ElAmorParaIr

This is a great idea to see some sites we wouldn't get to, then do Havana itself on our own. I think I'll re-look at some of the ship tours to see what might fit with this plan. Thank you!

I did a 3 hour bus tour, saw some important sites that were far away. Returned to the ship, and we grabbed my wife's wheelchair/scooter and we went out to dinner at a small place, stopped by Floridita, and had one of Hemingway's favorite drinks, listed to music. Than we left, and found another outdoor café, with music, and sat for a while. When they broke for a break, we left, an as we wondered back to the ship, stopped at another café on a square, and enjoyed another drink, and listening to more music. Finally by almost midnight, we went back to the ship.

 

Next day, we took a taxi to the cigar factory. Note the closed one is "closed" as of this week, so we went to another one. Taxi waited for us. It cost $10.00cuc per person, and was good. We also bought some cigars at the place, since I knew they were fresh. We were dropped off by the Capital building, as requested, and we walked old Havana. Many sites to see, in town. We ate lunch at a nice open air café. A little later on, we sat in a café for lunch and watched the activities on a square and talked to two different groups of people form other countries, while enjoying the day. We stopped in stores, looked at artwork, and buildings. Bought some rum. Other words, we just experienced the city, and observed and looked at what it had to offer.

 

Side note, a full time wheelchair is nearly impossible, but you can use scooters, but you must be able to lift up curbs etc. We had no issues, and we knew what to expect.

Thank you so much! We are "on your own" types of travelers, so it's good to know this is reasonable in Havana. Thank you!

I just came back today from an overnight in Cuba on Empress of the Sea and although we were on bus tours...we were followed very closely by many of the Old Car Taxi's that people had rented. So you can definitely do it on your own. I would suggest that you look at the descriptions of the shore excursion offered and pick and choose where you would like to go and give it to your taxi driver.

Thank you for telling me about oldcartours.com. I will contact them. How soon were you off the ship after it docked? I'm trying to figure out timing.

Hello. We will be in Havana for one day at the beginning of March on the Holland America Veendam. I am not wild about any of the tours offered by the cruise line. I much prefer to take a private tour from a local vendor, but am concerned about being able to get off the ship in time to meet any such tour.

I'd like to experience the people, food, rum, and smoke a cigar :-) I would love to hear people's experience and any tours or companies you would recommend.

Thank you so much!