La Reserva

Get the low-down on the Mafia, Hollywood stars and Cold War tactics during a history tour of the famous Hotel Nacional.

Watch the ancient artisanal craft of rolling Cuba’s world-famous cigars at one of the very few working factories in Havana that opens to the public.

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

Havana’s magical, neo-baroque Grand Theatre stages ballet and modern dance, including performances by Carlos Acosta’s troupe.

Havana’s Museo de Artes Decorativas is housed in a palatial mansion, built in the 1920s in Regency style, overflowing with 33,000 antiques from Tiffany glassware to Italian marble. The treasures belonged to Countess Maria Luisa Gomez Mena, sister to famous sugar king, Jose Gomez-Mena Vila, who lived here after it was built.

Dating from the 19th century, Havana’s remarkable cemetery is an architectural gem, home to marble mausoleums, winged angels, sparkling mosaics, wrought-iron motifs, Art Deco sculptures, vast government monuments and 1959 Revolution memorials.

The vast Plaza de la Revolucion is the site of May Day rallies, Papal masses, and propaganda gatherings. It’s famous for the tall memorial to José Martí, hero of Cuban independence, and the huge black iron silhouetted portraits of Che Guevara, and 1959 Revolution leader Camilo Cienfuegos pinned to government offices.

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.

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