Cafe El Louvre

Havana


The animated sidewalk cafe at the Hotel Inglaterra is an open terrace bar where mojitos and Cuba libres are served well before noon. It’s the perfect place to watch Havana’s vibrant Parque Central to the soundtrack of the live bands that play here daily. Cocktails cost CUC$4 to CUC$7.

In April 1879 El Louvre was where the young José Martí gave a fiery speech that jump-started the pro-independence movement.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Havana attractions

1. Hotel Inglaterra

Havana's oldest hotel opened its doors in 1856 on the site of a popular bar called El Louvre (the hotel's alfresco bar still bears that name). Facing…

2. Statue of José Martí

0.04 MILES

The marble statue of José Martí (1905) in the center of Parque Central was the first of thousands to be erected in Cuba. Raised on the 10th anniversary of…

3. Gran Teatro de la Habana Alicia Alonso

0.04 MILES

The neobaroque Gran Teatro de la Habana Alicia Alonso, erected as a Galician social club between 1907 and 1914, features highly ornate and even exuberant…

4. Parque Central

0.04 MILES

Diminutive Parque Central is a verdant haven from the belching buses and roaring taxis that ply the Paseo de Martí. Long a microcosm of daily Havana life,…

5. Taller Comunitario José Martí

0.07 MILES

Workshop-gallery of an avant-garde artists' collective comprising around a dozen artists. Enter via the radiant mural in El Prado to admire and/or buy…

7. Statue of Francisco de Albear

0.13 MILES

Thousands of people pass by his image every day, but few spare a glance for this marble statue of engineer Francisco de Albear, located in a small Habana…

8. Palacio de los Matrimonios

0.14 MILES

In largely secular Cuba, this is where many habaneros come to get married and – appropriately – the building is no less lavish than an average church…