My heart is in Havana

If you haven’t been to Cuba, it should be on your list. It is a country steeped in culture, history and it has been through a lot. Despite 50 years of withering neglect, the damaged colonial buildings are still grand and beautiful. You will feel as if you are in a time warp with the lack of internet, private enterprise, old classic cars and brightly coloured buildings.

Things you need to know when going to Cuba:

1. Cash is king! In Cuba they have two currencies; you’ll hear it being referred to as the local currency, or Cuban Peso, and the tourist currency, Cuban Convertible currency (CUC). Cuban currency is considered a closed currency, i.e you can only get it from within the country. The exchange rate is $1 = 1 CUC and 1 CUC = 25 Cuban Peso for locals. Tourists use almost exclusively CUC so you won’t need to worry about the other currency. Take cash in your own currency and exchange it at the desk in the airport for CUC. Not many shops and restaurants accept card so make sure you have cash on you, and ATMs are few and far between. Sometime to be aware of, if you are exchanging U.S. dollar or CUC, you will be charged an extra 10% commission due to the U.S. – Cuba relationship so best to take sterling, Canadian dollar or Euro to the exchange desk.
2. Cuba is generally very safe and people are friendly. If someone comes up to you on the street and tells you about a cigar festival and a sale cigars that ends that day, don’t be an idiot like me follow them around Havana thinking these people want to accompany you to this “sale” for nothing. Only buy cigars from government stores or when n a tour of the tobacco farms.
3. There is minimal internet access in Cuba so don’t think you’ll get to hop onto public or restaurant WiFi to check directions or upload an Instagram story, it most likely won’t happen. Download your apps and save your directions on google maps before you leave you accommodation if you’re lucky enough to have WiFi there.
4. Hotels are very expensive in Havana so I recommend using Air Bnb and staying in a Casa which is like a B&B where you stay with a Cuban host family. We did this and had an amazing time with our host couple. They had great English and gave us an insight into life in Cuba and great recommendations on what to do, plus organised a car to and from the airport for an extra charge.
5. There are no convenience stores as such or really any supermarkets to speak of so bring snacks from home. We walked for half a hour around the city one day trying buy some crisps or snack bars with no such luck.
6. Do not get into a taxi without negotiating the fare first. Always agree a price.

Five days in Havana:

Unfortunately this trip we only had five days in Cuba so we concentrated our time in Havana and took a day trip to Vinales. I wish we had more time and could have done a night in Vinales. It’s about 2.5 hour drive from Havana in the country side. It is so laid back and makes a real change from the fast pace of life. Cuba in general is quite slow paced and relaxed. Things to do in Havana:

1. Free walking tour : We met a group for a free walking tour of Old Havana outside the Plaza del Angel. The tour goes at 9.30 and 16.00 from this location. The tour was really interesting and the guide, who was a local, shared with the group the history for Cuba.

2. Ride around Havana in a classic convertible. Albeit it is completely touristy, I don’t know of anywhere else you can ride around in a 1950s car in pristine condition and take in the sights of the city. Make sure you set the price before you get in. I think we paid $40 CUC or about that for over a hour in the car. The dirver will bring you to the main tourist attractions and take you wherever you wish to explore.

3. Visit Plaza de la Revolution: This is a memorial to Jose Marti, CHe Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos. It was completed in 1959 when Fidel came into power. It’s one of the most photographed places in the city. It’s quite a walk from old and central Havana so we visited it during the convertible car tour.

4. Pub crawl: Walk around old and central Havana and stop off along the way to sample some of the best mojitos. The most famous bar for mojitos is La Bodeguita del Medio. It is said to be a local bar Hemingway frequented. Tourist prices to match but in European standards, drinks are still cheap and the measures are free pour.

5. Get lost in Central Havana: Centro Habana is referred to as the real heart of Havana. Have a wander around to get a feel for how Cubans live, their economic situation . You will see families watching TV together, children playing on the streets, people selling fruit and vegetables form carts and some crumbling and abandoned buildings.

6. Explore Old Havana: La Habana Vieja , an UNESCO World Hertitage site, is the historic center of the capital city. There are countless historic colonial buildings, amazing art galleries, restaurants, shops and lovely plazas to explore.

7. Walk along the Malecón: The Malecón stretches 8km along Havana picturesque coast line. I went for a run one morning along this and there were plenty of people out walking, jogging and fishing along the Malecón. The colourful waterfront buildings with vintage cars wizzing by comes to mind whenever I think of Havana.

8. Day trip to Vinales: Our host family arranged a driver to take us to Vinales for the day. Vinales is a rural town in Cuba, famous for its scenic countryside and tobacco production. If you want to visit a tobacco plantation, this is where to visit one. The tobacco plant was our first stop off after leaving Havana. We saw how the cigars were made and learnt how the process to make cigars and storing them. We both some cigars here for a third of the price in the government shops.

Our casa arranged for us to be picked up in a private car at 8am and it took about 2 hours to get to our first stop off, the tobacco plant. After the tobacco plant we took a boat through underground caves, stopped off at a view point of the country side and had lunch in an organic farm. This was one of the best meals I had in Cuba and the portions were huge. We couldn’t even finish half the food. Horse riding is usually on offer but it was lashing rain most of the day so it wasn’t an option that day. After lunch we headed back to Havana. The town of Vinales was a quaint countryside town with lots of home-stays, bars and family run restaurants. We would have loved to have stayed here for a night.

Places to eat:

We had heard that the food in Cuba wasn’t great and wasn’t anything to get too excited about but thankfully we were very pleasantly surprised. We had some of the best meals ever in Havana.

• Mas Havana– great cocktails and even better when they’re half price at happy hour (4-7pm daily), great service and amazing food. It’s rated number 1 on trip advisor. It was so good we went back twice. Great for lunch and dinner.
• Bellview art cafe– great for breakfast. We came here twice also. It was an old colonial house turned into a restaurant by a German photographer and his art work is on display in the cafe.
• La Guarida– probably the most famous restaurant in Havana. You must book well in advance! The atmosphere is amazing and definitely a luxury restaurant. The marble staircase up to the restaurant is fabulous and leads into the restaurant which overlooks Havana. We liked it but we weren’t overly impressed by the food. For the price and hype about it we expected the food to be better. That said, it is an experience dining here.
• O’ Reilly 304: Amazing food, good atmosphere and drinks. Good for lunch and dinner.
• El del Frente– really nice for dinner. Book ahead and ask to be seated on the rooftop terrace. Good atmosphere, great service and cocktails. It’s owned by the same people as it’s sister restaurent across the road, O’ Reilly 304.
• Lamparilla tapas y cervezas: Great tapas place, we came here for dinner on our last night. We read good reviews on tripadvisor about it and just walked in, no booking needed. Excellent food.

Where to stay:

Book a casa particularis, we booked Casa Lola through air bnb. Our host Julio and his wife were a great help organising trips and taxi to and from the airport. The room had air con, was ensuite and the house had WiFi, which is rare in Cuba. It was in a safe area but a bit of a walk form the center (5km). We walked into the center most days and got a taxi home for between $5-10 CUC.

That’s make take on our short but sweet introduction to Cuba, I hope it was helpful!