One of my favorite parts of my visit to Havana, Cuba was a side trip about 15 miles out of the city to San Francisco de Paula. It’s the location of Finca La Vigía, the Ernest Hemingway Museum.
While in Havana via a Fathom cruise to Cuba on the Adonia, two other travelers and I broke away from the group tour and hired a taxi to drive us about 30 minutes to reach the 13-acre estate known as La Finca Vigia (Spanish for “lookout farm”) that became a refuge for Hemingway in 1939.
Built in 1886 by a Spanish Architect Miguel Pascual Baguer, Hemingway purchased Finca Vigia in 1940 for a cost of $12,500. He would live there for two decades, until purchasing a home near Ketchum, Idaho in 1959 to get out of the subtropical heat for part of the year. After Hemingway’s death in 1961, the Cuban government seized ownership of the property from Mary Hemingway. The house and grounds are said to be virtually intact as Hemingway left them.
Separate from the main house, Hemingway’s forth wife Mary had the tower built as a high-rise writing room with a killer view. The photo above shows the back side of the tower.
Visitors willing to climb the tower’s steep stairs are rewarded with a peek inside. Visitors cannot enter the room, but the local guide urged me to give her my phone to take photos for me. These guides are present throughout the estate, and work for tourists’ tips.
It is easy to picture Hemingway being inspired to write For Whom the Bell Tolls
Although I did not ask her to take them, I appreciate the close-up photos the guide took, like this one of a painting of Hemingway on a hunt in Africa.
The guide also shot a nice close-up of the Corona typewriter at the desk in the tower.
A. E. Hotchner, Hemingway’s friend, claims that while the author enjoyed view from the tower, and found it quiet place to read, he actually preferred to complete his serious writing on the typewriter on top of the bookcase in his bedroom in the main house. (Look for typewriter in photo above.)
Glancing into the living room at Finca La Vigía, one can still see the liquor and mixer bottles by the sofa.
Every room at Finca La Vigía is filled with books, and hunting trophies.
Hemingway even kept books in the bathroom. He also wrote on the wall (left of door) numbers tracking his blood pressure, weight and number of words written on a given day.
There’s much more to see at Finca La Vigia including the pool where Ava Gardner supposedly swam naked, photos of “Papa” and his friends in the pool house, and his beloved fishing yacht, Pilar.
There’s even the dog cemetery, pictured above.
Plus, an outdoor bar for visitors to enjoy a special Hemingway cocktail with Havana Club rum sweetened with freshly-pressed sugarcane. While enjoying my cocktail, I met a man with a special connection to Kansas City Royals baseball.
The Hemingway Museum at Finca Vigia is generally open:
- 10am to 4pm, Monday thru Saturday
- 9am to 1pm, Sunday
Admission is $5 CUC per person. Our taxi ride from Havana to the Museum, with the driver waiting, and our return cost $30 CUC.
Learn more about Hemingway’s time in Cuba:
Have you visited one of Hemingway’s houses in Key West, Cuba or Idaho?
Other Cuba-related posts:
- Cementerio de Cristobal Colon, Havana, Cuba
- A Look Around the Adonia Cruise Ship from fathom
- Reflecting on My Visit to Cuba: People to People Interactions Were the Best
- Adding Cuba to My Travelers’ Century Club List of 325 Destinations
- 50 Interesting Facts about Cuba
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