Country code: 53. Phonecards for both internal and external calls are readily available from shops and kiosks. Some calls must be made through the international operator, and may be subject to delays.

Roaming agreements exist with most international mobile phone companies. For extended stays, consider buying a Cuban mobile and SIM card for internal calls. The mobile network is often more reliable than landlines, though coverage is far from universal.

Available at hotels and some Internet cafes. Some websites are censored. 

Letters to Western Europe can take several weeks. It is advisable to use the airmail service.

Post office hours: Mon-Sat 0800-1800; the large Havana post office (Plaza San Francisco) is open until 2200. Many luxury hotels have small post offices on site, or can sell stamps and post letters out of hours.

Expect to be starved of information in Cuba. All media is state-controlled and Western newspapers are not available. When Castro is making a speech, it can be an eerie experience to stand in the street and hear the same sound from every television on the block - it may be rubbish, but any information is better than none. Journalists must operate within the confines of laws against anti-government propaganda. The insulting of officials carries penalties of up to three years in prison. Private ownership of electronic media is prohibited by the constitution, and foreign news agencies must hire local journalists only through government offices.

• Papers are in Spanish, although the Communist Party daily newspaper, Granma, publishes a weekly edition, called Granma International, in English, German, Portuguese and French.
• There is also a fortnightly international newspaper, Prisma, published in Spanish and English.

• Channels include Cubavisión, Tele-Rebelde and its subsidiary CHTV.

• News, music and sport provider Radio Rebelde.
• Radio Reloj which broadcasts 24-hour news.
• Radio Habana Cuba, an external broadcaster broadcasting in Spanish, English, French and Portuguese.