Havana City

Any Cuban journey must start in Havana. Her faded beauty is legendary – this is hands down the most winsome city in the Caribbean, and one of the top five scrumptious Latin American honies too. It's also rising up from its ruins: a chunk of the tourist money that has hit the Cuban coffers over the last two decades has been showered on sprucing up Habana Vieja, the old colonial centre. Once fortified against the threat of pirates and colonial rivals, the seductive city has risen from the ashes with the painstaking restoration work of city architect Eusebio Leal, who had to bring some restoration artisans out of retirement to realise his dream and pass their wisdom on to the next generation. Cobbled streets lead to now immaculately polished Baroque churches, castles and palaces. Plazas have been returned to their former glory, their fountains flowing once more, their facades re-rendered attentively. Along the seafront of Havana, the Malecón, the strains of salsa waft from the rebooted sound systems of vintage Cadillacs and Buicks, and the facades of grandiose seafront buildings are being slowly resurrected. Admittedly, the restoration money hasn't quite reached most of the rest of the city yet. Just west of Habana Vieja, the gritty working class district of Centro Habana is a picture of ruined, rutted beauty, and the well-heeled districts of Vedado and Miramar, west again, are more peeling and faded than salubrious cousins in more solvent cities. Street life in Havana is key: on-the-ground socialising is the top Cuban pastime, whether that's domino playing, gossiping, or arguing loudly about baseball, so from the Havana belles to the beauteous buildings, there is always something to captivate and beguile. There is also something to do in Havana as well. There are realms of museums and cultural spaces, and you can enjoy virtuoso ballet, Afro Cuban dance, flamenco, jazz and timba. After years of boredom on the restaurant scene, panoply of new private restaurants, paladares, are pushing the envelope on the culinary scene as the government loosens the laws governing small business start-ups. The nightlife is exuberant: think alfresco salsa clubs, plentiful life music venues and troubadour sessions. Just outside town, Las Playas del Este offers a sneak preview of Cuba's legendary turquoise water-and-white-sand beaches. Finally, the hotels are a draw: choose from faded art deco grande dames, colonial boltholes, contemporary international chains, and a plethora of villas. We are the one of the main travel companies with access to the newly created private villa rental market. If you want to stay in a original 1950s suburban home or a penthouse on the Malecón, we can fix you your own private pied-a-terre.

Street Maps

The Travel Division of Caribbean a la Carte Corp. offers you a map of Cuba  (click here)   and Havana (click here) you could find more in Google Maps

By air

Havana has an airport named José Martí. Havana’s Airport is the main airport in Cuba. The airport handled over 2 million passengers in 2015. It has five terminals and one runway. Taxis services run between Havana and José Martí Airport. A one-way taxi fare from Havana’s airport to the city center cost between 25-35 euro. Nevertheless, you can choice to make a package reservation that include transfers airport – hotel – airport round trip (click here)

Accommodation and Transfers


Practical information