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.

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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.

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Dos Hermanos is a dependable and friendly bar and restaurant in Old Havana. Fish and shrimp are especially good and the mojitos are great. This is a bar that Hemingway and other famous writers hung out in. Its location - right by the ferry terminal and the Museum of Rum - is an easy walk.

On Sol and the waterfront, near the Ferry Terminal.

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Casa Carlita is a casa particular with the feel of a B&B - a set of three guest rooms with an immaculate shared bathroom.

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.

Avenida San Lazaro no 1207
entre Mazon y Basarrate
Vedado
10400 Havana

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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

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Near to the Parque Maceo is Callejón de Hamel, an alleyway covered with brightly coloured murals, sculptures and shrines that pay testament to the city’s AfroCuban culture. Enjoy a strong black coffee from the tiny café, check out the gallery selling works by revered Cuban artist, Salvador Gonzalez, or watch local residents play a game of chess. Come on a Sunday morning and you might be lucky enough to catch the participants of a Santeria ceremony dancing, singing and invoking their orishas or spirits.

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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

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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.

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Great bar on Obispo, one of the main thoroughfares in Habana Vieja (old town), great all-girl band in mid-late afternoons with a relaxing atmosphere, in the same street as the Hotel Ambos Mundos which contains Hemingway's room (no. 52). Also, there is an excellent bar in Calle O'Reilly, nearby - don't worry, it's not an Irish bar!

Calle Obispo 316, esquina de Calle Aguiar, Habana Vieja;
tel: 7-862-9870

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Music. Atmosphere. Forget tourist traps like the Floridita, even though it's a good place to start. Proceed a short walk south to the Bar Monserrate on the eponymous street, or east on Obispo to Lluvia de Oro, Cafe de Paris or two small bars on the south side of the street, the first Escabeche, the name of the second one escapes me, for cheaper drinks, better atmosphere and great music. Obispo is fun in the daytime too.

Bar Monserrate is on Avenida de Belgica, near Calle Obrapia

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It's a typical bar in La Habana Vieja (Old Havana), where the first daiquiri was made, years ago. The daiquiri is a delicious drink made of rum, lemon juice and tons of ice!

Obispo No.557 esq. a Monserrate, Habana Vieja, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba;
tel: (53-7) 867 1300

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Bim Bom is an ice cream place at the end of La Rampa near the Malecon. They have lots of great flavours, with the best pistachio in town! There are lots of sauces and toppings to choose from, at low prices and with friendly staff. It's the best place to cool down.

Calle 23 y Infanta, Vedado. Plaza de la Revolución, at the bottom of La Rampa, near Malecon;
tel: (53) 7 879-2892

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The Parque Central area is the place to stay when visiting Havana. A cheaper alternative to the Parque Central Hotel is the adjoining Hotel Plaza, which was built circa 1905 and has since been renovated, with a marvellous entrance and lobby. Rooms are small and dark, but you only use them for sleeping. No pool but you can use the one down the street at the Hotel Sevilla for a few CUCs (1.08 $ U.S.) One should visit the rooftop dining room at the Sevilla, have a drink at the sidewalk cafe of the Inglaterra, and see what's happening on the Inglaterra roof, Friday or Saturday (all within 1 minute from the hotel). The roof of the Plaza gives the best view of the Bacardi building just to the east. The Sevilla and the Telegrafo are intermediate in quality and price, between the Plaza and the Parque Central. Also, it’s very close to the two art museums (don't miss the modern one of Cuban art, in between the Sevilla and the Museum of the Revolution).

Ingnacio Agramonte 267, Habana Vieja, Havana, in the north east corner of Parque Centrale, adjacent to Hotel Parque Central. Food, drinks, bottled water, bank just across the street

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Restaurant reviews of Havana inevitably mention the Floridita, where Hemingway sank an epic number of Daiquiris and it is this - rather than the cuisine or value-for-money - that is its primary claim to fame (the same applies to the Bodeguita del Media but in that case it was an epic number of Mojitos). If you were to order a pizza at the Floridita what you won't realise is that these are made in the kitchens of Il Gentiluomo, which it adjoins round the back.

Far better to go there to start with, watch your pizza being made and ideally be entertained by a fabulous quartet while you're waiting (just as well as the service is fairly glacial; ask them to play 'Oye Como Va' or 'Chan Chan', rather than the more stereotypical fare). You'll save 30-50% over the Floridita's prices and be able to see what you're eating!

behind El Floridita, on Calle Obispo

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This is a cheap pizza place (less than 1 CUC for two pizzas) but the experience is even better than the price. You have to pluck up the courage to stand in the middle of the road and shout up your order (in Spanish) to a face hanging out over a balcony on the roof, three stories up.

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.

In the Vedado area. On San Rafael, near the junction with Infanta - look for the crowd of people standing in the middle of the road then look up

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