Things to do
12-
Callejón de Hamel
Salvador González painted an alley in Cayo Hueso with Afro-Cuban cosmology, then filled it with salvaged bathtubs, shrines and totems. Rumba is played here around midday on Sundays, when the lane packs tight and the drums go on for hours. Outside that window it is a quiet, strange piece of street art in a few blocks that reward care after dark.
-
Cathedral of Havana
Baroque limestone packed with marine fossils rises above a small cobbled plaza, its two bell towers deliberately unequal. Built by Jesuits and finished in the seventeen seventies, it once held remains said to be those of Columbus. Opening hours are short and shift around mass; the square outside is at its calmest early, before the bands set up.
-
El Capitolio
Modelled on a domed capitol in Washington and finished in nineteen twenty nine, this was the seat of Cuba's congress until the revolution, then a science academy for decades. A long restoration returned the gilt interiors and the dome, and the National Assembly sits here again. Guided visits enter from the Prado side, run to fixed times, and fill by late morning.
-
Fábrica de Arte Cubano
A cooking-oil factory in Vedado reopened as gallery, concert hall, cinema and bar under one roof, founded by the musician X Alfonso. Exhibitions change often and the programme runs from jazz to fashion shows. Doors open on Thursday to Sunday evenings, queues form before opening, and the venue shuts for stretches between seasons, so the schedule is worth checking ahead.
-
Fusterlandia
In the fishing suburb of Jaimanitas, the artist José Fuster covered his house and then his neighbours' in mosaic: domes, benches, roofs and gateposts in broken tile. Several blocks now carry the work, freely walkable and still spreading. Taxis from the centre take around half an hour each way, which makes the trip worth pairing with the western beaches.
-
Hotel Nacional de Cuba
Twin Moorish towers on a bluff above the Malecón, opened in nineteen thirty and since occupied by mobsters, film stars and heads of state. The lawn bar at the back looks over the sea, and a tunnel of coastal gun emplacements survives in the garden from the missile crisis. Non-guests can walk in, take the terrace and read the wall of photographs in the lobby.
-
Malecón
Eight kilometres of sea wall run west from the harbour mouth, part road, part bench, part fishing perch for the city. Waves break over the parapet when a winter front blows in, and the spray closes the near lane. Evening is when it fills: musicians, courting couples, rum passed along the wall. Walking the full length takes around two hours, and shade is scarce until the sun drops.
-
Morro Castle
Guarding the harbour entrance from a rocky headland, this sixteenth-century fortress was raised to stop the corsairs who had sacked the town. Its lighthouse, ramparts and tunnels look back across the water at the full sweep of the old city. Next door at La Cabaña a cannon is fired each evening at nine, and the two forts are visited together.
-
Museum of the Revolution
Batista's presidential palace holds the official account of the insurgency, from the Moncada attack to the Bay of Pigs, in rooms still scarred by a failed student assault. Behind it sits the Granma, the yacht that carried the rebels from Mexico, sealed in glass and ringed by tanks and aircraft. Labels are dense, largely in Spanish, and the upper floors run hot.
-
Old Havana
Four colonial squares anchor the walled quarter Spain built around its harbour, restored block by block since the nineteen eighties while lived-in tenements stand alongside. Museums, cathedrals and rum bars cluster within a short walk. Mornings are quieter and cooler; by midday the cruise crowds and the jineteros thicken along Obispo. Half a day covers the squares at a slow pace.
-
Plaza de la Revolución
A vast paved expanse in Vedado where the state holds its rallies, backed by a star-shaped memorial tower to José Martí and by steel portraits of Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos on the ministry facades. A visit lasts about as long as a photograph and a lap of the square. The lift up the tower opens on weekday mornings and gives the widest view of the city.
-
Plaza Vieja
Merchants' houses in ochre, lemon and pale blue enclose a square that served as market, parade ground and, under Batista, a car park. Restoration returned the arcades and the stained-glass mediopuntos, and a microbrewery now holds one corner. The camera obscura tower on Mercaderes gives a rooftop view over the quarter. Forty minutes covers the square unless a table on the arcades keeps the visit longer.
