Telephone
Country code/city code:
When calling from outside Cuba, dial (53) 7

Havana city code:
For calls from other parts of Cuba, dial (07)

Guide to Havana

Cigars & Rum

Although Cuba has its own national currency, the peso, the entire tourist economy is in U.S. dollars. U.S. citizens should bring cash. Credit cards or checks drawn on U.S. banks are not honored.

Drinks: Try the Havana Club Reserva (about $8 a bottle) or the vanilla-caramel Paticruzado (about $5), a favorite of locals that outshines most of the export brands. Even more bang for buck can be gotten from a bottle of guayabita, a surprisingly drinkable sweet guava liqueur (about $3). Classic Cuban cocktails include the daiquiri, the mojito, and the Cuba libré. Local beers Mayabe and Cristal won’t disappoint either.

Cigars: Government stores sell cigars at prices approaching those in other countries where Cuban cigars are sold, but the product is fresher and selection is better. Cigars can be purchased at shops around Havana, including excellent ones in the Hostal Valencia in Old Havana, at the Don Congrejo restaurant in Miramar, at the Melia Cohiba hotel, and at Marina Hemingway. Well-connected tourists can purchase black market cigars for as little as $40 a box, but the quality varies widely and Cuban authorities sometimes confiscate cigars without a purchase receipt at the airport. U.S. Customs officials will destroy cigars in a wood chipper if a U.S. citizen cannot prove that he or she was in Cuba legally and spent less than $100 on the cigars. The import maximum is 100 cigars, but frequently, agents will take half the contraband and let a traveler keep one or two boxes.