Havana and All Hemingway with Overnight Stay

Day 1. Bus trip to Havana. Visit to the main sights of the colonial part of Cuba’s capital, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You will see squares, fortresses, palaces, and buildings erected by Spanish colonizers in the 16th–19th centuries. Lunch in a city restaurant. The excursion continues with a visit to a Havana cigar factory. Afterwards, a tour of modern Havana: Revolution Square, Columbus Cemetery, and the city’s famous Malecón promenade. Accommodation in a private mini-hotel (casa particular) in the Vedado tourist district. In the evening, optional visit to the Tropicana show. Admission is for persons over 16 years old. Alternatively, for an additional fee, you may visit Morro Fortress with the cannon-firing ceremony, the trendy cultural and entertainment center Fabrica del Arte, or Havana’s nightclubs.

Day 2. Breakfast at the mini-hotel. Visit to places in Havana connected with Hemingway, including his House-Museum. Stop and tour of the Russian Orthodox Church. Free time for souvenir shopping at the Almacenes de San José market. Trip to Finca Vigía, where Hemingway lived most of his life. Lunch at a seafood restaurant en route to the fishing village of Cojímar. Return to the hotel in Varadero.

Price for adults: $146 / children $115 (with Tropicana show $190)

You must have your passport with you!

Includes visits to:

• The Capitol, built in 1929 by Italians from Carrara marble.
• The Grand Theater of Opera and Ballet named after Alicia Alonso, built in 1837 and considered one of the three most beautiful and famous theaters in the world.
• Central Park, surrounded by four famous hotels and featuring a monument to José Martí in the center.
• Obispo Street – Havana’s Arbat – where the “Floridita” bar is located, proclaimed in 1953 as one of the seven most famous bars in the world. This bar was Hemingway’s favorite place. The first chapters of “The Old Man and the Sea,” for which he received the Nobel Prize in 1954, were written there.
• Monument to Sancho Panza.
• Hotel Ambos Mundos, where Hemingway always stayed from 1932 to 1939 and wrote several chapters of “To Have and Have Not” and “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” Today it is a museum.
• Hotel Florida, one of the brightest examples of colonial style, where Isadora Duncan stayed, and the Marquis Prado de Ameno Hotel, a palace built in 1760.

The excursion also includes visits to four squares:

Plaza de Armas, featuring the Palace of the Captains General, the oldest fortress on the American continent Real Fuerza, Hotel Santa Isabel (former palace of Count Santovenia, where former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and many Hollywood stars stayed twice), and the monument to Father of the Nation Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, who began the liberation war against Spain on October 10, 1868. Also, the chapel with the ceiba tree, near which Havana was founded in 1519.

Plaza de la Catedral (Cathedral Square), with Havana Cathedral, where Columbus’s remains were kept for 103 years, and three palaces of two counts and one marquis (currently housing the Patio restaurant, the Museum of Colonial Art, and other museums, shops, and administrative centers).

Plaza Vieja (Old Square), with historic palaces, the famous La Muralla brewery, Café Escorial, and restaurants, one of which hosted Madonna’s 58th birthday celebration on August 16 of this year.

Plaza San Francisco de Asís, with the monument to Saint Francis, a famous church (one of the oldest in Havana), the Lonja del Comercio (former Stock Exchange), the Fountain of Lions, monuments to Chopin and Caballero de París, and a Greek Orthodox Church in the square’s courtyard.

On the second day you will see:

The excursion includes:

• Visits to two bars: Floridita, where Hemingway almost daily enjoyed his favorite Daiquiri and wrote the first chapters of “The Old Man and the Sea,” and La Bodeguita del Medio, where he drank Mojitos.
• Hotel Ambos Mundos, where Hemingway always stayed from 1932 to 1939 and wrote several chapters of “To Have and Have Not” and “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” Today it is a museum.
• Visit to Finca Vigía, where Hemingway lived for 21 years (1939–1960). You can see the house, belongings, and furnishings preserved as during his lifetime. The library with 9,039 volumes, hunting trophies, skins and animal heads, a three-story tower, bungalow, dog cemetery, the yacht Pilar, and a 10-hectare fruit garden.
• The village of Cojímar, with a bust of Hemingway. The site where the yacht Pilar was moored, the house of Gregorio Fuentes (captain of the yacht and Hemingway’s friend), and the restaurant La Terraza, where Hemingway, Gregorio, and friends often dined.
• Marina Hemingway, a tourist spot on the ocean shore, from which boats departed for fishing contests (blue marlin, aguja, etc.) since 1950. This international contest is still held annually.