And any one else who has been?
I am so excited -just booked some flights.
Cyooo ba la la la la sal saaaa!!!

am i getting confused, i am sure Bobby mentioned she was from Cuba?

Is there anyone else who has been who can offer some advice on where to go & things to see aside from the 'rough guide' type stuff.

I am thinking of staying in a casa-particular instead of a hotel, any one done that and can share their experiences?

Hi pea,

I visited Havanna with my parents and brother 3 or 4 years ago. Personally I found it quite difficult to avoid the more touristic places and do something different, it seems that as a tourist you are always guided to the topical places (but that was just my impression). Visiting local markets can be fun. You will find plenty of local pottery there but I rather enjoyed buying old editions of Cuban and Sovietic authors (but of course 99% of them are in Spanish). I am very much the museum type and liked the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (particularly the 20th century paintings) very much. If you have time for a short trip outside Havanna the Vinales Valley is worth a try.

No way?! I'm going to be in Havana over Christmas!!!

My grandparents live there, (I was actually born in Wales).

Old Havana is like nowhere else in the world, its utterly amazing. So beautiful and so different. Try and hire an old Cadillac for the day, they normally come with drivers, but they cost nothing and its a great way to see the town. Food is shockingly bad, and tough if you're veggie, as they don't really get that concept. They don't have much in the way of range, and I don't think that I have ever seen a vegetable...(however, the state buys every child in the land a birthday cake - how cool is that?!). Ahh, but you don't need food when you have those beaches (Holguin on the south is so beautiful) and that white rum and the LIVE MUSIC...its actually out this world, the whole place. And you get to go now before Fidel is no more. Communism always looks sexier in the sun.

Yup, def def def stay in a Casa, they cost about five quid a night and are the best way to enjoy Cuba I would say. (The government has a rule about only spare rooms in the house being used, iteresting fact)Hotel's just aren't the same out there, even though most of them are state run. Actually, when ever we go away we use www.hostelworld.com its not just hostels and there's loads of places in Old Havana on here, will show you what they're like, Don't expect salubrious conditions, but the old worldy charm is def there. Oh and some of them are really guady, but worth a look!

OMG thanks guys I am now doubley excited!!!! Cyoo ba la la la la

Bobby my moto for many years has been "I drink Mojito therefore I am". Can you recommend where I can get the ultimate mojito ( I made my fella walk 40 minutes into a council estate in Madrid last year as I'd been told about a local bar that made legendary mojitos... and lo' it was true).

I heard the food was crap in Cuba though, but I have got a review from the gaurdian travel guide with some places to try - I'll post the link.

Sorry Guardian I mean

http://travel.guardian.co.uk/article/2006/apr/30/travelfoodanddrink.foodanddrink.cuba

Yeah, basically there's this amazing old colonial hotel which does the most amazing ones. They have an outside bar with a fountain in the middle where you just relax under the sunset and a man comes and brings you everything, and cos its Cuba its not even that expensive. I really can't remember the name, but I'm going home this lunch time so I will ask my mum and update you!

I'm really excited too. We should meet up and have our PGF meeting in Cuba! Anyone else care to join us? We'll meet you buy the fountain!

Hi Bobby - I wanted to tell you I went & what an amazing & interesting time I had in Havana . I ended up staying with a family in Vedado. Every day locals stopped me in the street to chat and say "you're the girl staying with the "x" family aren't you" & the reaction I got from others when I said I was staying in a casa and not a state hotel was amazing - people shaking my hand. Cubans are soooo lovely.
However I did find the hotel national you mentioned, one afternoon & I sat and drank the best mojitos on the veranda and watched the sunset -was absolute bliss.
Also had some very funny 'hitchhiking' experiences. One ride in a car that was almost entirely held together with gaffer tape through Centro during a power cut - scarey but funny. Also went to Santa Maria beach - beautiful. Its so horrid being back in the UK.