Alamar

Introduction

Alamar, also called Alamar-Playa, sits in the east of La Habana as part of the Habana del Este municipio. The district is built largely from prefabricated Soviet-style architecture, a landscape the Cuban poet Juan Carlos Flores called "The Heart of The Russian Barrio."

Getting around

Alamar sits on Havana's eastern edge rather than in the tourist core, so treat every trip into the centre as something you plan rather than improvise. There is no metro or tram network here and no ride-hailing coverage described in the available information, so your options come down to buses, the train, taxis and shuttle or tour buses. Most visitors use the district as a base and head into central Havana for the day.

The bus is the best all-round choice if you do not have a car: fast, frequent and cheap. The Empresa Provincial de Transporte de la Habana (EPTH) runs a direct service from the "Hanoi" stop in Alamar to "G y 25" in Havana, roughly every ten minutes daily, with a journey of around half an hour and no changes needed. Cuba Local Buses also serves the route but only about once an hour. Ferrocarriles de Cuba runs a train from "Cuadra" station into Havana — the cheapest way in, departing about once a day and taking a little under forty minutes, so it suits flexible schedules only. Taxis (Cuba Ruby, Cubataxi and Taxis Cuba among the operators) cover the trip in around a quarter of an hour at a correspondingly higher cost, and are the most straightforward choice if you are short on time or carrying luggage. Shuttle and tour buses to Parque Central take roughly twenty minutes, a middle ground between the public options and a private taxi.

• Within Alamar itself, walking between your accommodation, nearby shops and the Organoponico Vivero Alamar co-operative farm is realistic; walking all the way into central Havana is not.
• No direct airport-to-Alamar service is described — get into the city first, then use the EPTH bus from "G y 25," the train from Cuadra, a taxi or a shuttle to Parque Central. With heavy luggage or a late arrival, arrange a taxi rather than relying on the once-daily train or the hourly Cuba Local Buses service.
• Fares and frequencies of this kind are estimates from transport-planning sources and can shift, so confirm locally before you rely on a particular departure.

Three days in Alamar

Day one: Start in Alamar proper, the vast eastern suburb of La Habana known as the Russian Barrio for its Soviet-era blocks. Wander the streets to get your bearings, then head to the Playa for the afternoon. In the evening, look for the cultural centre named for Juan Carlos Flores, a local poet, where readings and events give you a sense of the neighbourhood's own voice.

Day two: Take the bus into Havana. Cuba Local Buses and the Empresa Provincial de Transporte (EPTH) run routes between Alamar and the city, and taxis such as Cubataxi and Taxis Cuba are another option; from Parque Central you can reach most of the centre on foot. Spend the day among the sights of Habana, then return east in the evening.

Day three: Visit the Organoponico Vivero Alamar, the community urban farm, to see how the suburb grows its own produce. Afterwards, explore more of Alamar's cuadras on foot, or take a taxi to the coast. For the journey back into Havana, the shuttle and the Ferrocarriles de Cuba train are alternatives to the bus.