Trace the Steps of Hemingway Around Havana

El Floridita (little florida) is located on the corner of Belgica and Obispo streets, and remains one of the busiest bars in Old Havana.

This iconic spot has been attracting Havana’s intellectuals for over 100 years, and naturally, Ernest Hemingway made daily appearances. His drink of choice? A modified daiquiri, which substitutes the sugar ring for pink grapefruit juice and adds a second shot of liquor, as the writer was diabetic.

The interior is decorated in an intimate, modest style. Its shadowy atmosphere sharply contrasts with the outside noise, creating the perfect Havana street corner for a good drink in the company of new friends, or discussing the remaining links between Cuban and American cultures.

After your post-lunch drinks at the Floridita, follow Obispo street for a couple of blocks until you reach our last stop: the Ambos Mundos (both worlds) hotel.

Now, it’s time to step into Hemingway’s creative process – or at least, into the room he used when he felt he was ready to ramp up his productivity: room 511 of the Ambos Mundos hotel.

The room has been left largely just as it was when Hemingway would lock himself up in it, burning the midnight oil and working on Green Hills of Africa or To Have and Have Not. You can visit the room, which now acts as a miniature museum where you can sink further into the author’s psyche. Get up close and personal with his old typewriter and take a picture next to his framed Pulitzer Prize.

On the way out, end the tour at the hotel’s restaurant, the Plaza de Armas. It's not just one of the city's best but also serves some of the writer’s favorite dishes. Plus, its terrace offers a superb view of the Havana. From here, you’ll see the entire historical city center. You can order some coffee or their juicy barbecue special, and watch Cuban people as they stroll to their next appointment and share the latest news around town.

Hemingway lived, cried, and created literary masterpieces in Havana’s streets. Despite the decades in between, you can still find traces of the author’s soul spread around us.

The tour takes approximately 3 hours, if you stop along the way for lunch and sample the flavors of Hemingway’s favorite cocktails like “Death in the Afternoon” (or papa doble), and of course his signature “Hemingway Daiquiri.”

True to the writer’s spirit, all the places listed here follow an informal, bohemian vibe. You’ll just need some comfortable shoes, cool clothes, and your best Cuban ‘Sombrero’  to get started.

Written by Gabriela Rey.

Published December 2022.