- Havana
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Cuba
Havana is too big to see on foot. Take a ride in a horse and carriage, the driver is a proper tour guide.
We had a two-hour drive up to Plaza de la Revolution and back, stopping where we wished for photos and finding out lots of local knowledge.The funniest part was the driver chatting up girls walking along the street while we trotted along beside them.
Central Havana, we found Leonardo and Picasso outside the Hotel Inglaterra where there is a bar where you can sit and look out on the busy street.
They'll try to sell you real Cuban cigars at a price that is slightly cheaper than the shops to indicate that they should be genuine at the price, but not too cheap to give you the feeling that they're fake. In fact all they are made of is old dried banana skins and they crumble apart once you light them. Steer clear of these sales people and spend a little extra on the real items.
Anywhere in Havana
If you want to see how confident the new gay generation is in Cuba, check
out gaytourguidecuba.com.
It's a gay tour guide service for gay travelers in Cuba! Nice college kids,
openly gay and they seem to feel that the government isn't against gays.
Meeting these people was the highlight of our trip. They really opened our eyes to a Cuba we could never have discovered on our own.
In the country that invented three classic rum-based cocktails (the mojito, daiquiri and cuba libre) it’s no surprise that you can get one in every bar in town. The bars of the city’s many historic grand old hotels are the best places for a pre-dinner sundowner (but eat in a paladar rather than the hotels — the food is rank).
Some of the best are the elegant garden at the Nacional and the rooftop bars of the Moorish-style Sevilla (the setting for Our Man in Havana) and Ambos Mundos (where Hemingway wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls). The two more famous Hemingway haunts (Floridita and La Bodeguita) are just tourist traps these days.
This is the sea wall around Havana, and a fantastic place to cool off after a hot day. You can sit in the night's cool air, feel the sea breeze and enjoy the local rum.
It's also a great place to meet and talk with the locals.
If you like photography then taking photos of people and places in Havana is amazing. If you can learn the Spanish for "may I take your photo" you will be rewarded with some really great shots:
www.alib.co.uk/photos/index_cuba06_people.htm
Stay at least one night in the Hotel National just for the history. The view from the garden is amazing. Grab a drink and watch the sun set over the old city.
For more personal tips see my guide with a couple of suggestions:
www.alib.co.uk/guides/index.htm
Forget the Tropicana - if you want the most authentic Cuban music experience in Havana go to the Casa de la Musica. This is where the Cubans come to go out. Arrive early, get a table, get a bottle of rum and then watch the place erupt as the tables are thrown aside and the salsa begins.
Casa de la Música “Miramar”.
Avenida 35 esq. a 20, Miramar
This hotel is part of the Habaguanex group which a friend recommended to me. You should pre-book in the UK as you will get a better rate than you will otherwise. Located close to the Plaza Vieja it is an art nouveau style building - we had a beautifully furnished room on the top floor which was vast. Breakfast was good too. It was very tranquil in the first week in November but at peak times it might be less so. Good view from the roof terrace.
Half-hourly English-language tours at Cuba's oldest cigar factory offer a fascinating insight into the creation of some of the worlds most prized cigars. Spread across several open-plan workshops – in which workers are read to from a newspaper – and strewn with bales of tobacco leaves, wooden implements and stacks of attractive cigar boxes, the factory is visually striking. And even if you don’t indulge, by the time you leave you’ll know your Cohiba’s from your Montecristo’s, which, if nothing else, makes for a good party trick.
Calle Industria No. 520, Havana Vieja
Go see the former presidential palace that now houses the Museum of the Revolution. Inside are many exhibits solely dedicated to the revolution that took place in Cuba some 50 years ago. It is also the point at which Fidel Castro gave one of his famous speeches and the Americans conspired to shoot him.
Also known as the Capitol building, this building was built in 1929 and looks very similar to the US capitol building in Washington D.C. Previously home to Cuba’s government it now houses the Cuban Academy Of Sciences.
While in Havana there are many things to do. These range from historical based activities to children’s entertainment. Go on a walking tour around the Old Town of Havana. This will take you to such places as the spot where Havana was founded, numerous plazas, a chocolate museum and the Havana Club rum factory/museum. Within the museum visitors are taught how rum is made and at the end get to sample the delicious produce of the factory.
Cafe O'Reilly is an atmospheric little cocktail bar with some good live bands.
203 San Ignacio
One of the nicest things to do in Havana is just sit outside a bar or restaurant in one of the beautiful colonial squares, and wait for the inevitable troupe of musicians to pass by. One of the best places to do this is outside El Patio restaurant in the elegant Plaza de la Catedral.
El Patio, Plaza de la Catedral 54
Tel: +53 7 861-8504 .
Nardo’s is a dark, atmospheric place with heavy wooden furniture, that looks like a big old Parisian bistro. It feels like it’s been here for ages but it was only opened in 2002. There are always lots of Cubans in here as the food (Cuban with Spanish slant), is very good, cheap and comes in huge portions. It’s always pretty full, but climb the stairs, sit on one of the chunky old rocking chairs, and you usually get a place with 10 - 15 minutes.
Paseo del Prado 563
Tel: +53 7 863 2985
Just outside Pinar del Rio, set admist pine trees and the curious Mogotes (rock formations), Vinales makes for the perfect weekend trip away from Havana. Cycles are cheap to hire and you can be guaranteed an exceedingly pleasant day exploring the tobacco plantations, the dos hermanos and the cuevo de los Indios around Vinales. There are loads of cheap casa particulares and the one we stayed in offered good home-cooked food. The bar on the main street stays open till late and quite often has live music.
The best way to get to Vinales is by bus from Havana, which takes about three hours. Accomodation is easy to find on arrival.
Hotel Nacional is well worth just the one night at least. The breakfast is amazing (all world cuisines covered in one room). Mojitos in the garden with bands serenading and the sea view in front - it's an amazing way to start (or end your visit).
A Casa particular in Vedado (Habana). We stayed with Horacio and his wife, and were made to feel very welcome. He speaks fluent English, is extremely enthusiastic about his city - making recommendations, made good (but simple) breakfasts, and as we were three (one couple) travelling, the fact that there were two rooms to hire was ideal.
However, the outstanding feature was the house itself, with (as the name suggests) antiques abounding, a lovely balcony, grand piano and huge four poster beds. We were stuck in the house during Hurricane Charley (2004) and despite this, it was such a memorable end to our month in Cuba. Highly Recommended.
Don’t be taken in by the apparent sophistication of Cuba’s beautiful, historic hotels – the restaurants are nearly always a let down. Best to have a pre-dinner cocktail in one of the atmospheric old bars, then go and eat in a paladar, a family-run restaurant inside the homes of ordinary families – a uniquely Cuban phenomenon. Food is homemade and fresh. Leave a big tip as they pay high taxes.
Apart from the famous La Guarida, some of the best are: Cocina de Lilliam (Calle 48 #1311, Miramar, +7 209 6514); Casa de Adela (Calle F #503, Vedado, +7 832 3776); Le Chansonnier (Calle J #257, Vedado, +7 832 1576). Book ahead.
Post-revolutionary poster art was used to promote movies for three decades after the revolution. Some of these stunning hand-printed posters, in blocks of dense colour and influenced by eastern European and Japanese design, can be bought for a few dollars from the shop at the ICAIC (national film institute). They look very cool framed and hung on the wall back home.
ICAIC office, next to the Chaplin cinema, Calle 23, 1155, entre 10 y 12, Vedado.
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