Despite increasing hardships for locals, the Caribbean's most impressive island offers one of the world's great travel experiences, from its music and culture to Havana and its other cities, as well as beaches and nature.

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Las Terrazas, a Woodsy Cuban Eco-Treasure

The main reasons millions come to Cuba each year are (primarily) beaches and (secondarily) culture. But the lag in the country’s development since 1959 has been a boon for ecotourism, leaving the island with quite a few natural treasures for visitors to discover, from hidden waterfalls to castaway beaches, national parks, and conversatories. I recently discovered one such gem in the Sierra del Rosario mountains just over an hour’s drive west of capital Havana.   Allow me to introduce you to Las…

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Started by Iberia Airlines
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Havana´s gracious Vedado district

 Ivan2010 Though mostly shabby and decrepit except for its UNESCO World Heritage colonial core, Habana Vieja, being restored for the tourism trade with the help of the Spanish government, the European Union, and other international donors, the capital of Cuba is truly one of the more remarkable cities in all the world, as millions of new visitors have been discovering each year since the régime started increasingly opening up the island to visitors in the years following the 1991 collapse of…

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Started by Iberia Airlines
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In Cuba, Go West, to Pinar del Río & Viñales

  marcin jucha For visitors to Havana, one of the most popular day and overnights trips besides colonial wonder Trinidad is a visit to the far west of Cuba, the mostly rural province of Pinar del Río (whose locals, by the way, have over the years endured much teasing by other Cubans as guajiros – "country-bumpkin" peasants – though at least these days inaccurately, as far as I’ve been able to tell).  It’s home to not only the eponymous city – which makes for a charming visit in its own…

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Started by José Balido
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  • Anil May 25, 2011 at 8:51pm

    @john: Am I obligated to buy airline tickets from designated carriers ? Some quick questions - 

    1. What about attending academic/medical conferences ? Is an invitation enough ? Is the Higher Education faculty/researchers also covered in the general license ?

     

     

  • John McAuliff May 22, 2011 at 5:24am

    All those with an honest interest in learning about Cuba can find a legal path, either by signing up for an appropriate open enrollment trip or by putting together their own group. (Let me know if I can help you do that.)

    Religious organizations and higher education students can easily go now under a general license without any notification to or permission from bureaucrats in Washington.

     Overview of legal travel:

     http://cubapeopletopeople.blogspot.com/2011/03/overview-of-legal-tr...

    Links to travel providers

     http://cubapeopletopeople.blogspot.com/2011/04/list-of-travel-provi...

     John McAuliff

    Cuba/US People to People Partnership

    Fund for Reconciliation and Development

  • Ed Wetschler May 22, 2011 at 3:56am

    From Associated Press:

    "The forbidden fruit of American travel is once again within reach. New rules issued by the Obama administration will allow Americans wide access to communist-led Cuba, already a mecca for tourists from other nations.

    Within months or even weeks, thousands of people from Seattle to Sarasota could be shaking their hips in tropical nightclubs and sampling the famous stogies, without having to sneak in through a third country and risk the Treasury Department's wrath.

    "This is travel to Cuba for literally any American," said Tom Popper, director of Insight Cuba, which took thousands of Americans to Cuba before such programs were put into a deep freeze seven years ago.

    But it won't all be a day at the beach or a night at the bar. U.S. visitors may find themselves tramping through sweltering farms or attending history lectures to justify the trips, which are meant, under U.S. policy, to bring regular Cubans and Americans together."

  • Anil May 22, 2011 at 3:41am
    @Ed: What do you mean ? What's new in the recent weeks ? I am ready.
  • Ed Wetschler May 22, 2011 at 3:35am
    Pack your sunscreen, boys and girls: The Obama administration is loosening the travel restrictions. So if you haven't gone, are you going to go now?
  • John McAuliff March 31, 2011 at 2:03am
    Virtually anyone can go to Cuba under the new regulations if OFAC finally finishes drafting guidelines and starts approving licenses  However, it has to be with a group and for a purpose.  Overview here  http://cubapeopletopeople.blogspot.com/2011/03/overview-of-legal-tr...
  • Anil March 9, 2011 at 10:34pm
    Wow - Now if only ordinary folks like us, with no family ties, no medical, academic or journalist credentials could go there legally.
  • David Paul Appell March 8, 2011 at 8:16pm
    Interesting news that the U.S. government has just authorized flights to Havana from 8 new airports: Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Pittsburgh, San Juan, and Tampa. All this added capacity could be indicative that this new travel opening may surpass the one we saw during the Clinton years. 
  • GreenGlobalTravel.com March 1, 2011 at 5:01pm
    Our exclusive Q&A with Buena Vista Social Club founder Juan De Marco Gonzalez on the music of, and travel to, Cuba:  Afro-Cuban All-Stars.
  • David Paul Appell January 21, 2011 at 12:37am
    Donna, the comment was also made that service standards are not as high in Cuba as in the DR and other Caribbean islands, so that is also a factor counting against repeat visits. Of course, for me and for many others that's not a big factor, but it may be for folks who are just looking for a sunny tropical beach vacation.
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