Cuba — Currency & Money

The Cuban peso (CUP) is the legal currency, but the economy runs on hard cash: the informal exchange rate is several times the official one, so changing money at banks or CADECA bureaus is a bad deal, and many private businesses quote directly in euros or dollars. US-issued cards do not work at all because of the embargo; other foreign cards work only sporadically at ATMs and at poor official rates. Bring your entire budget in cash — euros are the most useful — split and stored securely, and tip in hard currency. Budget more than you expect: shortages turn everything into a cash problem.