Must-see attractions in Havana

  • Biblioteca Nacional José Martí

    Vedado

    Cuba’s national library is housed in a modernist tower block overlooking the Plaza de la Revolución. There's sometimes a photo exhibit in the lobby.

  • Museo Nacional de Historia Natural

    Habana Vieja

    An average museum that contains examples of Cuba's flora and fauna; it overlooks Plaza de Armas in a building that once served as the US embassy.

  • Parque Maestranza

    Habana Vieja

    Overlooking the harbor is this small-scale Cuban-style playground (for children aged four to 12), with inflatable castles and other games.

  • Museo de Bomberos

    Habana Vieja

    This museum contains antediluvian fire equipment dedicated to 19 Havana firefighters who lost their lives in an 1890 railway blaze.

  • Armería 9 de Abril

    Habana Vieja

    An old gun shop (now museum) stormed by revolutionaries on the said date in 1958. Mercifully, the armaments are no longer for sale.

  • Casa de Asia

    Habana Vieja

    Casa de Asia exhibits a minor cache of paintings and sculpture from China and Japan.

  • ExpoCuba

    Outer Havana

    A visit to Parque Lenin can be combined with a trip to ExpoCuba, at Calabazar in Arroyo Naranjo, 3km south of Las Ruinas restaurant, although rare is the…

  • Estadio Panamericano

    Habana del Este

    Built for the 1991 Pan American Games, this shabby stadium was fitted with a new athletics track in 2008, though it still looks neglected and unloved. It…

  • Mella Portraits

    Vedado

    Opposite the Monumento a Julio Antonio Mella outside the Universidad de la Habana are black-and-white Mella portraits permanently mounted on the wall in…

  • Batería de Velasco

    Regla, Guanabacoa & the Forts

    A military emplacement beneath the walls of the Castillo de los Tres Santos Reyes Magnos del Morro, containing Krupp cannons last fired during the 1898…

  • Pabexpo

    Havana

    Pabexpo comprises 7300 sq meters of exhibition space, spread over four interconnecting pavilions, that hosts about 15 trade shows a year. It's only of…

  • Batería de los Doce Apóstoles

    Regla, Guanabacoa & the Forts

    A battery of 12 cannons (the 12 'apostles') set beneath the colossal ramparts of the Castillo de los Tres Santos Reyes Magnos del Morro.

  • Batería de la Divina Pastora

    Regla, Guanabacoa & the Forts

    A military emplacement that once protected Havana harbor from its position at the foot of the Fortaleza de San Carlos de la Cabaña.

  • Torreón de San Lázaro

    Havana

    This tiny watchtower was built by the Spanish in the 18th century and quickly fell to British troops during the invasion of 1762. You can admire it from…

  • Museo Postal Cubano

    Vedado

    A small and very modest collection of old stamps and postal memorabilia is on show at Vedado's biggest post office, should you get bored while waiting in…

  • Observatorio Nacional

    Regla, Guanabacoa & the Forts

    Havana's distinctive national observatory sits on a hill above the Casablanca neighborhood on the eastern side of the harbor.