Top 10 Tips: Cuba
Following their personal review on Cuba (see Destination Review: CUBA), Your Travel Planner members, Elizabeth Clark and Martyn Calder, give us their Top 10 Tips for this fascinating country.
- Take cash (sterling or euros) or traveller’s cheques. ATMs are rare and credit cards not widely accepted. Dollars and American Express are not welcome! You can change money at the airport, on arrival or at exchanges in major hotels. Rates are pretty consistent everywhere.
- Make sure your holiday arrangements get you off the tourist track to find the real Cuba. You won’t learn much about Cuba in a hotel by the beach.
- Take wrapped soap or pens or other minor luxuries. In a country with few consumer goods, these are hugely welcome. In Old Havana, schools are squeezed between bars and museums and you’ll have no difficulty in finding a home for your gifts.
- By the same token, make sure you have all the toiletries you need. Everyday items such as conditioner and tampons can be elusive.
- Learn the difference quickly between Cuban Peso and Convertible Peso notes (the latter have pictures of monuments on them). There are 25 Cubans to the Convertible so it’s important. You’ll almost always deal in the latter.
- Acquire a good supply of small change and hold on to it. As in many European countries, a coin for the toilet superintendent is customary, and tipping generally is expected.
- Take a bottle of soy sauce or your favourite seasoning. The food can be a little bland - not always, but enough to warrant thinking about.
- Although generally a warm climate, Havana can sometimes be chilly. Take a fleece. For Cubans, air-conditioning only has one setting - max!
- Don’t expect a shopping cornucopia. If your friends and relatives don’t like rum or cigars, best to moderate their holiday gift expectations before you go.
- Vegetarianism is not a widely embraced concept - be prepared for a lot of omelette.
