Cuba, a travel destination once again

Loosened travel restrictions have allowed more Americans to travel to Cuba, largely through licensed U.S. tour operators leading “people-to-people” trips for cultural and educational purposes.

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A view of the center of Havana. After 52 years of the Communist revolution, Cuba's leaders are attempting to redefine their economic model. Small changes, such as allowing some people to own businesses, are starting to be implemented, as Raul Castro guides the country toward a 21st-century model of the revolution.

/ Christian Science Monitor/Getty

A view of Old Havana and the river from the rooftop of Hotel Santa Isabel on Plaza de Armas.

Andrea Sachs / The Washington Post

The Muraleando arts project creates colorful murals and sculptures in a Havana neighborhood. The group also teaches workshops for children and sells their works in a restored water tower.

Andrea Sachs / The Washington Post

Women walk next to graffiti in Havana. In Callejon de Hamel, a vibrant Havana community steeped in Afro-Cuban traditions, electrifying murals by local artist Salvador Gonzalez Escalona cover the cement walls, a blinding storm of colors and images that at the very least discourages aesthetic monotony.

Enrique de la Osa / Reuters

A man carries a lamb on a motorcycle in Havana.

Franklin Reyes / AP

Produce fills a market in Havana. Despite ration cards, Cubans’ biggest expenditure is food.

Andrea Sachs / The Washington Post

A Cuban hat vendor checks his wares at a flea market in Havana.

Andrea Sachs / The Washington Post

Artist José Rodríguez Fuster relaxes near some of his work.

Andrea Sachs / The Washington Post

Artist José Rodríguez Fuster has transformed his home and Havana neighborhood into a fanciful work of art.

Andrea Sachs / The Washington Post

Artwork by artist José Rodríguez Fuster decorates his Havana neighborhood.

Andrea Sachs / The Washington Post

Artwork by artist José Rodríguez Fuster decorates his Havana neighborhood.

Andrea Sachs / The Washington Post

A man rides a bicycle fitted with a petrol engine beside a mural of doves painted with Cuban flags and an image of the city in Havana.

Desmond Boylan / Reuters

A group of tourists listen to a guide speak at Havana's Revolution Square in front of Cuban independence hero Jose Marti's monument in Havana. The Arab Spring, changes in U.S. policy and economic reforms at home are driving a tourist rush that is giving communist-run Cuba one of its best seasons ever and stretching its ability to accommodate demand.

Enrique de la Osa / Reuters

Tourists take a ride in a convertible along the Malecon in Havana. Classic American cars from the Eisenhower era still dot the streets of the capital.

Desmond Boylan / Reuters

Cars drive under a banner that reads "Long live the Cuban revolution" in Havana.

Enrique de la Osa / Reuters

Children at a school in Havana greet and perform for visiting Americans.

Andrea Sachs / The Washington Post

A girl in her school uniform crosses the street where flowers sit for sale in a cart in Havana.

Franklin Reyes / AP

A woman crosses a street where a wall is covered with a mural of the Cuban flag and an image of Cuba's revolutionary hero Ernesto "Che" Guevara in Havana.

Franklin Reyes / AP

A classic American car drives by an image of Che Guevara, whose face adorns the Ministry of Interior building in Revolution Square.

Andrea Sachs / The Washington Post

A man stands inside his house near a photograph of Cuban former president Fidel Castro and rebel revolutionary commander Camilo Cienfuegos.

Enrique de la Osa / Reuters

Havana residents exercise along the Malecon, which runs along the sea.

Andrea Sachs / The Washington Post

People congregate along the Malecon, the broad esplanade that runs for more than four miles through Havana and along the water.

Andrea Pistolesi / Getty Images

A tourist sunbathes on Havana's Malecon. On Saturday nights, packs of friends and sweethearts congregate on the seawall, playing guitar, swilling rum and kissing under the star-speckled sky.

Enrique de la Osa / Reuters

Circus-like performers entertain people in Cathedral Square in Old Havana.

Andrea Sachs / The Washington Post

Tourists take pictures at Havana's Revolution Square in front of Cuban independence hero Jose Marti's monument.

Enrique de la Osa / Reuters

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