Written by RuinMyTrip Editorial from published research and official sources, not from a personal trip. It is not a traveler review and is never counted in the community rating. How we research.
destination · Havana
Havana in 2026: Gorgeous Colonial Ruins, 12-Hour Blackouts, and a Cash-Only Maze for US Travelers
Review of Havana
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Share your experienceHavana is not a normal Caribbean trip for Americans, and the paperwork starts before you book a flight. Pure tourism is not a legal reason to go. US travelers must qualify under one of 12 OFAC-authorized categories, and the most common one, Support for the Cuban People, requires that your spending go to private Cuban businesses like casas particulares and paladares rather than state-run hotels or restaurants. US law also requires travelers to keep receipts, booking confirmations, and an itinerary documenting the trip for five years. In January 2026 the Trump administration issued an executive order reinstating Cuba's State Sponsor of Terrorism designation and tightened travel and remittance rules further, with a second executive order on May 1, 2026 adding sanctions tied to repression in Cuba. None of this makes travel illegal, but it makes the compliance bar higher than it has been in years. Once you land, the money situation is its own project. Because of the US embargo, credit and debit cards issued by American banks, Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover, do not work anywhere in Cuba. Assume you are paying cash for the entire trip in US dollars, euros, or Cuban pesos. The official exchange rate hovers around 110 Cuban pesos to the dollar, though informal street rates can be more favorable. Entry itself costs money too: US citizens need the pink tourist card, which runs $50 to $100 depending on where it's purchased, while non-US travelers use a green tourist card priced around $25 to $30. Airlines will deny boarding without one. The most disruptive fact of a 2026 Havana trip is the electrical grid. Cuba has been in the worst power crisis in its history since late 2024, with fuel shortages, a crippled Antonio Guiteras plant, and the loss of subsidized Venezuelan oil driving repeated total grid collapses. On Easter Sunday, April 5, 2026, the national system was generating roughly 1,278 megawatts against peak demand near 3,000 megawatts, a shortfall of more than 1,700 megawatts. In Havana that translates to scheduled and unscheduled outages that can run 12 hours or more a day, hitting air conditioning, water pumps, refrigeration, and wifi alike. Outside the capital it's often worse and longer. The upside is that the things Havana is famous for still deliver. The 1950s American convertibles cruising the Malecon are real working taxis, and drivers who park along the seafront or Parque Central will quote $25 to $35 an hour if you book directly and negotiate before getting in, versus $60 to $100 an hour through Viator, GetYourGuide, or a hotel concierge for the same ride. The US State Department rates Cuba a Level 2 travel advisory, Exercise Increased Caution, the same tier as France, Germany, and Spain. Petty crime, pickpocketing and bag snatching, is the real risk, concentrated around Old Havana, Obispo Street, and the Malecon after dark, while violent crime against tourists remains rare even as it has ticked up nationally.
What was great
The classic-car culture is not a tourist trap dressed up for cameras, it's the actual transportation system, and booking directly with a driver on the Malecon or at Parque Central gets you the same convertible ride for $25 to $35 an hour that platforms charge $60 to $100 for. Old Havana's colonial architecture, the paladares serving genuinely good food for $15 to $25 a person, and casas particulares renting private rooms for $25 to $50 a night with breakfast and hot water included make the on-the-ground experience feel affordable once you've cleared the entry hurdles. Safety-wise, Havana earns the same Level 2 State Department advisory as major Western European capitals, and violent crime against tourists is genuinely rare. If your main worry is getting mugged, Havana is not the outlier people assume.
What nearly ruined the trip
The electricity crisis is not a minor inconvenience, it's the defining fact of the trip. Rolling blackouts have hit 12 or more hours a day in Havana since the 2024-2026 grid collapse, and on April 5, 2026 the country was producing barely 1,278 megawatts against roughly 3,000 megawatts of demand. That means unpredictable AC, water pressure, refrigeration, and wifi, on top of a cash-only economy that locks out every US-issued card and forces you to carry your entire budget in physical dollars, euros, or pesos. The bureaucracy stacks on top of that. Americans need a qualifying OFAC travel category, five years of retained receipts, and a $50 to $100 pink tourist card just to enter, and January and May 2026 executive orders tightened the rules further under Cuba's reinstated State Sponsor of Terrorism designation. None of it is insurmountable, but it turns a beach-and-mojito trip into a compliance exercise.
Safety
★★★★☆ Mostly fineValue for money
★★★☆☆ FairComments
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