Cuba
Cuba is a Caribbean island nation under communist rule. It has sugar-white beaches and is dotted with tobacco fields, which play a part in the production of the country's legendary cigars. The capital, Havana, is lined with pastel houses, 1950s-era cars and Spanish-colonial architecture in the 16th-century core, Old Havana. Salsa music plays in the dance clubs and cabaret shows are performed at the famed Tropicana.<br />The pre–Cuban Revolution Capitolio, the neoclassical former capitol building, watches over Old Havana along with the Castillo de la Real Fuerza, a star-shaped fort turned maritime museum. The Malecón boardwalk has bay views, while across the port are the powder-sand Playas del Este beaches. Outside the city center is Finca Vigía, the former home of writer Ernest Hemingway, now a museum. The southeastern town of Santiago de Cuba is rich in Afro-Cuban culture, and Trinidad, in the interior, is a colonial village paved with cobblestones. Varadero and Cayos de Cuba both feature posh seaside resorts, snorkeling and scuba diving.