Havana, Cuba Hotels and City Guide

Havana - Attractions

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Music and dancing are vibrant parts of the life of picturesque Old Havana (La Habana Vieja), a place where world-class musicians play latin and jazz music in stylish bars. Fine old buildings line the streets of the centre, and a more modern city stretches out from this core, both parts combining to be a tropical backdrop for Havana's verve-filled citizens. Museums and cafes are aplenty. Beaches and marina complexes lie near to this coastal city, founded by the Spanish next to one of the best natural harbours in the Caribbean.

Havana Attractions

La Habana Vieja
La Habana Vieja, Havana, Cuba
Old Havana lies by the former principal harbour. Baroque palaces and convents, saved from the developer's ball but now gently decaying, are notable parts of the most splendid surviving colonial townscape of the Americas. Home to many museums and churches, the area has a particular charm, is fine for strolling around in, and is nowadays the centre of the country's smart nightlife. Once every evening the sound of a cannon firing ricochets across its roofs, the noise of a ceremony first begun as a precaution against pirate attack in the seventeenth century. The area has been declared an UNESCO world heritage site.

Cathedral (located in Habana Vieja)
Plaza de la Catedral, La Habana Vieja, Cuba
Its baroque façade has the unusual quality of being unsymmetrical, with one bell tower being bigger then the other. One tower gives a great view over the city. Dedicated officially to the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, many locals think of it more as the church of Havana's patron saint San Cristobal. Known in English as Saint Christopher, he is the patron saint of travellers. In all, the cathedral is an elaborate example of a florid Cuban style.

Casa del Marques de Aguas Claras (located in Habana Vieja)
Plaza de la Catedral, La Habana Vieja, Cuba
Mansion with a delightful courtyard near the cathedral - now part of a smart restaurant.

Plaza de Las Armas (located in Habana Vieja)
Plaza de Las Armas, La Habana Vieja, Cuba
One of the five great plazas of central Havana, flanked on one side by the grand (former) Palace of the Captains General, which houses an historical museum.

Museum and Convent of San Francisco (located in Habana Vieja)
C/Oficios, La Habana Vieja, Cuba
This significant building now houses a concert hall and a museum.

Capitol Nacional (located near Habana Vieja)
Capitolio, La Habana, Cuba
Apparently modelled on the US capitol, this is a gleaming white building that stands on the edge of the old city centre.

Cigar factory Partagas (located near Habana Vieja)
C/Industria, La Habana, Cuba
Cubans make cigars that many acclaim as the world's finest. Partagas is the oldest surviving factory in central Havana, a relic of past industrial practice that offers intriguing guided tours.

Museum of the Revolution (located near Habana Vieja)
Av. De Las Misiones, La Habana, Cuba
Housed in the very grand and bright white Presidential Palace the museum tells the story of the Cuban Revolution in the middle of last century. Between 1952 and 1959 revolutionary forces led by Fidel Castro fought to overthrow the military government of the time. After victory Castro became President of Cuba. Exhibits inside include a stuffed mule, that when alive was ridden by the military commander Che Guevara. Outside the main building are parked various memorable vehicles, including the yacht Granma from which Castro, Guevara and others launched their foray of 1956.

Museo Ernest Hemingway
San Francisco de Paula, nr. La Habana, Cuba
South of the city of Havana the house of the writer Ernest Hemingway has been preserved, allowing a glimpse into the domestic surroundings of a man whose books tell of war and passion.

Marina Hemingway
Santa Fe, nr. La Habana, Cuba
Hemingway's liking for deep sea fishing prompted developers to name after him this high class leisure complex that berths yachts and provides facilities for marlin fishing and speedboat racing tournaments.

Havana Shopping

The island's cigars are renowned as the finest in the world, and its rum has a good reputation too. (Due to counterfeiting, visitors should make sure that they buy cigars and rum from official outlets.) Many visitors buy tapes or CDs of Cuban music, exhilarating audio souvenirs. Art galleries and print workshops, often open for tours, may sell some high quality work.

Havana Shopping Neighbourhoods

La Habana Vieja is the principal centre for shopping in Havana. In the square by the cathedral there is a handicraft market on Saturdays and some other days, and there are galleries large and small scattered around the square's immediate area. Retail chains include Casa del Habano (tobacconists) and Caracol (liquor stores). Cigars may also be bought at the Partagas factory. The town of Miramar, 16 km (10 miles) from Havana, has a diplomatic district near to shops that sell imported goods and upscale food shops.

Hotels in Havana, Cuba