5 Days in Havana: The First-Timer Itinerary

Five days adds cigars, jazz and Miramar’s quieter mansion streets to the four-day core, and it’s the first version of this itinerary with real slack built in instead of a packed day every day. Need less time? Drop to 2 , 3 or 4 days . Have more? Step up to 6 or 7 days .

Book these before you go

  • Casa particular or hotel: check current listings on Booking.com
  • Classic-car sunset tour: browse routes on GetYourGuide
  • A Habana Vieja walking tour: search dates on Viator
Day Focus
Day 1 Arrival, Habana Vieja’s four plazas, the Capitolio
Day 2 Vedado, Hotel Nacional, classic-car sunset loop
Day 3 Callejon de Hamel, Fusterlandia, rum museum, FAC
Day 4 Harbor forts, Museo de la Ciudad, cannon ceremony
Day 5 Cigar factory, Miramar, San Jose market, jazz club

Day 1: Arrival and Habana Vieja

  • Land at Jose Marti International Airport (HAV), fixed state taxi fare roughly $25-35 cash, agreed before the car moves
  • Check into a casa particular and change your first stack of pesos with the host
  • Walk the four plazas: Plaza de Armas, Plaza de la Catedral, Plaza Vieja and Plaza San Francisco de Asis, all part of the Old Havana UNESCO site inscribed in 1982
  • Calle Obispo to the Hotel Ambos Mundos, Hemingway’s room 511
  • The Capitolio, $20 cash for the guided interior tour Tuesday through Saturday
  • Dinner at a Habana Vieja paladar, live son music after

Day 2: Vedado and the Malecon

  • Plaza de la Revolucion and the Che Guevara silhouette on the Interior Ministry facade
  • Museo de la Revolucion in the former Presidential Palace, the Granma yacht out front
  • Hotel Nacional’s grounds and bunker museum, a terrace cocktail over the Malecon
  • A classic-car sunset loop, price and route agreed first
  • Dinner near Vedado

Day 3: Callejon de Hamel and Fusterlandia

  • Morning at Callejon de Hamel, tip musicians $3-5 if a Sunday rumba is running
  • Taxi out to Fusterlandia in Jaimanitas, budget 90 minutes; details in our Fusterlandia guide
  • A guided tasting at the Havana Club Rum Museum
  • Evening at the Fabrica de Arte Cubano in Vedado, Thursday through Sunday only

Day 4: The Harbor Forts

  • Morning at the Museo de la Ciudad inside the Palacio de los Capitanes Generales
  • Cross the harbor to the Fortaleza de San Carlos de la Cabana and the Castillo del Morro
  • Stay for the 9pm cañonazo cannon ceremony
  • Dinner at Paladar San Cristobal or O’Reilly 304 and El Del Frente

Day 5: Cigars, Jazz and Miramar

  • The Partagas Cigar Factory tour, about $10, 30-35 minutes, mornings on weekdays only; tickets are sold through hotel tour desks, not online or at the door, and the factory closes weekends plus the 1st through 3rd of each month, so confirm before you show up
  • Wander Miramar’s embassy row and 1950s mansions, a quieter contrast to Habana Vieja’s density
  • The Mercado de San Jose for crafts, art and souvenirs
  • An evening at a jazz club, La Zorra y el Cuervo is the long-standing institution

Is 5 days enough for Havana?

More than enough for a first trip, and the first length here that doesn’t feel rushed. Five days covers every core sight plus cigars, jazz and Miramar, with actual downtime between stops instead of a packed itinerary end to end. Six or seven days mostly buys you a slower pace and repeat visits to your favorite paladar rather than genuinely new ground.

Can I book the cigar factory tour online?

No. Partagas tickets are sold only through hotel tour desks, in person, same trip. There’s no website booking and no door sales, which is exactly why so many visitors show up on a closed day expecting to just walk in. Ask your hotel or casa host to help you book it within the first day or two, not the morning you want to go.

Split your cash into two stashes before you leave your casa each day, one for the day’s spending and one left secured at your accommodation. Losing a day’s cash to a pickpocket in a crowded market is a minor inconvenience; losing the whole trip’s cash is not, and there’s no card to fall back on.