Cuba is a totalitarian communist state located in the Caribbean less than 100 miles from Florida. Cuba, although it has signed on to human rights treaties, heavily monitors citizens and visitors and does restrict some freedoms including freedom of speech and press. The surveillance and restrictions have led to a high level of illegal migration, mostly to the United States because of the close proximity of the Florida Keys.

A license from the government is required for U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba directly from the U.S. Many travelers avoid this requirement by flying to another country first and then traveling to Cuba. American travelers are welcome in Cuba and passports are rarely stamped at the border upon entry or exit.

Tourism, however, is one of Cuba’s major industries and the Cuban government is working to promote the country as an internationally popular destination.

Old Havana, a part of the capital city of Havana, has been carefully restored to reflect the original neoclassical and baroque style of the neighborhood. Plaza de Armas is at the historic center of Old Havana and the other major sights lead out from there. You’ll find four fortresses in the area as well as the San Cristobal Cathedral and National Capitol. You can follow in Hemingway’s footsteps by departing Plaza de Armas and strolling along Cale Obispo.

Touring the sugar mills of Cuba will give you a sense of the history of the sugar industry in Cuba. The majority of the mills are located in the Valley of the Sugar Mills near Trinidad. The area (actually a series of three valleys) was filled with over seventy sugar mills when the industry was at its peak in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Today most of the mills are in ruins but you can tour the ruins and surrounding countryside to learn about one of Cuba’s formerly essential industries.

If just being in Cuba isn’t enough of an adventure for you, there are plenty of other opportunities to add a little thrill to your trip.

You can climb Cuba’s stunning rock faces in the Valle de Vinales in the western part of the country. You’ll climb limestone rock above small villages and be rewarded with incredible views of the thatched roofs and lush landscape of Cuba. Rafting is a popular activity among tourists as well. The Rio Toa is Cuba’s deepest river and the best spot for rafting.

There are also many opportunities for hiking in Cuba, but perhaps the most adventurous is to trek into the cloud forest where Fidel Castro hid during the Cuban Revolutionary War. It is possible to see his headquarters there at Comandancia de la Plata. From there, you’re within a short trek of the highest peak in Cuba.

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