Old Havana

Habana Vieja is the walled colonial city, laid out around four squares - the Plaza de Armas, the Plaza Vieja, the Plaza de San Francisco and the Cathedral square - and inscribed in 1982 together with the fortifications that guarded the harbour. Restoration has run since the 1990s under the city historian's office, funded largely by tourism, and the result is uneven by design: restored blocks stand beside buildings that are propped, subdivided and occasionally collapsing. People live in all of it, which is what keeps it from being a set.

What you actually see

• The four plazas - Armas, Vieja, San Francisco and the Cathedral square, each with its own character.
• The cathedral - a baroque front in coral stone, deliberately asymmetrical, on the smallest of the squares.
• The restored and the unrestored - blocks brought back beside buildings still propped and subdivided.
• The street life - music from doorways, domino games, and laundry across the balconies above.

When to go

November to April is the dry season and the most comfortable. Hurricane season runs from June to November. Evenings are when the streets fill; the middle of the day is hot and the squares empty out.

Honest expectations

Practical conditions in Cuba are genuinely difficult: cash is essential, the currency situation is confusing and changes, internet is limited, and shortages affect restaurants and shops. Building collapses in Havana are real and streets are closed without notice. Hustlers work the tourist streets persistently.

Nearby

The Malecon runs west from the old town, the Colon cemetery is in Vedado, and the fortresses are across the harbour.