Iglesia y Monasterio de San Francisco de Asís
Habana Vieja
Originally constructed in 1608 and rebuilt in baroque style from 1719 to 1738, this church-convent ceased to have a religious function in the 1840s after…
Must-see attractions in Havana
Castillo de San Salvador de la Punta
Habana Vieja
One in a quartet of forts defending Havana harbor, La Punta was designed by Italian military engineer Bautista Antonelli and built between 1589 and 1600…
Havana
Diminutive Parque Central is a verdant haven from the belching buses and roaring taxis that ply the Paseo de Martí. Long a microcosm of daily Havana life,…
Havana
Leafy Parque de la Fraternidad was established in 1892 to commemorate the fourth centenary of the Spanish landing in the Americas. A few decades later it…
Habana Vieja
The brainchild of Gilberto Valladares, aka 'Papito,' this novel hairdressing salon is also a school and a small museum to the barber's art. Even better,…
Havana
Spare a glance for this white Carrara-marble fountain, carved by Giuseppe Gaggini in 1837 for the Count of Villanueva and now situated on a traffic island…
Habana Vieja
This large, box-shaped building on Plaza de San Francisco de Asís is a former commodities market erected in 1909. The building was completely renovated in…
Iglesia del Santo Ángel Custodio
Habana Vieja
Originally constructed in 1695, this church was pounded by a ferocious hurricane in 1846, after which it was entirely rebuilt in neo-Gothic style. Among…
Real Fábrica de Tabacos Partagás
Havana
One of Havana's oldest and most famous cigar businesses, the Real Fábrica de Tabacos Partagás was founded in 1845 by Spaniard Jaime Partagás. In 2013 the…
Habana Vieja
Making up a trio of sculptures in Plaza San Francisco de Asís, La Conversación was added in 2012, donated by the French ambassador as a gesture of Franco…
Catedral Ortodoxa Nuestra Señora de Kazán
Habana Vieja
One of Havana's newer buildings, this beautiful gold-domed Russian Orthodox church was built in the early 2000s and consecrated at a ceremony attended by…
Parroquial del Santo Cristo del Buen Viaje
Habana Vieja
This church dates from 1732, although there has been a Franciscan hermitage on the site since 1640. This was where sailors once came to pray before…
Iglesia de San Francisco de Paula
Habana Vieja
One of Havana's most attractive churches, this building is all that remains of the San Francisco de Paula women's hospital from the mid-1700s. Lit up at…
Havana
One of the world’s more surreal Chinatowns, Havana’s Barrio Chino is notable for its lack of Chinese residents – most Chinese people left Havana as soon…
Habana Vieja
In Parque de los Enamorados (Lovers' Park), surrounded by speeding traffic, lies a section of the colonial Cárcel (aka Tacón Prison), built in 1838. Many…
Havana
Running along the banks of the Río Almendares, below the bridge on Calle 23, is this welcome oasis of greenery and fresh air in the heart of the chaotic…
Iglesia y Convento de Nuestra Señora de Belén
Habana Vieja
This huge building dating from the early 18th century first functioned as a free school and convalescent home run by the Belemitas order. It was taken…
Vedado
Arguably the world's most famous US embassy, this modernist seven-story building on the Malecón with its high security fencing first opened in 1953, but…
Outer Havana
Havana's curiously under-visited 600-hectare botanical garden suffers from an out-of-town location and poor transport links (get a taxi). It opened in…
Jardín Madre Teresa de Calcuta
Habana Vieja
Passers-by usually miss this tree-filled oasis at Plaza de San Francisco de Asís’ southeastern corner, where the remains of some of Cuba’s best-known…
Habana Vieja
The block behind Plaza de Armas was the original home of Havana's university, from 1728 to 1902. The university was once part of a convent. The office…
Vedado
This classic modernist hotel – the former Havana Hilton – was commandeered by Fidel Castro's revolutionaries in 1959 just nine months after it had opened,…
Vedado
Unmissable on the Havana skyline, the modernist Edificio Focsa was built between 1954 and 1956 in a record 28 months using pioneering computer technology…
Havana
This fabulously eclectic 1928 mansion in Flores once housed the Havana Biltmore Yacht & Country Club. These days the establishment has swung full circle…
Vedado
If you prefer John Lennon to Vladimir Lenin (both 20th-century personalities have a park named after them in Havana), decamp to this small square of green…
Habana Vieja
Anchoring a new art project in the San Isidro quarter of Habana Vieja, this bold contemporary gallery is the brainchild of Cuban actor and artist Jorge…
Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Rosario
Outer Havana
Havana is a city of many secrets, but few are as serendipitous as the church also known as the Catedral de los Campos de Cuba (cathedral of the Cuban…
Habana Vieja
One of the more muscular sights around Calle Mercaderes is this typical Havana aristocratic residence, constructed around 1648 and rebuilt in 1780…
Havana
The former Museum of the Ministry of the Interior was remodeled in 2017 to form this far more interesting (if propaganda-ridden) look at US actions…
Fundación Naturaleza y El Hombre
Havana
This tiny museum seems to confirm the adage 'small is beautiful.' It displays artifacts from a 17,422km canoe trip from the Amazon source to the sea that…
Regla, Guanabacoa & the Forts
This impossible-to-miss statue on a rise on the harbor's eastern side was created by Jilma Madera in 1958. It was promised to President Batista by his…
Outer Havana
You can make your own journey to the site of Cuba's biggest annual pilgrimage, tucked away in the village-like Havana suburb of Rincón. The saint inside…
Regla, Guanabacoa & the Forts
Guanabacoa's main museum, like Regla's, is an important shrine to Santería, though you'll need to see past the run-down facilities and impassive 'guides'…
Vedado
Statues of illustrious Latin American leaders line the Parisian-style Calle G (officially known as Av de los Presidentes), including Salvador Allende …
Havana
The former Cuartel Colombia military airfield at Marianao is now a school complex called Ciudad Libertad. Pass through the gate to visit this inspiring…
Regla, Guanabacoa & the Forts
If you've come to see Regla's church you should also check out this important museum. Don't be put off by its superficial dinginess – there are some…
Palacio de Los Condes de Santovenia
Habana Vieja
Lining Plaza de Armas, Los Condes de Santovenia is the former stately palace of the counts of Santovenia and today houses the five-star Hotel Santa Isabel…
Havana
Havana’s premier marina was constructed in 1953 in the small coastal community of Santa Fé. After the revolution it was nationalized and named after Fidel…
Regla, Guanabacoa & the Forts
This church, in Parque Martí in the center of Guanabacoa, is also known as the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción. It was designed by Lorenzo…
Havana
Havana's oldest hotel opened its doors in 1856 on the site of a popular bar called El Louvre (the hotel's alfresco bar still bears that name). Facing…
