Taking my first trip to Havana (I'm from the US)

[JohnInCleveland]

Hello friends, I'm a new visitor to the site. I have become fascinated with Cubans this year, and as a "double income no kids" couple (until April) I booked a semi-spontaneous 8 day trip to Havana in October. Consider it a farewell to independence, freedom, wealth, and youth. My wife and I are driving to Toronto and flying Air Canada.

I figured this might be a great place to seek advice on our trip, as many of you have probably been to Havana and might have good cigar-centric advice on making the most of our visit. We are staying in Melia Habana in the Miramar district. We have an LCDH on site (no coincidence) and I can't wait to try the multitude of vitolos I have yet to experience.

I realize this is a very generic post, I'd love advice on places I can't miss, places I can, cigars I must try, rarities to seek out, etc. We have fairly significant financial means saved for the trip (at least I think, I'm taking $2,000 in cash) so day trips are an option. Any advice/guidance/suggestions is very helpful and greatly appreciated.

Cheers and thanks.

[Habana Mike]

Lots of great info in this forum http://www.friendsofhabanos.com/forum/index.php?showforum=52 as well as doing some searches (Havana, LCDH, Miramar, etc.) and you'll find plenty of good threads.

Regardless you're bound to have a great time!

Welcome to FOH

[El Presidente]

This PDF is really useful

Toby's Tips Havana Autumn 2014.pdf

[wolfain]

If you have friends who subscribe to cigar aficionado magazine, get the may/June 2015 edition. It has an extensive guide on food, bars , arts and where to buy cigars.

Get that copy. Very useful.

http://www.cigaraficionado.com/issue/show/date/2015-06-01

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CUBANO]

If you're buying a few boxes of cigars, you may want to bring more money

[jazzbass]

What Cubano Said..... MORE $$$$$$$$

[stogieluver]

One must do: go to the Hotel Nacional in the late afternoons and enjoy a mojito and cc on the veranda. Classic Cuba. While there, visit the LCDH in the hotel and buy a Hotel Nacional ash tray. My one regret, not buying one of those while I had the chance. Check the business hours at the LCDH there, but know that they don't always follow those hours.

You're going to have the time of your life. Prepare yourself and your wife for the fact that the food can be very iffy, the hotel can run out of hot water, power, or your room may not have air conditioning for days at a time. Just luck of the draw on all of that. If you go thinking 5* American resort/accommodations infrastructure, etc, you'll be disappointed.

Plenty of good info in that issue of Cigar Aficionado and the thread linked above. Lots of good restaurants and bars, you just have to know where to find them.

[JohnInCleveland]

I don't plan on bringing more than a small handful of cigars back, simply because I am already traveling through Canada and I'm trying to avoid being messed with. Stogieluver, I've heard a few times about the Hotel Nacional ashtray, that's on my Havana bucket list, but I appreciate the suggestion about grabbing a mojito and stogie on the veranda, sounds like a perfect idea for an evening.

Thanks for all the advice guys, I appreciate it.

John