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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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 .

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Go see the Buena Vista Social Club, with the Compay Segundo band, at the Nacional Hotel every Saturday night. Great live music - living history. It's a musical must.

Also Folklorico (Cuban Folk Society) present Rumba Saturday every Saturday afternoon - a fest of rumba, samba and salsa music. Full of locals who dance readily at the drop of a hat or a beat of a bongo - Old and young alike.

Hotel Nacional: Calle 21 y O, Vedado, Plaza, Ciudad de la Habana, Cuba 10400;
tel: (53-7) 836 3564 al 67;
www.hotelnacionaldecuba.com

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Discoteca el Rodeo, Parque Lenin, about 20 kms outside of Havana, is a cheap weekend club with a fun, easy atmosphere, very good live bands and a mostly young Cuban crowd.

No phone.

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It has something of a student union about it but is fun, fast and friendly, with good live bands and fantastic dancing. Upstairs is Delirio Habanero, (+53 7 8735713), overlooking Plaza de la Revolucion - for hot jazz and trad Cuban music.

Paseo, corner Plaza de Revolucion, +53 7 8790710.

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Casa de la Musica is a late night, live music venue with a big stage and a dance floor in front. It’s bigger and more upmarket that its downtown sister (on Calle Galiano in Havana Centro, +53 7 8624165) showcasing some of Cuba’s top bands, playing anything from reggaeton to classic salsa.

A good place to go dancing but at around a £15 entrance charge, there won’t be many Cubans in there.

The Calle Galiano Casa de la Musica (above attracts more of a local crowd, especially for the regular matinees. Not particularly comfortable, but excellent bands and a friendly, atmosphere.

3308 Calle 20, corner Miramar
Tel: +53 7 2026147

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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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A little off the beaten track. In the midweek it's full of locals, very cheap to get in and to drink, and amazing bands. Seems the place Cubans go to meet people of the opposite sex. Best thing we did in Cuba

Ave. 20 No. 3308 esq. a 35, Miramar, Havana, Cuba

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