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Bucket list experience:

Last updated: 10 November, 2022
Expert travel writer: Claire Boobbyer

Winston Churchill puffed on Romeo y Julieta, Che Guevara on Montecristo, and Fidel Castro’s favourite smoke was a Cohiba.

Cuban cigars are famous around the world. There’s a reason: it’s the combination of a perfect blend of tobacco plant terroir in southwestern Cuba, the climate, and the 200 artisanal processes that crafts a cigar from its tiny beginnings as a pinhead-sized tobacco seed to luxury smoke.

There are around 40 cigar factories in Cuba, with Partagas – one of the biggest – offering tours on weekday mornings.  This is a unique chance to see the cigar-making process in one of the very few Havana factories open to the public.

Price from: £8
Minimum age: Any
Age suitable: 13+
When: All year around
Duration: 1+ hours

Getting there & doing it

Tickets can only be bought at tourism bureaux desks inside government-owned hotels. No tickets are sold at the door.  Tour length varies but are usually 45mins to an hour.  Pick up and drop-offs to hotels is usually included in the price.

Bags must be placed in lockers and no photography is allowed. An officially sanctioned store selling cigars is just around the corner.

When to do it

Tours run in the mornings, from Monday to Friday; they are popular so it’s a good idea to book in advance (either online or through your concierge) rather than just turning up. The tours are always busy, but if you go on the last one of the morning there may be slightly fewer crowds.

Recommended itineraries by our writers that include this experience

Our writer’s picks of the best places to stay near this experience, closest first

Malecon 663

Havana, Cuba[1.4 miles]

Design-led, family-run boutique stay right on Havana’s Malecon in Central Havana. A lively vibe and a fabulous rooftop terrace and bar.

Official star rating:

Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski La Habana

Havana, Cuba[1.5 miles]

Havana’s best 5-star hotel, located on the edge of Old Havana, with a wonderful rooftop pool and the best breakfast in town.

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Hotel Nacional

Havana, Cuba[2 miles]

A historic and iconic Art Deco, oceanfront property facing the Atlantic on Havana’s seaside road. A Havana institution, rich in history.

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Casa Vitrales

Havana, Cuba[2.1 miles]

A Cuban-owned boutique B&B in trendy northern Old Havana, with a roof terrace offering fantastic views across the city.

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Destination guides including or relevant to this experience

Havana

Cuba

Sensual and sultry communist Caribbean capital, home to captivating, crumbling architecture, and enlivened by dance, music, avant-garde art and cocktails.

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Our writer’s recommendations of other bucket list experiences our writer says you must do in this destination, closest first

The Malecon

Havana, Cuba[1.5 miles]

Join the locals on this famous sea wall for rum and sunsets over Havana’s skyline.

Best for ages: 8+ | Free

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Castle of Los Tres Reyes del Morro

Havana, Cuba[2.7 miles]

An impressive fort, which took 50 years to construct, that has become the iconic symbol of Havana. Climb the 19th-century lighthouse for a view of the entire city and Malecón.

Best for ages: 18+ | Free

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Other worthwhile experiences near this experience if you have time or interest..

National Capitol Building
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National Capitol Building

Havana, Cuba[1.3 miles]

This imposing wedding-cake mansion is the seat of the Cuban government. Stop by to see the marble 400ft Hall of the Lost Steps, the gigantic Statue of the Republic, the bronze bas-relief front doors, and the statue of the devil in a patio devoid of shade.

Best for ages: 18+ | Free

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Napoleonic Museum
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Napoleonic Museum

Havana, Cuba[1.3 miles]

The largest collection of Napoleonic memorabilia outside of Europe (some 5,000 items) is housed in this glorious Florentine mansion. Go for the paintings, statues, prized bronze death mask, the French emperor’s bicorne hat, his pistols, and the original oil Napoleon Planning his Coronation by Jean-Georges Vibert.

Best for ages: 18+ | £2

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Havana Museum of the Fine Arts
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Havana Museum of the Fine Arts

Havana, Cuba[1.6 miles]

Cuba’s most impressive museum, housed in two separate buildings almost next to each other, showcases the best of Cuban art (in one building) from the 1600s to the modern day, and international artists over 5 art-filled floors of a second building.

Best for ages: 13+ | £6

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People in front of El Floridita, historic fish restaurant and famous cocktail bar in Old Havana / Habana Vieja, Cuba, that was regularly visited by Ernest Hemingway
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El Floridita

Havana, Cuba[1.6 miles]

Legendary American writer Ernest Hemingway downed a record 16 daiquiris in one sitting at this, his favourite Havana bar. The bartender mixed him a sugarless and double rum tipple and named it the Papa Doble. Come early to bag a barstool at the glamorous scarlet bar.

Best for ages: 18+ | Free

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