Habana Mafia -Tour

The capital of the largest Caribbean island in the years before the revolution of 1959, was particularly shaped by the dictator Fulgencio Batista and his machinations with the American mafia.

Gambling, prostitution, drugs, hotels, palaces and also the famous Havana conference that took place at the “Hotel Nacional” in 1946, with around 500 leading mafia members participating. Where did Batista, his family and some of his followers live? Where did Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano live? How did the Mafia intend to organize its own state and why did its plans fail? These topics and a “Mafia Mojito” will be the focus of this tour.

show route map

On our e-bikes, we will be following today the historical traces of the Mafia in Cuba, especially in Havana. Of course, a tour on a vintage car from this period, through the vibrant metropolis will be included. We´ll take a look at the former hotels of the notorious mafia members. Interesting will be also, to realize that there are places in Las Vegas with the same names like here. On the full-day tour we´ll be visiting the ruins of what was, perhaps, the most famous casino in Havana at the time, located at a small promontory near the Marina Hemingway, as well as "Ciudad Libertad", the former military headquarter “Columbia, where Batista and many of his followers flock together, place that became a school in January 1959. Of course, the hotels that belonged to the Mafia are included in both tours, as well as some of their favorite bars and many interesting stories about relationships, both private and political, that these “personages” had in Cuba. Our tour will certainly be exciting and maybe you can even recognize some of the places we will visit, having them seen before in movies or documentaries about the mafia.
At 9 am our guide expects us with the e-bikes in the park “Parque Mariana Grajales”, Calle 23 between C and D, Vedado, named after the mother of the revolution´s hero General Officer Antonio Maceo (1845-1896). As an alternative, an individual meeting point can be settled for closed groups. After a short introduction to the e-bikes, client’s bike adjustments to each individual height and some general information about the roads and rules of Cuban traffic, we are ready to begin our discovery-trip with the e-bikes. As you will quickly notice, the means of transportation in Cuba are different from what we are used to.
Please understand, that we are not publishing here a detailed tour description, all our guides live in Havana and know the city and its mafia history better than hardly anyone else. You will certainly see today some of the classic sights, but these are not the focus of the day. The idea of ​​this tour is to bring you back to the time when Havana was a pulsating, albeit criminal and corrupt world metropolis, predominantly of the high society at that time.

Highlights

Capitolio, Gran Teatro, Malecón, Habana Vieja, Centro Habana, Parque Central, Museo de la Revolución, Hotel Nacional, Plaza de la Revolución, Teatro Nacional, Vedado, La Rampa, Playa, Miramar and many more (please note that the half-day tour is of course somewhat more limited in terms of range and variety)

Included
  • Guide (English, German, Spanish, other languages, on request)
  • E-bike
  • Helmet
  • 1 bottle of water 500ml
  • lunch (incl. 2 drinks / soft drinks)
              
Level of difficulty
Easy

Remarks
Clothing:
Sneaker or closed shoes, sunglasses, sun protection

Museums and restaurants: depending on the opening hours, modifications/changes to the program are possible.
Lunch: Location and time may vary, based on availability.

Mandatory information
Sex (female/male):
female / male (including the information if there is any special condition regarding body size / weight of clients or if there is any disability / handicap)

Kids:
There is a no minimum age, only a minimum body size of 1.40m

Trailer for kids / seats:
For our future bikers we offer a special trailer o seat for kids.
Max weight: 25 kg. The availability of these trailers / seats are always “on request”.

Weather
Although Cuba has over 300 days of sunshine a year, it can also give a violent Cuban Caribbean shower. Since this rain has rather shower temperature, we can continue with the motto "biking in the rain" with or without poncho or we make a drink break.

Cancellation policies
  • 7 - 3 days before arrival:   50%
  • 2 - 1 day before arrival:     80%
  • No Show & cancellation 24 horas before arrival:  100%
Notes
All not explicitly listed services are not included in the price, no tips and alcoholic beverages except local beer during meals.
We recommend the travel participants the previous conclusion of a travel accident, travel sickness and travel liability insurance. Cubyke accepts no liability for damages not caused by Cubyke. All bicycles are always in a technically perfect condition.

Route

  1. Havanna