Each week, we spotlight a dream vacation recommended by some of the industry's top travel writers. This week's pick is Havana, Cuba.
Even our flight from L.A. to Havana was "almost too good to be true," said Steve Chapple at The San Diego Union-Tribune. Not everyone can enjoy the insider's view of Cuba that my family and I had on a recent whirlwind four-day vacation, but I urge everyone to get there now, because Cuba is about to be remade by tourism, and the communist island nation is "just too much fun" to hold back the onslaught. If America pulls back because of politics and its travel industry isn't allowed to book more group travel packages, then other countries will. You might not have a well-connected friend like we do, but a lot of our experience can still be yours. We called it "the Manny Tour."
Manny picked us up at the airport in a vintage Renault and dropped us at a $40-a-night apartment he'd secured for us just across from the U.S. Embassy. Instantly, I was struck by Havana-style traffic: '53 blue Buick Specials sharing the streets with brand-new Chinese-built buses. Some streets we walked nearby were "pretty much the slums," though crumbling centuries-old churches and apartment buildings sometimes sat cheek by jowl with $500-a-night hotels, and everywhere felt safe. On our first morning, Manny took us to Los Pinos Beach, a "perfect stretch of sand" where we could hear music from a rumba class as we swam away from the shore. Our lunch, in an unpainted restaurant, featured a paella with "shrimp so fresh, they squirmed on the plate."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
At Cuba's National Museum of Fine Arts, the paintings are "as good as anything you'll find at the Museum of Modern Art in New York." Even more eye-opening, though, was Museo de la Revolución, which offers a strongly anti-American account of post-1950 Cuban history. Visiting Ernest Hemingway's former home the next day was more fun. The house, Finca Vigia, is open on all sides, with animal skins on the floors and the great writer's Royal typewriter sitting on a desk like a holy relic. Rain interrupted our stroll on the grounds, so we ran to a tent where an Afro-Cuban jazz band was playing, and joined a dancing crowd while young women handed us Havana Club rums. It was barely noon.
Read more at The San Diego Union-Tribune, or get your travel visa for $85 through Cuba Visa Services.
-
8 hotels with ace tennis courtsThe Week Recommends Bring your A game
-
Abrego released from jail, faces Uganda deportationSpeed Read The wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego García is expected to be detained at an ICE check-in and deported to Uganda
-
Kyiv marks independence as Russia downplays peaceSpeed Read President Vladimir Putin has no plans to meet with Zelenskyy for peace talks pushed by President Donald Trump
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designationThe Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago
-
Inside the Israel-Turkey geopolitical dance across SyriaTHE EXPLAINER As Syria struggles in the wake of the Assad regime's collapse, its neighbors are carefully coordinating to avoid potential military confrontations
-
'Like a sound from hell': Serbia and sonic weaponsThe Explainer Half a million people sign petition alleging Serbian police used an illegal 'sound cannon' to disrupt anti-government protests
-
The arrest of the Philippines' former president leaves the country's drug war in disarrayIn the Spotlight Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the ICC earlier this month
-
Ukrainian election: who could replace Zelenskyy?The Explainer Donald Trump's 'dictator' jibe raises pressure on Ukraine to the polls while the country is under martial law
