To Havana, and to the pleasure of looking: cars carrying the shapes of another era, grandeur visible through worn paint, people, dust and the changing life of the street.

Our original post was a toast to a city we found wonderfully photogenic. Its affection came through a handful of lines and a much larger gallery. This edition keeps that photographic character, with three images from the archive.

First published on 27 March 2016. The original was a short photographic toast rather than an itinerary. These images belong to that earlier visit; the exact visit dates and some street names are not established.

A street, held in a frame

The car passing the América theatre sign gives the opening photograph its movement. The building remains while traffic crosses the frame: a small scene rather than a complete account of Havana.

Black and white draws attention to the shapes, signs and changing tones. It is a way of looking at these photographs, not a suggestion that the city or the lives within it belong only to the past.

Older cars along a street beside arcades and balconies in Centro Habana, photographed in black and white.
A street scene in Centro Habana. The exact street is not identified in the surviving caption.Image: Love travelling family

Look up at the details

Balconies, arches and laundry lines share the last image. Some details feel grand, others ordinary. Together they are closer to what interested us than a list of sights could be.

The old post named the Malecón, Avenida de Italia and Centro Habana among its captions. Not every surviving photograph has a precise location, so the captions here distinguish what is identified from what remains unknown.

Havana facades with arched windows, ornate balconies and laundry lines, shown in black and white.
Balconies, arches and everyday details in Havana. The specific street and buildings are not established by the archived caption.Image: Love travelling family

Beyond the photographs

For another part of the earlier journey, continue to our Cienfuegos journal or the Cuba beach memories. They give different places their own space rather than asking one photograph to represent the island.

If these images lead you towards planning a journey, start with the dated guidance linked from our Cuba currency article. This essay preserves how the city looked in our photographs; it is not a present-day transport, accommodation or payment guide.

Good to know

A couple of useful questions

Is this a complete Havana itinerary?

No. It preserves a short photographic essay from the earlier archive, with three original images and their context.

Were the photographs taken in 2026?

No. They accompanied a post first published in March 2016. A later archive capture does not change the date of the original visit.