Free tour

Old Havana through its history and people

4.33

Acceptable(3)

Havana

Duration: 2 hours and 30 minutes

Languages: English and Spanish

Guru: Jorge

Registered on 13 November 2019

Hi dear traveler! My name is Jorge, I am a Guru expert from Havana, Cuba. I am a professional tour guide and I consider myself as a joyful and funny person. I love making friends with those people who visit us. Sharing my knowledge about Havana and showing you its charms and why it is considered by UNESCO as a World Heritage site since 1982, is one of the things I love the most. I also enjoy a lot learning from you, about your customs, traditions, culture, and so on, since I've always thought that learning has no boundaries, it educate us and make us a better person. I love each corner of my city, and if you feel eager to come along with me, you will even get to see part of the city that not many people get to visit, the real and wonderful Havana, as described by one of the most famous Cuban novelist and essayist of all time, Alejo Carpentier. So don’t think it twice. Come along and discover and learn from a city that tells its history from its incredible mixed architecture, its culture and its beautiful people!!!

Free reservation and cancellation

Pay-what-you-want tour, no set price, reservation and cancellation are free

Tour description

A must do when someone visits the impressive city of Havana is to walk through its colonial and always charming old town, declared by UNESCO, along with its defensive fortification system (fortresses, remains of a wall, and cannon bateries), as a World Heritage Site in 1982.

I invite you to join me on this magical tour that will last 2 and a half hours, but will leave you wanting more.

During the tour we will not only talk about history and the sites and buildings that we will seeing around, but also about current situation of Cuba, which will make this tour a different tour.

Understand how Cubans really live today, and more than live, how they survive during the current harsh economic crisis compared to the one we had in the 90's after the collapse of the USSR socialist block. The causes and consequences of the current economic crisis, as well as people linning up wherever you go, the continuous power outages, shortages and scarcity of all kind, the reality of Cubans.

We will also go through a section of the tour that is not so touristic, since I love to show you not only the beautiful and nice side of the city but also the reality of many Cubans.

Houses where a Cuban bourgeois family once lived and fled righr after the triumph of the Revolution, the Cuban government nationalized these houses, split them in several parts and gave them to different families as a way to solve the housing problem, and I will show you the deplorable conditions in which they live today. We will also visit a local private market to see the products that are sold, but the most interesting thing is the prices that inflation has currently caused.

We will also be seeing the famous Bodegas, government premises where Cubans go with our ration cards to receive the rationed and subsidized products. And many other things.

The starting point is at the intersection of Oficios and Muralla streets, in a small Plaza called Alejandro de Humboldt, just two blocks away from the Ron Havana Club museum and only one block away from Plaza Vieja.

Useful tips: Please bring, if possible, water, hat, cap, umbrella, or a combination of all of them all; comfortable shoes and clothing, sunscreen and everything you can think of to protect yourself from the Caribbean sun.

Book now!!! There is so much fun and excitement waiting for you.

Highlights

What will we see on this tour?

Meeting point:

4MP2+8J8, Oficios, La Habana, Cuba

I will be in the small park called Alejandro de Humboldt, at the intersection of Oficios and Muralla streets (See Map)

Outside visit

Saint Francis of Assisi Square

Market Plaza, selected by the Franciscans in Havana to build both, their church and monastery; among many other points of interest, like the former stock market of Havana and the current Cruise ships terminal, symbol of rapproachment between the back then presidents of the US and Cuba, Barack Obama, Raúl Castro, respectively, back in 2014.

Outside visit

Plaza Vieja

A social Plaza, very beautiful, colorful and eclectic, where wealthy families, during the Spanish colonial time in Cuba, use to build their nice Villas around it!!! A place where you may find unique attractions not only in Havana but across Cuba. Let you surprise!!!!

Outside visit

San Ignacio Street

This will be the not turistic section of our free tour, where you will get to experience the everyday's life of the Cuban people. Among other things, we will be visiting a private own market, a so called Bodega, where we will talk about the rationing system in Cuba, and we will also pay a visit to a family building, to watch how real Cubans live!!!

How much does this tour cost?

Free tours do not have a set price, instead, each person gives the guru at the end the amount they consider appropriate (amounts usually range from €10 to $50 depending on satisfaction with the tour).