We learned a lot from our trip to Cuba: some of what we learned is worth passing on. For a start, you can't get Cuban currency outside of Cuba, and we learned that it can still be difficult once you are there. You can't pay for things with a credit card but Visa cards are supposed to work in Cuban ATMs. Mine didn't, and Frances's was taken by the machine when she tried to use it. Mastercard was O.K. at the ATM at Havana airport but not in the city. We went into a bank, hoping to by-pass the machines, but couldn't get money on either card and were told to ring up our bank in Australia. We had to go to the Plaza Hotel to do this (expensive!) and the nice Mastercard man in Australia told us to go to a different ATM, they hadn't blocked my card or anything. So we eventually found that the ATMs are often out of order (the Lonely Planet book says this) but the machine won't tell you it's out of order – it will just say "transaction declined" or "you entered the wrong number". In English or Spanish, you can choose. My advice: Use Mastercard, get several, don't try to get too much at a time, avoid the city ATMs, and don't believe the Cuban lady in the bank when she tells you your card's no good.
Second bit of advice: Stay at casas particulares – the Cuban form of bed-and-breakfast accommodation. A fraction of the cost of hotels, and you meet interesting people. There are hundreds of casas, all discoverable on the internet, with details of price, what languages are spoken, and so on. You can book in advance, but not pay in advance, and they only take cash – Cuban convertible pesos or "CUCs" – the paper money you get out of Cuban ATMs sometimes. Before leaving a casa, you are asked to sign a form in a book, to report whether the accommodation was clean and comfortable. It always was, but don't look too hard at the wiring. This book is checked by a government inspector, apparently.
Third bit of obvious advice: Learn some Spanish, even if it's just enough to ask somebody if they speak English.

The slideshow is a selection from all the Cuba galleries. Click on an image in the slideshow or
on one of the header images below to see a larger version and more pictures in the same gallery.