So you have one whole day in the capital of Cuba? Well here is my recommended way to spend 24 hours in Havana.

A morning in Havana

Take a tour of the city in a vintage car. You can’t visit Havana and not take a ride in one of these beauties. Although they are available to hire all over the city, we chose to pre-book our tour before we left the UK. We booked with Old Car Tours as they had good Tripadvisor reviews. Plus you could choose which car you wanted to ride in. I chose a pink one (obviously!) – a 1952 Chevrolet to be exact. You will get taken to all the main historic sites such as El Capitolio and Revolution Square in style!

Iconic Che Guevara at Revolution Square in Havana, Cuba
Iconic Che Guevara at Revolution Square

Rather than returning us to our hotel in Vedado district, we asked our driver to drop us off at Habana Vieja (Old Havana) at the end of our two hours.

Posing in a 1952 pink Chevrolet at Revolution Square in Havana, Cuba
I’m a Barbie Girl in a Barbie World

Late Morning/Early Afternoon

Stop for refreshments at a shady terrace of one of the cafes at Plaza de Armas (or indeed any of the Plazas). Then spend some time meandering the four main squares of Habana Vieja. Afterwards, head up Calle Obispo for shopping and you may want to stop for a daiquiri in the air conditioned comfort of Ernest Hemingway’s favourite haunt – El Floridita. Although it was too crazy busy in there for my liking so I didn’t bother, can’t say I’m familiar with Hemingway’s work anyway (sorry!).

Calle Obispo - a pedestrianised shopping street in Havana
Calle Obispo

At the El Floridita end of Calle Obispo, cross the street to see all the vintage cars parked opposite the iconic El Capitolio and the beautiful architecture of Gran Teatro de la Habana.

From the Gran Teatro de la Habana, you can take a stroll along Paseo de Marti – reminiscent of Las Ramblas in Barcelona – leading on to the Malecon.

El Floridita - apparently the best place for a daiquiri in Havana
El Floridita

During our time in Havana we stopped for drinks and sandwiches at several different cafes in the squares, Calle Obispo and Paseo de Marti. There are plenty of options to choose from depending on how hungry/thirsty you are feeling. Just remember to take a map with you!

Late Afternoon

You will most probably be craving a refreshing dip in your hotel pool after all that sightseeing! We stayed in the Vedado district so walked along the Malecon to get to our hotel, although there are plenty of taxis touting for business to take you where you want to go – just remember to agree a total price beforehand.

Alternatively you may wish to go and get some ice cream – Cubans love ice cream! The most popular place being Coppelia, although I didn’t try it for myself as the queue was incredibly long and it was over 30 degrees heat!

The queue outside Coppelia - a very popular ice cream parlour in Havana, Cuba
The queue outside Coppelia

An evening in Havana

After rejuvenating yourself from the heat of the day, get dressed up for dinner. We enjoyed a meal at Cafe Laurent, one of Havana’s most famous Paladars (a privately run restaurant). It is situated in Vedado and has a pleasant outdoor rooftop terrace where we could watch all the vintage cars drive by below. The restaurant is fairly popular so I would recommend making reservations in advance. We had a couple of fish dishes which were beautifully presented. My husband was a fan of the house red wine but I wouldn’t recommend the Tropical Daiquiri (unless you like papaya, that is!).

Enjoy a meal at Cafe Laurent, Vedado, Havana
A meal at Cafe Laurent

After your meal, take a walk down Avenida 23 and stop by Sofia for some drinks and live music. You can eat here too but I’ll be honest, the music and atmosphere was alot more enjoyable than the food in my opinion (although honestly, I didn’t enjoy much of the Cuban food in general).

After drinks and perhaps some spontaneous salsa dancing at Sofia, make your way to La Zorra y el Cuervo – Havana’s premier Jazz club. You enter the club through the quirky London-style phone box. The club opens at 10pm, we arrived a few minutes before and got a table no problem, but if there is a popular act on any particular night, people have been known to start queuing as early as 9pm. For a price of 10 CUC per person you gain entry as well as two drinks – pretty good! The club closes at 2am but we only stuck around until 12.30am.

La Zorra y El Cuervo during the daylight - Havana's premier Jazz Club opens at 10pm
La Zorra y El Cuervo during the daylight

Of course there’s more on offer in Havana. But if it’s cars and culture, mojitos and music you’re after, then this is a good place to start!

Mojitos and jazz are a winning combo at Havana's La Zorra y el Cuervo
Mojitos and jazz at La Zorra y el Cuervo

Have you ever been to Havana? What would you recommend doing or seeing? Let me know in the comments below!

24 hours in Havana - what's a great way to spend a day in Cuba's vibrant capital?

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4 Comments

  1. Very cool pics. Thanks for sharing.

    1. quirkylittleplanet

      Thanks for reading! 🙂

  2. Sounds wonderful. I love the pink vintage car, that would be an awesome way to see Havana. I’d love to go. Shame the food wasn’t that exciting, I expected it to be. I bet the dancing made up for it though!

    Sally @ Life Loving
    #LifeLovingLinkie

    1. quirkylittleplanet

      The cocktails made up for the food! 🙂 And yes the car was a definite highlight.

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