Cuba

Why Go

If you're after something a little different from your Caribbean holiday, Cuba is the place. Sure, its beaches and sandbars are sensational, its cayos (tiny offshore islands) a dream, and its hotels as swish as any in these warm seas, but the island is far more than just a soulless holiday destination.

Holidays to Cuba, the biggest island in the topaz Caribbean seas, offer the chance to explore a fascinating island nation too.

Whether it's Cuba's society, history, culture or cuisine that grabs you, you'll not fail to notice one thing: Cuba moves to its own rhythm. Sure, the island can frustrate - its economy one of the most fragile in the Caribbean - but it more than makes up for it in its sensual, captivating capital: the colonial wonder that is Havana.

And, those years of Soviet under-investment has left an island where many of the best Cuba beaches are refreshingly undeveloped and even its smartest resorts have a languid, laid-back vibe just perfect for enjoying, rum in hand, from the terrace of a beach bar, while you sift pure white sands through your toes.

Set in a semi-tropical island pleasantly cooled by onshore breezes, holidays in Cuba are surrounded by a fringe of soft sand beaches, Spanish colonial architecture and fascinating villages where - due to the island's political isolation - everything from rum to wine, salsa to cigars is home grown. Wherever you're headed, your soundtrack, the infectious beat of Cuba music, will surround you. Nowhere more so than the life-affirming cafes and bars of the capital, the Caribbean's only real city, Havana. Nothing quite prepares you for this uncompromising film-set of a city. A capital of contradictions and culture, Havana's gorgeous Spanish colonial architecture - for our money the best in the Americas - remains practically untouched since it was built. Take a look at our Havana hotels for places to make as a base while you explore the capital.