Little Havana

Havana - the Museum of the Revolution, the market in the week and the atmosphere. All the old 50s cars and the back street music cafes.

Trinidad - Plaza de la Musica - excellent outdoor music venue with dance floor and fabulous musicians.

Quick Tips:

Be firm with people hassling you, and they will usually give up after one time of saying 'No'.

Best Way To Get Around:

On a tour or hire a car. Trains are scarce, and it can take up to 3 months to get a ticket. Planes are not recommended, as they are not very safe.

This apartment-style Casa Particular (private house) is well described in Rough Guide. The atrium reaches all the way up through the internal core of the building, and is furnished with amazing moldings in beautiful condition, making the use of the stairs to see every floor an attraction. The lifts are not quite so wondrous, but they work. The accommodation itself is a cut above the average that we had experienced in three weeks, but its middle-class splendor was combined with a certain amount of middle-class disinterest. Also, they do not provide food, which was a sad disappointment, our having become accustomed to the bounteous and worth-every-CUC grub that we'd had in most of our Casas Particulares. There are plenty of eateries around this part of town though, and good on-street vegetables, fruit, and food stalls. The view from the balcony is superb. The parrot's well feathered, but a bit on the gloomy side, but wouldn't you be? We'd probably like to find somewhere a bit more homely if we went to this part again.

In pleasant, quiet little Gibara accommodation is scarce, though the ones listed in Rough Guide are well worth looking at. This one is new - the friendly couple have been gently upgrading their small house over the last couple of years, and it's getting there. It's right on the very edge of town, in the sense that the sea is just across the road. Only about 5 minutes from the central areas of the townlet. Spectacular views from the balcony area on the roof. Food is gorgeous and plentiful and excellent value for money—served in a delightful small sitting area. Room is a little dark and shower dribbles like most in Cuba. If they phone ahead to another accommodation for you, they probably won't expect an exorbitant "commission" to be added on at the next place, since they appear to have principles rather than mere economic purposefulness.

After you have had the food at this restaurant, whenever you hear the name you will drool, I'm not even joking, the food at the restaurant is the best anywhere.

There are many different beaches in Cuba, most are not overcrowded, some of them are, but it's easy to find a good place to swim, so look out for one with a statue around it. It will usually not be crowded.