Three Days in Havana: A Luxury Itinerary with Soul

Havana does not reveal itself all at once.

At first, it is the grand architecture, the sea air and the procession of vintage cars that capture your attention. Look a little closer and another Havana begins to emerge: neighbourhood cafés behind unmarked doors, contemporary art inside a former cinema, conversations drifting from shaded balconies and music that seems to find you without invitation.

Three days is enough to experience the character of the Cuban capital—and to venture beyond it—provided you resist the temptation to rush.

This itinerary combines Havana’s essential sights with excellent Cuban food, contemporary art, music and one final day shaped around the way you prefer to travel: a luxurious escape to the turquoise water of Varadero or an adventurous journey into the extraordinary landscape of Viñales.

Day One: Old Havana, Slowly

Morning: Begin at the beginning

After breakfast at VOYA, make your way towards Habana Vieja, the historic centre of the capital.

Old Havana rewards curiosity. Its most memorable details are not always the ones marked on a map: a marble staircase visible through an open doorway, laundry moving in the breeze above a narrow street, musicians rehearsing behind wooden shutters or a courtyard unexpectedly filled with tropical plants.

The best introduction is a private walking tour with a knowledgeable local guide. Begin around Plaza de Armas and continue through the four principal colonial squares: Plaza de la Catedral, Plaza Vieja, Plaza de San Francisco and Plaza de Armas itself.

Each has a different personality, from the baroque façade of Havana Cathedral to the arcades and colourful buildings surrounding Plaza Vieja. Between them, the streets provide a less polished—and often more memorable—picture of the city.

Allow time to step away from the obvious route. Some of Old Havana’s most interesting workshops, cafés and small galleries occupy streets that appear quiet from a distance. A good guide will help you notice the layers of the city rather than simply recite its dates.

Wear comfortable shoes. Havana’s cobbled streets were made for wandering, not hurrying.

Lunch: Antojos

For lunch, head to Antojos, one of Havana’s most popular contemporary Cuban restaurants.

Set within a characterful, design-led space, Antojos takes familiar Cuban flavours and treats them with confidence rather than unnecessary ceremony. The cooking is generous, carefully executed and consistently high in quality—the kind of food that feels unmistakably Cuban while still being fresh and current.

It is also popular for good reason. Ask VOYA to make the reservation and secure a great table before you arrive. Then settle in, order several dishes to share and let lunch take its time.

This is Havana, after all. There is rarely a prize for finishing early.

Afternoon: Contemporary art at Galleria Continua

'Mientras el día no cierre II' exhibition view, 2026, GALLERIA CONTINUA / Habana. Photo: Linet Sánchez

After lunch, continue to Galleria Continua, the respected international gallery housed in the former Águila de Oro cinema.

The setting is as compelling as the exhibitions. Contemporary works inhabit a building that still carries traces of its earlier life, creating a conversation between Havana’s architectural past and its place within the international art world.

Galleria Continua has presented both Cuban and international artists, making it an excellent introduction to the city’s contemporary cultural landscape. Rather than treating Cuban art as a fixed visual style, the gallery reveals a far broader conversation—one shaped by history, migration, identity, material and change.

Check the current exhibition and opening hours before setting out. VOYA can arrange the visit as part of a wider art experience or organise a private guide for travellers who want more context.

An alternative for architecture lovers

If art galleries are not quite your thing, let VOYA create a private architecture tour around your particular interests.

Havana is not defined by one period or style. Spanish colonial courtyards sit alongside neoclassical palaces, Art Deco cinemas, mid-century apartment buildings and striking modernist structures. A custom tour can focus on the details you genuinely enjoy rather than forcing every traveller through the same general route.

Tell us what catches your eye—restored mansions, faded façades, Art Deco, modernism or interiors normally missed from the street—and we will shape the experience accordingly.

Sunset: The Malecón

As the heat begins to soften, head towards the Malecón.

Havana’s famous seafront is at its most atmospheric in the early evening. Fishermen lean over the wall, friends gather to watch the horizon and waves occasionally break over the stone during rougher weather. Across the road, the faded façades glow in the final light of the day.

A drive along the Malecón at sunset offers one of Havana’s simplest pleasures. There is nothing to visit, reserve or explain. You only need to be there.

Evening: Dinner in the garden

Return to VOYA for a quiet reset before dinner at Brasserie 255. The restaurant brings together contemporary Cuban flavours and international classics in a relaxed setting beside the hotel’s bright patio.

Afterwards, move into the Secret Garden for a cocktail beneath the palms. Hidden behind the restored 1925 mansion, the garden feels removed from the movement of the city outside.

It is an easy place to lose track of the hour—and an excellent ending to your first day in Havana.

Day Two: Havana in Motion

Morning: See the city from a classic car

On your second morning, explore Havana in one of its most recognisable forms: from the back seat of a classic American car.

A private tour allows you to understand the scale and contrasts of the capital. Follow the Malecón, stop at Plaza de la Revolución and pass along grand avenues where embassies, mansions and civic buildings reveal a more monumental side of Havana.

The cars are undeniably photogenic, but they are not museum pieces placed here for visitors. They are part of Havana’s living history, maintained through ingenuity, adaptation and an impressive knowledge of mechanics.

VOYA can arrange the journey in a classic 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air, with a route shaped around what you have already seen and what interests you most.

Late morning: Havana beyond its monuments

Use the rest of the morning to look more closely at the city rather than collecting another list of landmarks.

This could mean visiting a working artist’s studio, exploring a neighbourhood with a private guide or returning to a part of Old Havana that caught your attention the previous day. If you chose Galleria Continua on Day One, this is an opportunity to meet someone involved in Havana’s creative life and hear a more personal perspective on the city.

The most worthwhile encounters rarely feel like formal presentations. The conversation may begin with art, design or music, but it seldom ends there.

Lunch: Trust VOYA

Havana’s dining scene changes quickly. New restaurants appear, chefs move between kitchens and the most desirable table can shift from one season to another.

Let VOYA recommend somewhere that suits your mood and confirm it before you leave. You may want another polished Cuban lunch, a seafood restaurant or something light before the afternoon’s activities.

Current local knowledge is more valuable here than a restaurant list written months ago.

Afternoon: The rituals of rum and tobacco

Rum and tobacco carry centuries of Cuban history, but there is a difference between buying them and understanding them.

A guided rum and cigar tasting introduces the craftsmanship, geography and traditions behind two of the country’s best-known exports. Learn how to identify the character of different Cuban rums, how a cigar is constructed and why its preparation and storage matter.

Travellers interested in going a step further can join a cigar-rolling workshop led by an experienced artisan. The process demands patience and precision; what looks effortless in expert hands is considerably more difficult when attempted for the first time.

For something lighter, choose a Cuban cocktail masterclass and learn the balance behind classics such as the daiquiri and mojito. These experiences can be privately arranged at VOYA.

Evening: Fábrica de Arte Cubano

Credit: Fabrica de Arte Cubano

If Fábrica de Arte Cubano is open during your stay, make it the centre of your second evening.

Known locally as FAC, this former cooking-oil factory brings music, visual art, photography, film, dance, fashion and design together beneath one roof. It is part gallery, part performance venue and part late-night social space—although none of those descriptions quite captures the experience of moving between its different rooms.

Arrive early enough to explore the exhibitions before the evening becomes busier. Later, follow the sound from room to room. On the same night, you might encounter live music, an experimental film, a fashion installation and a DJ set.

FAC operates on a limited end-of-week schedule and its programme can change, so let VOYA confirm the opening nights and current events during your visit.

If FAC is closed, the evening is not lost. Havana has a deep and varied music scene, from jazz and traditional son to salsa and intimate private performances. Ask the concierge what is happening that night and follow the best local recommendation.

Day Three: Choose Your Cuba

After two days in the capital, use your final day to see how completely the landscape changes beyond Havana.

The choice is a simple one.

If you want to relax, go to Varadero.

If you want to explore, go to Viñales.

Both require an early start and a full day, but they offer two very different expressions of Cuba.

The luxury escape: Varadero

Varadero is home to one of the Caribbean’s most beautiful stretches of coast: fine white sand, clear turquoise water and a shoreline that seems to continue far beyond the point where you stop looking.

A private transfer makes the journey easy. Leave Havana in the morning and let VOYA arrange the details, from transport to a comfortable place beside the sea.

Once there, the plan should remain deliberately simple. Swim, walk along the beach and settle beneath the shade with something cold to drink. Enjoy a leisurely seafood lunch, return to the water and resist the urge to turn relaxation into another itinerary.

For travellers who have spent the previous days walking through Havana, the change of rhythm is immediate. The city’s colour and movement give way to pale sand, open sky and the kind of blue that looks almost exaggerated in photographs.

Varadero can also include water sports or time on the water, but there is no obligation to do anything at all. This is the luxurious option precisely because the day asks so little of you.

Return to Havana in the late afternoon or early evening, sun-warmed and restored.

The eco-discovery: Viñales

If you would rather spend the day exploring, set out west towards Viñales.

The journey is longer and the day more active, but the landscape is unlike anything around Havana. The valley is defined by rich red soil, tobacco fields and dramatic limestone formations known as mogotes, which rise almost vertically from the farmland.

A private tour can include a visit to a tobacco farm, where local growers explain how the leaves are cultivated, dried and prepared. It is a far more meaningful way to understand Cuban tobacco than seeing the finished product alone.

Depending on your interests and energy, the day can also include a walk or ride through the valley, Cueva del Indio and the Mural de la Prehistoria. Viñales rewards travellers who are curious, comfortable with an early start and ready to spend a full day on the road.

This is not the option for anyone hoping to sleep late and drift towards the pool. It asks more of you than Varadero—but gives something entirely different in return.

Let VOYA tailor the pace. The day can be active and outdoors-focused or more leisurely, with a private driver, selected stops and a long countryside lunch.

Your Final Evening at VOYA

Whichever journey you choose, returning to VOYA provides a satisfying final contrast.

After Varadero, rinse away the salt and settle into the Secret Garden for a cocktail. After Viñales, book a massage or take an unhurried shower before dinner. Both days deserve a quiet ending.

Have your final meal at Brasserie 255 or ask the concierge to arrange one more restaurant in the city. There is no need to make the evening complicated. By now, Havana will already feel different from the city you encountered on your first morning.

The streets will have acquired memories. A passing car may return you to the Malecón at sunset. A song may recall Fábrica de Arte Cubano. A particular flavour may bring back lunch at Antojos.

That is when a destination begins to feel personal.

Practical Advice for Three Days in Havana

Arrange the important experiences in advance

Private guides, classic cars, Antojos reservations and day trips should be organised before arrival, particularly during busier travel periods. Secure the experiences that matter most, then leave some space for spontaneity.

Confirm cultural schedules locally

Gallery exhibitions, live performances and FAC opening nights can change. VOYA can confirm current schedules and adjust your plans once you are in Havana.

Prepare for the climate

Light, breathable clothing works best during the day. Bring comfortable walking shoes, sun protection and swimwear for Varadero. For Viñales, choose shoes suitable for uneven or rural terrain.

Do not over-plan

Havana rarely rewards a schedule built in fifteen-minute increments. Journeys may take longer than expected, conversations may become the highlight of an afternoon and lunch may extend well beyond its allotted hour.

Let it.

Make Havana Your Own

No two people should experience Havana in precisely the same way.

One traveller may remember the architecture; another, the music. Some will want to understand every chapter of the city’s history. Others will be happiest beside the sea with a cold drink and nowhere else to be.

Use this three-day itinerary as a framework, then allow VOYA to adapt it around the way you like to travel. From private guides, classic cars and restaurant reservations to contemporary art, cultural experiences and day trips beyond the capital, every detail can be arranged before or during your stay.

Havana provides the story. We simply help you find your place within it.