Whatever you do, go to the Fabrica on a weekend night. It’s like a nightclub, art gallery, bar, mini pop up restaurants all in one. Super cool

My top favs were Fabrica and Fusterlandia (Gaudi of Cuba). Fabrica was like nothing I’ve seen before.

Book a free walking tour for one of your first days. You’ll learn a lot and get useful tips. https://freewalkingtourhavana.com/en/homepage/

Be careful what you eat. Google ways to stay safe. I went with two other friends and we all got food poisoning despite being careful (always drinking bottled water). Mine was quite severe and lasted three weeks.

We lived in central Old Havana and large bottled water was very hard to come by. We found it at one of those small hole-in-the-wall breakfast shops. I was asked by other tourists where I got it so it seemed like a common problem. Tip: if you bring a backpack into a regular grocery market, they make you bag check it. And you have to line up to get into the market.

Google Maps does not work there. Download maps.me ahead of time for offline maps. You can also find recommendations on there while offline.

Food is not great there so be prepared! El Chanchullero is a popular tourist restaurant with good prices. You can also get $1 sandwiches on the street.

I’m assuming you know the currency situation there, just be careful.

Overall, Cuba was a culture shock for me because I’ve never been anywhere like that before. It made me very aware of my race (they will flat out call you “Chino” to your face or try to get you to buy something/go somewhere with them) but you’ll learn to ignore it. I’ve never prepared so much for a trip but glad I did. I had a really great time there and experienced so much. Feel free to message me if you have any questions!