Tourist Guide Luis

 Hello! I'm Luis, your personal tour guide in Havana, focusing on LGB travellers. I offer my services in spanish, fluent english and I speak little french as well. I have been a tourist guide here in Havana since 2010 and I know this city and its gay life very well. I give all my tours with highly professional attitude.

I was born in Matanzas, which is 100 km far from the capital, and came to Havana to enter the university where I completed a degree in food chemistry.

But once in the capital, I started an intense gay life. And my gay life put me in touch with many tourists, most of whom faced the same challenges:

- how to have another view of the City than the one given by the pre-tailored (and somewhat boring) agency made tours;

- how to get introduced to real Havana’s gay life, given the scarce – and often wrong – information about it (some internet sites are still talking of clandestine fiestas de diez pesos , THAT HAVEN'T TAKEN PLACE FOR YEARS, since Cuban gay life is no more hidden as it was before…).

This is how I became a gay tour guide in Havana and I'm still excited to meet new people…

The Pearl of Caribbean - Old Havana tour:

We will visit Havana Vieja, starting by the Parque Central and the Capitol. We will then take to Calle Obispo, to discover the main places in old Havana: Plaza del Catedral, Plaza de Armas, Plaza San Fransico de Asis. You may like to end your tour by drinking a Mojito at Floridita or a Daiquiri at Bodeguita del Media, both Hemingway’s preferred places for these drinks. Estimated Time : 3 hours.

Colonial Heritage - The fortresses tour:

We will follow the ring of Spanish fortresses, buit to protect the city from pirats and corsairs.. We could begin by Castillo della real Fuerza and end by El Morro, to assist – at 9 PM – to the cannon shooting ceremony, which used to announce the closing of the city doors. For this tour, which should be take in the afternoon, the Estimated Time is 4 hours.

Vibrant City life - Central Havana, Vedado and the Malecon:

Going first toCentral Havana will give you an occasion to melt with the real life of Havanese.We will begin our tour in San Lazaro street and follow it till the University of Havana. We will then visit the Revolution Square, with the portrait of Che Guevara. We will, afterwards, go down L avenue till La Rampa Street and the Malecon. Perhaps it is the occasion to take an ice cream at Coppellia, which was made famous by the film Fresa y Chocolate. Estimated Time : 3 hours

Something pink! - the Gay night tour:

Even if you should not wait here to see a gay district, like Barcelona’s Eixample or Madrid’s Chueca, the spectacle of hundreds of gay youth hanging on the Malecon seewall, at the end of Calle L, Vedado, is unique. But perhaps would you like to finish your night in one of the gay night clubs and transformist shows that are now openly take place, far from the once prohibited gay fiestas

TRAVEL ASSISTANCE

Of course, apart from tours, I could help you with :

- Arranging accomodation at gay friendly casas particulares in Havana and other cities.
- Arranging transportation in Havana and around Cuba.
- Making dinner and shows reservations
- Just being on call if you want some assistance.

TRAVEL CONSULTANCY

Perhaps you could need some consultancy on what to do ? Someone to plan your day-by-day visits to make them on your own ? Let me know your interests and I will give you a document with things to do, routes, suggestions, and how to get there.

This could be done either before your arrival, or once you're already in Cuba, through a meeting in your hotel or your casa.