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Cuba
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
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
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.
Go into the foyer of the impressive Bacardi building (it is now used as offices) in Old Havana and ask for the bar. The lift operator will take you up in his ancient contraption to a perfectly preserved art deco masterpiece.
Old wood and the bat symbol is everywhere. The only drink available was a perfect mojito ($2) when I was there (1999), but who cares? Not one single other tourist, just some staff from the building who had finished for the day.
I was stuck for two hours during an horrendous thunderstorm, it was great. Beats a week slobbing in Varadero any day.
Bacardi building, old Havana
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.
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.
One for the history buffs, starts with the Che story which is fascinating and moves on through Cuba's more distant history and onto today's achievements in farming, health care, etc. Outside they have the boat in which Fidel and Che sailed to Cuba along with the other rebels and a display of military vehicles which were used during the Bay of Pigs crisis.
You will need some time to go round the whole museum, 2-3 hours, but if you have an interest in the history of Cuba it's worth it.
Calle Refugio 1, entre Monserrate y Zulueta, La Habana Vieja;
This is the place from which Fidel Castro gives most of his famous 2-4 hour long speeches. You can also sit within the chair where Fidel Castro sits. Behind the José Marti statue there is also a museum located there which talks about the history of Cuba and Havana. However most of the exhibits are in Spanish – but it is easy to understand what is going on.
Visit the Castillo de Morro fort and the Jesus statue which is located opposite the bay of Havana. From here you can see spectacular views of the city as well as a fort used to protect Havana. You can also see the spectacular statue of Jesus and opposite Ché Guevara’s house – now a museum.
Is this your business?Search Been there
