At Last: A U.S. Tour Operator Offers an Under-$2,000 Trip to Cuba -- Including Airfare

When cultural, religious and educational tours to Cuba were made more legal in April, the initial offerings of U.S. tour operators splashed cold water on the excitement felt by most would-be travelers. Except for one unusual and highly-political exception (offered by a company called WitnessforPeace.com), all other companies charged $4,000-and-up for their 10-day packages, plus another $1,000-or-so for round-trip charter flights from Miami. Those prices verged on the outrageous.

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Photo Caption: Carts in Havana, Cuba. Kate Skryleva/Frommers.com Community
Now, from an unexpected source never before associated with Cuba, namely Friendly Planet (tel. 800/555-5765; www.friendlyplanet.com ), comes a reasonable package. Its Discover Havana package is a four-night stay (though lengthier visits are also available), costs $1,899 per person, and includes all three meals daily, continuous escorted sightseeing, a decent hotel, and -- most important -- round-trip, non-stop airfare between Miami and Havana.

Departures from Miami at the $1,899 price are on May 18 and September 12, 2012. Additional departures for only $100 to $200 more are on June 6, September 26, and October 24, 2012. Specifically, participants receive:
Non-stop, round-trip airfare between Miami and Havana;Cuba entrance visa;Four nights' accommodation at the historic Hotel Nacional in Havana (whose bar is festooned with pictures of infamous gangsters living it up in Havana in the years of dictator Fulgencio Batista);A full-time Friendly Planet guide and separate Cuban guide;Daily escorted sightseeing and all entrance fees;All land transfers within Cuba; andAll three meals a day, from start to finish. Sightseeing visits include a cigar factory, elementary school, Cuban farm, Ernest Hemingway's home; artists' cooperatives, and various neighborhoods. Seven-night visits to Cuba are available for $2,899, this time also including two nights in the city of Trinidad, Cuba, and again round-trip air transportation from Miami.