Travel to Cuba in April? Best airline/ hotels in Havana?
Discussion
Cuba is a great place.
Weather wise. It is a really very big island, with surprisingly high climatic variation. However, as a general rule of thumb, May is the start of lots of rain. April is best. It's warming up nicely without being too oppressive (think mid-late 20s centigrade).
Covid wise:
From 5 January 2022, travellers arriving from the UK will need a valid COVID-19 vaccination certificate from their country of origin (presumably the UK in your case) and a PCR test taken within 72 hours before travel.
Children under the age of 12 are exempt from providing vaccination certificates or PCR test results. Adults who have a medical certificate proving they are unable to be vaccinated for medical reasons are exempt from providing vaccination certificates.
Tourists are no longer required to routinely self-isolate or take a PCR test on arrival in Cuba, but "sanitary authoritie"s are present at the airport and will carry out random PCR tests. Anyone testing positive on arrival will be moved to quarantine in a designated government health centre, at their own expense.
You need to complete a Health Declaration (Declaracion Jurada de Sanidad). Since the beginning of January 2022 it has been compulsory for the declaration to be completed online before travel. You can find it online here: https://www.dviajeros.mitrans.gob.cu/inicio
You also need a Cuban Tourist Card (visa) in advance of travel. You can get it online in the UK, reliably, here: https://www.cubavisa.uk/ This having been said, I have been to Cuba three times and was asked for it on only one of those occasions. Nevertheless, it is a requirement not to overlook if you are planning things independently. Things have certainly become easier with Cuba recently, in terms of hotel bookings etc, whereas before it was more or les exclusively (as an independent traveller) done via a very unreliable state operated booking agency that barely functioned in the online world.
In Havana, I really like the Hotel Florida, perfect Havana charm - https://www.hotelfloridahabana.com/
As for airlines, plenty of choices, but if you are wanting to fly directly from the UK to Havana and back then it is Virgin Atlantic. A few other options if you don't mind a connection would be Air France via Paris, Iberia via Madrid, Condor via Frankfurt and Edelweiss Air via Zurich. If you are feeling adventurous you could fly from Madrid to Havana with Cubana. They also fly Madrid/Santiago de Cuba in the south.
Weather wise. It is a really very big island, with surprisingly high climatic variation. However, as a general rule of thumb, May is the start of lots of rain. April is best. It's warming up nicely without being too oppressive (think mid-late 20s centigrade).
Covid wise:
From 5 January 2022, travellers arriving from the UK will need a valid COVID-19 vaccination certificate from their country of origin (presumably the UK in your case) and a PCR test taken within 72 hours before travel.
Children under the age of 12 are exempt from providing vaccination certificates or PCR test results. Adults who have a medical certificate proving they are unable to be vaccinated for medical reasons are exempt from providing vaccination certificates.
Tourists are no longer required to routinely self-isolate or take a PCR test on arrival in Cuba, but "sanitary authoritie"s are present at the airport and will carry out random PCR tests. Anyone testing positive on arrival will be moved to quarantine in a designated government health centre, at their own expense.
You need to complete a Health Declaration (Declaracion Jurada de Sanidad). Since the beginning of January 2022 it has been compulsory for the declaration to be completed online before travel. You can find it online here: https://www.dviajeros.mitrans.gob.cu/inicio
You also need a Cuban Tourist Card (visa) in advance of travel. You can get it online in the UK, reliably, here: https://www.cubavisa.uk/ This having been said, I have been to Cuba three times and was asked for it on only one of those occasions. Nevertheless, it is a requirement not to overlook if you are planning things independently. Things have certainly become easier with Cuba recently, in terms of hotel bookings etc, whereas before it was more or les exclusively (as an independent traveller) done via a very unreliable state operated booking agency that barely functioned in the online world.
In Havana, I really like the Hotel Florida, perfect Havana charm - https://www.hotelfloridahabana.com/
As for airlines, plenty of choices, but if you are wanting to fly directly from the UK to Havana and back then it is Virgin Atlantic. A few other options if you don't mind a connection would be Air France via Paris, Iberia via Madrid, Condor via Frankfurt and Edelweiss Air via Zurich. If you are feeling adventurous you could fly from Madrid to Havana with Cubana. They also fly Madrid/Santiago de Cuba in the south.
https://www.iberostar.com/en/hotels/la-habana/iber...
This one all day long. Perfect location , rooftop pool , decent food and friendly staff.
Plus a classic car taxi rank at the door !
The iberostar at varedero is lovely also , if doing a split break.
This one all day long. Perfect location , rooftop pool , decent food and friendly staff.
Plus a classic car taxi rank at the door !
The iberostar at varedero is lovely also , if doing a split break.
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