300 Ways to Love Havana – Heidi Hollinger’s guide to Cuba’s capitol city

World renowned photographer shares her insider’s knowledge of Havana

Heidi Hollinger is a force of nature is off the charts with her intellectual capacity. She has an artist’s eye for her photography profession, and the capacity to speak four languages; English, French, Spanish and Russian with its different alphabet.

300 Reasons To Love Havana is the definitive guide to Cuba’s capitol city

Many travellers today want more than an all inclusive beach vacation – or at least want to add local authenticity to their sea and sand holiday. Many travel wholesalers are offering packages that include several days in Havana as well as the beach vacation. A long-time temporary resident of Havana, she has recently published an updated version of her first-hand guide to Havana. Heidi is an insider because she spends several months a year exploring every nook in Cuba’s capitol city. She has visited the places described in her book. Heidi offers a guide to the top restaurants, most interesting architecture, top artists’ studios, the best cigar lounges, art galleries, wine cellars, and even the best locations for spectacular sunsets.

When asked; “Why Cuba?” Heidi quickly responds; “Because I fell in love with the people – it’s a simple as that. This is my love letter to Havana.”

Havana is an up-and-coming foodie destination, and readers will find Heidi’s recommendations in 300 Reasons To Love Havana.

300 Ways to Love Havana will give you a heads up on the best boutique hotels, who to contact for a classic car ride, How about a tour of rooftop bars and/or restaurants by a bicycle taxi. Guided tours of the city’s architecture are available.

In a recent conversation with The Montrealer, Heidi noted: “I started my photography career at the McGill Daily while studying at McGill.”

Heidi Hollinger is widely credited with having revolutionized political photography in Russia during her 10-year residence in Moscow in the 90s. Her ’’non-iconic’’ portraits of leading politicians created new ways of depicting personalities, while making her into a celebrity herself. Her professional exploits and even her personal life were followed by the national media, making her, in the words of former Canadian Ambassador to Russia, Rodney Irwin, ’’the best-known Canadian in Russia’’.

Heidi began photographing in 1980 when she was 12 years old. In 1988 she became photo editor of the McGill Daily, one of Canada’s oldest university publications. In 1990, she graduated from McGill University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Modern Languages. She speaks English, French, Russian and Spanish.

Author and photographer Heidi Hollinger lives part of the year in Havana
Photo: Rondo Banks

In 1991, Heidi moved to Russia and taught English at Moscow State University. “It was an exciting time to be in Russia, with the implementation of Perestroika. The society was opening up.” In 1992, she continued on as a graduate student in Political Science. From 1992-1993 she worked at the Canadian Embassy in Moscow, issuing immigration visas.

In 1994 her first photography exhibit opened at the Moscow Photo Center, enjoying enormous success. ’Faces of the Opposition featured stylistically unprecedented photographs of Russia’s political elite, and was later shown in cities across Russia, Canada and the United States. That same year she became the first non-Russian photo editor at the leading national daily newspaper Pravda. Heidi worked as a Moscow-based photojournalist for The Globe and Mail from 1996-2000.

In 2001, a major retrospective of her photography work was exhibited at the Canadian Parliament and the Russian Embassy in Ottawa. In 2002 she exhibited at the Russian Consulate in New York City.  Her photos are published in leading publications such as The New York Times Magazine, Time, The Globe and Mail, Macleans, Elle, Le Monde, The Guardian and The Telegraph.

Heidi has published five books including Heidi Chez Les Soviets  (Les Intouchables, Montreal, 1999), Peculiarities of Russian Politicians (Vagrius, Moscow, 1999), Les Russes  (Les Éditions Stanké, Montreal, 2000), The Russians Emerge (Abbeville Press, New York, 2002), Monsieur Poutine vous permettez? (Les Éditions La Semaine, Montreal, 2009) and 300 Reasons To Love Havana / 300 raisons d’aimer La Havane (Les Éditions de l’Homme, Montreal, 2018) and has collaborated on the book Commotions Cérébrales (Les Éditions Flammarion, Montreal, 2021)

Portrait sessions with world leaders including Fidel Castro, Vladimir Putin, Mikhail Gorbachev, Justin Trudeau, Jean Chrétien, Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama.

From 2009-2013, Heidi was the host of Waterfront Cities of the World (Ports d’attache), a bilingual documentary series filmed in 40 cities around the world including Melbourne, Reykjavik, Tokyo, Havana, Helsinki, Honolulu, New York, Copenhagen, London, Buenos Aires, Singapore, Hamburg, Venice, Lima and Montreal which is aired in 110 countries in 40 languages, broadcast on TV5 and Knowledge TV.

Having published the second edition in 2024, Heidi is resuming her photography career with her son Luka’s marketing company Honey Ice. Happy to be returning to photography. Heidi states; “I had a photography studio in Westmount for a number of years, and I’m already enjoying contributing to my son’s creative agency.

300 Reasons to Love Havana is available in book stores and online. It comes as a handy paperback, easy to carry while travelling in a backpack. Whether leafing through the book or reading all 288 pages; this guidebook may well whet your appetite for a discovery trip to Havana. Bon Voyage!