http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/ Welcome to Been there. Your tips on the places you know - that you love, live in or have just visited - are what make this guide. http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/33404 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/33404 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/33400 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/33400 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/29443 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/29443 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/26176 Unlike most of the tourist cafés and restaurants, there were always Cubans there enjoying a coffee.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/26176 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/21711
The casa is located right next to Havana University and within a short walk of Havana Libre and The Nacional, two big hotels where you can change money, hire a car, book excursions or top up on food/drink.

The Casa offers good food whenever you want it, though it is located in the Vedado area, which also has a range of alternatives. Vedado is supposedly great for nightclubs, though we hit it while jetlagged on a Monday, so can't vouch for this.

It is a 30 minute walk (or $2-4 taxi ride) along the Malecon (sea wall) to Old Havana. We stayed in Old Havana later in our trip but would be happy to stay in Vedado again.

This was a great first stop on our tour of Cuba. It was also good value. I would recommend it wholeheartedly.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/21711 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/20718
When travelling around, taxi drivers (some licensed, some not) hang around bus stations to offer shared rides - which can be cheaper and get you to your destination much quicker.

Remember to take cash - cards don't work in ATMs and changing money on a card, or buying anything on a card is punitively expensive - around 12% charge.

Avoid Varadero if you can - you may as well go to the Costa Del Sol.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/20718 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/20259
Wilfred and his family share their sweet art deco villa for a very affordable price and it's just a stroll or taxi away from the jazz clubs, the Malecon and central Havana shopping and night life. They also recommended to us other Cuban families to stay with in other towns which worked out well as the local government hotels aren't so great and cost about five times the price!]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/20259 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/8439 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/8439 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/8376 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/8376 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/6770
When we were in Havana in December we went to see one of the early games of the National League. Industriales is Havana's big and very popular team. Their match schedule was available online and also in the daily paper. We asked our concierge how easy it was to get tickets, and he reckoned that it was only really a problem towards the end of the season.

All Cubans can get in for free, but we had to go to the foreigners' door and pay 3CUC each. This gave us seats in an enclosure guarded by a stern looking lady. The stadium is huge, and has the usual vendors climbing around offering food and drink.

One word of warning. There were NO taxis anywhere. We had to wait 30 minutes in a fairly deserted area of town. I got, probably needlessly, quite scared. I wished we'd asked our cab driver to pick us up.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/6770 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/5703
You then wait with all the locals until your pizza is lowered down to you in a basket attached to a Heath Robinson style pulley system. You then swap pizza for money and the basket goes back up. If you need change then the basket is lowered back down and money is distributed fairly under the command of the man on the roof pointing at you and shouting “Seven pesos!' The pizza is good too, if a little oily.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/5703