Caribbean Travel: Five free things to do in Havana, Cuba

No visit is complete without a leisurely walk through the cobblestoned Spanish colonial quarter, much of it patiently rehabilitated by the Havana City Historian’s Office. A tour of four public squares is enough to hit the highlights: intimate Cathedral Square, home to the city’s main Roman Catholic temple; leafy Plaza de Armas, where vendors hawk books, coins and Ernesto “Che” Guevara memorabilia at a daily flea market; sun-drenched Plaza Vieja, where uniformed children from a local school play rollicking games of tag; and breezy Plaza San Francisco, the jumping-off point for tour buses to Old Havana. The latter teems with colorfully dressed, cigar-chomping women who make a living as what you might call officially licensed “greeters,” attaching themselves to the arms of male travelers and leaving lipsticky kiss marks on their cheeks. A tip is expected if you have your picture taken with them, but a polite, preemptive “no gracias” before they can pucker up should keep you on budget.