Havana City Guide

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Havana, and specifically its Old Town, is the birthplace of two of the most enduring and popular cocktails - the Mojito and the Daiquiri. As such, journeying to the city has become something of a pilgrimage for drinkers and bartenders.

What they find when they arrive are, sadly, pale imitations of the drinks that originated here with many bars churning out dumbed-down versions of the iconic concoctions that have made their names: though with state-sponsored lime juice and coach-loads of tourists descending on them to tick off their visit on the Hemingway trail, who can blame them?

If this leaves you with a shred of disappointment, worry not as none of this is likely to dent your enjoyment or the sheer spectacle of hanging about in Havana: a city - and a country - that's stuck in a time warp, beset with a scale of urban decay you are unlikely to have ever experienced before. Simple pleasures are appreciated, music hangs in the air, and there's wall-to-wall rum.