Looking for basic info about how to arrange a trip, what to look out for, when to go.

Just day-dreaming right now….

Avoid resorts and the food is boring everywhere! 🙂

Make sure insurance isn’t underwritten by an American company..

Take pens, soap and basic medication. They hardly have that sort of stuff over there and will trade just about anything for them. It’s a nice place and the Cubans are very friendly 🙂

Try Madagascar instead

Excellent snorkelling. Crap food.

Excellent snorkelling, great food, lovely people in my experience

My missus’ folks have just been and absolutely raved about it.

Amazing place – avoid the ‘all in resorts’ full of redneck Canadians breakfasting on Labatts!

It was about 15 years ago but I loved it. As others have said avoid the resorts and get out and see the country and meet the people. A fascinating place. I’d love to go back.

Went 2-3yrs ago. We thought it was mega!
Had to book two nights in hotel in havana, for the benefit of the entry visa. After that…We stayed in with families, B&B (casa particulares) – very cheap, cuban locals benefit from the cash, its a good way to exp. cuban life.
Avoid all inclusive.

Cool place great, rum, music people. The food isn’t awesome

Travelled around…Havana-Trinidad-Vinales-Havana. If you head to vinales, take climbing gear to give to local climbers.

http://Www.captivatingcuba.com

Tailor made our itinery about 7 years ago. All went very smoothly fantastic place lovely people
In Havana we stayed in Hotel Seville (I think it was called) had great view of the Capitol building from our room which also happened to be the same room Graham Greene wrote/set Our Man in Havana in
The room immediately upstairs (that had dodgy plumbing 🙂 used to be Al Capones Cuban hideout
Fantastic history and culture

We went 10 years ago and spent 3 weeks touring the country in a jeep. We stayed with Cuban families who were licenced to rent a room to tourists. They would also make breakfast and dinner if you wanted it. Amazing way to see the country and the Cubans are ace. Would help if you leaned a little Spanish as there is not much English spoken outside the tourist areas.

http://www.hotelsevilla-cuba.com/hotel_details.asp

Been a couple of times, food was great, tasted like food used to taste before modern processing techniques we now have.

Go to Havanna, check out the Museum of the revolution, see what those nice CIA types were up to.

I was concerned about water sports so spent a fair amount of time up at Varedero, the touristy area, it’s changed a lot already, but the first time remarkable in the lack of ramshackle poverty or coke billboards and the fun, laughter and music everywhere.

It’s imv an island where communism has succeeded as best it may in the face of a total capitalist blockade, there is a rumour doing the rounds in the city that they’re close to a cure for cancer, such is the level of their medical prowess.

Definitely a place that is going to change for the worse very shortly once the yanks decide they want back in which is likely once Castro finally checks out, so go now, before it’s too late.

Stunning place – as said go now before it becomes Americanised.

People very friendly, food was average in hotels and restaurants but fabulous in people’s homes (amazing what they could cook up on a two ring cooker), lots to see (Havana Old Town, old American cars, some lovely national parks, good beaches, loads of recent history e.g. Che Guevara’s hideouts, Trinidad).

I went a couple of years ago in late March and we had fantastic weather. Did a cycling tour with Explore which was a great way to see the country – very little traffic and amazing pina coladas at the service stations (can’t see that happening at Leicester Forest East)!

Didn’t do the north coast where the resort hotels are so can’t comment on that part of the country, which is where most of the people on the flight I got seemed to be heading.

Its a much larger country than I anticipated so don’t try to do too much otherwise you’ll spend all your time travelling.

Cycled across it for charity, probably one of the best weeks of my life. Different location every night. Havana is a must but typical resort\major town rip offs. Outside everywhere was awesome.

Take some basic school stuff, note pads, coloured pens better still pencils, paints. Anything like that and drop them into a school and they will love you forever.

Fantastic country.