Havana recommendations please!

[Jungfraujoch]

Hotels
Must sees
Restaurants

What to avoid!

thanks.

Take cash - £ sterling or dollars! Locals will be happy to exchange money or give you change in their currency if needed. Bars etc all prefer hard currency.

La Guarida for food and rooftop drinks.

Floriditas for daiquiris.

Have a great time! It can be a bit of a culture shock, but we loved it.

We went a very long time ago, but we stayed in casa particulares rather than hotels. They are like mini bnbs in people's homes. You can get dinner and breakfast provided. It was great to spend time with the Cubans themselves! Not sure if the concept is still around - maybe someone who has been more recently can update.

I'm so desperate to go to Cuba. But due to new laws re. Visiting America after you've been to Cuba (no longer qualify for ESTA visa waiver) I guess I'll have to wait til laws change again. Hope you know/don't care about thar OP.

Thank you! I didnt know this!

We visited a cigar factory and bribed the guard at the Bacardi building to go up and look at the "bat". Club Tropicana for the show. Cocktails in the various Hemingway hang outs. Patio at the Hotel Inglaterra.

A tour in one of the old 50s cars is a fun way to see the city.

San Cristobal restaurant is good. El Floridita for the dacquiris. Lots of places to drink around Plaza Vieja.

If you like Bacardi, it is soooo cheap to buy. Litre bottles for less than £5!! Great cigar shops too.

Nice to walk along El Malacon promenade, just watch out for any scammers telling you it’s ’national cigar day’ or similar.

We did the same and it was a fantastic experience.

Also hired a car and drove around the island, it so worth getting out and about.

We used a specialist company Cuba Direct and it helped us with finding good places to stay - not all casa are the same.

We waited until our passport was due to change

Thanks all but due to the ESTA visa waiver issue we’ll have to give it a miss for now. Shame.

We went to the ballet...absolutely fantastic. We were so lucky, we walked past the theatre and it had only just reopened and got a seat for the next night.

We toured Cuba staying in a mix of accommodation types. Do try a government owned hotel in Havana...the huge old colonial types. Amazing but slightly Fawlty Towers. Very rules based...going to a bank to get money you could really see communism still at work in how the job was operated.

I'm not sure if they still have rationing...that was interesting to see the ration shops.

You can just get a regular 10 year visa instead of the ESTA.

Not going to Cuba just to appease the US (by ensuring Cuba doesn't get tourism money) isn't worth it.

I had a flight stop in Havana unscheduled, and my ESTA was revoked several years later when Biden changed the policy. It doesn't matter if you go now or not, you never know when they're going to decide to punish Cuba some more.

Just go and enjoy yourself!! I would love to visit Cuba 😍

Agree with @mushroomushroom! Cuba is amazing - we stayed in the Hotel National and rented a car and drove around Cuba. I have family in the USA and have had to get a 10 year visa (for different reasons not visiting Cuba) but it was pretty straightforward.

Under the circumstances would you be allowed to apply for a second passport?

Honestly I’ve never had an issue. Cuba however is a fantastic place. The classic car tour we did was so interesting as the guy driving gave us information about his family (doctors) and their place is the system.

Absolutely agree but this USA trip is soon so don’t have the time to organise a 10 yr visa. It was just to add on a few days after husband’s work trip to Miami. Booked Bahamas now!