Real Fábrica de Tabaco Partagas

There are few cigar makers which are accepting visitors. The factory Partagas is one of them. There is an entrance fee and the visit is guided. Located in the center of La Havana, the Partagas factory is pretty big but the production is on the upper level only. Every cigar is made by hand, by women who are paid by the piece. I was told that they can make over 100 pieces a day. Each piece has 5 layers and require a lot of skills to be produced. Pictures can be taken behind glass but one cannot go around the factory even with a guide. The name HAVANA is reserved for cigars which are exported and they all have a specific cigar band.

This is completely closed. All production has moved to other places. Avoid street sellers trying to sell you cigars out front. They often tell you about cooperativa. That doesn’t happen here and you are not invited. It’s just a facade now.

As an American I couldn't be any happier with the selection of world class Cuban cigars. Even got to smoke in the VIP lounge. Love it! This is a must see!

Had a great time here. Enjoyed spending a few hours smoking cigars, drinking Santiago Rum at the bar, and watching people roll the cigars. Trusted and they have standardised rates. Don't trust the hawkers near El Capitol.

One of the must visit shops in Havana. They have a selection of accessories, cigar singles or boxes. The lounge at the back is small but one of the most popular especially during festivals.

It's a good place to buy fine Tobaco but the prices are not a catch. It's the typical prices you would find in big stores.

Do NOT come to here. First of all it is fully shut down and abandoned. Second of all the locals would pretend to be all sort of people. We met a self proclaimed tour guide, at first he seemed nice, telling us to ask whatever we want to him for free. After some time he insisted us to come to this place, telling us that the factory is closed but there’s a community house selling the same cigars with the same workers nearby. On the road he kept saying all the sellers have 20 years of experience rolling cigars. When we arrived there it was just a small cabinet selling fake cigars and the sellers were clearly trying to scam us. Our time was wasted and the “tour guide” even threatened us if we don’t give him some money, declaring we would get into trouble(get beaten up?)if we do not give him some change despite insisting not to give any from the beginning… TLDR: Please do not believe anyone would help you for free in this area, if they approach you out of nowhere and starts talking for more than 30 seconds, please don’t be like us and follow them!

Be aware of those street sales, they are a group, they are searching for naive tourists like us, and show us their pricy cigars, we didn't notice there is an official store because they kind of block our sight.