Havana is a very large city, and Casco Viejo – the tourist centre – basically only a very small part of it. Since I stayed in a hostel in Havana Centro during my time in Havana my first impression of Havana was not exactly what most tourists probably see at first. But as I really liked it I knew I wanted to see more. More of the Havana that I personally call the real Havana.

For me, the real Havana consists of beautiful as well as not-so-beautiful corners. There are great house facades and at the same time ruins and/or half-rotten houses and holes in the ground. You also see dirty to clean cars mostly from former eras. Children play with marbles or other things on the street and people relax outside or play dominoes with their neighbours. And salsa music seems to somehow be always coming from somewhere. The real Havana is not always necessarily shiny and pretty, but it is very honest, authentic, beautiful and filled with incredible openness and joy of life. Of course you can see that time has stood still in Cuba on the streets of Havana and in its people – in both negative and positive ways – but that is simply what makes the country and the atmosphere so special.

Go or not? Personally, I think that if you only see Casco Viejo, you haven’t really got to know or see Havana. It’s as simple as that. And Havana is really safe. That’s why I think you should definitely take a walk through the streets outside Casco Viejo.