Museum Tour

National Museum of Fine Arts opened in its current location in 1954 and was reopened in 2001 to unanimous praise, following a five-year closure. The art collection – totaling nearly 50,000 works – has been divided into two separate buildings: the Cuban art collection (Arte Cubano), and the international collection (Arte Universal).

Explore More About Museums in Havana:

Havana museums do not get the credit they deserve. When you think of Cuba, you think of music, classic American cars, colonial architecture, smooth rum, and a vibrant nightlife among other things. But Havana has so much to offer in the realm of the arts.

Here is a curated list of some of the best museums in Havana, from breathtaking works of art to historical to quirky, these museums deliver.

Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (National Museum of Fine Arts)

On par with top museums worldwide, this museum has an extensive and diverse collection and is easily one of the best museums in Havana. With two impressive buildings, one dedicated to Cuban Arts (the Palacio de Bellas Artes) and the other dedicated to Universal Arts in the International Gallery, this is the mother of all museums in Havana. The National Museum of Fine Arts of Havana displays exhibits spanning the colonial era up through contemporary art by world-renowned artists. There is surely something here for everyone.

Museo Napoleonico (Napoleonic Museum)

If you’re a fan of 19th-century history, then you should add this to your list of museums in Havana, Cuba to see. It houses one of the largest collections of Napoleon Bonaparte’s belongings, and period artifacts, outside of France. The museum is housed in a beautiful setting in a former mansion. The rooms and gardens display recreations of what the mansion looked like during that period.

Church and Convent of St. Francis of Assisi

Located on Plaza San Francisco, the Church and Convent of St. Francis of Assisi were built at the end of the 16th century and then restored in the 17th century in the Baroque style. While it no longer houses a convent, it is now a museum and concert hall, boasting some of the best acoustics in the city.

If you’re not afraid of heights, you should definitely climb the stairs to the roof of the bell tower, standing 138 ft. high, to get some of the best views of the city.

Taquechel Pharmacy Museum

One of the most fascinating museums in Havana, Cuba is the Taquechel Pharmacy Museum. Step back in time to see what a pharmacy of days gone by might have looked like. With wooden shelves lined by flasks and ceramic jars filled with herbal concoctions, this family pharmacy founded in 1898 by Francisco Taquechel was restored in 1996 and now serves as both a museum and a working pharmacy.

Museo del Ron Havana Club (Rum Museum)

Another of the best museums in Havana you must see is the Museo del Ron Havana Club, located in an 18th-century palace in the heart of Old Havana, is a museum created to tell the story of everything related to history and manufacturing of rum. It features the traditional rum-making process and a store with a stellar selection of aged rums.

Museo de la Revolucion (Museum of the Revolution)

Inaugurated in 1920 by President Marío Garcia Menocal, the former Presidential Palace was designed by the Cuban architect Rodolfo Maruri and the Belgian architect Paul Belau, who also designed what is presently known as the Gran Teatro de La Habana. It remained the Presidential Palace until the Cuban Revolution of 1959.

Museo del Chocolate (Chocolate Museum)

Billed as a museum, the Museo del Chocolate is more of a tasting room/café where the chocolate is to die for! The part that you would consider a museum house displays about the history of cacao, production, and commercialization. For chocolate connoisseurs, you will be impressed by the materials donated by Belgian museums, including posts of long-gone Belgian chocolate brands like Martougin.