Cuba Travel Guide: Money, Entry Rules and Where to Go

Cuba rewards travellers who arrive prepared, and in 2026 that means arriving with cash, paperwork and a torch. Three things have changed since most guides to Cuba were written: the entry permit went digital at the end of 2025, Visa and Mastercard stopped working on the island in June 2026, and the electricity grid now fails often enough that a power cut is part of the trip rather than an emergency.

This guide is the front door to our Cuba coverage. It answers the practical questions first, then points you at the pages that go deeper, starting with things to do in Cuba.

Cuba quick facts

The facts you need before booking are listed below.

• Currency: Cuban peso (CUP). The convertible peso (CUC) was withdrawn in 2021 and no longer exists.
• Capital: Havana
• Size: 109,884 km² (42,426 sq mi), the largest island in the Caribbean
• Population: roughly 10 million and falling, after five years of heavy emigration. Cuba’s own statistics office has counted a drop of more than 1.6 million since 2020, and the census due in 2024 has been postponed.
• Language: Spanish. English is patchy outside tourist areas and hotel staff.
• Time zone: Cuba Standard Time, UTC-5, with daylight saving in summer
• Power: 110V and 220V in the same country, plug types A, B and C. Bring an adapter and a power bank.
• Driving side: right
• Phone code: +53
• Emergency numbers: 106 police, 104 ambulance, 105 fire
• Tap water: not drinkable. Use bottled or filtered water, including for brushing teeth.
• UNESCO World Heritage sites: 9, including Old Havana and its fortifications, Trinidad and the Valley de los Ingenios, Viñales Valley, the historic centres of Camagüey and Cienfuegos, San Pedro de la Roca Castle in Santiago de Cuba, the first coffee plantations of the south-east, Alejandro de Humboldt National Park and Desembarco del Granma National Park.

Do you need a visa for Cuba?

Yes, every foreign visitor needs a Cuban entry permit, and it is now digital. Cuba phased out the paper tourist card on 31 December 2025, so the green or pink card that older guides tell you to buy at the airport check-in desk no longer exists. In its place you apply online for an electronic visa before you fly.

Three documents have to line up at the border.

1. The electronic visa. Buy it before departure and keep the confirmation on your phone and on paper. Prices vary sharply between resellers, so start at the official Cuban government portal rather than the first search result.
2. The D’Viajeros form. Cuba’s online arrival declaration produces a QR code that immigration and customs scan when you land. Fill it in within 48 hours of your flight.
3. Proof of travel medical insurance. This is a legal entry condition and it is genuinely checked. Some airlines bundle a policy into the fare; if yours does not, arrange your own before you go. SafetyWing covers Cuba and you can start a policy after you have already left home, which is useful if you only find out about the requirement late.

US citizens face a second layer of rules. Ordinary tourism to Cuba remains prohibited under US law. Travel has to fit one of twelve authorised categories, of which “support for the Cuban people” is the one most independent travellers use, and it carries record-keeping obligations. The State Department also publishes a Cuba Prohibited Accommodations List of hotels US visitors may not stay in. Check both lists yourself before booking anything, because they change.

How does money work in Cuba?

Cuba runs on cash, and the Cuban peso now comes with several different exchange rates at once. The dual-currency system ended in 2021 when the convertible peso was withdrawn, so any guide that tells you to change money into CUCs is describing a currency that has not existed for years. Ignore it completely.

Here is the structure as it stands.

• Two legacy state rates of 24 CUP and 120 CUP to the US dollar still exist on paper, but they apply to state-sector transactions and not to you.
• A floating official rate launched in December 2025 for households and private business. In mid-August 2026 it sat at roughly 628 CUP to the US dollar and roughly 727 CUP to the euro.
• An informal street rate, tracked by the independent monitor elTOQUE, which ran a little above the official one: around 665 CUP to the dollar in mid-August 2026 and around 688 by early September.

Those numbers will be wrong by the time you travel. The peso has moved a long way in a short time and it keeps moving, so treat any published rate, including the ones above, as a snapshot with a date on it rather than a figure to budget against. Check the rate in the week you fly.

Two practical rules matter more than the arithmetic.

Bring cash, and bring plenty. Visa and Mastercard payments stopped working across Cuba on 6 June 2026, after US Executive Order 14404 of 1 May pushed a foreign partner bank to cut ties with Fincimex, the Cuban company that processed the transactions. That is not a US-issued-card problem any more, it is the whole network. Cards on the Chinese UnionPay and Russian Mir systems still work in some terminals, and prepaid cards can be loaded locally, but the reliable plan is cash you carried in.

Euros travel better than dollars, because changing dollars has historically attracted a worse deal, and both are now accepted directly in many private businesses alongside pesos. Bring clean, undamaged notes in a mix of denominations, and split them between bags.

What happens when the power goes out in Cuba?

Power cuts in Cuba are routine rather than exceptional, and the grid has failed nationwide several times in 2026 alone. Cuba’s generating plants are old and fuel is short, so both scheduled and unscheduled outages run daily across the island, Havana included, and they take water pumps, refrigeration, lighting and mobile coverage with them.

Plan around it rather than hoping.

• Carry a head torch and a large power bank, and charge everything whenever the power is on.
• Keep cash on you at all times, because card terminals and ATMs are dead during an outage even where cards would otherwise work.
• Ask your casa or hotel whether it has a generator and how long it runs. Larger resorts in Varadero and the cays generally do; small casas generally do not.
• Expect lifts, air conditioning and hot water to stop with the power.

When is the best time to visit Cuba?

The best time to visit Cuba is the dry season from December to April, when humidity drops and rain is less likely. Cuba has a tropical climate with a wet season and a dry one rather than four seasons.

• December to April: dry, warm and the busiest stretch, and Christmas, New Year and Easter cost the most.
• May to June: the wet season opens, prices fall, and afternoon downpours are short.
• July to August: hot, humid and the Cuban holiday season, so beaches and buses fill up.
• September to November: the wettest months and the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season, which officially runs from 1 June to 30 November.

How do you get to Cuba?

You get to Cuba by air. Havana’s José Martí International is the main gateway, and holiday traffic also flies into Varadero, Holguín, Santa Clara, Cayo Coco and Santiago de Cuba, which saves a long transfer if you are heading straight for a beach.

Routes come mostly from Canada, Mexico, Panama, Spain and a handful of other European countries, and schedules change more often than they do elsewhere in the region, so check that the route still exists before you build a trip around it. Check flight options and prices to Cuba here.

One detail worth knowing in advance: a Cuban entry stamp can complicate later applications for the US ESTA, because visiting Cuba after 12 January 2021 makes a traveller ineligible for visa-free entry to the United States and pushes them towards a full visa application instead.

How do you get around Cuba?

You get around Cuba by long-distance coach for the main routes and by shared taxi for everything else. Distances are large, the island is over 1,200 km long, and journeys take longer than the map suggests.

• Víazul coaches run the tourist routes between Havana, Viñales, Cienfuegos, Trinidad, Camagüey, Holguín and Santiago. Book ahead; seats sell out.
• Colectivos, shared taxis running fixed routes, are faster than the coach, cost more and leave when full. Agree the price before you get in.
• Domestic flights save a full day on the run to Santiago or Baracoa, but cancellations are common.
• Hire cars exist but are scarce, expensive and hostage to fuel shortages. Long queues at petrol stations are normal, so a self-drive trip needs slack in the schedule.
• Classic American cars are a Havana experience rather than transport. Fix the fare first.

Where should you go in Cuba?

Go to Havana first, then pick one direction rather than trying to cross the island. Cuba splits neatly into a western half you can cover from Havana and an eastern half that needs its own flight or a long haul overland.

Our list of 30 things to do in Cuba works through these in detail, from cigar factories to the Bay of Pigs. Booking a guided walk or a driver for the first day is the cheapest way to get oriented in Havana.

Where should you stay in Cuba?

Stay in a casa particular, because a licensed private guest house is where the money reaches an actual Cuban family and where you get a breakfast and a conversation you would not get in a state hotel. Casas are found in every town on the tourist map and are usually booked by message or through the owner directly.

Hotels in Cuba are mostly state-owned or state-linked, which is why US visitors have to check the Cuba Prohibited Accommodations List before booking one. Resort inventory is concentrated in Varadero, the northern cays and Holguín. If you want an apartment with a kitchen rather than a hotel room, Vrbo is the place to look, though Cuban listings are thin compared with the rest of the Caribbean.

Whatever you book, confirm it directly a few days before arrival. Shortages and power cuts close properties at short notice.

How much does Cuba cost?

Cuba is cheap for some things and startlingly expensive for others, and the gap runs along the line between what Cuba produces and what it has to import. Lobster, rum, cigars, casa rooms and local transport are good value. Bottled water, toiletries, batteries, medicine, sun cream and anything imported are scarce and priced accordingly.

The practical consequence is that you should pack the consumables you expect to need rather than plan to buy them there. Shelves are often empty, and the shop that had a thing last week may not have it this week.

Do you tip in Cuba?

Yes, you tip in Cuba, and it matters more than in most countries because state wages are very low. Small cash tips in pesos or hard currency are normal for restaurant staff, musicians, guides, drivers and casa hosts. Our guide to tipping in Cuba and North America has the amounts.

Is Cuba safe?

Cuba is a safe country for visitors by regional standards, and violent crime against tourists is rare. The realistic risks are economic rather than criminal.

• Shortages are the main problem. Medicines in particular are hard to find, so bring a full personal supply of anything you take, plus basics like rehydration salts, painkillers and antihistamines.
• Scams are the usual tourist ones: inflated taxi fares, short change, a “friend” who steers you to a restaurant that pays him. Fix prices before you agree to anything.
• Petty theft happens in crowded parts of Havana. Ordinary precautions are enough.
• Hurricanes between June and November can shut airports and cut power for days. Insurance that covers trip disruption earns its keep here.
• Consular help is limited for US citizens in particular, so read your own government’s current travel advice before you commit.

More Cuba and Caribbean reading

The pages below go deeper on Cuba and the wider region.

1. 30 things to do in Cuba. The long list, from Havana and Trinidad to Baracoa and the Bay of Pigs, with what each place is actually for.
2. 10 interesting facts about the Caribbean islands. How the island groups fit together and where Cuba sits among them.
3. Tipping in Cuba. What to give, to whom and in what currency.

WonderfulWanderings Pro Tips

Five things we would tell a friend flying to Havana next month are listed below.

1. Do not plan to pay by card. Visa and Mastercard stopped working in Cuba on 6 June 2026 and have not come back. Carry the whole trip’s budget in cash, in euros, in mixed denominations, and split across more than one bag.
2. Buy the entry permit before you go, not at the airport. The paper tourist card was withdrawn on 31 December 2025 and replaced by an electronic visa that has to be linked to the D’Viajeros online form. Airline check-in staff will not let you board without both.
3. Have your insurance certificate ready at immigration. Proof of travel medical cover is a legal entry condition in Cuba and officers ask for it. A policy on your phone is fine; nothing at all is not.
4. Treat a published exchange rate as perishable. The peso moved from the low hundreds to the high six hundreds against the dollar in a couple of years. Check the rate the week you fly, and never budget from a figure in a guide written before 2026.
5. Pack a head torch and a power bank. Cuba’s grid has collapsed nationwide several times this year and daily outages are normal. Charge everything whenever the power is on.

About the author. This guide is written and maintained by the Wonderful Wanderings editorial team. Wonderful Wanderings was founded in 2012 by Sofie Couwenbergh, who travels on a rolling travel insurance policy and has spent years working out which destinations need more preparation than a guidebook admits. The team covers Cuba for independent travellers, including the tours, casas particulares and travel insurance worth arranging before you fly, and updates this page when entry rules, exchange rates and payment systems change.