3 days in Havana, Cuba
Three days in Havana, Cuba might not seem enough; but, they actually are more than enough. Just don’t waste your mornings sleeping until late afternoon! Prior to heading to Havana, we had done massive amounts of research on which tours to partake, buildings to visit, restaurants, bars, etc. It’s a city where you can’t just “wing it” or else you will miss out on something meaningful.
Our flight arrived from Miami to Havana Thursday afternoon. Clearing customs and immigration was a breeze. A bit hectic because nobody seemed to have any concept of a “line” at customs. Nevertheless, a breeze. Once outside, we were swarmed by taxi drivers offering us a cab. This is where the negotiation begins….and continues for the entire time one is in Havana. By the time we left Havana, our negotiation skills were on point! Even in Spanish! We took a van from the airport to our AirBnB, approximately 30 minutes away, and paid $40. The drive was beautiful, as we drove past some of the plazas that were on our list to visit, several old buildings, and a glimpse of the Cuban life. Pepe thankfully speaks fluent Spanish and helped us converse with our cab driver who pointed out several buildings that he recommended for us to visit.
Our AirBnB
After a short 30 minute ride, we arrived at our AirBnB, nestled in between cobblestone streets lined with local shops, restaurants, and homes. Although check-in was not until approximately 3pm, we arrived much earlier. Luckily one of the hosts were home and allowed us to enter. The coolness of the tiled floors, and the cozy look of the living room and kitchen made us feel at home right away. The open-air stoned floor courtyard leading to the bedrooms allowed just enough sunlight and breeze to flow through. Both bedrooms had double height ceiling and were beautifully furnished in modern vintage furniture . They also had their own full bathroom, air conditioning, closets, and safe. All rooms in the home were compatible with our American wall chargers.
Wifi is not free anywhere in Havana. For one hour of wifi, we had to purchase a $2 WiFi card. In order to use it, you have to find a wifi spot, and use the card to sign on. We purchased nine cards for the four of us, and had several remaining at the end of our trip. Our host was nice enough to go to the store for us and obtain the cards!
Added to our stay for a daily $8 charge was breakfast prepared by our host. It included fresh coffee and fruit juices, bread, cheese, ham, fruits, and eggs. Our host worked with our schedule and had breakfast ready for us to indulge at our set time, even when it was at 6:30am! We also made several dinner reservations through our AirBnB host, such as La Guarida, and Buena Vista Social Club. It just makes it so much easier when a native is assisting with restaurants who do not offer online reservations.
Prior to heading out for the afternoon, per our request, our host worked with a local antique car tour company to reserve us a tour post-lunch. We requested a convertible for a three hour tour, and received just that! Please be advised that due to regulations, clients are not allowed to drive the antique cars. They must be driven by the tour guide or the driver.
Day 1
After settling in to our rooms, unpacking a bit, and freshening up from the extremely early DC flight, we headed to lunch at Havana61 located across from the AirBnB.
[Ramsey’s food/drink review]
We must have gained couple of pounds with all that delicious food and drinks - it was now time to go burn it off. Our convertible for the tour was ready when we arrived back to the home post-lunch. It was a beautiful red Chevy from the 1960s with light cream leather interior. After informing our tour guide of specific locations we wanted to visit, he offered his own recommendations (some hidden spots), and tailored the three hour tour to our agenda. There was not one dull moment in the entire three hours! Our tour guide, Fermin, and our own Pepe (with his translation back and forth) kept all of us engaged the entire time. Fermin made several stops throughout the tour for photo ops, rum tasting, drove through the beautiful mansions in Miramar and Vedado. Before concluding the tour, Fermin took us to what seemed like a hidden gem offering one of the most delicious pina coladas we have ever had! The small bar is located inside a “forest” with a peaceful lake, and one of the oldest trees in Havana.
Once the car adventure concluded, we decided to check out couple of Hemingway bars that were on our list. La Bodeguita being one of them. Let me tell you - this place is PACKED with tourists and a live band. As soon as you enter, you’re greeted by the loud chatter of drinkers trying to hold a conversation over the band playing traditional Cuban music. The front of the venue is a bar with very limited seating - five bar stools, perhaps. La Bodeguita is known for their mojitos. Grab a mojito, and be prepared to dance! The venue does offer dinner seating on the back side, but it didn’t seem as lively as the bar side. Two mojitos later, we headed to La Floridita - another Hemingway bar.
La Floridita has an actual life size statue of Hemingway! I wish I had grabbed a selfie with it but we were too excited about their daiquiris and the amazing performers. At La Floridita, Hemingway had consumed 15 daiquiris in one sitting. WOW! That’s about two bottles of rum.
After our quick Hemingway barhopping, we headed to dinner at La Guarida for a 9pm reservation. La Guarida is located on the third level of what seemed to be old multi-family homes. The main restaurant is located on the third level with indoor and outdoor dining. Above the restaurant is a casual bar, and cocktail area. When we arrived, we were given an outdoor table for four. Now, on any warm spring/summer night, we would be ecstatic. However, it was extremely chilly and windy on this particular night but they did not have any indoor seating available. The outdoor seating also did not have any fire pits or heaters to keep the guests warm. Upon request, they provided us four pullovers to help keep us warm, which - did not help at all.
And with that, day 1 was over. Since we were exhausted from a 5am flight in, it was an early night for all of us! With one little mishap - we had no water in the bathrooms when we returned. Apparently one of the toilets kept running while we were out for the day which caused the water system to automatically shut off. Our host was able to quickly fix it the next morning!
Day 2
Our second day in Havana began with a fresh home-cooked meal by our very own AirBnB host! The breakfast included eggs, cheese, ham, fresh juice, bread, fruits, and of course, coffee. The breakfast beat any restaurant cooked breakfast, any day!
Post breakfast, we made our way to the plaza in front of La Floridita to meet with a free walking tour (must tip at end of tour) we booked through Strawberry Tours. The tour host was a bit tough to find as he was not holding a sign easily visible in the crowd that was gathered in front of the Statue of Francisco de Albear. The guide was extremely knowledgeable about the history of different buildings, plazas, streets, etc. If you have time to spare, definitely partake in the walking tour. After three hours of walking through Havana, we were exhausted and hungry!
For lunch, we headed to Del el Frente, located in a cute little two story building with indoor seating and rooftop open-air seating. The rooftop walls were adorned with pop culture murals worth a photo!
After lunch, Hind and I went to the Art Museum located across La Manzana while the guys grabbed a drink at Lamparilla Tapas & Cervesas. What a waste of time! Ok, we absolutely LOVE museums and were hoping for contemporary art vs. repeat paintings and artifacts most museums already display. The entry fee was $5 and included access to all levels. Be warned the map of the museum provided by the reception desk does not match the actual layout of the museum. As with any museum, begin at the highest level and work your way down. The most interesting room was probably the one with the history of Havana where they displayed pictures of Havana from once upon a time. Approximately 30 minutes later, we were done with all four levels. Much earlier than expected, allowing us to make our way over to Lamparilla to join the men for some rum and tapas.
Although Lamparilla is not a must visit, they were on our list of bars if we had enough time. Glad that we made it there! Delicious caparinias and rum suggestions. It’s definitely located off the beaten path a bit, forcing potential visitors to walk through several inner streets and playgrounds.
Around 5pm, we made our way back to the house to get ready for dinner. A disappointing note from our host greeted us in the kitchen informing us that we could not visit Fabrica de Arte for dinner as they were closed for the next several days. We were at a loss of where to dine for dinner, although we had several other restaurants on our list. Going back to Habana61 sounded like a great option, which is exactly what we did after visiting the indoor vendor market located near the waterfront. Since the market closes at 6:30, we had only 30 minutes to get all the souvenirs and paintings we wanted! Almost an hour later - mission accomplished! Hind and Ramsey found some great deals on paintings, while Pepe and I found cute little espresso cups with saucers and other little trinkets. It’s easy to spend hours in the market and get lost! The first level is all souvenirs, while the second level is filled with rows and rows of artwork by local artists.
After indulging in another delicious meal at Habana61, we decided to checkout the rooftop bar at La Manzana. Beautiful views of the city, gorgeous pool - however, they didn’t have ingredients for any of the drinks we wanted because they “were out of them.” Other than the view and a DJ playing American music, there’s not much to the famous rooftop bar. Head over to La Ingletaria instead to mingle with the locals, listen to traditional Cuban music and enjoy delicious cocktails. Music ended around midnight, which was our clue to get back home so we can actually rest before the two-hour drive to Vinales.
Day 3
For details on Vinales, visits the 1 Day in Vinales post!
We’re glad we made the time to visit Vinales. It was worth every minute! However, we were ready for some delicious food/drinks, followed by performances at Buena Vista Social Club.
Dinner was at Dona Eutimia. Outdoor seating was a bit cramped, with the inside not being any better. The food was not anything to rave about. However, they’re the only restaurant we had seen accepting USD, with lower prices if paying in USD. Wonder if that’s why it was highly recommended by several blogs and sites?
Finally - the much awaited performance at Buena Vista Social Club! After a short cab ride from Dona Eutimia, we arrived few minutes before our 9pm reservation. When purchasing tickets, there are options to purchase dinner + performance, just dinner, or just performance. The Club is not known for their food, hence why we booked performance only. However, if booking performance only, you will be seated in the back of the room away from the stage. We spoke with the manager who was nice enough to move us closer to the stage as long as we purchased cigars from the Club’s store prior to leaving. We didn’t mind! Very sweet of him as he sat us directly next to the stage. Service is extremely slow throughout the entire show. We had to order couple rounds at once because it took about 40 minutes to just receive our first round of drinks. Overall, a great show, great music, okay drinks, horrible appetizers, and uncomfortable chairs.
And with that, our stay in Havana was coming to an end as we were leaving for Varadero the following morning at 10:30am. We booked the taxi to Varadero with Fermin, as well as a taxi from Varadero to Havana airport for our return on Tuesday. The drivers sent by Fermin were extremely prompt on time, and provided great commentary about the history and life of Cuban people!
