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Are you thinking of visiting Cuba? Here's some tips:

~*~ Don't believe the propaganda! As long as you are sensible, like you need to be in any city, you won't have any problems. Cuba is safe to walk around - violent crime is almost unheard of and the crowd of youths at the end of the street are more like to say hello than anything else.

~*~ There's a dual economy. The local Peso (moneda nacional) and Convertable Peso (also called CUCs and Dollars). A CUC is worth about 60p. As tourists you will almost always be expected to pay in CUCs. There are 24 local Pesos to the CUC and a bank will change them for you. It's worth having one CUCs worth of PESOs because some places will accept them and they are useful for tipping at toilets etc. The local Pesos include a lovely one with Che on it (which some people will try to sell you for 1 CUC!).

~*~ It's best to take sterling of euros to change to CUCs. If you are changing US Dollars you have to pay a 10% surcharge (we called it the blockade charge!). You cannot use US credit cards. English credit cards work fine but you'll be charged a 10% admin charge for all credit card transactions and only places such as hotels, car hire and the main cigar shops will accept them.
~*~ Around the main tourist streets you will get asked for money, soap and pens, or to buy newspapers, or to visit a particular restaurant / hotel. Just politely say no and they will generally accept that without problem. Once you move a couple of blocks away from the main tourist streets you are much less likely to experience this and can relax and enjoy the real culture.

~*~ If you are looking at a map or guidebook you'll probably be asked if you need directions - be aware that some people will then demand 1 CUC (60p) for telling you something that you can see from the map. So, if you don't want to keep paying for directions you don't need, best to say that you are fine, thankyou. Of course not everyone will demand money. If you stop someone they are less likely to than those who approach you.

~*~ Travelling about: We found the Viazul coaches better than the trains. The trains do not run to time (our 12 hour train journey took 15 hours!) and the buses are cleaner and more comfortable.

~*~ Some hotels do have room safes but they usually work with the room key - so others have access to it too. We took a pacsafe lock with us so that we could lock valuables in our case and secure it to something that can't easily be moved. It worked really well.

***Do you have any questions?***