Cuba
This wonderful house is located in the center of Havana with a wonderful view to the sea because is beside the Malecón (the esplande) in Havana. Clarita is the best and help me in all that I asked.
Marina # 61, Havana 10300, Cuba
+(537)879 7113
Stationed outside the Capitol building in Havana you'll find some brilliantly restored convertible Cadillacs. These are available for one-hour tours for about 30 CUC. Not cheap by Cuban standards but, once you've seen them, you may just not be able to resist.
Barcelona, Havana, Cuba
+53 7 8637861
Google map: bit.ly/x1b8HR
If you're three people or more using a taxi to travel between towns is actually slightly cheaper than the Viazul bus. Find yourself a vintage Cadillac and travel like Elvis!
Once you've booked your first casa particular you enter an unofficial chain where the owners of your present casa will offer to book your next one and arrange for you to be picked up at your point of arrival. We were gently bounced from one casa to the other up and down Cuba. Of course they're taking a cut but it does make things easier for you.
Do get yourself some pesos and buy food from the stalls/windows. It's delicious (freshly made egg tortillas, oyster cocktails, flan pudding hot from the tin), ridiculously cheap and completely safe - food hygiene is fanatically enforced. Also, it's a lovely change from the endlessly repeated chicken/pork/prawns/lobster plus rice plus symbolic amount of salad combo you get in the restaurants. Hard to believe as it is, you can get very tired of lobster.
Not just for Napoleophiles (who will definetely think they've died and gone to heaven), this is set in a huge hilltop mansion with glorious views over Havana. Also boasts Havana's most charming tour guides and the field glass Napoleon used at Waterloo.
Calle San Miguel No. 1159 esq. a Ronda. Ciudad de La Habana
+53 7 8791412
Google map: bit.ly/w3FUwz
A lively, buzzing local restaurant in Vedado that does good pizzas and has – of course – great live music. Just a block from the Hotel Nacional, during the afternoons Sofia attracts a nice combination of locals sharing a bottle of Havana Club and visitors drawn in by the infectious sounds. The service is not the fastest, so best just to order a drink and relax.
Calle 23, El Vedado (one block from Hotel Nacional).
+538320740
Google map: bit.ly/ezySIa
Hackneyed though it may be, the hop on/hop off tourist bus in Havana makes a lot of sense. First off, in a city where transport is pricey for tourists, these CUC$5 are well spent if only as a means of getting around. Secondly, while you won’t be using the bus to explore the crumbling splendour of Havana Vieja’s side streets, you will hit other more distant spots like the Plaza de la Revolucion, with its somewhat scary murals of Che and Camilo Cienfuegos, and the artisan market. But nicest of all, in a city where much of the life (and best photos) happen one floor up on the bustling, colourful balconies, the open-top bus gives you some of the best views in town.
From the Hotel Inglaterra in the Parque Central, and various other points around the city.
Google map: bit.ly/e5glFN
Atmospheric outdoor bar/restaurant on Calle Obispo, not far from the Parque Central. The food is nothing to rave out, but a great band and draught Bucanero in huge tankards more than make up for it.
Location: Calle Obispo, a couple of blocks from La Floridita.
It's a luxury hotel in the centre of Havana with great views of the capital building. On the top floor is an open swimming pool, where you can sit besides the pool at night, sipping rum and coke, looking up at the stars while the hustle and bustle of Havana goes on in the streets.
Neptuno e/ Prado y Zulueta, Habana Vieja, Ciudad de la Habana, Cuba
+53.78.606627
www.nh-hotels.com/nh/en/hotels/cuba/havana/nh-parque-central.html
Google map: bit.ly/fRou4u
www.hotelnhparquecentral.com/
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