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Havana
About Havana
Havana, founded in 1519 by the Spanish, is one of the oldest, grandest cities in the Americas, a hotbed of culture, music, dance and Palm trees, white colonial buildings and cool squares for leisurely strolling.
Local highlights
- La Habana Vieja, or Old Havana-a World Heritage Site with five centuries architectural heritage
- Museo de la Ciudad in a 18th-century baroque palace on Plaza de Armas.
- Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes with the Cuban art building and the international collection building
- Museo de la Revolución
- Plaza de la Revolución
- Plaza Vieja
- The huge statue of Máximo Gómez.
- Leafy Vedado with its restaurants and nightclubs
- Partagás cigar factory
Highlights in the vicinity
- Playas del Este the palm-fringed white sandy beaches, are a 30 minutes drive away from Havana
- The village of Viñales with its limestone rock formations (mogotes)
Good to know
- No. of inhabitants: 2.2 Million
- Timezone: UTC -5
- Weather: temperatures range from 16 to 33 °C
- Almost everything that the tourist pays for will be priced in US dollars. Flowers, fruit and vegetable markets and a few low-end restaurants are charged in pesos.
Local transport
- Old Havana’s narrow streets are best explored on foot.
- Taxis can best be used for larger distances as travelling on a bus can be quit an adventure. Bright yellow, cocotaxis but also bicycle taxis (bicitaxis).
Inbound transport
- José Martí International Airport is 18 km southwest of Havana.
- Railway station is the Estación Central de Ferrocarriles, with daily connections to all major towns in the country. The train is definitely the way to go.
- One of the most reliable ways of getting around Cuba is by bus, with the tourist-oriented bus company Víazul
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