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So I’m guessing you’re here because you’re travelling to Cuba either as an American citizen or you’re from elsewhere but you’re departing from America for your trip to Cuba and you’re doing some research into what travel category you’ll need to pick. (you can read all about preparing for your trip as an American or departing from America in my post here). I knew I would be travelling under the Support for the Cuban People category straight away because that’s the only category you can really choose if you’re travelling to Cuba independently. But i quickly learned there are requirements for travelling in that category:
Stay in a Casa Particular
Only eat, drink and shop at independent and privately owned businesses
Interact with locals, artisans, musicians, your casa hosts
Contribute to and learn about the culture and society of local Cubans
Do all of the above for a minimum of 6 hours a day
Don’t visit the list of restricted entities published by the US government
Have a written itinerary to prove you have done all of the above
Keep all your receipts for 5 years
I was clear about the type of activities we should be doing on our trip and while there’s plenty of recommendations for what to do online, I just wasn’t sure how to build that into an actual itinerary, while still including the time for my photography and time to just explore and get lost in the city which I enjoy doing! There just wasn’t really any example itineraries out there to help me.
So I’m sharing my 3-day Havana itinerary below in the hope that it will help you built an itinerary for your trip too. This covers the required 6 hours a day (and then some!) plus how I included my own activities - photography, filming, wandering around, which you can replace with your own free time activities. The itinerary hours are shown in brackets:
Day 1
9am - arrival at Havana airport.
Picked up by local driver pre-arranged with our Casa Particular hosts (1 hour)
10am - arrived at Casa Particular.
Met with our hosts and chatted about plans for our visit. Settled into the accommodation.
11am - Classic convertible car tour
Arranged by our casa hosts with local company - includes driver and tour of Old Havana, Central Havana and New Havana. (2 hours)
1pm - Walk along the Malecon
We asked our drive to drop us off at the sea wall. We walked along here where locals hang out. Looked at crafts and spoke with local people. (1 hour)
2pm - Walked through the Central and Old Town Havana
Explored independently, took photos, did the usual things we would do when exploring a city on foot.
3pm - Visited the Museum de la Revolućion
Learnt about the Cuban revolution, the lead up, the events and it’s impact on the recent national history of Cuba. (1 hour)
5pm - Dinner at Mas Habana Restaurant Bar
Mas Habana
One of the most modern places we visited. A privately owned local business with great food, loads of vegetarian options too. Absolutely recommend this place. (1.5hr)
8pm - Jazz Club La Zorra y El Cuervo
Experience local musicians and excellent cultural nightlife here. ( 2 hours)
TOTAL Day 1 - 8.5 hours of relevant activities for Support for the Cuban People Category
Day 2
8am - early morning photography
view from our Casa
I always like to get up early and shoot and I was worried it wouldn’t be possible with an itinerary, but that wasn’t the case at all!
9am - breakfast at Casa Particular with hosts
Breakfast at your casa will be the best breakfasts in Havana. Everything is freshly made and prepared with brilliant coffee and the juiciest fruit ever! (1 hour)
10am - Old Town architecture tour with local guide
We got this contact through using ViaHero. It was a private tour (group tours are also available on request). Our local guide, Dayneris, was so knowledgeable and answered all our questions while we were with her. She spoke amazing English and was a arts student, so she was very knowledgeable and open about the current state of Cuba and could tell us so much about the culture and history from a young, fresh perspective. We were amazed that she was with us for 3 hours and covered all the main signs of the Old Town and more! (3 hours)
1pm - Lunch at Restaurant Oasis Nelva Cafe
Oasis Cafe
Creperie with local options for savoury and sweet. (1 hour)
2pm - Havana Rum Distillery Tour
The Famous Cuban export and a tour with tasting was only a couple of dollars. (1 hour)
3pm - Visited famous spots on my list
Being a literature nerd I wanted to visit the famous spots frequented by Ernest Hemingway, so we did this on our own time for the afternoon - El Floridita, La Bodeguita del Medio etc
6pm - Dinner at El Cocinero
You need reservations and it’s a bit pricey but the view from their terrace and the balcony is amazing. (1 hour)
7pm - Fabrica de Art Cubano
This is a bit out of the old town but it’s an arts centre with music, art, food, drinks, live music and performances all by locals and it’s a real experience. (2 hours)
TOTAL Day 2 - 9 hours of relevant activities for Support for the Cuban People Category
Day 3
8am - early photography morning again
9am - breakfast with hosts
Same brilliant breakfast again and chatted with hosts. Checked out. (1 hour)
10am - shopped at San Jose Craft Art Market/Fair
This is a huge market in a warehouse hall by the sea front - the biggest market in town. It’s full of local artisans selling their paintings, pottery, wood work, art work, pottery, cigars, souvenirs etc. The art work here is amazing and it’s huge so we wandered around for a couple of hours before purchasing a painting each and some souvenirs to take home. (2 hours)
12pm - early lunch
Went back to Old Town for a street food lunch and drink. (1 hour)
1pm - Osbipo Street
This is the most touristic street but it’s central and we wanted to watch street performers and soak up the atmosphere before we left. Also bought more gifts at Osbipo Street Market. (1 hour)
2pm - Taxi to airport
Locally arranged by our Casa again. (1 hour)
TOTAL Day 3 - 6 hours of relevant activities for Support for the Cuban People Category
Please let me know if this post was helpful to you! I did a lot of research to put our itinerary together so I hope this us useful! If you’re looking for more guidance on travelling to Cuba either from America or as an American, you can read my post about travel categories, visas, restricted entities and more here.
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Flights: I use Expedia to find great flights and the best deals all over the world, they have regular sales and offers so I always check their website. I also check CheapOair to find cheap deals on round trip flights.
Car Rental: I love the customer service I've always gotten and the variety of options with Rental Cars. But for short notice rentals, I've been using Expedia for the last year, they always seem to have great one-day rates or last-minute rates from the main rental companies.
Accommodation: I prefer the flexibility of booking accommodation with Booking.com so I can cancel or change my reservation without a fee or only pay on arrival for most properties. For longer or more unique stays I prefer AirBnB because you can get the long stay discount, you can also find more unique properties and book experiences with talented locals and businesses. For my budget trips, I always stay in hostels and book through Hostelworld because they have great guarantees if anything does go wrong. If you arrive and your booking is not at the property, they refund the full deposit AND give you $50 extra credit.
Tours and organised trips Although I don’t use tours that often, I do like to book local experiences or day trips once I reach my destination. For that I use GetYourGuide because it has the biggest selection and variety of tour and experience options.
Travel Insurance: I currently use SafetyWing Nomad Insurance. Which allows me to pay a rolling monthly fee to cover my long term travels.
My camera gear and equipment: I use a Canon 77D with an 18-135mm lens or a 50mm lens. And a DJI Mavic Mini Drone. For all my gear including laptops, tripods and more camera accessories read my travel photography gear guide.