Discussion
I went in April 2007 and had a fantastic time.
Just stayed in Havana for a fortnight, with a few day trips out to Playa Santa Maria.
2 weeks is probably a bit long for Havana itself, but a lot of the tours that cram it in over a few days rush it a bit imo.
Around a week or so would be perfect to see and do everything it's got to offer.
Some thoughts.
1) Definitely do the revolution museum, but watch out as the route out the back to the Granma isn't clearly marked at all. We walked past it every day on our way through town, so didn't miss out massively, but it would have been nice to get up close.
2) Cigar factory worth a visit, you get tickets from the tourist bureau inside the Saratoga hotel, which is the greeny/blue place off to your right when standing at the door to the cigar factory looking at the back of the Capitolio.
3) Capitolio - missed opportunity imo as there's not a huge amount to see inside. Spectacular building though, so worth a quick wander round.
4) If you're staying in Old Havana, then get some comfy shoes handy for a march out to the Hotel Nacional along the Malecon. You'll see the black flags outside the US embassy in protest at the Americans incarcerating the bomber who blew up an Air Cubana flight and they won't release him for trial in Cuba due to their poor human rights record. The same lack of human rights law that led to Camp X-Ray.
On this route march, stop by the uni and the churches on the map in the vicinity, and head back into town via Callejon de Hamel.
5) If you're going to Plaza Revolution and the Jose Marti monument, don't try to tie it in with a Sunday visit to the baseball. Everything is shut here, and as it's surrounded by Govt buildings the uniformed goons don't like you hanging around too long and you can't sit down without getting a whistle peeped at you! Seriously! In general worth the 5-7 pesos or whatever it is for a round trip though. Unless you are going to the top of the monument worth investigating getting the taxi to hang about as there's not a huge amount to absorb time out here and tricky to get a taxi back into town.
Food & Drink
1) Taberna la Muralla - beer brewed on site and set up by Austrians, decent burgers too for a quick munch. In Plaza Vieja.
2) El Patio restaurant by the Cathedral. Probably the most expensive state run place, but probably the best food in all of them too. Cracking view of the Cathedral lit up at night, and usually a band playing out in the square. Tourist trap prices, but imo worth it. Still only cost us something like 60 notes for 3 courses and wine for two.
3) La Guarida - best paladare, and the best grub we had all trip. If your spanish isn't too hot get the hotel to make the booking for you. On the subject of food overall, take some snacks with you, there's not much to buy in this respect to munch during meals, and they often aren't massive. It can be a lottery what you get alongside the main dish. Raw cabbage often features in large quantities.
4) Change about a fiver in local rather than tourist Pesos, and head to the Market. If you're in Parque Central go past the Capitolio and keep going down this road, you'll see/smell it soon enough. When we were there it as 1 local peso per banana, and 7 for a pineapple. Often delivered that morning. 1 local peso is 2.5p btw.
5) La Bodegita del Medio - one of the Hemingway places and cashes in on it a wee bit. Nice atmospheric wee place and you can't NOT have a mojito here. Dunno about the food as we never ate here.
6) La Floridita - as at 5) but daquiri time here. Did eat here and food was quite good but service was measured in a geological timescale. Only eat here if you arrive at least an hour or so before you plan on eating.
7) Cafe de Paris - think it's on Obispo, which is the main drag across the old town, but a cracking atmospheric wee place and rocket fuel daquiris in here. Often gets a really good band, and you get the locals out dancing in the street outside. On a good night this is Havana at its best imo. Food here is a bit meh as with other state run places.
Get some rum and fruit juice from a shop and head out to the Malecon to watch the sun set. The closest you'll get to a decent interaction with real locals without the fuzz hassling them. Habaneros are lovely friendly people, and due to the political isolation hugely curious about the rest of the world.
Only caveat to that is watch out for the TOO friendly ones during the day, who might be out to take you to a bar where you'll get scammed/overcharged.
Erm, rambled on a bit, hope it's helpful.
Here's a nice photo to whet the appetite.
Just stayed in Havana for a fortnight, with a few day trips out to Playa Santa Maria.
2 weeks is probably a bit long for Havana itself, but a lot of the tours that cram it in over a few days rush it a bit imo.
Around a week or so would be perfect to see and do everything it's got to offer.
Some thoughts.
1) Definitely do the revolution museum, but watch out as the route out the back to the Granma isn't clearly marked at all. We walked past it every day on our way through town, so didn't miss out massively, but it would have been nice to get up close.
2) Cigar factory worth a visit, you get tickets from the tourist bureau inside the Saratoga hotel, which is the greeny/blue place off to your right when standing at the door to the cigar factory looking at the back of the Capitolio.
3) Capitolio - missed opportunity imo as there's not a huge amount to see inside. Spectacular building though, so worth a quick wander round.
4) If you're staying in Old Havana, then get some comfy shoes handy for a march out to the Hotel Nacional along the Malecon. You'll see the black flags outside the US embassy in protest at the Americans incarcerating the bomber who blew up an Air Cubana flight and they won't release him for trial in Cuba due to their poor human rights record. The same lack of human rights law that led to Camp X-Ray.
On this route march, stop by the uni and the churches on the map in the vicinity, and head back into town via Callejon de Hamel.
5) If you're going to Plaza Revolution and the Jose Marti monument, don't try to tie it in with a Sunday visit to the baseball. Everything is shut here, and as it's surrounded by Govt buildings the uniformed goons don't like you hanging around too long and you can't sit down without getting a whistle peeped at you! Seriously! In general worth the 5-7 pesos or whatever it is for a round trip though. Unless you are going to the top of the monument worth investigating getting the taxi to hang about as there's not a huge amount to absorb time out here and tricky to get a taxi back into town.
Food & Drink
1) Taberna la Muralla - beer brewed on site and set up by Austrians, decent burgers too for a quick munch. In Plaza Vieja.
2) El Patio restaurant by the Cathedral. Probably the most expensive state run place, but probably the best food in all of them too. Cracking view of the Cathedral lit up at night, and usually a band playing out in the square. Tourist trap prices, but imo worth it. Still only cost us something like 60 notes for 3 courses and wine for two.
3) La Guarida - best paladare, and the best grub we had all trip. If your spanish isn't too hot get the hotel to make the booking for you. On the subject of food overall, take some snacks with you, there's not much to buy in this respect to munch during meals, and they often aren't massive. It can be a lottery what you get alongside the main dish. Raw cabbage often features in large quantities.
4) Change about a fiver in local rather than tourist Pesos, and head to the Market. If you're in Parque Central go past the Capitolio and keep going down this road, you'll see/smell it soon enough. When we were there it as 1 local peso per banana, and 7 for a pineapple. Often delivered that morning. 1 local peso is 2.5p btw.
5) La Bodegita del Medio - one of the Hemingway places and cashes in on it a wee bit. Nice atmospheric wee place and you can't NOT have a mojito here. Dunno about the food as we never ate here.
6) La Floridita - as at 5) but daquiri time here. Did eat here and food was quite good but service was measured in a geological timescale. Only eat here if you arrive at least an hour or so before you plan on eating.
7) Cafe de Paris - think it's on Obispo, which is the main drag across the old town, but a cracking atmospheric wee place and rocket fuel daquiris in here. Often gets a really good band, and you get the locals out dancing in the street outside. On a good night this is Havana at its best imo. Food here is a bit meh as with other state run places.
Get some rum and fruit juice from a shop and head out to the Malecon to watch the sun set. The closest you'll get to a decent interaction with real locals without the fuzz hassling them. Habaneros are lovely friendly people, and due to the political isolation hugely curious about the rest of the world.
Only caveat to that is watch out for the TOO friendly ones during the day, who might be out to take you to a bar where you'll get scammed/overcharged.
Erm, rambled on a bit, hope it's helpful.
Here's a nice photo to whet the appetite.
Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff