Travel guide Cuba

Baseball is considered Cuba's national sport. It first appeared on the island in the streets of Havana at the end of the ^19th century, and has continued to attract more and more players ever since. Official matches were soon organized in Matanzas, before a championship was created in 1914. In 2023, Cuba ranked^3rd in the world!

The most famous of Cuban cabarets is undoubtedly the Tropicana in Havana, with a reputation comparable to that of the Folies Bergères. Most cabarets are located in large hotels, and their shows vary from one establishment to another, but generally reflect the Cuban temperament, oscillating between festivity and sensuality. A must-see!

Jean-Paul Sartre once wrote that jazz is like Havana cigars: you have to "consume it on the spot". And when it comes to tobacco, Cuba has no rivals. Cigar producers benefit from ideal climatic conditions. In Cuba, cigars are a national monument. You'll find the best-stocked cigar stores in the world... and the best prices!

Some people see in the shape of the island of Cuba the silhouette of a crocodile... But you will really see them if you walk around the province of Matanzas where one of the largest breeding centers in the world of these green caimans is located. The island even has its own species, the Cuban crocodile, which reaches 3.5 meters in length as an adult.

The descarga is the French version of a jam session. This meeting of improvised musicians, where each one gives the best of himself, allows to forget his daily life by devoting himself without restraint to the rhythm and to the party. You will easily find descargas during your trip to Cuba.

For many sociologists, Cuba is an example of successful miscegenation, in that racial tensions are particularly low compared to other American countries. In a country where most religions and origins are mixed, the Cuban revolution has succeeded in virtually eliminating racial antagonisms.

Bordered by the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, Cuba offers almost 4,000 km of coastline for almost as many kilometers of magical beaches. White, yellow or black sand, coupled with transparent, warm water, will brighten up your stay. Deserted or developed beaches, happiness has a name: Cuba.

The word revolution still has meaning in contemporary Cuba. Many towns still bear the scars of clashes between the men led by Fidel Castro and the army of former dictator Fulgencio Batista in the late 1950s. Many Cubans maintain that the revolution is far from over, and that the struggle continues.

On September 16, 1687, the Church ordered priests in Cuba to adjust African religious beliefs to Catholic practices. The slaves exploited on the island were thus urged to replace the orishas, divinities venerated by the Yoruba religion, with Christian figures. Thus was born the santería, still prevalent in Cuba today.

The fruit of Afro-Hispanic fusion, this Cuban musical style combines the rhythms of the island's two points. Són was first played in Santiago de Cuba by a trio of musicians. Twenty years later, it arrived in Havana, its tempo accelerated and the number of musicians increased to six. It was soon exported, first to Europe, then to the United States...

Time seems to have stopped in Cuba: the American cars of the 1950s, the architecture, the furniture, the fashion... The nonchalance of the Cubans, their quiet walk, reinforces the first impression. Delays are very common and accepted, because if everyone knows when they are leaving, no one can really predict the time of their arrival.

Privacy is a very relative concept in Cuba. Most of the time, Cubans are forced to live in large numbers under the same roof, but they are very rarely alone. Some Cubans do not even understand the need to isolate themselves from this turbulent and noisy social life. Cubans like to be surrounded by people all the time, even if they are strangers.