Havana is a one-off. Vintage cadillacs, Santería rituals, all-night parties, strolls along the waterfront…it’s not hard to fall for this city, but it can be a bit bewildering. Get these tips under your belt before you go.

• The best time to go to Cuba is between December and April, after the hurricane season and before the hot and sticky summer months
• José Martí International Airport is pretty inaccessible by public transport. A taxi into town is your best bet.
• Learn some Spanish. It will allow you to travel further, dig deeper and find better deals than the average tourist.
• Two currencies - Convertibles and Cuban pesos - circulate simultaneously. In theory, tourists are only supposed to use Convertibles but in practice, you can swap your Convertibles for pesos at a cadeca (change booth).
• Bring cash (but avoid US dollars - the cost of changing them into Cuban Convertibles is a lot higher than for other currencies). A credit card is a good emergency back-up and traveler’s checks from non-American banks are usually acceptable. Few foreign debit cards will work in Cuban ATMs.

‘Anything is possible in Havana,’ wrote British novelist Graham Greene of Cuba‘s rhapsodic capital, echoing the thoughts and dreams of millions.

Prophetically, he wasn’t far wrong. Truly one of the world’s great urban centers, this tough-minded yet ebullient Caribbean metropolis is a riotous mélange of noble monuments and hip-gyrating music that has few cultural equals.

Yet, scarred by its past and flummoxed by one of the worst economic fallouts of modern times, Havana is no Paris. Here, at the proverbial heart of Cuba’s great paradox, seductive beauty sidles up to spectacular decay, as life carries on precariously and capriciously, but always passionately.

If you’re visiting for the first time, here are some Habanero highlights to get you started from the place that brought you salsa, the daquiri and Buena Vista Social Club.

Meet the locals

The Habaneros are great fun. Forget any preconceptions you might have of life under a totalitarian government – Habaneros carry on regardless, with an almost bloody-minded determination to be as happy and unfazed by the problems of everyday life as possible.

Defining experience

Knocking back an ice-cold mojito (a cocktail made of rum, lime, sugar, mint and soda water) at almost any bar in the old town, as locals stare down at you from their dilapidated balconies (a hobby among Habaneros, particularly the elderly).