Sheltered in the Lonja de Comercio building with seating outside in Plaza de San Francisco de Asís, El Mercurio flirts with elegance (waitstaff in waistcoats and ties) and is the first thing most cruise passengers see when they stumble onto dry land. It serves cheap lunches (Cuban sandwiches) and more substantial dinners (lobster and steak tartare). The former are the safer bet.
El Mercurio
Habana Vieja
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
3.37 MILES
Havana's main cemetery (a national monument), one of the largest in the Americas, is renowned for its striking religious iconography and elaborate marble…
0.9 MILES
The Malecón, Havana's evocative 7km-long sea drive, is one of the city's most soulful and quintessentially Cuban thoroughfares, and long a favored meeting…
0.74 MILES
The incomparable Capitolio Nacional is Havana's most ambitious and grandiose building, constructed after the post-WWI boom ('Dance of the Millions')…
0.28 MILES
Habana Vieja's most uniform square is a museum to Cuban baroque, with all the surrounding buildings, including the city's beguiling asymmetrical cathedral…
Castillo de los Tres Santos Reyes Magnos del Morro
1 MILES
This wave-lashed fort with its emblematic lighthouse was erected between 1589 and 1630 to protect the entrance to Havana harbor from pirates and foreign…
9.18 MILES
Where does art go after Antoni Gaudí? For a hint, head west from central Havana to the seemingly low-key district of Jaimanitas, where artist José Fuster…
0.17 MILES
Laid out in 1559, Plaza Vieja is Havana's most architecturally eclectic square, where Cuban baroque nestles seamlessly next to Gaudí-inspired art nouveau…
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes
0.58 MILES
Spread over two campuses, the Bellas Artes is arguably the finest art gallery in the Caribbean. The Arte Cubano building contains the most comprehensive…
Nearby Habana Vieja attractions
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…
0.02 MILES
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…
3. Plaza de San Francisco de Asís
0.03 MILES
Facing Havana harbor, the breezy Plaza de San Francisco de Asís first grew up in the 16th century when Spanish galleons stopped quayside on their passage…
0.04 MILES
The cobbled Plaza de San Francisco de Asís' oldest and most impressive statue is the white-marble Fuente de los Leones, carved by Italian sculptor…
0.06 MILES
A statue outside Plaza San Francisco de Asís' famous church depicts El Caballero de París, a hirsute street person who roamed Havana during the 1950s,…
0.06 MILES
An important art gallery that is named after a celebrated Venezuelan painter who maintained a studio here until her death in 2004. Spread across three…
7. Jardín Madre Teresa de Calcuta
0.07 MILES
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…
0.08 MILES
Casa Oswaldo Guayasamín is an old studio and now a museum for the work of the great Ecuadorian artist, who painted Fidel Castro in numerous poses. The…