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Museo de Simón Bolívar
A diminutive museum dedicated to Latin America's great liberator, who remains a perennial hero to most Cubans. Downstairs there are panels containing text in English, French and Spanish that describe Bolívar's life and his many accomplishments. Upstairs there's a reproduction of his sword, a coin minted in his honor and paintings of him by contemporary artists. There is also a bronze statue of Simón Bolívar in a small park across the road.
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Museo De Tabaco
Inside this museum, you'll find a standard cigar salesroom plus displays of assorted cigar paraphernalia. Among the many Casa del Habano cigar stores in the city, this is one of the best.
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Museo Del Aire
The substantial Museo del Aire has 22 planes and helicopters on display, most of them ex-military aircraft. Don't miss Che Guevara's personal Cessna 310, or the space suit used by Cuba's first cosmonaut.
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Museo del Automóvil
This small and vaguely surreal museum is stuffed full of ancient Thunderbirds, Pontiacs and Ford Model Ts. They've even got the green Chevrolet Bel Air that Che Guevara once drove (very badly apparently) after he was installed as a member of the revolutionary government in 1959. Other notable vehicles include a 1930 La Salle Model 340, a 1926 Willy's Overland Whippet 96, and the 1918 Ford Model T truck that belonged to Castro's father.
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Museo del Ron
Even for teetotalers, this intriguing museum is worth a turn. The interesting bilingual guided tour shows rum-making antiquities (check out the funky terracotta flask), and explains the entire brewing process, from cane cutting to quaffing amber Añejo Reserva in the museum's tasting room. The scale model of the Central La Esperanza sugar mill factory, with working train, is very cool. The dancing lessons here are some of the best in Habana.
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Museo El Templete
This tiny neoclassical Doric chapel was erected in 1828 at the point where Habana's first Mass was held beneath a ceiba tree in November 1519. A similar ceiba tree has now replaced the original. Inside the chapel are three large paintings of the event by the French painter Jean Baptiste Vermay.
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Museo Hemingway
Recently reopened after a lengthy renovation, this unique museum is the most interesting stop on the Cuban Papa Hemingway trail. Hemingway bought the Finca Vigía in 1940 and lived here permanently until 1960. The house sits on a lush hilltop with gorgeous views over Habana. Visitors aren't allowed in the house (which has been left as it was the day Hemingway departed), but open doors and windows allow an interesting glimpse into Papa's world.
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Museo Municipal de Guanabacoa
Two blocks west of Parque Martí, Guanabacoa's small museum is the neighborhood's most interesting draw card. Founded in 1964, it tracks the development of the neighborhood through the 18th and 19th centuries, and is famous for its rooms on Afro-Cuban culture, slavery and Santería, with a particular focus on the orisha (deity) Elegguá.
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Museo Municipal de Regla
If you've come across to see Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Regla, you'd do well to check out this quirky museum spread over two sites, one on the corner of Santuario and Calle Martí (adjacent to the church), and the other (better) half a couple of blocks straight up the main street from the ferry. It records the history of Regla and its Afro-Cuban religions. Price of admission includes both museum outposts and the Colina Lenin exhibition .
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Museo Nacional de Historia Natural
This average museum in Plaza de Armas contains examples of Cuba's flora and fauna. Next door is the Biblioteca Pública Provincial Rubén M Villena, a public library.
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Museo Nacional de la Música
The collection of Cuban musical instruments exhibited in this glittering 1905 Italian-Renaissance-style residence includes vintage pianos, bongo drums, guitars, maracas, claves, and even a xylophone from Laos. There's a small shop that sells recordings of Cuban music, and concerts - including some great rumba - take place in the music room a couple of nights a week.
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Museo Napoleónico
There's no record of Napoleon ever visiting Cuba, although some of his more dogmatic traits may have rubbed off on the island's current leader. Perhaps that's what makes this four-story Italian-style mansion (1928) containing 7000 objects associated with the life and death of Napoleon Bonaparte so compelling.
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Museo-Casa Natal de José Martí
The apostle of Cuban independence was born in this humble, two-story dwelling on the edge of Habana Vieja on January 28, 1853. Today it's a small museum that displays letters, manuscripts, photos, books and other mementos of his life. While not as comprehensive as the Memorial a José Martí in Plaza de la Revolución, it's a charming little house and well worth the walk.
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Necrópolis Cristóbal Colón
Cuba's largest cemetery is famous the world over for its stunning sculptures and decorative mausoleums. Covering 56 hectares (138 acres), the graveyard is the final resting place for over a million souls, though people are being disinterred daily due to lack of space. Laid out like a mini city in the 1860s and 70s, the cemetery's graves read like a who's who of Cuban history, and a visit here justifies a walking tour in its own right .
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Old City Wall
At the southern end of Av de Bélgica, close to the railway station, lies the longest remaining stretch of the old city wall. The wall, which was designed to deter attacks from pirates and buccaneers, was begun in 1674 and took over 60 years to build. On its completion, it measured 1.5m thick, 10m high and 5km long. A bronze map at the remnants of the wall shows the outline of the original layout.
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Pabellón Para la Maqueta de la Capital
If you thought the Maqueta de la Habana Vieja was impressive, check out this ultramodern pavilion containing a huge 1:1000 scale model of the whole city, originally created for urban-planning purposes but now a tourist attraction in its own right. Measuring 22m long and 8m wide, it's one of the largest scale models in the world. You can rent binoculars to check out all the color-coded buildings, parks and monuments.
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Pabexpo
Opened in 1987, Pabexpo is a 20,000-sq-m exhibition space housed in four interconnecting pavilions that are filled with about 15 business or scientific shows a year. Events include tourism fairs, cigar festivals and music awards. The excellent restaurant El Palenque is situated nearby.
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Palacio Cueto
Habana's finest Art Nouveau building was constructed in 1906, based on the designs of architect Arturo Márquez and exhibits distinct Gaudí-esque features. Its outrageously ornate facade housed a warehouse and a hat factory before it was rented by a Señor José Cueto as the Palacio Vienna hotel a decade or so later. The property has been empty and unused since the early '90s, but Habaguanex has pledged to restore the property as a period hotel.
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Palacio de Gobierno y Vagón Mambí
This eclectic palace was the former seat of the Cuban government from 1902 until 1929 (when the Capitolio was completed). Furnished with decorative baroque details and an Italian marble floor, the museum contains a parliament room, the former president's office and the original Cuban flag used by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes.
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Palacio de las Convenciones
The Habana Convention Center is one of Cuba's most dramatic modern buildings. Built for the Nonaligned Conference in 1979, the four interconnecting halls contain an auditorium with 2101 seats, and there are also 11 smaller halls. The 589-member National Assembly meets here twice a year.
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Palacio de los Capitanes Generales
This former palace is one of Cuba's most majestic baroque buildings. Dating from the late 1770s, it has served many purposes over the years. From 1791 until 1898, it was the residence of the Spanish captains general. From 1899 until 1902, the US military governors were based here, and during the first two decades of the 20th century the building briefly became the presidential palace. Since 1968 it has been home to the Museo de la Ciudad.
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Palacio de los Condes de Santovenia
Habaguanex' five-star Hotel Santa Isabel is an historic building in its own right and a former stately palace of the counts of Santovenia. It dates from the 1780s and was converted into a luxurious hotel in 1867, making it one of Habana's oldest hotels. Habaguanex gave the place a much needed makeover in the 1990s, which was good enough for ex-US president Jimmy Carter, who stayed here during his groundbreaking 2002 visit.
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Palacio de los Marqueses de Aguas Claras
This majestic building, completed in 1760, was a one-time baroque palace widely lauded for the beauty of its shady Andalucian patio. Today it houses the Restaurante El Patio, a choice spot for an alfresco drink or meal in front of the ethereal cathedral. You'll be serenaded 24 hours a day by live music - three bands alternate eight-hour shifts.
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Palacio del Marqués de Arcos
Completed in 1746, this luxurious former residential mansion is a perfect example of a typical Spanish-American colonial house, with a spacious main room with a wide staircase that hugs two walls as it winds up to the 2nd floor. Five arcades of Doric columns adorn the ground floor and lovely porticoes above the arcades overlook the square. The main entrance to the building is on Calle Mercaderes.
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Palacio del Segundo Cabo
Constructed in 1772, this is the former headquarters of the Spanish vice-governor. It has also acted as a post office, the palace of the Senate, the nation's Supreme Court, the National Academy of Arts & Letters, and the seat of the Cuban Geographical Society. Today most of the building is used by the Instituto Cubano del Libro and houses a well-stocked bookstore. Architectural buffs should check out the lovely inner courtyard.
