After breakfast in hotel, your guide and driver will take you to the first stop, Old Havana. The guide will lead you to take in its essence on foot. We will first pass a Grecian-style chapel of El Templete, to reach and stroll the oldest square in Havana -
Plaza de Armas, home not only to Palace of Segundo Cabo, once the colonial base of Spanish vice-governor, but also to a street market selling souvenirs and used books. Here, we will also visit the centuries-old
Palacio de los Capitanes Generales (City Museum of Havana), in which interesting histories of Havana are displayed. Then walk to the sea-breeze-soaked
Plaza de San Francisco de Asís, where we get to admire the Baroque exterior of Church and Convent of St. Francis of Asisi, among other old fascinating structures. The next stop is
Plaza Vieja (Old Square), which is surrounded by colorful colonial buildings, one of which is Palacio Cueto, the finest Art Nouveau-style building in Havana. After a tour inside
Museo del Ron Havana Club (Havana Club Rum Museum), we will head to
Cathedral Square, where Havana Cathedral, the grandest cathedral in Cuba, sits with poise.
Keep walking for a few minutes, and we will arrive at
La Bodeguita del Medio (a glass of mojito is included), Ernest Hemingway’s favorite restaurant which he visited often to drink mojito. Later, stroll through Obispo Boulevard and Central Park - you will meet a statue of the revolutionary hero of José Martí here - to see the
Grand Theater of Havana and the
Capitol of Havana. On days except weekends, a tour inside
Partagás Cigar Factory is also arranged.
No idea where to go for an authentic Cuban lunch? Restaurante 5 Sentidos, which visitors and we both strongly recommend, is there for you. Its wide range of top-rated culinary choices will let you forget you are in a country where food shortages prevail.
This afternoon, you will be escorted on a driving tour via old American vintage car through modern Havana. You can’t really say you’ve been to Cuba without experiencing a ride on this wicked-cool living fossil. It’s estimated there are seventy thousand such cars kept in Cuba – a number found nowhere else! And that’s why Cuba is called “the museum of moving classic American cars”. Our itinerary contains a joy ride along the coastal Malecón and photo stops at Morro Castle, University of Havana, Colón Cemetery, and Revolution Square. Off the car, you will be taken back to the hotel.
● Important Note: Tell your driver to slow down the vintage car whenever needed, as when your car leaves Old Havana and onto the Malecón, its speed might soar up to a point that may be a bit too much for the antique - we just feel obligated to remind you of this as is often dismissed by other travel agencies
● Recommended Hangouts at Night to Discover Havana Pulsing to Beat
It might be shocking to know that Cuban people only earn an average of 20 US dollars per month. But, instead of gold and material comfort, it is a nation dazzling with music and dance. If today falls on a day between Thursday and Sunday, try not to miss Fábrica de Arte Cubano, the nation’s diverse venue to find various art scenes. Live musical performances, impromptu dances every now and then, bars for chatting and eating… There is something for everyone. Plan ahead if you want to meet Havana World Music Festival and Jazz concerts. Want to dedicate yourself to the Cuban specialty of salsa dance? The mind-blowing Cabaret show at the world-famous Tropicana gets you covered!
Optional activity:
If you want to feel the rhythmic energy of salsa dance for yourself, we can also include an informal lesson into today’s itinerary. Please contact our travel consultant if you are interested.
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel NH Capri La Habana (4 stars)
photos); with each purchase done, it is recorded on a ration card. However low the prices are, people just can’t survive off 5 lbs of rice per month, which is among the distributions, so they have to reach for expensive goods at places aimed for tourists and the rich. But on a greater timescale, with the government’s loosening on private-run business, competition will arrive, so will more resources with better prices. “Mipyme”, or private store selling “luxury” commodities such as tomato sauce and Hershey's cocoa powder, is such a recent experiment to introduce more free market forces. Just as new days will come, so will a newer Cuba!