Mini Guide to Cuba

Guilherme Ribeiro | November 21, 2018

Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean at 109,884 square kilometers, and the second-most populous. It consists of the island of Cuba, Isla de la Juventud, and many small archipelagos.

The country is one of the few standing Marxist–Leninist socialist states, and was the center of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, which nearly started a nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Cuba has one of the highest literacy rates in the world (99.8 percent) and it’s a big exporter of tobacco, coffee, and sugar.

Transport

Most visitors will likely arrive in Jose Martí International Airport in Havana though new flights to other Cuban cities are slowly becoming available. The best way to travel around the country is by bus as they offer a comfortable trip with air-conditioning, TV, and toilets.

Visitors can also rent cars, but apart from not being so cheap, scams are commonplace, which doesn’t make it the best choice. The cheapest option for budget-conscious travelers is hitchhiking, which is facilitated by a government system called “El Amarillo” (the yellow guy).

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