Havana

The Spanish founded San Cristóbal de la Habana in 1519 on a deep, sheltered bay. It became the gathering point for the treasure fleets that carried silver and gold from the Americas to Spain, and massive fortresses were built to defend it. The British captured the city in 1762 but traded it back a year later. Sugar plantations, worked by enslaved Africans, made Cuba fabulously rich in the nineteenth century. Cuba won independence from Spain in 1898 after a long struggle, though under strong United States influence. In the 1950s Havana was a glamorous playground of casinos and nightclubs. The revolution led by Fidel Castro triumphed in 1959, and the city's architecture was left largely frozen in time, now slowly being restored.

Music is everywhere in Havana: son, salsa, rumba and Afro-Cuban jazz spill from bars, plazas and living rooms. Cubans are warm and resourceful, and conversation, dominoes and baseball fill the streets. Food is simple and home-style: ropa vieja (shredded beef), black beans and rice called moros y cristianos, and fried plantains, best eaten at paladares, family-run restaurants. The mojito and daiquirí were both popularised here. Bring cash and expect slow internet; patience is part of the experience.