Practical Information

Passport

Check the expiration date of your passport if travelling internationally. Many countries require your passport to be valid for at least six months after the date of your scheduled return, and to have at least two clear pages for entry stamps.

Visa

Cuba

UK, EU, Canada, Australia, New Zealand or Japan passport holders residing in the UK/Ireland 

If you hold a passport from the UK, an EU country, Canada, Australia, New Zealand or Japan AND reside in the UK/Ireland, Exodus includes a green tourist card that you can use to enter Cuba. We will post the tourist card to you approximately three to four weeks before travel. We will send instructions on how to fill it in but please be careful when completing it as any mistakes may result in you having to purchase a new card at a cost of £25 per person. 

Please note, tourist cards supplied by Exodus will not be valid if you are travelling via the USA as you will then be subject to comply with the same regulations as an American citizen. You cannot use a green tourist card purchased outside the USA and will have to buy a pink tourist card sold only in the USA. For this reason, we do not recommend travelling to Cuba via the USA. 

Other passport holders residing in the UK/Ireland 

If you reside in the UK or Ireland but do not hold one of the above passports, please contact your nearest Cuban consulate to check which visa is required – Exodus is unable to provide a tourist card for you. 

Customers residing outside the UK/Ireland 

If you do not reside in the UK or Ireland, you must contact your nearest Cuban consulate to check which visa is required – Exodus is unable to provide a tourist card for you. 

USA passport holders and residents 

Any USA passport holder wishing to travel to Cuba should be fully aware of current legislation before committing to a trip to Cuba. As an American-owned company, Exodus programs to Cuba are fully compliant with the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) general license under the Support for the Cuban People category of travel. 

Travellers from the USA are required to buy a pink tourist card sold only in the US (at a US airport or from a US travel agent). We recommend that you check with the nearest embassy or consulate of your chosen destination(s), including any countries you may be transiting through. For travellers from the USA, please check: www.travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel.html where you can also find more information about the Support for Cuban People and OFAC requirements. 

You must keep a copy of your itinerary and any correspondence/transactions relating to the trip for a minimum of five years after the trip takes place to comply with OFAC requirements. 

IMPORTANT FOR ALL CUSTOMERS: 

Cuba now requires all passengers to fill in a locator form prior to travel – this form is mandatory. You can access the form here: www.dviajeros.mitrans.gob.cu/inicio Make sure to keep a photo of the QR code generated so you can easily present it on arrival. You can only fill in the D’Viajeros form 48 hours prior to entry into Cuba. For advice on how to complete it, consult our Help Sheet. 

The Cuban entry immigration is time consuming, and most visitors encounter delays: it may take up to two hours to clear immigration and collect your bags. All tourists visiting Cuba must have travel insurance to cover medical costs. You may be asked to provide proof of your travel insurance policy when you arrive at Havana Airport. Ensure your documents are easily accessible. 

Visa requirements often change and it is your responsibility to organise this element of your trip. We recommend that you check with the nearest embassy or consulate of your chosen destination(s), including any countries you may be transiting or transferring through. 

Vaccinations and Health

Cuba

There are no mandatory vaccination requirements. Recommended vaccinations are: Tetanus, Hepatitis A. We are advised that there is no risk of malaria. Dengue fever is a known risk in places visited. It is a tropical viral disease spread by daytime biting mosquitoes. There is currently no vaccine or prophylaxis available for Dengue, and therefore the best form of prevention is to avoid being bitten. We recommend you take the usual precautions to avoid mosquito bites. Zika fever is a mosquito‐borne viral disease and a known risk in places visited on this trip. There is currently no vaccine or prophylaxis available, we therefore strongly recommend you take the usual precautions to avoid mosquito bites.

The above information can change at short notice; as we are not qualified to answer all your questions about travel health we recommend that you confirm with your doctor or travel clinic. 

Local Time

Cuba's time zone: America/Havana (UTC -04:00)

Electricity

Cuba's electricity: Plug type A (two flat pins) – mostly 110V or 220V

Money

The national currency of Cuba is the Cuban peso (CUP); however, euros and US dollars are the preferred currencies outside Havana. We recommend bringing cash (euros or US dollars) with you and exchanging with your tour leader.

• In Havana: Businesses (restaurants, cafes etc) only accept Cuban pesos
• Outside Havana: Euros or US dollars are the preferred currencies

Please note, credit/debit card acceptance is limited across the country. Additionally, businesses throughout Cuba may not have much change so it’s best to carry and pay in small notes. If change is available, it will likely be given in Cuban pesos.

Currency exchange

Bringing euros or US dollars and exchanging them with your tour leader is the easiest way to exchange money into Cuban pesos. Alternatively, you can change them elsewhere – your tour leader can advise on the best place. It’s best to bring new, unmarked notes and change only a small amount for the first few days. Please note, exchanging US dollars usually incurs a 10% exchange commission. Canadian dollars, British pounds and Australian dollars are exchangeable in the CADECA exchange offices, but euros are preferred.

Please also note that it is prohibited to enter or leave Cuba carrying Cuban pesos. Please make sure you have spent or exchanged any remaining pesos prior to passing through immigration on departure. We recommend you exchange them before reaching the airport as queues can be long. Limits may be applied on the maximum number of pesos to be exchanged into another currency. Any drinks, snacks, duty-free and souvenirs will then need to be paid for using a credit card or cash.

ATM Availability

ATMs are increasingly available in Cuba but are not yet widespread and they are regularly either out of order or empty. When working, there can be long queues. They are presently confined to the larger cities and resorts and should not be relied upon; hence, we suggest you take cash with you to cover the vast majority of your spending.

Prior to travel, it is worth checking with your bank whether your card will work in a Cuban ATM. Using cards from banks that are fully or partially US-owned is not possible in Cuba. Australian and Canadian travellers in particular should check with their banks prior to travel.

Extra Expenses & Spending Money

Drinks are generally around €2-€5.

Many travellers find Cuba more expensive than they expect (particularly Havana) and we recommend you bring more spending money rather than less. We recommend €350 per person for the week (not including tips for the guide and driver). Small denominations are preferred and can easily be spent in restaurants and bars.

Tipping

If you are happy with the services of the guide and driver, we recommend a tip of around €30-€40 per passenger for the week, which you can divide in favour of the guide.

Tipping is at your own discretion but is very much part of the culture in Cuba and is usually expected. Your tour leader will offer to arrange and look after a group tipping kitty, which is used to tip local guides at individual museums and attractions, musicians and waiting staff for included meals etc throughout the trip. The guide will usually collect around €30 from each group member at the start of the trip to cover this.

Tipping is also expected in restaurants – add about 10 percent to the bill.

People, Places & Planet

We work hard to create trips that have a positive impact on the people and places we visit and look after the planet we explore. Learn more about our sustainable travel ethos and practice here and find out about the work of the Exodus Travels Foundation here.

Some sustainable travel highlights of this trip include:

People: How this trip helps improve life for local communities.

• Every day of this trip is focused on activities that provide direct income for local people. This is in compliance with the United States’ Support for the Cuban People scheme, which allows legal travel to Cuba for US citizens.
• Local guides keep you well informed about local traditions and cultural-social sensitivities.
• This trip brings income and opportunity to the destination community through the inclusion of locally owned casas particulares, paladares (restaurants), and other enterprises, and by championing locally produced food wherever possible.
• We visit local businesses including: Finca Raul in Viñales, where a farmer takes us through the stages of tobacco production; a bici-taxi tour of Cienfuegos operated by local drivers; and a pottery-making class run by the Santander family in Trinidad.
• We spend time with a group of local women who are keeping regional traditions alive by teaching embroidery techniques and encouraging younger generations to embrace the skilled process of making textile handicrafts.
• Our interactions allow the local people to improve their English skills, which can help widen employment opportunities and give visitors incomparable insight into the daily lives of Cuban people.
• Read more about our other initiatives here.

Places: How this trip helps protect and conserve local landscapes and nature.

• By travelling in a small group, we ‘tread lightly’ to minimise our impact on local resources and the environment.
• We work with our partners on the ground to proactively reduce waste; this includes eliminating all single-use plastic water bottles by providing refills for reusable bottles and encouraging visitors to bring filter water bottles, which can be refilled at public fountains and taps along the way.
• We visit family-run farms to provide the owners with an additional stream of income related to the farm, encouraging the continuation of traditional agricultural practices in rural areas of the country.
• With our partners, Rewilding Apennines, we rewild 100 square meters (1,075 sqft) of land per passenger who travels with us.
• Read about our commitment to nature protection and restoration here, including our rewilding commitment for every customer who travels with us.

Planet: How we seek to keep the carbon footprint of this trip low.

• Accommodation and restaurants in the itinerary use locally sourced food which has not been transported long distances.
• Casas particulares are small guesthouses that have a lower carbon footprint than larger hotels.
• Read about our climate action here, including our carbon reduction and compensation commitments.

Tips for sustainable travel on this trip

• Leave no trace: We do all we can to ensure we leave no rubbish in the wild and beautiful places we visit; we ask that you do the same. If there are no recycling facilities in-country, consider bringing recyclable materials home with you.
• Plastic waste reduction: Please bring a reusable water bottle on this trip, also consider avoiding single-use hotel toiletries, which generate a large amount of plastic waste.

Important Information

Water safety

This trip includes time by a lake, river or sea, where there may be opportunities to swim. You should always seek local advice before deciding whether to swim. Open-water or wild swim spots should be treated with extreme caution. Information on how to keep yourself safe while swimming is shown here.