Things to do — La Havane

Havana unfolds neighbourhood by neighbourhood. Start with Habana Vieja, the densest patrimony in Latin America. The five colonial squares — Plaza de Armas (the oldest, with its Palacio de los Capitanes Generales), Plaza Vieja (splendidly restored, ringed with specialty bars), Plaza de la Catedral (the most baroque, best seen at sunrise), Plaza San Francisco (facing the port, the cruise terminus), Plaza del Cristo (the most local) — connect through a maze of cobbled lanes. Visit the Catedral de la Habana (Cuban baroque, 18th century), La Bodeguita del Medio (Hemingway's mojito), the Capitolio (a replica of Washington's), the Museo de la Revolución (Batista's former presidential palace, exhibitions on Castro and Che).

Walk down the Paseo del Prado towards the Malecón — the legendary 8 km seawall facing the Florida Straits. At sunset, it becomes the collective living room of the Habaneros: fishermen, couples, young guitar players, peanut vendors. Continue to Vedado: the Hotel Nacional (1930, art deco above the Malecón, with gardens open to the public), the Plaza de la Revolución (monumental Che effigy on the Interior Ministry), the Colón cemetery (one of Latin America's most beautiful).

Cuban music comes alive at night. The casas de la música programme salsa orchestras almost nightly: Casa de la Música Habana (Centro Habana), Casa de la Música Galiano. The Fábrica de Arte Cubano (FAC) in Vedado is an essential institution: a former industrial warehouse turned hybrid venue (live music, exhibitions, bars, restaurants) — open Thursday to Sunday, queue early. Purists head for traditional rumba in Callejón de Hamel on Sunday afternoons (free) or at Gran Palenque (Wednesday-Friday). The Tropicana still puts on its 1939 cabaret show — knowingly kitsch but unforgettable.