Havana: Itineraries

This tour starts in the heart of matters, at the Museo de la Revolución and Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. OK, so you probably won't visit both because then you would need a hammock fast. But cruise at least one before heading south a block and a half to the Edificio Bacardí (Av de las Misiones No 261 between Empedrado and San Juan de Dios), one of Havana's most striking buildings. Completed in 1930, this monument to art deco has been lovingly restored and you'll want plenty of film at the ready to capture the different granites, Capellanía limestone, mosaics and multicoloured bricks in all their glory.

Retrace your steps for a few metres and head left on Ánimas. Make the first right onto Agramonte and then the next left. This is Trocadero, site of the sumptuous old Hotel Sevilla. The former Sevilla-Biltmore (erected 1908), this is where Enrico Caruso stayed in 1920, where one of Graham Greene's characters slept (in room 510) and where the Mary Pickford cocktail was first concocted (rum, pineapple juice and grenadine). The Prado end of the lobby has a wall of interesting historic photos. A few steps more and you're on the Prado, that urban glade where tykes skate by and sinuous youths from the Escuela Nacional de Ballet nurse sore muscles.

The hustlers can be fierce along here, so you'll want to make your way south at some point to Parque Central to admire the José Martí statue (first among thousands!) and catch the latest baseball gossip at the hot esquina caliente . The views of the Gran Teatro and Inglaterra are particularly luscious from the southern side of the park. If you're parched, you could take a mojito curbside at the Hotel Inglaterra or head to the rooftop pool/bar at the Hotel NH Parque Central on the northern side of the park. The latter is strictly five-star stuff, so slackers beware.

If you want to get off the tourist track, head up San Rafael (aka 'Bulevar'), alongside the Inglaterra. This is where Cubans shop, so have your pesos ready for anything from costume jewelry to vintage board games. Everyone has to visit the Capitolio Nacional and photographers should check it out in the early morning (bonus is you get to check out rush-hour Havana style with insanely crowded camellos (metro buses) and super long lines for the colectivos ) (collective taxis). Keep walking south on Prado and you can turn right on Dragones just at the edge of the Capitolio to take a cigar tour at the Real Fábrica de Tabacos Partagás or continue straight past the Fuente de la India sculpture at the crazy roundabout (cross carefully here) to the Asociación Cultural Yoruba de Cuba with their fascinating, well laid out museum.

Jog left on Máximo Gómez for two blocks and then turn right onto chaotic Av de Bélgica and into the 'real' Havana, where peso cafeterias and one of the city's biggest markets provide cheap eating opportunities.

If you don't feel like walking the five long blocks south to the Museo Casa-Natal de José Martí, flag down a bici-taxi here.