As I am sure you are aware, American tourists still face penalties, at least in theory, from the Treasury Department under the embargo if they travel to Cuba without official authorization. Let’s hope this will change as Barack Obama breathes new hope into the world. Cuba had 2.5 million tourists in 2006 – including about 200,000 Americans – who typically travel via Cancun, Mexico, Toronto, or the Bahamas. CubaJet.com, offers flights to Havana from Nassau, Toronto and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic with Cubana de Aviacion, the Cuban national airline.

From Europe, there are direct flights to Havana are from London, Madrid, Moscow, Milan, Paris and Rome. But they tend to be infrequent. My advice is to fly from Hong Kong to London on British Airways, Cathay Pacific, or Virgin Atlantic, then Virgin, which has non-stop flights to Havana on Thursday and Sunday.