I had been fascinated about Havana for many years, partly due to my (very) unhealthy obsession with Mojitos, and also because it was the setting of one of my all time favourite TV shows ‘Auf Wiedersehen Pet’. So when a friend and I decided to go on a holiday to Miami it seemed daft not to make the journey to Cuba/Havana with it being so close. After spending a week in Miami we flew to Cuba, semi prepared to be turned away, as you are not supposed to fly direct from the USA without a valid reason for travel, and tourism isn’t one of them (this was back in 2017). Officially we went to "support the Cuban people"!
From the moment we landed at the airport, gone was the air-conditioned airports, and fancy and modern décor. When people say that it is like stepping back in time, it genuinely is. We got into a taxi (which I think was an unauthorised one) and we got to our AirBnB accommodation in old town Havana. We were really lucky with our accommodation as it was on the 7th floor of an old decrepit building, and generally Havana is very flat, so we had amazing views. The apartment was very smart inside and had aircon!
Havana was just crazy, especially in the old town, I don’t think we had done enough research or was quite prepared. As (or at the time) they are not allowed to advertise, as in on their shop fronts, you would walk down a street and not know if a building was a shop, a café, a hotel or someone’s front living room! Quite often in between shops there would be a house with someone’s living room opening directly onto a main/busy street.
You can tell Havana (Cuba) isn’t really prepared for mass tourism, especially in the restaurants as they have no concept of time. On our first afternoon we went into somewhere to eat, we ordered food and my friend got her food, my food turned up 20 minutes later and the waitress didn’t seem to think that was strange or abnormal. They are almost a bit too laid back. I am not sure I would ever go back, but it is an experience I wouldn’t have missed!
Summer 2017 
4 DaysSo our AirBnB was right in the middle of old town, we purposely wanted to stay there as to have the most authentic Havana experience. It can be quite intimidating at first as its fairly busy, and the locals are going about their daily life, but they are friendly and on the whole it's safe. There isn't much to actually do here, we just walked around and got to know the place. Although each run-down street looked much like the last. A lot of great street art though!
Mojito is my favourite drink and this is probably one of the main reasons I wanted to visit Cuba, and dare I say it but the Mojitos are perhaps not the best in the world like I had been led to believe. Most other cocktails are rum based. You wont find any wine in the super markets as its not made locally. The food is very nice, all very basic but beautifully cooked.
There are some great piece of street art around Havana, many that are years old and perfectly eroded. One afternoon we dressed up in smart clothes so that we could purposely take some amazing photos of ourselves for our facebook profiles!
This bar is famous for its Mojitos and the most popular in Havana, Mojito is the only drink they do, and they make them continuously and line them up on the bar ready to serve. Very small place and nowhere to sit, its a proper tourist hot spot.
One of my friends how had previously been to Havana recommended this to me and gave me some useful tips. Firstly to find a driver that speaks relatively good English (because he will then act as a great tour guide). We did this on our first full day as to get a tour around Havana which helped get our bearings. We stopped at a number of locations with iconic buildings in the backdrop and the driver will take pictures of you in front of and inside the car.
The Plaza is the 31st largest city square in the world, measuring 72,000 square meters. The square is notable as being where many political rallies take place and Fidel Castro and other political figures address Cubans. This was our first stop in the classic car tour.
El Capitolio, or National Capitol Building in Havana, Cuba, was the organization of government in Cuba until after the Cuban Revolution in 1959, and is now home to the Cuban Academy of Sciences.
Plaza Vieja is a beautiful square with tall buildings, most of which are bars and restaurants. We choose one of the restaurants to eat in and sat on one of the upper floor balconies and watched the sun set. There was a group of kids in the middle of the square playing football. Great for people watching!
Santa María del Mar is one of 5 major beaches in Cuba and is located about one hour east of Havana. Busses are regular from Havana, and this beach is fairly quiet and has a tropical feel to it. A couple of bars and cafes nearby. After spending 2 days walking the old town and bisters on feet this was a welcomed break!
We choose an AirBnB because it was the most cost effective solution for us. It was on the 7th floor of a building, and in a city which is quite flat and not built up, the views paid off. Downside was there was no internet or wifi as its only generally hotels that have wifi.
