From untouched beaches to little-known dancing hotspots, LYDIA BELL offers an insider's guide to the capital of Cuba, Havana

EVER S INCE the Soviet Union collapsed, and Fidel Castro was forced to throw open his doors to tourism in the early 1990s, foreigners have not been able to get enough of Cuba. Havana is the epicentre of all that is Cuban where locals still cruise down the Malecon seafront promenade in old Buicks and Cadillacs. You can stock up on the country’s famous cigars during a tour of the Partagas factory learn about Cuba’s revolutionary history at the Museo de la Revolucion and watch the barely-clad dancing girls shake their booty at Tropicana Cabaret, a throwback to the decadent days before Castro’s revolution. At some point though, you’ll want to see beyond the rum-soaked beaches and tourist streets where musicians sing ‘Guantanamera’ on every corner.

Learn salsa
If one country is well known for salsa dancing and live music, Cuba is it. Rubén Días Daubar’s House of Tango (Neptuno 309 between Aguila and Galiano Streets, Central Havana) specialises in tango but also offers affordable one-on-one salsa lessons from £7. You’ll be taught in a room adorned with murals, bric-a-brac and signed photographs of tango masters in this venue located in a gritty working class district.
 
Eat local
Take a 20-minute taxi ride from the city centre to El Aljibe (Ave 7 between 24 and 26 streets, Miramar), an open-air, thatched restaurant with ceiling fans to keep you cool. Join Cuban families celebrating special occasions and dine on specialities such as chicken with gravy, tostones (smashed and re-fried bananas), rice with special sauce, frijoles (black bean sauce) and hearty salads. It’s one of few state restaurants still run by a Cuban family.  Rumour has it that they were brought back in by the government to run their restaurant because their copyrighted chicken recipes could not be replicated.
 
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Follow in the footsteps of Ernest Hemingway
Havana is full of echoes of the great writer, from ‘his’ room at the Ambos Mundos hotel, to the tourist honey traps of Bodeguita del Medio restaurant and La Floridita bar. For more a revealing insight into Hemingway’s life, head to his old ranch Finca Vigia (San Francisco de Paula), now the Museo Hemingway. Admission is £2pp. This Spanish-colonial home built on a hill so that Hemingway could have a view of Havana, was where he penned some of his greatest novels including The Old Man and the Sea. Everything here has been preserved the way he left it: magazines stacked up; the table set for dinner; a drinks tray rammed with bottles; photos and stuffed animals everywhere, rather eery but fascinating.
 
On the Beach
Avoid the touristy beaches around Mar Azul and head to Guanabo (Habana del Este) in the Eastern suburbs of Havana. You won’t find large all-inclusive hotels, just a quiet family-friendly strip of sand and an authentic Cuban atmosphere among the timber houses and along Avenida 5ta, where there are plenty of affordable places to eat.
 
The best view
Cubans flock to Cristo de la Habana, the statue commissioned by the ex-dictator Batista’s wife, just finished before they fled to Santo Domingo on the eve of the Revolucion. It sits above the village of Casablanca on the other side of the harbour to the Malecon, and is a good place to while away an hour or two just looking over the old town. Admission is less than £1 or free as part of visit to Parque Morro Cabaña, the largest museum in the country.
 
The sexiest cabaret
Forget the overpriced Tropicana and head to Cabaret Turquino for a salsa extravaganza. Situated at the top of the Habana Libre hotel (Calle L, between 23 and 25), the venue has a retractable roof which rolls back to reveal starry skies. Expect hot local bands, salsa-based cabaret and a disco: watching the locals dance can be more fun than the cabaret itself. Open Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, admission from £7pp.

The most vibrant hotel pool
The Riviera (Paseo y Malecon) is where it’s at, especially on a Sunday, when amorous couples line the sun loungers of its saltwater pool and listen to salsa and reggae music blasting out of the speakers. If you are not staying at the hotel, you’ll have to pay around £10 to get in, but can then consume the entry fee in complimentary food and drink at the simple café. You can also have a massage or use the gym. Built in the 1950s by the mafia as a casino hotel, The Riviera has a modernist sculpture-filled lobby with giant low coffee tables and sea views.
 
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Best for people watching
You can’t beat the Malecon, which lies along the north coastline of Havana where kids dive off the rocks, locals fish, young couples escape cramped family apartments and stroll along the seafront, groups of friends gather to drink and play guitar, joggers fly past, and classic cars spray salt water onto the pavement. Sit on the sea wall and just watch. The snacks are good too: chicharritas (fried pasta); mani tostado (toasted peanuts), (rositas de maiz) popcorn.
 
The best street dancing
Watch the best Afro-Cuban rumba in the city during the weekly Santeria (Afro-Cuban religion) ceremonies at the Callejon de Hammel on Sunday from noon. The alleyway is a hot and sweaty mural-plastered strip in downtown Havana, painted by Salvador Gonzalez in the 1990s. It’s packed with locals and tourists and the atmosphere is great.
 
The hot band spot
Café Cantante Mi Habana on the vast Plaza de Revolucion (Teatro Nacional de Cuba, Paseo y 39 Plaza de la Revolucion) often gets overlooked for the most famous Casa de la Musica in Central Havana, but it’s a smaller, atmospheric venue which is also great for headline salsa acts. Catch salsa great Manolito Simonet on a Thursday night.

THE KNOWLEDGE:

Voyages Jules Verne (0845 166 7035/www.vjv.com) offers a seve-night Return to Havana package from £997pp (two sharing), half board. Price includes four nights in Havana , two nights in Trinadad, one night in Sanci Spritus, excursions and return Virgin Atlantic flights from Gtawick to Havana.

Cuba Tourist Board: 0207 240 6655/www.travel2cuba.co.uk

Havana Tourism Information: www.cuba.com