Havana with overnight stay

A two-day excursion through the capital of the Cuban Republic, the largest city in the Caribbean region. Transfer by bus from Varadero.

Day 1. Bus trip to Havana. Visit to the main attractions 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 at a city restaurant. The excursion continues with a visit to a Havana cigar factory. Afterwards, a tour of modern Havana follows: Revolution Square, Columbus Cemetery, and the city’s famous seafront promenade, the Malecón. 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 the main attractions of modern Havana. Drive along Fifth Avenue in the Miramar district, where most embassies are located. Two-hour walking tour of Columbus Cemetery, whose monuments and mausoleums are masterpieces of colonial art. Sightseeing in the business and scientific district of Vedado. Lunch at one of the city’s restaurants. Walk along the Malecón and visit the Hotel Nacional. Stop and tour the Russian Orthodox Church, then free time for souvenir shopping at the special Almacén de San José market. Return to the hotel in Varadero.

Price for adults $131 / children $99 (with Tropicana show $175)

You must have your passport with you!

On the first day you will see:

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, with a monument to José Martí in the center.
• Obispo Street – Havana’s Arbat, where the bar “Floridita” 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.
• The monument to Sancho Panza.
• The Ambos Mundos Hotel, where Hemingway always stayed from 1932 to 1939 and where several chapters of “To Have and Have Not” and “For Whom the Bell Tolls” were written. It is now a museum.
• The Florida Hotel, 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, where you will find: the Palace of the Captains General, the oldest fortress on the American continent, Real Fuerza, the Santa Isabel Hotel (former palace of Count Santovenia, where former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and many Hollywood stars stayed), and the monument to the 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), where Havana Cathedral is located, which housed Columbus’s remains for 103 years, and three palaces belonging to two counts and one marquis (today one houses the Patio restaurant, another the Museum of Colonial Art, and the third a museum, shops, and administrative offices).

Plaza Vieja (Old Square), with ancient palaces, the famous La Muralla brewery, Café Escorial, and restaurants, one of which hosted American singer 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. In the inner courtyard of the square is a Greek Orthodox church.

On the second day you will see:

The excursion includes visits to the following attractions:

• Revolution Square
• The Malecón
• Havana University
• The monument to John Lennon
• The Hotel Nacional, built in 1930, where many celebrities stayed: shahs, kings, presidents (including V. Putin and D. Medvedev), cosmonauts (Yuri Gagarin), Hollywood stars, Olympic champions, Nobel laureates...
• The picturesque Almendares Park with tropical flora
• The house where Che Guevara lived and other places
• Columbus Cemetery, one of the most beautiful and largest in the world, with fascinating stories of burials and mausoleums worthy of Hollywood films.
• The embassy district of Miramar.