cuba
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Visa
Visitors need to secure a tourist visa from the Cuban Consulate. It costs £15, valid for 30 days
and will appeal to younger clients. While in Old Havana, the absorbing Havana Club Rum Museum and the University of San Jeronimo are musts, as is dinner at the new Brewery restaurant in the old port. A former tobacco store, the Brewery serves smoked pork and a choice of Austrian-style beers brewed on the premises. Its opening earlier this year spearheaded the
conversion of the 500-year-old port into an exciting new tourism hub. Adjacent is the San Jose Warehouse market selling a vast array of quality cottage-industry goods and original art works. Recommend clients try the ‘paladares’ (small
Money matters Tourists’ currency is the Cuban
Convertible Peso or CUC . CUC 38 = £1. Take sterling/euros
Best time to visit November – April
But they say ‘there’s a party in Cuba whatever the weather’
Havana The very name of Cuba’s playground capital conjures up images of the ‘anything-goes’ glamour of its ‘50s heyday when it was popular with the likes of Brando, Sinatra, Monroe and Hemingway. Everywhere this vivid history is evident from the stream of gleaming, lovingly-maintained vintage cars that cruise Havana’s famous ‘Malecòn’ waterfront promenade to the opulent, if dilapidated, mansions of the city’s former titans. Its heritage centre, Old Havana, was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982 – the same year as the city’s ‘grande dame’, the Hotel Nacional. A cocktail in this institution is a rite of passage but couples may prefer to stay in a ‘casa particular’ (private home B&B), nearer the heart of Old Havana, or in an historic boutique hotel such as the Sevilla, Telegrafo or Inglaterra. These options are all close to the central park,
Culture-vulture couples with more time should visit the island’s south-east and take in the Spanish colonial city of Santiago de Cuba, which next year celebrates its 500th anniversary. The Diego Velazquez Museum and the Casa
Velazquez – the latter is the oldest house in Cuba – offer insights into the region while the sunset from the coastal San Pedro de la Roca del Morro Castle provides a romantic fl ourish. Baracoa (where Columbus set foot in 1492) is
well worth a visit for its unspoilt, native charm, and nature lovers can join national park rainforest with local guides. Up there with Varadero, Cayo Coco or Cayo Santa Maria, the world-class beach resorts of Holguin’s Playa Guardalavaca, Playa Pesquero, or Playa Costa Verde provide a variety of quality three-, four- and fi ve-star options for honeymooners. Check out the luxury Paradisus Rio de Oro and
the ‘Villa Blanca’ tours of local fi shing village, Gibara, from nearby Puerto Vita which includes a catamaran ride to a converted Spanish colonial mansion, now the Hotel Ordono.
Facing page. Main pic: Varadero is a popular beach resort for Brits; Cathedral Square in Havana and vintage classic cars. This page: Che Guevara and Cuban cigars
El Capitolio (former seat of government) and the much-feted El Floridita restaurant where a life-size statue of Hemingway props up the bar. The nearby super-sleek Saratoga is one of the few hotels with wifi . Other distinctive hotels include the Valencia, El Comendador and the newly-reopened Ambos Mundos, near La Bodeguita Del Medio,(another iconic restaurant). The new Habana 612 Hotel, with just 12 rooms, was built out of recycled building restoration material
eateries), an inexpensive way to experience authentic cuisine. They should make time for an evening in one of the salsa night clubs, such as the Casa de la Música in the Miramar suburbs; and visit the world-famous Tropicana dinner-shows with their cast of feathered performers. Cubans have an exuberance for life that’s
infectious. This is the home of the sexy salsa and there’s a party on just about every street corner. And being a passionate people, Cubans love lovers. * Karen Luard travelled to FIT Cuba 2014 as a guest of the Cuba Tourist Board. •
Where to book it
Kuoni– 01483 791 114 A seven-day Highlights of Cuba tour, with two nights in Havana, two nights in Trinidad, one night in Remedios, a night in Cienfuegos and then back to Havana for the fi nal night leads-in at £1,822pp including fl ights.
kuoni.co.uk
Havanatour – 01707 646463 An escorted seven-night tour with time in Havana, Trinidad, Cienfuegos, and in a ‘casa particular’ in Vinales, including meals, transport and attractions, is priced from £779pp departing December (excludes fl ights and visas).
havanatour.co.uk
Virgin Holidays – 0844 557 3933 A 14-night deal, with seven nights’ B&B in Havana and seven all-inclusive at Breezes Bella Costa, costs from £1,295pp including fl ights from Gatwick.
vhols4agents.co.uk
Thomas Cook Signature – 0800 871 6650 The seven-night Classical Cuba tour combines a week at a beach resort in Cayo Coco with visits to Santa Clara, Trinidad, Cienfuegos and Havana. It is priced from £1469pp all-inclusive, including fl ights.
thomascook.com
Cuba Tourist Board – 020 7240 6655
tourism@travel2cuba.co.uk
sellingtravel.co.uk
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