the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas.

Although a very popular destination for American tourists up until the rise of Fidel Castro (and a resulting 1959 travel ban) US citizens may yet again visit Cuba under new rules set forth by the Obama administration — allowing Americans to join the more than 2 million other tourists each year from around the world who visit the tropical island.

Most famous for its cigars, mojitos, beautiful beaches and colonial architecture, Cuba's main attraction is Havana, which offers a busy cosmpolitan hubbub of main thoroughfares, street vendors, dilapidated buildings and, by night, a colorful and swinging nightlife.

Elsewhere, world class swimming areas around Holguin, Cayo Coco and Varadero Beach also serve as prime basking, snorkeling and diving meccas.

Important travel advice:

Overall, authorities in Cuba are warm and welcoming to revenue-producing tourists, and police are likely to look the other way on minor discretions by partying vacationers (although it's probably best to not press your luck).

As Cuba remains under strict Communist rule, visitors are best advised to speak only in glowing terms (or not at all) of the political system, or the country's leaders, lest they undergo a very unhappy police interrogation and possible jail term.

Hotels are also kept under close supervision by the government, so it is always highly advisable to book your room well in advance of your arrival. Otherwise, airport customs will most likely assign you a hotel not to your liking.

Private home stays - "Casa particular"

Rooms are also available as bed & breakfast accommodations (casas particulares or "private houses") throughout Cuba that allow visitors to stay with local families. These are almost always preferable since, at half the cost, many families will go out of their way to make guests feel welcomed and well-fed throughout their visit, and even a short stay affords a chance to experience what many travelers say is Cuba's main attraction — its warm and welcoming people.

US travel restrictions lifting

In April 2009, the US government signaled the lifting of restrictions to Cuba with the announcement that relatives of Cuban nationals living in the US were free to travel to Cuba for family visits. The move preceded more recent lifting of restrictions in 2011, allowing educational, religious, and cultural groups access to the island for "people-to-people" contact tours operated by American travel companies.

also see in Travel -> Discovering Cuba's Keys

More about Cuba tourist attractions & travel information around the Web:

Cuba travel guide - Excellent insider guide from Wikitravel with a complete overview of top attractions, getting around by bus, car, taxi, bike (and the unofficial hitchhiking network), where to find the best accommodation, health & safety tips, and warnings about typical tourist scams.

Go Cuba - The complete guide from Canada's Cuba Tourist Board with information on scheduled airlines, entry requirements, places to visit in Havana and other major attractions, practical travel tips, photos, videos, related links.

Cuba Travel Information - Lonely Planet guide with expert tips about where to go, how to get around and top attractions to visit including Havana, Santiago de Cuba, Trinidad, Cueva Punta del Este and more, plus advice from visitors in the online forum, photos, map, related resources.

Cuban Culture.com - Find details, photos and colorful descriptions of "what makes Cubans tick" with overviews of Cuban food, history and heritage, art, architecture, music and more, with related resources to more information.

More in Caribbean travel:

	Antigua		Bermuda		Jamaica
	Aruba		British V.I.		Martinique
	Bahamas		Cayman Islands		Puerto Rico
	Barbados		Cuba		Trinidad, Tobago
	Belize		Grenada		U.S. Virgin Islands