Last year I shared how my husband and I planned our budget for our first trip to Cuba. We followed up with our actual spending and how it compared with what we had planned. Here’s the next chapter: we’re planning to bring the whole family (including all six kids) for a return trip to Cuba soon. I’ll keep you updated along the way, we’ll start with the financial plan for our upcoming visit.
I can’t stress enough how much a well-planned budget makes a trip so wonderful! This is even more true when it’s a family trip (read: more expensive)!
Before I get to the budget, I want to acknowledge that some might think this is a terrible time to visit Cuba, given what you may have seen on the news.
Cuba has had serious challenges for decades. While many of these challenges have gotten worse in the past few months, postponing our trip would only hurt Cubans more. Visitors are crucial! Cuban people desperately need US dollars or Euros coming in from outside of Cuba to survive.
I originally planned our return trip’s budget back in the fall, just after we returned from our first visit. At that time, Cuba was still getting the majority of its imported oil from Venezuela. That abruptly changed at the beginning of 2026 when the US seized control of Venezuelan oil and implemented a bevy of policies to discourage other countries from doing anything that could support the Cuban government. The main direction of the policy seems to be to make things so bad in Cuba–no electricity, no gasoline, no power, no food, no supplies, that the Cuban people will revolt against the government and a new, US-friendly regime can be put into place. Whether that’s an effective or disastrous way to reach that goal (people argue both sides), everyone agrees that the result is devastating for Cuba’s economy and for individuals and families. There were already shortages and blackouts, but those have increased. As Cuba’s stored oil is consumed, prices of fuel have skyrocketed.
A lot can happen in the weeks before our trip, but we will likely be paying much higher prices for our in-country travel. While this is do-able for us as travelers with foreign currency, it is crippling for the average, albeit resilient, Cuban.
As for safety, I am not concerned. When we visited Havana in November, we were genuinely surprised how safe we felt. We felt much safer than we do in many American cities! If I thought our safety would be a concern I would not be bringing my whole family with me!
Flights- $3,498
The flights were the easiest part of planning since that was what started the trip. For domestic flights, the companion pass covers the entire cost of the companion’s ticket except $11 for the 9/11 security fee. For international flights there are additional costs that can’t be waived with the companion pass. For Cuba that includes customs and immigration fees, a Cuba airport fee, and Cuba health insurance (required for all international visitors). The additional fees for the companion pass add up to $80.
Flights for me and 6 kids: $488 x 7 = $3,418
Mike’s flight (companion pass): $80 (international taxes and fees)
We saved $408 on this trip by having the Southwest Companion Pass. If you’re interested in getting the Companion Pass (which allows a companion to have unlimited free flights with you all year), leave your details below and I will share when Southwest has a promotion where you can easily earn the Companion Pass for a year. Southwest doesn’t allow me to share a link directly on the blog, but I promise I’ll send one as soon as there’s a great offer available.
Experiences- $1,500
One way that we will support the Cuban people is by spending money that benefits individuals (as opposed to the Cuban government, which owns all the hotels and many of the restaurants, tour companies, and most of the means of production). With our normal family trips, we try not to spend money and we’re experts at having a great time without spending much. , This time we are prioritizing experiences that cost money because we want to be able support the small private enterprises that these Cubans operate. We’ll be doing some of the same activities that we loved when we go with our kids
Snorkel Trip- $80 per person x 8 = $640
Campesino Tour- $40 per person x 8 = $320
Horseback Riding- $45 per person x 8 = $360
There are a several other things that we did with lower price tags ($2-$10 per person) that we will do with the family which accounts for the other $180 of the budget.
Accommodations $755
We will stay in private homes listed on Airbnb. This includes at least one of the same places that we stayed before (because it had 4 beds!), but for the most part we need larger spaces for our larger family group. Thankfully, accommodations are very affordable. Keep in mind that this is for 8 people. If you’re just looking for two people you can find something even less expensive! After browsing Airbnb, this was the budget I came up with:
Havana– $60/night x 5 nights = $300
Varadero– $100/night x 2 nights = $200
Viñales– $25/night x 3 nights = $75
Havana– $60/night x 3 nights = $180
In-Country Travel- $1,000
Due to the current economic challenges that Cuba is facing, the in-country travel is going to be more expensive than what we experienced in November.
The biggest wild card will be getting from the Airport to our first Airbnb when we arrive in Havana. Depending on the donations we collect to bring with us (here’s our Amazon wish list if you want to join!), we are planning to have LOTS of luggage. The max per person is two 50-lb checked bags, a carryon (no weight limit so last time mine was over 50 lb), and a personal item (backpack with personal clothes, etc).
With each of us having up to three 50-lb bags in addition to our backpack of personal things, that’s potentially 24 bags (1,200 pounds!) and 8 backpacks. That’s not going to fit in a taxi! It’s going to take multiple trips and/or multiple large vehicles. It’s guaranteed to be complicated and probably expensive, but this is one of the main reasons we are taking this trip!
We’re planning to spend our first couple days delivering all of these much-needed supplies, then be able to travel with just our backpacks (and a little more) for the rest of the trip.
We will take two big, one-way bus rides: Varadero back to Havana (our snorkel excursion will cover the transportation to Varadero) and Viñales to Havana. I have already purchased tickets for both of those trips ($124 and $130, respectively). Let’s hope they still have fuel and enough passengers to run!
We will have to reserve a taxi van to get from Havana to Viñales because the bus only runs on the weekends. I contacted a driver and got a quote of $30/person ($240) for that trip.
In November, we spent $190 for the two of us. We will be doing pretty much the same routes and travelling with the family, but we’re budgeting $1,000 this time. With all of the information that I have, that’s my best guess. I hope I overestimated!
Food- $2,000
Last time food was our biggest wild card for budgeting, but I’m not as worried about it this time. I am basing our food budget off of two calculations that come from our experience.
First, I calculated costs per person (based on my research and experience) of $6 for breakfast, $8 for lunch, and $10 for dinner, multiplied by eight people and 12 days. That comes out to about $2,300.
In our experience this calculation was much too high. For just the two of us, we budgeted $620 and only spent $172, which is why I also performed the following calculation.
From our actual experience, we spent an average of $6.50 per meal and only averaged eating 2 meals per day. For eight people, that would look like about $1,250 for this trip. But we know that our kids probably won’t be as cheerful as we were on two meals a day!
Looking at those calculations and also not knowing how prices have increased in the past couple of months, we decided to set our food budget at $2,000. Like last time, we will be bringing some snacks and easy-to-prepare foods with us for when we’re in a pinch or don’t want to go find food.
When it comes to drinks, we will count on this backpacking water filter so that we won’t need to buy bottled water at all. Our 16-year-old son might go through withdrawals without milk, but I’m sure he’ll survive.
Tips/Giving/Souvenirs- $500
Most of our giving will be in the thousand pounds of humanitarian aid that we will be bringing, but we will still be tipping our drivers, guides, and hosts. Putting money in the pockets of individual Cubans is one of the goals of a trip like this.
I don’t anticipate getting any souvenirs. Normal travel souvenirs aren’t as common or available as they are in other places we’ve travelled. Our photos and memories will be our souvenirs. I’m just mentioning it here so that you know I didn’t forget about it.
Other Expenses- $1,607
Thinking through the miscellaneous travel-related expenses is important because they can add up quickly.
Cuba Visas: $200
Getting a visa for Cuba is easy and is done online for $25 per person.
Travel Insurance: $500
Mike doesn’t really think travel insurance is necessary because our own health insurance should cover us even when we’re traveling, but it gives me peace of mind, so for me it’s worth it for that.
Extra Luggage: $360
With my Southwest credit card, everyone on my reservation gets one checked bag free. We want to bring the maximum amount of donations, so we will each pay for an additional bag at $45 each.
Airport Parking: $165
We will be leaving our van at the airport in Sacramento for $11 per day for 15 days.
Cuban SIM cards: $70
In order to connect to the internet in Cuba we’ll need a Cuban SIM card. We will purchase two.
VPN: $12
We will subscribe for a month of NordVPN for our VPN. In Cuba, a VPN is absolutely necessary if you want to have access to all of the sites that you are accustomed to in the US, including things like Airbnb, if we need to contact our hosts.
Supplies: $300
We still have some of our supplies from our last Cuba trip, including two of these water filters, two single mosquito nets, a double mosquito net, and mosquito repellent. Blackouts are normal in Cuba so we want to be prepared with flashlights and lanterns. We bought more of these which can be charged by either by plug or solar. We left our last ones with people in Cuba. Also for the power outages, we have a second power bank portable charger so that we each have one to charge our phones with when the power is out.
We bought some more things specifically for this trip. In fact, we wrapped some of these things for Christmas and sent our kids on a treasure hunt with clues to find them and then try to discover what they all meant. We got more mosquito nets so that everyone has one. We got some collapsible sand buckets so that our kids can play on the beach.
I got some inexpensive bags that will easily fold up to bring home or can be left in Cuba. They are meant more for storage and moving, not travel, but I am hoping they will hold up. Does anyone have experience flying with bags like this or this? I would love to hear your experience!
Total Estimated Cost for 2 Weeks in Cuba for a Family of 8 in 2026
Our estimated total for our trip to Cuba is $10,860. I’m excited to see how everything else works out. There are definitely some wild cards with food and in-country travel. I try to overestimate because that’s a way better form of surprise than the alternative.
As always, I will do a post-trip budget update with a complete cost breakdown of our actual trip spending so we can compare it to our budget. I love to see how close our budget estimates were.
Once again, we will be filling as much luggage as possible with things to help the Cuban people, like medicine, medical supplies, personal hygiene items, food, and more. If you’d like to contribute, check out our Amazon wish list!
