ernest hemingway travel

Tracing the Literary Travels of Ernest Hemingway

An exhaustive traveller, Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) is revered as one of the iconic writers of American fiction, noted for his understated prose and evocative portrayals of South American and European locales.

Born in Oak Park, Illinois in 1899 to a physician father and musician mother, Hemingway began his career at seventeen, working as a journalist. He soon enlisted as a volunteer in the First World War, but was rejected by the Infantry Service, instead joining the Red Cross Medical Service on the Italian Front where he was badly injured. Following the war he embarked on a brief career as a foreign correspondent for the Toronto Star, before returning home to the United States to focus on writing. Newly married, Hemingway would go on to settle in Paris, where he would be acquainted with the modernist American writers Ezra Pound and Gertrude Stein, who were also living in Europe.

A period of creativity followed with Hemingway submitting eighty-eight short stories, and various travel pieces to the Toronto Star . He released his first collection Three Storie s and Ten Poems in 1923, followed by In Our Time (1925) , a collection of short story vignettes. He moved back to the United States in 1926, where he produced his first major novelistic triumph, The Sun Also Rises (1926), about a group of expatriate American and English expatriates traveling from Paris to Spain. Often autobiographical, Hemingway’s overseas travels informed much of his work, spanning the globe from his early literary sojourns in France to African Safaris, the Spanish Civil War, and excursions in Cuba and the Caribbean.

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A classic piece of travelogue fiction, Green Hills of Africa (1935) is an elegantly written, lyrical depiction of the African landscape, wilderness and culture. His second work of nonfiction was inspired by Hemingway’s visit to Safari country in East Africa, the region was also a source of inspiration for short stories such as ‘The Snows of Kilimanjaro’ and ‘The Shot Happy Life of Francis Macomber’. A suspenseful read, this non-fiction novel also features Hemingway’s meditations on writing.

Cuba was also a pivotal setting for much of his writing with Hemingway first visiting the island in the 1920s. His novella about aging, death and the human spirit, The Old Man and the Sea (1952) was one of the last major works written during his lifetime, and won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1953. The story, about an old fisherman’s lonely struggle out at sea was inspired by Cuban fisherman Gregorio Fuentes, who met Hemingway in 1928 while the author was living in Cuba.

In the posthumously published memoirs A Moveable Feast (1961) Hemingway gives us a vivid description of his early years spent in 1920’s Paris as part of an expatriate group of writers and artists which included Ezra Pound, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein and James Joyce. A portrait of the artist as a young man, these witty, lively sketches covers the period between 1921 and 1926, and are considered one of the definitive depictions of old Paris. The title comes from Hemingway’s oft-quoted remark that ‘If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.’ The quote appears as the book’s epitaph. By Erdinch Yigitce

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A Guide to Hemingway’s Paris

From writing haunts to favorite bars, follow the ex-pat author’s steps through Paris

Natasha Geiling

Ernest Hemingway was a man of the world, and his global travels are well-reflected in his famous works. The Caribbean, Africa, America and Europe all hosted the famous writer at one point or another, but perhaps no location is as heavily associated with Hemingway as Paris. "If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man," Hemingway once wrote, "then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast." 

Hemingway moved to Paris with his first wife, Hadley, in 1921. The young couple lived in an apartment on the rue Cardinale Lemoine in Paris' 5th arrondissement. The apartment was sparse, with no running water and a bathroom that consisted of little more than a bucket. Hemingway rented another space, at 39 rue Descartes, where he did his writing.

During their time in Paris, the Hemingways became acquainted with other ex-pats living in the city. Composing the famous "Lost Generation," these artists, including Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, Picasso and James Joyce, became central to Hemingway's growth as a writer.

The couple left Paris in 1923, when Hadley discovered she was pregnant with their first child. But their absence was short lived: after giving birth in Toronto, the couple brought their baby back to Paris in January of 1924. This second life in Paris ushered in one of Hemingway's most prolific creative periods, during which he wrote works such as  The Sun Also Rises  and  Men Without Women .   In 1927, Hadley divorced Hemingway after discovering his affair with Pauline Pfeiffer, a fashion reporter. Hemingway and Pfeiffer married only a few months later and left Paris for Key West the following year.

​Even though nearly a century has passed since Hemingway lived and wrote in the streets of Paris, his unique version of the city remains: stroll through the windy avenues   of the Left Bank, visit the Jardin Luxembourg or sit down at one of his favorite cafés to make Hemingway's Paris your own.

Hotel d'Angleterre

Ernest Hemingway and Hadley spent their first night in Paris together at the  Hotel d'Angleterre , in room 14—and Ernest returned to the hotel many times after.   The hotel still stands, and still allows guests to stay in room 14.  Time Out Paris describes the room as "a pretty lemon and white affair, with marshmallowy pillows and comfy armchairs." Even better, the hotel is perfectly suitated in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, a short walk from the cafés and bars Hemingway loved.

Hotel d'Angleterre: 44 Rue Jacob, Paris 75006 ; 42.60.34.72

Les Deux Magot

Located in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Les Deux Magot was once the meeting place for Paris' literary elite, including Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre. Hemingway also frequented the café, and even used it as a setting for a meeting place in  The Sun Also Rises . Nowadays, you'll find more tourists than literary minds sitting at the café's tiny tables, but it's the perfect place to enjoy people watching on the Left Bank over one of Hemingway's favorite cocktails, a daiquiri or martini.

Les Deux Magot: 6 place Saint-Germain-des-Prés, 75006 ; +33 (0)1 45 48 55 25

Café de Flore

Hemingway spent a lot of time writing at Paris' charming cafés, so he didn't just stick to Les Deux Magot. Sometimes, he'd spend his afternoons working at another Saint-Germain-des-Prés café, Café de Flore. If you're lucky, you might experience a modern-day celebrity sighting while following in Hemingway's footsteps: Robert Deniro and Quentin Tarantino have been known to visit Café de Flore while in Paris.

Café de Flore: 172 Blvd. St.-Germain, 75006 ; +33 (0)1 45 48 55 26

La Closerie des Lilas

Moving out of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, check out  La Closerie des Lilas , located near Hemingway's second apartment in Montparnasse.  Like Les Deux Magots, La Closerie became a watering hole for artistic and literary minds in Paris, and Hemingway went there often to write—he wrote most of  The Sun Also Rises  there. La Closerie des Lilas was also the first place where Hemingway read F. Scott Fitzgerald's manuscript of  The Great Gatsby .

La Closerie des Lilas: 171 Boulevard du Montparnasse 75015 ; +33 (0)1 40 51 34 50

Jardin du Luxembourg

Also in Montparnasse is the Jardin du Luxembourg, where Hemingway would explore to experience nature in the city. When his family was wanting for money , he would sometimes hunt pigeons in the Jardin du Luxembourg, snapping their necks and hiding their bodies in his son's pram. You don't have to stalk pigeons to experience the Jardin du Luxembourg, however. Stroll around the grounds (it's the second largest public park in Paris) and admire the shaded alleys and fountains, or visit the  Luxembourg Palace , which today houses the French Senate.

Jardin du Luxembourg: 6e Arrondissement, 75006 ; +33 (0)1 42 34 23 62.

Shakespeare and Company

Anyone fascinated with Hemingway—or any other early modernist English author—should take a trip to  Shakespeare and Company , a historic bookstore near the Seine on Paris' Left Bank.

Started by American expat Sylvia Beach in 1919, the bookstore served as the center for English speaking writers and publishers in post-WWI Paris. Hemingway mentions the shop in his Paris memoir  A Moveable Feast , writing, "In those days there was no money to buy books. I borrowed books from the rental library of Shakespeare & Company, which was the library and bookstore of Sylvia Beach at 12 rue de l'Odeon . On a cold windswept street, this was a warm, cheerful place with a big stove in winter, tables and shelves of books, new books in the window, and photographs on the wall of famous writers both dead and living."  

Shakespeare and Company was also the first place to publish James Joyce's classic,  Ulysses .  The original shop closed in 1940, but a second location (the one you can visit today) opened in 1951. The only connection between the two stores, sadly, is the name, but the new location still pays homage to the literary tradition that the original shop once fostered.

Shakespeare and Company: 37 rue de la Bûcherie ; +33-(0)1 43 25 40 93.

Harry's New York Bar

One of the bars Hemingway frequented was  Harry's New York Bar , situated on Paris' Right Bank. The bar opened in 1911 , near the Paris Opera, and served as a meeting place for expatriates in the city. The bar itself came from a Manhattan bar that Harry's original owner, jockey Tod Sloan, had owned previously. Sloan had the New York bar dismantled and shipped across the Atlantic to Paris—hence the bar's "New York" name (the "Harry's" came later, from a bartender who bought the bar from Sloan in 1923).   Harry's is the birthplace of a number of famous cocktails, from the Paris 75 (gin, champagne, lemon juice and sugar) to the Sidecar.   It even claims to have invented the Bloody Mary .

Harry's New York Bar: 5 rue Daunou, 75002 ; +33 (0)1 42 61 71 14.

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Natasha Geiling | | READ MORE

Natasha Geiling is an online reporter for Smithsonian magazine.

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• Nov 2, 2023

Following in the Adventurous Footsteps of Ernest Hemingway: A Travel Itinerary

Ernest Hemingway crafted his vivid literary works like A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and The Old Man and the Sea-based extensively on his own daring international escapades. From running with the bulls in Pamplona to fishing local waters in Havana, Hemingway drew inspiration from the people and places he encountered during his adrenaline-filled life.

For Hemingway fans, traveling to the varied global sites he lived, drank, hunted, and wrote offers unprecedented insights into the legendary author's passions and pastimes. By exploring his birthplace in suburban Oak Park, journeying to Northern Michigan woods that kindled his nature writing, and witnessing Spanish bullfighting rings, devotees can trace how Hemingway’s thirst for adventure fueled his raw, muscular prose.

This literary expedition crosses multiple continents, from Italy, where he convalesced after war wounds, to the Cuban farm, where he penned The Old Man and the Sea. Follow in Hemingway’s rugged footsteps into cafes, newsrooms, war zones, and fishing villages that made indelible imprints on his storytelling and quintessentially American machismo.

A Historical and Literary Travel Itinerary of Ernest Hemingway's Life

Oak park, illinois: hemingway's early years.

Nobel Prize-winning writer Ernest Hemingway was born and spent his formative years in the quiet Chicago suburb of Oak Park before embarking on a life of adventure. Seeing where he grew up provides great insight into his origins:

• Tour the Hemingway Birthplace Home and Museum, which still contains original furniture from when the family lived there.

• Walk the picturesque paths of Forest Park a few blocks away, where young Ernie explored nature and read classics al fresco.

• Pass by Oak Park and River Forest High School, where Hemingway first honed his writing craft by penning stories for the student newspaper.

• Have dinner at popular Berghoff Cafe, which opened in 1898, where teen Hemingway likely stopped for a malt after school.

Strolling the tree-lined streets of vintage Oak Park captures a bygone era of Hemingway’s wholesome Midwestern upbringing before he ventured beyond into worlds unknown.

Northern Michigan: Early Nature Inspiration

Ernest Hemingway's family had deep ties to Northern Michigan, where they spent idyllic childhood summers camping, fishing, and exploring the woods near Walloon Lake that later featured prominently in Hemingway's writing like the Nick Adams stories.

Must-see Northern Michigan spots include:

• Horton Bay General Store - where young Hemingway was paid 5 cents for each fish he caught that the store owner then sold

• Michigan Hemingway Society guided tours covering Petoskey ocean harbors and more locations referenced in his works

• Hiking and camping around forests and streams of the Huron-Manistee National Forest, where the Hemingways vacationed

• Good Hart General Store original site - featured in Hemingway short stories, rebuilt after burglary arson

Absorbing the same tranquil lakes, verdant forests, and quaint small towns of upstate Michigan brings Hemingway's wilderness adventure stories alive in vivid color.

Kansas City: Launching His Journalism Career

After graduating high school, Ernest Hemingway jumpstarted his writing career in Kansas City, working as a cub reporter for the Kansas City Star newspaper from 1917-1918. Relive his humble beginnings:

• The Kansas City Public Library's Hemingway Collection contains digitized Star clippings of the earliest stories with Hemingway's byline.

• Union Station Kansas City - Home of the Star offices in Hemingway's day, explore exhibits on his time in KC.

• Have drinks at Brewery Emperial or The Rieger Hotel Grill, where Hemingway debriefed with journalistic colleagues after press time.

• Visit the National WWI Museum and Memorial to reflect on how reporting on the Great War shaped Hemingway's perspective.

Hemingway's learnings about using terse language from the Star's style guide informed his famously compact prose. Roaming KC offers insight into his development before global fame.

Italy: Wounded During WWI

Ernest Hemingway volunteered as a Red Cross ambulance driver during World War I and was severely wounded in Italy, an experience that inspired his novel A Farewell to Arms. Sites tied to this pivotal time include:

• Fossalta, Italy - Where Hemingway was injured by mortar fire while delivering supplies to soldiers. See the museum exhibit about the event.

• St. Mark's Square, Venice - Featured in Across the River and Into the Trees, have a drink where Hemingway did after convalescing.

• Ristorante Aquila Nigra, Bassano - Dine at this Vicenza trattoria opened in Hemingway's day that he likely frequented to sample local Venetian cuisine.

• Tour the battlefields and memorials around the Isonzo River, where Hemingway drove ambulances on the front lines before his injury.

Walking where Hemingway did during the war provides deeper connections with the pain and courage he conveyed through writings like A Farewell to Arms.

Spain: Tales of Bullfighting & Fishing

Ernest Hemingway was enamored with Spanish culture, especially bullfighting and fishing, which featured prominently in works like The Sun Also Rises and The Old Man and the Sea, inspired by his travels in Spain.

Must-see sites include:

• Running of the Bulls in Pamplona during July's San Fermin Festival is described so vividly in The Sun Also Rises after Hemingway's visits.

• The fishing village of L’Escala on the Costa Brava, the inspiration and setting for The Old Man and the Sea, about an aging fisherman. Have fresh seafood with views of the Mediterranean.

• Touring the bullfighting rings like Las Ventas in Madrid that Hemingway revered as temples of an ancient bloody sport depicted often in his writings.

• Sipping rioja wine at late-night tapas bars Hemingway frequented in Madrid.

Walking the streets of Pamplona and coastal Spanish villages provides Technicolor glimpses into the sensory experiences that fed Hemingway’s imagination.

Havana, Cuba: A Literary Escape

Ernest Hemingway lived outside Havana, Cuba, at his home, Finca Vigía, for over two decades from 1939-1960, where he wrote The Old Man and the Sea and other late-career works. Sites in Havana and nearby related to his time include:

• Finca Vigía, his preserved hilltop villa where Hemingway wrote daily, entertained fellow literati like Dos Passos and kept his well-stocked fishing boat, Pilar.

• El Floridita bar, which boasts a bronze Hemingway statue, where he was said to frequently enjoy daiquiris.

• The ambiance of Hotel Ambos Mundos, where Hemingway often lodged in a room to write stories like the first pages of For Whom the Bell Tolls.

• Cojimar fishing village that was the inspiration for The Old Man and the Sea, just 8km from Havana.

Walking in Hemingway's footsteps through the streets of lively Havana and along the coast where he spent his leisure reveals the passions that shaped his latter years.

Ketchum, Idaho: The Final Chapter

After his time in Cuba, Ernest Hemingway and his wife purchased a home in Ketchum, Idaho, in 1959, hoping the mountain town would be reinvigorating. But he struggled with illness and depression there. Sites include:

• The Nature Conservancy's Hemingway-Boulders Preserve surrounding his former Ketchum residence with its wilderness trails and Wood River views that provided inspiration.

• The small Ketchum Cemetery where Hemingway is buried just a mile from his home after his tragic suicide in 1961 alongside his family members.

• Ketchum's Community Library - See early editions of Hemingway autographed for the library and other commemorative displays.

• Have a drink at The Casino Club, a Ketchum bar opened in 1947 that Hemingway frequented as a local patron relishing stories.

The remote, peaceful Ketchum area ultimately could not restore Hemingway to contentment and productivity, but tracing his Idaho years provides poignant insights into his tormented end.

Understanding Hemingway Through His Adventurous Life

By following in the footsteps of Ernest Hemingway across continents, devotees can gain profound perspectives into the famously adventurous life that shaped his literary output.

Walking the leafy suburban streets of his childhood fills in early blanks, seeing the landscapes and waters that molded him as a nature writer adds texture, and drinking in the sights and sounds of the Spanish festivals he adored brings technicolor vividness. The international influences become palpable.

Ultimately, traveling Hemingway’s path brings home how fully he wrung life for every last drop of experience which then got transmuted into his sparse yet intensely sensory writing. Standing where nimble prose took form out of rugged lands, you better understand the author behind the words.

While Hemingway’s depression cut his jam-packed life short, fans can still channel his curiosity and vigor while walking where he walked. Let his pursuit of life’s pleasures, pains, and truth inspire your own quest for adventures and stories.

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Hemingway in Cuba

The cult of Hemingway is strong in Cuba. While strolling around the cobblestone streets of Havana , you’ll see booksellers hawking his novels and museums dedicated to the author, who was known locally as “Papa.” Bars honor Hemingway with signature drinks and bronze statues, and there are tours that visit the places where he lived, worked, and fished. Whether you’re a Hemingway fanatic or just like a few of his stories, exploring the relationship between Hemingway and Cuba is utterly fascinating.

Hemingway lived in Cuba on and off for over 30 years. Not surprisingly, the Cuban gestalt – a conglomeration of its people, places, climate , culture , and history – makes its way into the stories of Hemingway. It’s a place where the writer fished, wrote, drank, wandered, and loved. Hemingway was an American, but he is still is one of the best-known figures in Cuban history, right up there with Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, and José Martí. This is, no doubt, thanks to government propaganda, which uses Hemingway’s experience in Cuba as a way to attract tourists. Still, it’s fascinating to learn more about the man and the myth, and find out just what is was that kept him coming back for over three decades.

First, the History

Hemingway first visited Cuba in 1928 while stopping on a layover to Spain. He spent three days in Havana and slept at the Hotel Ambos Mundos, which is where he would stay whenever he visited for the next decade. He returned to Cuba in 1932 — this time he brought two friends with him, and the three fished for marlin in the Gulf Coast. In 1939, Hemingway came back to Cuba and lived in the Hotel Ambos Mundos. It was during this period that he separated from his wife Pauline. He later met the woman who would become his third wife, Martha Gellhorn.

The couple bought Finca Vigía (Lookout Farm) , a one-story house set on a beautiful piece of property just outside of Havana. Hemingway spent almost twenty years in this home. He would travel to Cuba during the winter to escape the snows of Idaho and continue his work. While here, Hemingway wrote Islands in the Stream , A Moveable Feast , and The Old Man and the Sea . Today, you can visit his home-turned-museum and see the rooms where Hemingway wrote, read, and slept.

In 1942, Hemingway made a proposal to the U.S. embassy in Havana — he wanted to turn his fishing boat, the Pilar , into a Nazi hunter. He would, he said, supply his boat with machine guns and a trained crew. Ostensibly, the boat would be collecting specimens for the American Museum of Natural History, but in reality it would be searching for Nazi U-boats. The plan was approved, and the Pilar was launched off the northern coast of Cuba shortly thereafter. Gregorio Fuentes, who helped operate the boat from 1938 until Hemingway’s death, took part in the adventure. The two men patrolled Cuba’s northern cays for two years, and on several occasions spotted and reported Nazi boats. The entire adventure would serve as fodder for Hemingway’s novel Islands in the Stream .

The arrival of the Cold War meant that Hemingway was forced to decide between the U.S. and Cuba, and he chose the former. He left in 1960; a year after Batista was ousted. He returned to Idaho and committed suicide in July 1961.

After the author’s death, the Castro government seized Finca Vigía. Hemingway had, however, left the property to his fourth wife, Mary Welsh. The government allowed Mary to remove the majority of his manuscripts and letters, but required the rest of the home to be left as is. The home reopened 20 years later as a museum .

¡Viva la Revolución!

There’s been a good deal of speculation on how Hemingway felt about the Revolution. In Cuba, Hemingway is portrayed as supportive of Castro’s guerilla movement. There are a few quotations that seem to support this idea. His widow, Mary Welsh, said “Hemingway was always in favor of the Revolution.” And in some of his novels, Hemingway seems to be sympathetic towards the revolutionary cause. In Islands in the Stream , which was written during the Batista era, Hemingway writes, “There is an absolutely murderous tyranny that extends over every little village in the country.” However, in the very same book, a character says, “The Cubans…double-cross each other. They sell each other out. They got what they deserve. To hell with their revolutions.”

During his lifetime, Hemingway never openly discussed whether he supported Fidel or the Revolution. After his death, however, the Castro regime portrayed Hemingway as having been sympathetic to the revolutionaries. Castro even went so far as to say, “All the works of Hemingway are a defense of human rights,” and also claimed that For Whom The Bell Tolls inspired his own guerilla warfare during the fight against Batista.

Interestingly enough, Hemingway and Castro only met once. It was during the 10th Annual Ernest Hemingway Billfish Tournament in 1960. Castro, then the new leader of Cuba, was supposed to present the trophy to the tournament’s winner. However, he ended up landing the largest marlin and won the prize for himself. A number of jovial-looking photographs exist from the meeting between Hemingway and Castro, but the two were reported to have only made small talk amidst the formalities.

Museums and Marinas

There are a number of places to encounter the ghost of Ernest Hemingway today in Cuba. Foremost among those are museums dedicated to the great author.

The Ernest Hemingway Museum is located at Finca Vigía just outside of Havana. Hemingway’s home of twenty years is now a wonderful museum. Visitors aren’t allowed inside, but you can peer through doors and windows to see the house as Hemingway supposedly left it. His book and magazine collections adorn the house, as do the heads of the animals that he hunted. Finca Vigía is also home to Hemingway’s storied boat, the Pilar .

During the 1930s, Hemingway frequently stayed at the Ambos Mundos Hotel. From his fifth floor room, Hemingway enjoyed lovely views of the harbor and Havana Vieja . As the story goes, Hemingway started For Whom The Bell Tolls in Room 511. Today, this room has been turned into a small museum, portrayed as the author may have left it. The hotel lobby has several framed photos of Hemingway.

Set just six miles (10 km) east of Havana, the small fishing town of Cojimar is where Hemingway docked his boat, the Pilar . The town served as inspiration for the village in The Old Man and the Sea , and was also home to Gregorio Fuentes, Hemingway’s fishing partner who may have served as a model for Santiago in the novel. Fuentes died in 2002 at the age of 104. Cojimar is also home to La Terraza, a restaurant and bar where Hemingway often stopped after a day on the water. It’s touristy, but is still a fun place to grab a bite to eat. Nearby is a bust of Hemingway—in 1962, local fishermen donated metal from their boats to have it made.

Havana’s marina is named after Hemingway and is the place where Hemingway’s annual fishing tournament is held. The tournament began in 1950, and for the first three years, Hemingway won the trophy. The fishing was put on pause during the tumultuous years of 1961 and 1962, but resumed in 1963 following the Bay of Pigs invasion. Now in its 65th year, the tournament draws fishermen from around the world, who come here to hook marlin, tuna, and wahoo.

A Drink With Papa

It’s no secret that Hemingway loved to drink, and today there are two bars in Havana Vieja that keep his memory alive—El Floridita and La Bodeguita del Medio. At La Bodeguita, there’s graffiti on the wall that’s attributed to the writer. It says, “ Mi mojito en La Bodeguita, mi daiquirí en El Floridita .” It’s disputed whether this was actually written by Hemingway or used as a marketing gimmick after the writer’s death. Nonetheless, Hemingway loved these two bars, and visiting them is a fun way to pass an afternoon or evening.

El Floridita is set near Parque Central. The bar and restaurant opened in 1819, and in the 1950s, Esquire magazine named El Floridita one of the best bars in the world. It’s not quite the same as it once was, but it still has a certain old-timey appeal. The place feels sophisticated with its 1930s aesthetic. Barmen wear bowties and serve chilled drinks across the mahogany bar.

While Hemingway lived in Havana , this bar was a favorite hangout of his. The writer came here to drink and chat, and even brought a number of other notable intellectuals to El Floridita, including Tennessee Williams and Jean-Paul Sartre. It’s said that Hemingway especially loved the bar’s daiquiris, and today El Floridita continues to crank out this tasty rum-and-citrus drink in record numbers. This is the drink to order here; it’s touristy and expensive, but the appeal of drinking one of Hemingway’s favorite drinks in one of his favorite bars is undeniable. Hemingway’s own daiquiris, however, were served sugarless because he was a diabetic.

There’s a big, bronze statue of Hemingway leaning against the bar at El Floridita—tourists pose next to it and take pictures with their arms around the legendary author. Photos of Hemingway, including one with Fidel, surround the bar. While here, you’ll see people smoking cigars and sipping ice-cold drinks. There is often live music, and local poets sometimes sell handwritten poems to the bar’s patrons.

The other bar that you’ll need to visit is La Bodeguita del Medio. Located just a half block from La Catedral, this bar was originally a carriage house for an adjacent home. It eventually became a bodega, where proprietor Ángel Martínez sold food and drinks to locals. In the 1950s it had a bohemian appeal, drawing writers, musicians, and journalists into its smoky interior. Past visitors include Pablo Neruda, Salvador Allende, Nat King Cole, Gabriel García Márquez, and Ernest Hemingway.

La Bodeguita is known as the birthplace of the mojito, although this claim is widely disputed. Regardless, it’s a fun place to stop in and have a drink while wandering around Havana Vieja . The walls of La Bodeguita are covered with the signatures of visitors, some of which date back several decades. Old posters and photos of famous patrons (including Hemingway) hang from the walls. Musicians sing near the front of the bar.

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An Ernest Hemingway Guide to Spain

From the bull runs of Pamplona to cocktail bars in Madrid, Hemingway knew how to enjoy life in Spain.

By Toby Louch

The first half of the 20th century was a time of great political and social upheaval. Various revolutions and the Spanish Civil War (1936 – 1939) saw writers from across the globe flock to Spain as both reporters and combatants. English writer George Orwell published the famous Homage to Catalonia in 1938, following a period of fighting as part of a militia for the Republican army. But perhaps the most famous literary figure that journeyed to Spain during this time was the Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winner and American icon, Ernest Hemingway.

Hemingway’s love affair with Spain began in the early 1920s. At the time he was based in Paris but traveled to Spain to write travel articles for the Toronto Star newspaper. Producing work such as Tuna Fishing in Spain and Trout Fishing All Across Europe: Spain Has the Best, then Germany, here Hemingway acquired his first taste of the country.

It was on one of these trips that he discovered the city of Pamplona, the festival of San Fermín and, of course, bullfighting. Hemingway would become fascinated by bullfights or the corrida for the rest of his life, enchanted by the life-and-death consequences of this cultural phenomenon. The huge festival of San Fermín is one of the largest in Spain and sees almost one million people visit the small city of Pamplona. Outside of Spain it is more commonly known as the Pamplona bull run.

First visiting in 1923, Hemingway would return in 1924 and 1925, on the latter occasion bringing a group of writers and socialites. This trip would form the inspiration for his first novel The Sun Also Rises, regarded by some as his finest work and credited for introducing the festival to Western audiences for the first time.

Spain would go on to act as a major source of inspiration for Hemingway, he would use it as a setting for major works throughout his entire career, including Death in the Afternoon, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and his only full-length play The Fifth Column .

Spain is the ultimate destination for any fan of the great American writer. Hemingway himself described it as “The country that I loved more than any other except my own”. Here, Elite Traveler looks at some of the finest Hemingway-related sites that are sure to add a true sense of adventure to any Spanish sortie.

Festival of San Ferm ín

The weeklong, historic festival of San Fermín is a true site to behold and a must for anyone looking to experience Hemingway’s Spain. Held each year in the city of Pamplona, northern Spain, the festival celebrates Saint Firmin, one of the patron saints of Navarre, the province where Pamplona can be found.  

Beginning at noon on July 6 with the loud crack of a firework — known as the chupinazo — the festivities rage for the next nine days until midnight on July 14 when the populous gather at the city hall plaza to sing the melancholic ode, Pobre de Mí, “Poor Me”.

The moment for which the festival is most known is the Bull Run, which occurs every morning from July 7 through July 14 at 8am. Six bulls and six steers are released at the start of a half-mile stretch of old streets that lead to the city’s bullring. Runners attempt to sprint in front of the bulls on their way to the bullring with the journey usually taking around three minutes.

To the uninitiated, this is one of the wildest activities that can be found anywhere in Europe. Spectators fill the balconies that line Estafeta Street, which the bulls and runners travel down. It’s where visitors will find Gran Hotel La Perla, one of the finest hotels in the city, a popular stay due to its incredible balcony views of the Bull Run. Those wishing to stay should book well in advance as demand for balcony rooms is extremely high.

[See also: The Most Iconic Film Locations in Spain]

While there is no surviving record or memory of when this incredible tradition began, it is believed that by 1787 it was a well-established part of the festival. Aside from the bull-related activities that Hemingway loved, the festival sees parades across the city, other smaller traditional sporting events and a large firework display every evening.

If you’re looking to relax after all the commotion of the bull run, why not visit Iruña Café. This iconic Pamplona establishment was a favorite of Hemingway’s and is a part of the Council of Europe “Historic Café Route”. It was also one of the first destinations in the city to be lit by electricity.

[See also: The Most Scenic Drives in Spain]

The American maestro in Madrid

While the true spectacle of Pamplona is best enjoyed during the festival of San Fermín, Hemingway also spent a considerable amount of time in Madrid . Today the Spanish capital still lies home to many of his favorite haunts. It’s important to remember that during his life Hemingway earned a reputation as a hellraiser who enjoyed a drink, to say the least. True to form, the vast majority of his go-to destinations are cafes, bars, restaurants and hotels (which naturally almost always have a bar).

While visiting Madrid, Hemingway would often stay at the Palace Hotel. Found in the heart of Madrid’s bohemian literary quarter (very Hemingway), he would often stroll the short distance down the road to visit the Prado , Spain’s national art museum and home to some of the finest works in Europe. Today the Palace Hotel remains a five-star establishment and is now known as The Westin Palace, a part of the Marriot group.

A short walk north of the Palace Hotel is Museo Chicote. First opening in 1931, Museo Chicote is thought to be the first classic American-style bar in Spain. Regularly filled with celebrities of the age all sipping on cocktails, it’s no wonder it was a favored watering hole for Hemingway. He clearly loved it as he used it for the main setting of one of his short stories The Denunciation, first published in 1938.

[See also: Elite Traveler Reveals Top 100 Suites in the World]

Just south of Madrid’s main square Plaza Mayor, visitors can discover one of Hemingway’s favorite restaurants in the city, Restaurante Botín. Making friends with the owners during his time in Spain, Hemingway was allowed to spend time upstairs in the restaurant writing, before he would meet his friends for lunch. Not only a favorite stop for Hemingway, Resturante Botín also holds the Guinness World Record for the world’s oldest restaurant, first opening in 1725. It clearly held a place in Hemingway’s heart as he used it for the final scene of his first novel, The Sun Also Rises.

Brimming with good life, outrageous displays of masculinity and enough wine , beer and martinis to sink a ship, Spain was a true source of inspiration and joy for Hemingway. Lovers of his work will no doubt feel the sense of timelessness that flows through his pages while wandering the old streets of Spain. Journeying to Pamplona for the festival, Madrid for its bohemian art scene or any of the older cities in Spain, visitors will be enthralled by a society that enjoys life just as much as the great Ernest Hemingway did.  

[See also: An Art Trail Through Spain]

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When Hemingway Was a Young Fisherman in Michigan

Exploring hemingway’s michigan.

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By John O’Connor

• Oct. 1, 2015

In 1898, the year before Ernest Hemingway was born, his parents bought 200 feet of frontage on Walloon Lake in northern Michigan, out in the backlands of Petoskey, a coastal resort town. The Hemingways were fresh off a luxury steamship from Oak Park, Ill., looking to chuck the suburban grind for the seasonal joys of lake country. For $400 they soon had a 20- by 40-foot clapboard cottage built that was short on nearly every amenity except peace and quiet. It wasn’t pioneer life — they had brought along a maid — but the surrounding woods were populated by Ojibwe Indians, black bears, lumberjacks and bootleggers. Most crucially for “Ernie,” who would eventually pack all this stuff into his fiction, the fishing was extraordinary.

“Absolutely the best trout fishing in the country. No exaggeration,” he later wrote to a friend about the Petoskey area, perhaps exaggerating a tad but hitting on an essential truth of summer in the Michigan boonies: “It’s a great place to laze around and swim and fish when you want to. And the best place in the world to do nothing. It is beautiful country … And nobody knows about it but us.”

By all accounts, northern Michigan had a seismic effect on Ernest Hemingway and his future work. He spent his first 21 summers there, fishing, hunting, drinking and chasing girls. It was a place where men lived hard and lean, ran trotlines and considered bilge water a beverage. “Good stuff for essays,” he wrote in a 1916 journal entry, recording fishing trip details he would later channel into Nick Adams stories. “Old Couple on Boardman,” he wrote, referring to a river. “Mancelona-Indian girl, Bear Creek … tough talking lumberjack, young Indian girl, kills self and girl.”

It’s an odd juxtaposition to think of Hemingway, years later, sipping espresso in Paris cafes while writing about Nick Adams — a semi-autobiographical stand-in for the author’s own manly wanderings in the Michigan wilds. Take the famous Adams story “Big Two-Hearted River”: “Holding the rod far out toward the uprooted tree and sloshing backward in the current,” he wrote, “Nick worked the trout, plunging, the rod bending alive, out of the danger of the weeds into the open river.”

Many of those 25-odd Adams stories — including extraordinary nuggets like “The End of Something” and “The Last Good Country” — as well as his first published novel, “The Torrents of Spring,” are set in and around Petoskey. And Michigan pops up again and again in later works such as “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” and “A Moveable Feast,” to name a few.

Yet even Hemingway fans might draw a blank on his Michigan connection. Havana, Key West, Ketchum, Paris, Pamplona — these locales tend to conjure vintage Papa: a kerchiefed, bloated, rum-drunk Nobel laureate. Petoskey? Not so much. The gatekeepers of Hemingway’s legend have largely ignored the place. As a native Michigander, I feel I can pose the question: Perhaps northern Michigan, despite its inexhaustible beauty, isn’t that sexy?

But if you want to understand the writer, you have to start here. Michigan-era Hemingway is threshold Hemingway — young and raw, before the fame and subcutaneous padding and 16-daiquiri lunches. It’s where he experimented in delinquency, learned to cast a fly rod, stepped unmoored into the wilderness and first tinkered with a prose style that would one day make him famous.

Despite having grown up three hours south of Petoskey and having fished many of the local waters that Hemingway did, I couldn’t recall ever setting foot in the town. Nowadays I live out East and rarely find my way back home. And so, in June, I finally made it to Michigan, intent on tracing Hemingway’s boyhood orbit and seeing the country where Nick Adams came of age.

Driving up the east coast of Lake Michigan to Glen Arbor, I cut across the pinkie of Michigan’s mitten to Traverse City, then bent north, chugging through terraced farmland dusted with pollen and yacht-filled beach towns jammed with fudge shops and lighthouses and broad, sugary dunes sliding into the water. In Petoskey, which sits on a bluff overlooking Little Traverse Bay, a warm breeze swept off the lake and wheeled and skidded through the streets.

Petoskey is the kind of place where, at least in summer, everyone seems to be wearing tank tops and eating ice cream. The year-round population count, 6,000, is the same as it was in Hemingway’s day, and in some ways, little has changed. My hotel, Stafford’s Perry , even hosted the great man for a night in 1919. There is a photo from that time of a teenage Hemingway, corncob pipe in his mouth, holding three good-size trout. Taken right after he returned from Italy, where he had been wounded during World War I, it captures a cataclysmic moment in American literature. You can’t quite tell from his goony smile, but Hemingway was gathering himself, nurturing a different kind of wound, one that would soon find expression in his fiction.

In the morning I drove out to Walloon Lake, 10 miles south of town. The water, a pure cerulean, seemed to have been piped in from Bermuda. I took off my shoes and waded in.

Walloon ranked low among Hemingway’s hallowed fishing spots, as it fell within his mother’s jurisdiction; the two maintained testy relations for much of their lives. He preferred Horton Bay on nearby Lake Charlevoix and trout streams like the Black, Pigeon and Sturgeon rivers near Vanderbilt. (He was late for his first wedding, in Horton Bay, because the fishing on the Sturgeon was so good.)

Probably the river most people associate with Hemingway is the Two-Hearted in the Upper Peninsula, thanks to “Big Two-Hearted River.” An archetype of minimalism, the story depicts Adams as a veteran wrestling with the trauma of war while trout fishing in deepest Michigan. It’s tough to fathom it today, but in 1925, these staccato lines were the literary equivalent of a knife fight: “It had been a hard trip. He was very tired. That was done. He had made his camp. He was settled. Nothing could touch him.”

Of course, no true fisherman would give up his spot so easily. Except for a spring steelhead run, the fishing on the Two-Hearted has never been great. Hemingway liked the name for its metaphorical resonance. A section of the Fox River, near the town of Seney, was his actual model for the story.

I kept my distance from the Hemingway cottage, called Windemere, which is still in the family — a Hemingway nephew, Ernie Mainland, summers there — and not open to the public. Over the years this has produced some confusion, with Mr. Mainland occasionally emerging from his bathroom to find strangers — convinced they had discovered an unlisted Hemingway museum — riffling through his belongings.

“People have taken divots out of the lawn,” said Michael R. Federspiel, a professor of history at Central Michigan University and the author of the coffee table book “Picturing Hemingway’s Michigan.” “It’s literally sacred ground.”

Mr. Federspiel and I were drinking iced teas at the City Park Grill , a former Hemingway haunt in Petoskey. I sat on the second stool from the left end of the bar, Hemingway’s favorite perch — or so some would have you believe; others contend it was the third seat, or maybe the fourth. Regardless, I could see Papa holding court here, tossing back whiskeys while placing wagers on the bare-knuckle boxing matches out back. Or perhaps not: Mr. Federspiel reminded me that Hemingway’s days at the City Park Grill overlapped with Prohibition, when the hardest thing on tap, at least officially, was lemonade.

“Many people wouldn’t recognize the Hemingway from up here,” he said, pointing above the bar to a reproduction of Yousuf Karsh’s iconic 1957 photo of Papa in which the author, wearing a turtleneck sweater, very much resembles a longshoreman about to take a swing at you. “Exhibit A. It’s the drunken Hemingway, the four-times married, loutish guy he was at the end of his life,” Mr. Federspiel lamented. “The Hemingway we had here was a thoughtful, observant young man.”

A few blocks away, at 602 State Street, was the old Eva Potter’s boardinghouse — today a private home — where Hemingway rented a room in the fall of 1919 and where, Mr. Federspiel said, the budding writer was tinkering with a fresh approach.

“Nick Adams wasn’t born there,” he said, adding that it wasn’t until Paris in the ’20s that Hemingway tacked a Michigan map to his wall and mined his early life for fiction. “But it was the genesis of that tight, concise, impressionistic style. Northern Michigan was his first Eden, and it got seared into his emotions. From that came great stories.”

The village of Horton Bay, which zips by in a flash on County Road 56, was a major fixture of Hemingway’s adolescence. At pains to escape his mother, he often walked the four miles from Walloon to fish and swim there. Horton Bay makes cameos in several stories, including “Summer People,” “Up in Michigan” and “Wedding Day.” Hemingway was a regular at the Horton Bay General Store , now in its 140th year, and at the Pinehurst and Shangri-La cottages, where his 1921 wedding reception was held (Shangri-La is now a vacation rental).

Halfway down Lake Street, before I reached the bay, I found the spring from “Summer People” in which Nick Adams imagines soaking his war wounds. It was just as Hemingway describes it:

“The water came up in a tile sunk beside the road, lipping over the cracked edge of the tile and flowing away through the close-growing mint into the swamp,” he wrote. “Nick thought, I wish I could put all of myself in there. I bet that would fix me.”

Lots of people dislike Hemingway for some pretty good reasons, like machine-gunning mako sharks from his boat or the ugly vein of misogyny, homophobia and anti-Semitism that litters his fiction and personal correspondence. But the man burned relentlessly from one end of his life to the other, trying to tap into something we all feel in danger of losing, whether it’s the vitality of youth, the security of a childhood home, or simply our memories of a vanished world. So much of his early work has a special poetry to it — a song of summer, you might say — that is in every way alive to youth’s inevitable, sad decline.

Except for a single night in 1947, when Hemingway passed through Michigan on his way out West, he never saw Petoskey again after his Horton Bay wedding. The thinking from scholars is he didn’t want to ruin his memory of a place he loved so much. With him, intimacy increased with distance. I can relate. Sometimes the impulse is to keep things encased in glass, to cling to the memories that are your starting point. “The Last Good Country,” another Nick Adams ramble through Petoskey’s outback, was a story Hemingway worked on right up until his death in 1961.

“This is about the last good country there is left,” Nick tells his younger sister in the story as they flee into the woods, dodging a pair of surly game wardens. The quiet dark of the trees puts them in mind of religion. “That’s why they build cathedrals to be like this,” Nick says, echoing a sentiment that saturates the author’s writing on the region. It’s a perfect example of how, in an important way, Hemingway spent his whole life returning to northern Michigan.

StarTribune

Places where ernest hemingway lived or traveled, oak park, ill..

Ernest Hemingway was born on the second floor of a Queen Anne-style house at 339 N. Oak Park Av. in July 1899. Practically from the start, he longed to escape the "wide lawns and narrow minds" of the western Chicago suburbs and often accompanied his father on long hunting trips. At age 16 his first piece of short fiction was published in his high school literary magazine.

Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley Richardson, moved to Paris, where he began writing feverishly and palling around with other Lost Generation writers. In "A Good Café on the Place St-Michel," Hemingway describes a process of "transplanting" himself back to Michigan while scribbling away on the Left Bank: "I had already seen the end of fall come through boyhood, youth and young manhood, and in one place you could write about it better than in another."

PAMPLONA, Spain

Hemingway visited Pamplona every year between 1923 and 1927, timing his stay with San Fermín, the city's famously bloody bullfighting festival. The city also provided ample opportunity for the macho antics that Hemingway dearly loved, including entering the amateur bullfighting ring several times to tangle with bulls.

As a war correspondent, Hemingway spent parts of 1937 and 1938 in and around Madrid, covering the Spanish Civil War, experiences he later used in "For Whom the Bell Tolls." He returned to Madrid in the '50s to watch bullfights and eat and drink prodigiously at the city's restaurants and beer halls, like El Callejón and Cervecería Alemana.

In 1939, Hemingway moved to Cuba with his third wife, Martha Gellhorn, and wound up staying 22 years (he lived in Cuba longer than anyplace else in his life). A farmhouse called Finca Vigíaem was his home (and now a museum); it was there that he wrote much of "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "The Old Man and the Sea."

KEY WEST, Fla.

Perhaps the best marketed of hemingway's haunts, key west has come close to styling itself as "papaland," with its annual "papa look-alike contest" and the former home-turned-museum that is mostly notable for its dozens of six-toed cats (all descendants of hemingway's beloved pet, snow white)., ketchum, idaho, hemingway liked to visit ketchum in the fall, when the cottonwood leaves were yellowing and the air was turning crisp. it had a bracing effect on his writing. during his first stay, in september 1939, he put the finishing touches on "for whom the bell tolls." in 1947, he came back to tinker with "islands in the stream." hemingway committed suicide on july 2, 1961, at his home near sun valley..

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Largay travel., the travels of ernest hemingway.

Post by Scott Largay in Destination Spotlight , Themes on December 19, 2019

Sunday marked the 120th anniversary of the birth of Ernest Hemingway. The Nobel Prize-winning author lived a life as full of adventure as any of his characters, and he traveled the world in pursuit of a good story throughout his life. “Papa” left his mark on several places, and they left their marks on him, appearing as characters in their own right throughout his works.

Northern Italy

Hemingway was the first American wounded in Italy during World War I as he had joined the Red Cross after being rejected from the U.S. Armed Forces because of poor eyesight. He was bringing supplies to soldiers on the front line at Fossalta di Piave when he was wounded in a mortar attack. He spent six months recuperating at a military hospital in Milan and fell in love with a nurse, inspiring the plot of “A Farewell to Arms.”

Hemingway’s first novel, “The Sun Also Rises,” popularized the San Fermin Festival and running of the bulls that is an annual rite in Pamplona. His nonfiction work “Death in the Afternoon” details the culture of bullfighting in Spain, and “For Whom the Bell Tolls” dramatizes events of the Spanish Civil War, during which Hemingway worked as a foreign correspondent.

After World War I, Hemingway and his first wife moved to Paris, where he began his writing career in earnest and hung around with the likes of Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound and James Joyce. It was this time in Paris between the world wars, living in the Latin Quarter that Hemingway really came into his own as a writer and voice of the “Lost Generation.” The posthumously published memoir “A Movable Feast” chronicles this time.

East Africa

Though he suffered near fatal injuries in successive plane accidents in Africa later in life, Hemingway’s 10-week safari in 1933 had such a profound impact that it inspired his works “The Greens Hills of Africa,” “The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” and “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber.” He and his second wife toured around what are now Kenya and Tanzania, marveling at the abundance of wildlife.

Hemingway spent several winters in Cuba, raising cats and possibly hunting German U-boats in the waters around the island. He returned to Cuba after working as a foreign correspondent during World War II, when he was a witness to the D-Day landings in Normandy. His time in Cuba inspired “The Old Man and the Sea,” which he wrote in eight weeks and for which he won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and which was cited as a major factor in his winning the Nobel Prize in literature. 

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Traversing Wyoming with Ernest Hemingway

Home » Traversing Wyoming with Ernest Hemingway

From 1928 to 1946, Ernest Hemingway was a frequent visitor to Wyoming. He referred to the state as “damn lovely country,” and told Wyoming rancher Else Spear Byron, “There are two places I love—Africa and Wyoming.” This was made evident by his many stays, and by life events that cemented his relationship to Wyoming. There are many ways to connect to this beloved author while visiting Wyoming, and detours to explore that will enrich your journey.

Hemingway’s Wyoming

Hemingway’s initial exposure to Wyoming was propelled by his need for solace as he finished A Farewell to Arms . He started at Folly Ranch near Sheridan but found the tourist traffic to be too disruptive to his process. Moving into the third floor of the Sheridan Inn gave him more peace to formulate his prose, but it wasn’t until he landed at the Spear Family Ranch in the Bighorn Range that he was able to complete this American classic.

Just south of Sheridan lies the town of Buffalo, where one hotel was frequented by a host of famous individuals, including Hemingway. The Historic Occidental Hotel served as a stop for Hemingway on his way to Sheridan. Theodore Roosevelt, Owen Wister (author of The Virginian) and Calamity Jane were among well-known people who stayed at this hotel.

Immersed in the idyllic setting of the Spear Family Ranch, also called Spear-O-Wigwam, Hemingway penned the short story “Wine of Wyoming.” Written during Prohibition, the tale reveals the damage done to his psyche as a result of war. He and his fellow expatriates in Paris renounced the bourgeois, and this mindset crept into his work. The nonsensical style of “Wine of Wyoming” is a prime example of his own attempt to cope with the insanity of war.

A trip to Wyoming in 1930 took Hemingway to the region surrounding Cody . At the L Bar T Ranch, he worked on Death in the Afternoon , his fluid yet brutal treatise on the sport of bullfighting. He would later draft To Have and Have Not at this same location. Both of these works embody the violence that he witnessed during his lifetime.

On a trip through Wyoming in 1940, Hemingway and journalist Martha Gelhorn disembarked from a train in Cheyenne to tie the knot. They were married by a justice of the peace at the Union Pacific Railroad Depot. A National Historic Landmark, this depot still stands. Visitors can learn about the history of the Transcontinental Railroad here, at the Cheyenne Depot Museum .

When his fourth wife Mary endured an ectopic pregnancy in 1946 in Casper , Hemingway met his sons to fish the North Platte River while she recuperated. At the Mission Motor Court in Casper, he drafted what would later become the novel Garden of Eden . At the same time, he worked on Across the River and into the Trees .

Travel Through Wyoming with Ernest Hemingway

For fans of this beloved American author, following the route between Buffalo and Sheridan will be made even more enriching with Hemingway Highways. This audio tour, narrated by the writer’s granddaughter Mariel Hemingway, takes the traveler through north-central Wyoming and unfolds over 40 miles along the winding highway from Buffalo to Big Horn to Sheridan.

Presented by the Wyoming Humanities Council , and Sheridan College with support from the National Endowment of Humanities , another route of Hemingway Highways focuses on Wyoming’s Route 14 and the stretch between Yellowstone Lake and Cody .

Exploring Hemingway in this manner educates the fan not just on the author’s love of Wyoming, but on the state itself. Iconic figures such as Butch Cassidy and Buffalo Bill Cody also called the surrounding wilderness home and left their own marks as historic legends. The true nature of Wyoming is revealed in wild wonder through the use of these audio tours.

Wyoming’s Stamp on Hemingway

Hemingway nurtured his writing in the American West, but Wyoming seemed to hold special meaning to him. He was fed by the pristine landscape and his infamous love of fly fishing and hunting . As written for Vogue in his 1939 short story, “The Clark’s Fork Valley, Wyoming”:

There are stories surrounding Hemingway’s penchant for bear hunting, and he did in fact take down a few during his time at L Bar T. He notoriously shot and killed a grizzly there, and as he rode victoriously from the kill site, he tumbled from his horse and shattered his knee. He recovered in the Cody hospital.

“When you shoot and fish, you have to move often, and always further out.” Ernest Hemingway

When the life of an artist is considered, it is not just the works left behind. It is the inspiration that fed those works, and the connections that are fostered through the act of creating. For Hemingway, a man who lived large and even recklessly, he was satiated by the atmosphere and spirit of Wyoming. Still rich in beauty and dense in wilderness, this territory beckons us all.

This article was written on behalf of Travel Wyoming by Jenn Rein, New Thought Digital Agency.

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Step Back in Time at Finca Vigía - Hemingway’s Home in Cuba

Hemingway's dining room at Finca Vigía

Photo: Shutterstock

The Fascinating Story of Hemingway's Finca Vigía in Havana

Ernest Hemingway was undoubtedly one of the most powerful and talked about writers of the 20th century. His literary quality, wartime journalism in Belgian conflicts, and fearlessness made him an international symbol of mastery and bravado.

But even though he traveled half the globe as a reporter to exotic lands, it was in Havana, Cuba, where he felt at home - most notably in his adored cottage at Finca Vigia.

Garden and buildings at Finca Vigía

Hemingway's Life at Finca Vigía

Having spent seven years living at Hotel Ambos Mundos - another significant historical landmark for avid followers of the writer - Ernest Hemingway decided to rent out the Finca Vigía estate for his partner, writer Martha Gellhorn, who didn't feel comfortable living at the hotel.

Her whirlwind romance with Hemingway, as they worked as journalists in Europe, resulted in the writer divorcing his second wife, Pauline Pfeiffer, to live with Gellhorn in Cuba. After a few months of living at the cottage, he purchases the property as their residence.

After years of being in a turbulent relationship, Gellhorn decided to call it quits. Hemingway moved on to wed his last wife, Mary Welsh, who spent most of her life dedicated to the residence and turned it into the paradise we see today.

What you’ll see inside Finca Vigía

Finca Vigía was constructed in the 19th century upon a beautiful hill by Catalan architect Miguel Pascual y Baguer. With large clean-cut windows and low trim, the facade's design is ahead of its time, donning almost minimalist qualities. It's a one-story home with a flat roof featuring a neoclassical portico connected to the stone driveway at the entrance.

Before reaching the main residence, you’ll also see Hemingway’s summer guest house, where his sons would often stay. The guest house has a quaint mid-twentieth century style with steep red ceramic rooftops.

In the interior, Finca Vigía is simple, somber, yet elegant. Each room is open and expansive with high ceilings, cream or light pastel walls, and ocre tiled flooring. Most of the furniture is made of polished dark wood at Mary Welsh's request, who designed the still present moveables.

Fixed on the inner walls are Hemingways antelope head hunting trophies and a collection of the writer's books.

Go deeper into the life of the legend and Trace the Footsteps of Hemingway in Cuba.

Room with a view at Finca Vigía

Why you have to visit if you're in Havana

Ernest's essence is still alive at Finca Vigía, attracting thousands of visitors every year to follow in his past footsteps. And probably most fascinating are the exact areas within the home where he wrote his most famous work, " The Old Man and the Sea ," and posthumous books " Islands in the Stream " and " Garden of Eden. "

Located about 15 km from central Havana, the property gives you a sense of being in paradise, but without having to be so distant. Ernest Hemingway did not want to be far from having his Daiquiris at the Floridita in town.

Quick note:  No one is allowed to walk inside the pad, but you can see clearly from outside.

Finca Vigía and the Cuban State

There has always been skepticism about the Finca Vigías' ownership. Some say that Mary Hemingway donated the home to the Cuban Government, while others believe she was 'coerced' into selling it to them at a very low cost for political and capital gain.

It seemed for a while that the mystery had been resolved upon finding a letter from Mary to her friend Roberto Herrera, where she mentioned donating the property so it could be converted into an educational center. However, people say the letter was manufactured to cover up the rumors, but the story is still fishy to this day.

Hemingway's pet cemetery at Finca Vigía

Getting there

You can locate Finca Vigía in the San Miguel del Padrón municipality, 15 kilometers from central Havana, Cuba. An ideal way to get there is by Taxi since public transport rarely reaches the area because of the distance.

The Museum opens Monday through Saturday at 10 a.m. and closes at 4 p.m., with an entrance fee of US $3 to US $4.

Written by Javier Montenegro.

Published December 2022.

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12 Ways to Find Ernest Hemingway in Key West Florida

Last updated: December 18, 2023 - Written by Jessica Norah 20 Comments

One of the most notable people to live in Key West was writer and avid traveler Ernest Hemingway, and as a visitor you can still find many traces of Hemingway in Key West.

In April 1928, Hemingway and his wife Pauline Pfeiffer would come to Key West to pick up a car and while waiting for the delayed car to be delivered, Hemingway would explore the city and eventually fall in love and make Key West one of his homes. It would be during this time that Hemingway would fall in love with deep sea fishing, write several novels, welcome the birth of his sons Patrick (1928) and Gregory (1931), meet his third wife, and make many life long friends. 

Of course, it is impossible to recreate the Key West of Hemingway’s time, a much smaller and more isolated city during the Great Depression, but one can trace and recreate a bit of Hemingway’s experiences even today.

We’ll share 12 ways that you can find Hemingway in Key West and share our own tips and experiences based on our own recent visit to Key West.

Table of Contents:

Hemingway in Florida

See hemingway’s first home in key west.

Most visitors go to see Hemingway’s home on Whitehead Street; however, it was not the only place that Hemingway lived during the ten years he spent in Florida. When Hemingway arrived in Key West in April 1928 with his wife Pauline Pfeiffer by ocean liner, they first lived in the Trev-Mor Hotel which was built in 1919 and is located at 314 Simonton Street.

Hemingway and his wife initially were housed here by the Trev-Mor Ford Agency, which occupied the ground floor of the building, to apologize for not having their car ready when they arrived in Key West. Apparently both the hotel and the town were to his liking as they resided here off and on for two years! He wrote parts of A Farewell to Arms  during his time here and also developed his strong love and passion for deep water sport fishing.

The former hotel later became a private residence known as Casa Antigua in 1978. But today you’ll find an escape room here in the historical building. There are several puzzles to choose from, and one even has a Hemingway theme. You can find our more about the escape room here .

Visit the Hemingway House & Museum

After two years of leaving and returning to Key West, the Hemingways decided to find and buy a home of their own in Key West. Financed by Pauline’s uncle, they purchased a then-abandoned Spanish Colonial home built in 1851 by Asa Tift , a wealthy marine architect and salvage wrecker.

The Hemingways restored the house and would move in during 1931 with their two sons and it would be the primary home of Ernest Hemingway until 1940. In 1940, Hemingway would move to Cuba with his third wife Martha Gellhorn. However, this house would remain Pauline’s home where she raised their two sons and also ran a fabric and upholstery business until her sudden death in 1951.

The house is now a museum, The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum, and one of the most popular tourist attractions in Key West. It is also probably the best way to learn about Hemingway in Key West. 

In addition to the house, interesting features include the swimming pool which was the first in-ground swimming pool in Key West, Hemingway’s writing studio located on the second floor of the free-standing carriage house, the Sloppy Joe’s urinal in the garden, and of course the many cats who roam the property!

About half of the cats at the Hemingway property are polydactyl, having 6 toes, and most of the cats are believed (or at least said) to be descended from Hemingway’s six-toed cat Snowball. All cats are given the names of famous people, such as Clark Gable and Martha Gellhorn.

Guided tours here are regularly given with no reservations needed although the museum currently only accepts cash for the entrance fees. The guided tour was quite informative and afterward you are free to wander the property and commune with the gardens and of course the cute kitties! You can find out more information about visiting the museum here . 

This was definitely a highlight of our time in Key West and a must-visit if you enjoy historical houses, Ernest Hemingway, cats, and/or James Bond movie filming locations (scene shot here for License to Kill ). Something for everyone!

Have Breakfast or Lunch at Blue Heaven

Ernest Hemingway loved boxing and would both fight and referee matches at his Key West home; however, once the swimming pool mentioned above covered most of the boxing arena, Hemingway took to refereeing Friday night boxing matches of local fighters at a nearby saloon located at 729 Thomas Street.

That saloon is now a very popular Key West restaurant called Blue Heaven . Whereas Hemingway and his friends would often have a cheap breakfast at the long-gone Mrs. Rhoda Baker’s Electric Kitchen (830 Fleming St.), I’d highly recommend a breakfast today at Blue Heaven.

The property through the years has been everything from an ice cream parlor to a bordello, hosting cock fighting, dancing, gambling and the Friday night boxing matches. This place brims with over 100 years of Key West history and is quite laid back, especially in the outdoor area where diners can sit among the roosters, almond and lime trees, and an eclectic set of Key West-style funky decorations.

We ate inside at Blue Heaven for breakfast as the outdoor area was fully booked (plan ahead and make reservations!), and I loved the BLT lobster egg benedict, which was a poached egg atop an English muffin topped with lime hollandaise with lobster, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and avocado. We also shared some of Betty’s Banana Bread and a slice of their popular Key Lime pie. Best breakfast I had during my time in the Florida Keys!

Celebrate Hemingway’s Love of Cuba

Hemingway’s time in Key West gave him ample time to visit Cuba, only 94 miles away. He would eventually spend about 20 years living part-time in Cuba. It was in 1928 that the Hemingway family would first visit Cuba en route from Key West to Spain.

Ernest Hemingway would return later on fishing expeditions and eventually would purchase a home near Havana, named Finca Vigía, after marrying his third wife Martha Gellhorn in 1940. Key West has over 150 years of Cuban history and there is a rich Cuban heritage in Key West although it may be a bit difficult to find.

The best place to learn about the Cuban history of Key West is probably the  San Carlos Institute  (516 Duval Street) which was founded by Cuban exiles in 1871 as a patriotic and educational center and now hosts a library, art gallery, school, and museum with exhibits focused on Cuba’s history and the history of the Cuban-American community in Florida.

Other places to look for it are in the roosters on the streets (many are believed to be descended from Cuban roosters brought to the island for cock fighting), in the remnants of the once booming cigar industry (there were once around 200 cigar factories in and around Key West – see Key West Historical Marker Tour website  for good cigar industry info and locations), and in the Cuban food and coffee.

It is claimed that Key West (and Miami) offers some of the best cafe con leche , a mix of espresso shots and hot milk hand-whipped into a froth, and Cuban sandwiches outside of Cuba. Five Brothers and Cuban Coffee Queen are two places you might try for Cuban coffee (traditionally eaten with buttered toast) as well as sandwiches.  El Siboney  and  El Meson de Pepe  are both popular local Cuban dining spots. 

During our time in Key West, we had iced cafe con leche at the Cuban Coffee Queen coffee stand and a dinner at El Meson de Pepe, a family owned and operated Cuban restaurant. At El Meson de Pepe, our group shared several of the appetizers and then Laurence and I happily split the sampler plate, which included lechon asado , ropa vieja , and picadillo , followed by a slice of homemade Key Lime pie.

If you are looking for something a bit more alcoholic, you can get a taste of the Caribbean at some of the local bars in the form of mixed tropical drinks like a Papa Double (daiquiri without added sugar). The drink probably most associated with Cuba is rum.

You can even tour a local rum distillery, in fact there are two you can tour. There is Papa’s Pilar , which offers both dark and blonde rums and is named after Ernest Hemingway’s boat   Pilar , which Hemingway would sail around the shores of Key West and the Gulf Stream near the Cuban Coast (boat has been preserved in Cuba). The Key West distillery offers almost daily guided tours to visitors. 

The second rum distillery in Key West, Key West First Legal Rum Distillery , opened in 2012 and is located in a former Coca-Cola bottling facility. They offer regular traditional rums as well as speciality flavored rums. The distillery offers daily free tours and tastings to visitors. A third called Key West Distilling only does tours and tastings by appointment only.

If you are looking to try some local dishes, including Cuban foods, seafood, and rum, consider doing a food tour like this small group tour .

Find Papa’s Bust at the Sculpture Garden

If you do eat at El Meson de Pepe, take a short walk to the nearby  Key West Historical Memorial Sculpture Garden , a small sculpture garden located in Mallory Square. This little leafy square was opened in 1997.

Currently there are 36 bronze busts of people chosen by a committee to be the most influential people who have resided in Key West. Not surprising you’ll find Hemingway here along with his friend charter boat captain Edward “Bra” Saunders and many other famous former residents you may recognize.

The garden is l ocated in Mallory Square on the corner of Wall Street and Tifts Alley. Look between the Key West Chamber of Commerce and El Meson de Pepé restaurant.

If you visit here around sunset, can can then walk over to the nightly Sunset Celebration that takes place on Mallory Square. A great place to view the sun setting over Sunset Key.

Visit the Custom House Museum

Next to Mallory Square and the El Meson de Pepe restaurant, you’ll find the  Custom House  towering over the historic seaport. Originally home to the island’s custom office, this building now serves as a museum run by the  Key West Art & Historical Society , depicting over 200 years of Key West history.

Exhibits include information on events such as the European discovery of Florida, the mysterious sinking of the U.S.S. Maine, and Henry Flagler’s railroad that joined the Florida Keys to mainland Florida and on famous residents such as Ernest Hemingway.

A permanent exhibit focuses on Hemingway’s life in and impact on Key West, displaying a few cases of his personal items. There are also often temporary exhibits at the Customs House related to Hemingway and during our visit there was a series of 59 original pen-and-ink drawings by marine wildlife artist Guy Harvey that depict the storyline of Ernest Hemingway’s novel,  The Old Man and The Sea .

A great way to learn more about Hemingway in Key West and more generally about the interesting history of the city.

Read a Hemingway Novel During your Trip

Hemingway wrote several of his novels (or at least parts of them) during his time in Key West, including For Whom the Bell Tolls , Death in the Afternoon, The Green Hills of Africa , and several short stories including “The Snows of Kilimanjaro”.

I personally love reading books written about a particular destination in which I am traveling and have read Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast  while in Paris, The Green Hills of Africa while on safari in East Africa, and “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” while climbing Kilimanjaro .

Perhaps the best read for Key West is the novel, To Have and Have Not which is about a fishing boat captain who runs contraband between Florida and Cuba during the Great Depression. Unfortunately, To Have and Have Not  is not one of Hemingway’s most acclaimed novels, so other great reads might be  The Old Man and the Sea and Islands in the Stream  which were both inspired by Hemingway’s time on his boat Pilar in both Florida and Cuba.

Get on the Water 

Hemingway’s father would introduce him to fishing as a boy, but it would be in Key West that Ernest Hemingway would develop his strong love and passion for deep water sport fishing. Introduced by Key West native Charles Thompson, he would soon be fishing regularly with a group of friends and locals he referred to as his “Mob”.

His love of deep water fishing would be one of the main reasons Hemingway would choose to spend much of the rest of his life in reach of the these waters, first in Key West and later in Cuba.  Hemingway eventually bought his own fishing boat, Pilar (his nickname for his wife Pauline ) , in 1934 and regularly fished off the shores of Key West, Marquesas Keys, Dry Tortugas, Bimini, and the Gulf Stream off the coast of Cuba.

Today many people still come to the Florida Keys to go fishing and   Islamorada is known as the sportfishing capital of the world. While Hemingway would catch up to 7 marlin in one day (setting a world record in 1928), today’s fishers have to focus more on conservation and the depleted supply of fish, but can still find marlin, sailfish, mammoth tuna, and other fish of Hemingway’s days in these waters.

You can find out more about fishing during your visit here . If you want to take part you might consider a private fishing charter tour like this one .

No one in our group of travel bloggers was very keen on sport fishing, but we did all spend most of the day on a boat off the shore of Looe Key enjoying a day at sea during the quirky Lower Keys Annual Underwater Music Festival !

During your time in the Florida Keys, you’ll want to plan at least one trip out on the water. There are lots of gear rental shops and tour options. These include snorkeling , dolphin watching , joining a sunset party cruise , sailing , a sunset champagne cruise , kayaking and snorkeling , Scuba diving , deep sea fishing , or a full day out on the water . 

Get Marooned at Dry Tortugas National Park

The Dry Tortugas is a cluster of 7 small islands located 70 miles west from Key West. On one island sits historic Fort Jefferson which is one of the nation’s largest 1800’s masonry forts, helping to earn these islands National Park status in 1993.

The Dry Tortugas National Park also happens to have have been one of Hemingway’s many favored fishing spots. During one such fishing trip with members of the “Mob”, a strong tropical storm marooned the group at Fort Jefferson for about 2 weeks. During this time, they depended on the canned goods they had brought and seafood they were able to catch during breaks in the storm.

It is also said that Hemingway may have met his later first mate Gregorio Fuentes at Dry Tortugas while they were both marooned there during a storm (there are a few versions of how and where they met).

You probably don’t want to get marooned here, but you can pretend to be as there are a handful of primitive campsites available on a first-come, first-served basis (you must take the ferry if you want to camp). After sunset, with the exception of a few park employees and your fellow campers you’ll have this area completely to yourself and it’ll really feel like you are on a deserted island.

Even if you are not up for primitive camping, you should still head to Dry Tortugas National Park to visit historic Fort Jefferson, explore the clear waters around the island, view the bird and marine wildlife, and take in its serene beauty.

You can get here by taking a catamaran , the Yankee Freedom ferry , or by a chartered seaplane. We visited by seaplane with Key West Seaplane Adventures , which although more expensive than by boat is quicker and more exciting. Although if I returned, I’d probably choose the catamaran tour as it also includes snorkeling and meals. 

Eat Well in Key West à la Hemingway

If you didn’t know that Hemingway loved sport fishing before reading this post, you do now! And he also loved to eat his catches and would eat a lot of seafood while out on the water on his long fishing expeditions. If you’ve read A Moveable Feast , you’ll also know that Hemingway loved oysters and more generally the whole experience of eating well whenever he could.

Key West is a great place to indulge in fresh local seafood and to eat well. What is locally-caught is going to depend on the season so be sure ask at the restaurant if you want something caught in Florida waters. Just note that when you see dolphin on the menu, its mahi mahi not dolphins like Flipper. You’ll also find local seafood and fish related festivals in the Keys such as bonefish fishing competitions and stone crab eating contests.

But even if you don’t like seafood, you’re sure to find a place to indulge in the act of eating well à la  Hemingway. For instance my favorite dining experience in Key West was at Latitude’s located at the 5-star Sunset Key Cottages on Sunset Key. At Latitudes, you can eat inside the Ernest Hemingway Room, where photos of Hemingway adorn the walls or choose to sit outdoors overlooking the Gulf of Mexico and watch the Key West sunset.

At Latitudes, Restaurant we chose to sit outside and watch the stunning sunset which was a perfect spot to drink a Key lime martini. Luckily we got to try a bit of everyone’s food in the group (everything was good) and I would highly recommend the lobster and crab cake, the pork belly appetizer, the snapper, the waygu beef skirt steak, and the lobster tail.

But you don’t have to do fine dining to get good seafood in Key West as you’ll have dozens of options. We also had a nice casual seafood lunch near the waterfront at Turtle Kraals Restaurant & Tower Bar (we loved their ceviche sampler!).

Outside of Key West, we had memorable fish dishes at Marker 88 (great beachside setting in Islamorada) and the casual funky The Fish House  in Key Largo (recommend trying one of the fresh catches matecumbe style!).

You can take a Hemingway inspired food tour like this if you’d like to sample some food and see some of the places Hemingway ate.

There are also more general Key West food themed walking tours. If you are looking to sample lots of local seafood dishes you might consider this seafood lovers food tour . Or for those who want some seafood but also want other local specialties, consider this food tour or this popular small group food tour .

Attend the Hemingway Days Festival

If you really love Hemingway, you’ll want to book your trip to coincide with the annual Hemingway Days festival that is held each year in Key West. The festival coincides with the author’s birth (July 21st) and includes several days of Hemingway related events.

These events include readings and booking signings, paddle boarding and running competitions, a Hemingway look-alike contest, and a one-of-a-kind “Running of the Bulls” event. The Hemingway Days events also often coincide with the annual Key West Marlin Tournament which includes big cash prizes.

Sadly, we missed the Hemingway Days Festival by only a week or so, but we would love to see this quirky festival in person. This is your chance to wander the streets with dozens of men dressed like Hemingway!

Have a Drink at Sloppy Joe’s

Hemingway is well known for the time he spent in the bars, whether it was Paris, Key West, or Havana. In Key West, Hemingway was a regular patron at a bar run by his close friend “Sloppy Joe” Russell from 1933 to 1937 at the site that is now occupied by Captain Tony’s Saloon  (428 Greene Street).

In 1937, Russell decided to move his bar in order to get cheaper rent a half a block away to the site of what is now Sloppy Joe’s (201 Duval Street).

It is unclear if the bar at the first location was ever officially called Sloppy Joe’s or not, which has led to a recent lawsuit between the two bars in the use of the name. The two have since settled out of court. While many things are disputed, it is pretty clear that Hemingway drank at the bar at both locations.

Hemingway spent more time in the first location (Captain Tony’s) and would also meet his third wife, Martha Gellhorn , there in 1936. Hemingway often stored his belongings at the bar and after his death, many of his personal effects were found in the second location and some are on display in Sloppy Joe’s today.

So you can choose which to visit. Captain Tony’s is more laid back, quirky, and a bit of dive bar whereas Sloppy Joe’s is more upscale and tourism focused. Hemingway would have probably suggest that you take the time to have a scotch and soda, a dry martini, or a Papa Double in each!

If you are looking to discover some other bars along Duval Street and want some friends, you might enjoy doing a pub crawl tour in Key West.

There you have it, 12 different ways and places you can experience a bit of Hemingway in Key West.

If you are looking for more things to do during your time in the Florida Keys (not everything is about Hemingway!), check out Laurence’s guide to things to do in the Florida Keys .

Where to Stay in Key West

There are lots of accommodation options in Key West. We’ve chosen some that we think you might like, including a number of properties with some kind of Hemingway theme or connection.

• Andrew’s Inn & Garden Cottages – located just moments from the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum, this is a very well reviewed bed and breakfast which offers hot breakfasts and a pool area.
• Douglas House – a well reviewed 3* adults only guesthouse with a pool and free parking. Rooms feature a microwave, refrigerator and coffee-making facilities. 2 minutes walk from the Hemingway home.
• Kimpton Lighthouse Hotel – opposite the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum, this property has a suite named for Hemingway. There’s also a pool.
• Curry Mansion Inn – this B&B is found in a historic home built in the 19th century. Whilst you can’t stay in Hemingway’s former home, this is another 19th century mansion you can spend the night  in. Around a 14 minute walk from the Hemingway home.
• Pier House Resort and Spa . Well located for sunset views, this resort and spa has its own private beach and is just moments from Duval Street. There’s an outdoor pool, and rooms feature refrigerators and coffee & tea making facilities. 17 minutes walk from the Hemingway home.
• Ocean Key Resort and Spa . Right in the heart of Key West, this hotel is perfectly located for exploring all the attractions of Key West, as well as having spectacular sunset views. 17 minutes walk from the Hemingway home.
• Southwinds Motel – a more budget oriented option, this 2* motel offers rooms with microwaves and refrigerators. There are three pools on site and parking, and it’s a 12 minute walk to the Hemingway home
• Blue Marlin Motel – another 2* motel that gets good reviews, offering an outdoor pool and rooms that include a microwave, fridge and coffee facilities. 12 minutes walk from the Hemingway home.
• Authors Key West Guesthouse – this property offers a number of rooms which are named for famous authors, naturally including a Hemingway Cottage. 17 minutes walk from the Hemingway home.
• Not Your Average Hotel – if you’re looking for a hostel in Key West, this is a well rated option. Both shared and private accommodation options are available, and there are 3 pools as well as a jacuzzi. 16 minutes walk from the Hemingway home

You can see more options for Key West on booking.com here .

If you were in Key West, which of the above things would be on your itinerary? If you have been to Key West, feel free to share any additional Hemingway tips or share your own experiences. As always, feel free to ask us any questions about our trip to Key West. 

**Disclosure: The majority of our food, lodging, attraction fees, and transportation in Key West was provided by The Florida Keys & Key West tourism board as part of a press trip; however, this article contains only our own honest thoughts and opinions. We were not compensated for the writing of this post.**

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Ruth Salyer Post author

April 29, 2021 at 2:22 pm

Hi, Jessica. Thanks for the great article on Hemingway and Key West. My husband and I have been to Key West three times. Each visit included a tour of the Hemingway House. On our first trip in 1973, we came home with a very special souvenir, an 8-week old kitten from the Hemingway House. We named him Saint and had him almost 13 years. He was certainly a special member of our family. Our last visit was 2013, our 40th anniversary trip. We actually had breakfast at Blue Haven with the roosters. We have looked back in those visits with many great memories.

Jessica & Laurence Norah Post author

May 1, 2021 at 4:44 am

I am so glad you enjoyed our Key West article focused on Hemingway. The Hemingway House visits and our breakfast at Blue Haven were definitely two of the highlights from our trip as well. We’d love to return again.

Oh, wow, that is so sweet that you were able to adopt a kitty from the Hemingway House! Sounds like Saint had a very nice life with your family.

Best, Jessica

Pete Post author

January 28, 2021 at 6:25 am

As a follow up. It was Hemingway’s second Wife Pauline uncle Gus who purchased the “Hemingway” home for the family as which was his custom for each member of his family. Uncle Gus, having taken a liking to Hemingway, even financed Hemingway’s trip to Africa which cost over 25K and which was over three times the cost of the Hemingway house cost of 8K.

Hemingway did pay for the over 20k construction cost of the pool but that was not his doing. I feel that Pauline understood that Hemingway and Gellhorn (Hemingway’s third wife who had picked Hemingway up in a local bar) were having an affair in Spain (where they were each covering the Spanish War), Pauline knowing the precise status of Hemingway’s financial affairs, drained his account to keep him from being overly independent of her family wealth. Puts Hemingway’s throwing the penny down and stating words to the effect that “you might as well have my last cent” in a different perspective. Pauline was a smart girl but Hemingway was not to be controlled.

January 30, 2021 at 5:14 am

Thanks Pete for sharing these additional pieces of info! 😉

Hank Post author

February 21, 2021 at 4:57 pm

Sold on another visit to Key West

Thanks, h d Wilmington, NC

January 28, 2021 at 6:14 am

Good read and as a “local” I learned a bit myself. I would recommend “Papa in Key West”, it focuses on Hemingway’s time in Key West and is a good read. Note that Hemmingway rented homes in Key West for two years. The first season he stayed in the Ford dealerships apartment, year two he rented a small conch house which no longer exists and year three he rented the large conch house at 1301 Whitehead Street, according to local lore he used the dilapidated shed on the north side as his initial writing studio. According to the book above he got the name Papa here when he referred to himself as “poor old Papa” after breaking his arm in an auto accident on the way from Idaho back to 1301 Whitehead. He also collected fishing experience (small yellow bird landing on his fishing boat) that made it into “Old Man and the Sea”

January 30, 2021 at 5:11 am

Thanks, glad you enjoyed the Hemingway Key West article, especially as a Key West resident. Thanks for taking the time to comment and for that book recommendation (Papa: Hemingway in Key West) – I will have to check it out!

Yes, Ernest Hemingway’s delayed and staying at that Ford dealership probably led to him deciding to settle in Key West for awhile. It is amazing how little things like this can have such an impact on the rest of someone’s life and career!

Susan Post author

May 26, 2019 at 4:30 pm

Fabulous article. Bravo! Thank.you for sharing your.experience & recommendations.

May 26, 2019 at 7:11 pm

Hi Susan, Thanks so much for the nice comment, and I hope you have a great time if you are planning a trip to Key West! Best, Jessica

Victoria Post author

October 28, 2015 at 8:27 pm

Love the post and all the collection of facts and tips. I have visited Key West several times as a cruise ship passenger but unfortunately have not done any of Hemingway “activities” (other than reading the books and quite possibly during the trip:) Moveable Feast is a theme of my blog:)

travelcats Post author

October 31, 2015 at 12:20 pm

Hi Victoria, I am surprised as a Hemingway fan that you have not yet made it to the Ernest Hemingway House & Museum. I hope you get a chance to visit here and some of the other Hemingway sights in Key West on your next Florida trip. Reading the books though is such a great way to get into a destination! ~ Jessica

Wolper Stephen Post author

September 13, 2020 at 9:40 am

You shouldn’t be surprised that a visitor from a cruise ship didn’t make it to Hemingway’s house in Key West. Key West was almost destroyed by the cruise ships that started to stop there in the 1980s. Duval Street changed from art galleries and antique shops into a collection of tacky t-shirt shops. The best restaurants left and night life was destroyed. I watched this happen as neighbors sold simple conch houses and condominiums became ubiquitous. There is nothing that can replace living indoors-outdoors within your own piece of paradise.

Seana Turner Post author

October 26, 2015 at 6:09 am

I spent a summer in Key West when my sister’s husband was stationed there. It is such a unique “vibe” and there are so many great things to do. Loved your ideas… you did a few things I never got around to:)

October 31, 2015 at 12:19 pm

Hi Seana, Glad you got to spend some time in Key West with your sister. Yes, our guide often used the word “Keysie” for places that have a laid-back Florida Keys vibe during our trip:) Hope you get a chance to return some day to do a few more things in Key West. ~ Jessica

Elaine J. Masters Post author

October 25, 2015 at 11:20 am

I’ll be there in a week and can’t wait to search for some of these spots. Serendipity. Thanks.

October 31, 2015 at 12:23 pm

Have a great trip to the Florida Keys Elaine! Do let us know if you have any questions and good luck exploring the Hemingway sights in Key West! ~ Jessica

Tanja Post author

October 25, 2015 at 6:50 am

Very interesting!

October 31, 2015 at 12:22 pm

Thanks Tanja!

Corinne Post author

October 25, 2015 at 1:01 am

Jessica, What a great post. Jim and I have been wanting to go to the Dry Tortugas for years! We want to stay and camp. It’s so pretty.

October 31, 2015 at 11:43 am

Yes, it is really pretty and also has a deserted island feel in the early morning and evening. Would make a great camping spot for a day or two!

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Ernest Hemingway’s 5 Favourite Haunts in Paris and Madrid

by Nilesh Goswami | Aug 30, 2021

Legendary author Ernest Hemingway had wanderlust in his blood, and he frequently visited these places in Paris and Madrid.

To many, Nobel Prize in Literature recipient Ernest Hemingway, author of such classics as The Sun Also Rises , A Farewell to Arms and The Old Man and the Sea , was a literary giant whose ‘iceberg theory’ proved to be a tour de force in the world of letters. However, any literature enthusiast would tell you that Hemingway’s life was not just defined by his literary achievements.

Throughout his life, Hemingway hopped on from one place to another, whether it was to cover a war or to have a gala time in Paris’ cafes or witness the thrill of bullfighting in early 20th century. In that process, he also dabbled in travel writing, and thus, works such as Death in the Afternoon and A Moveable Feast were born, wherein he talked extensively about his experiences in Spain and France respectively.

Here’s a look at five of the places in Paris and Madrid that Hemingway had lifelong love affairs with:

Hemingway’s Love – The Ritz Paris

Widely considered as one of the top luxury hotels in the world, Ritz was established in 1898 by the Swiss hotelier César Ritz. The hotel was among the first European hotels to treat guests with an en suite bathroom and a telephone (and electricity to make it run, which was a big deal for its time) for each room. In a short span of time, the hotel became a hallmark for luxury and attracted a clientele that attracted reputed people from all sorts of fields. Coco Chanel as well as Hemingway have suites named after them in this iconic hotel, and the cocktail lounge Bar Hemingway is also named after him, who often used to drink at the same bar with his dear friend and another iconic American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Hemingway once said, “When in Paris the only reason not to stay at the Ritz is if you can’t afford it”. He has also been quoted as saying “When I dream of afterlife in heaven, the action always takes place in the Paris Ritz”. It is his love for the Ritz that lead him to gather a group of resistance fighters on 25th August 1944 and mount a liberation of the Ritz’s bar. The Nazis had left by then and the victorious Hemingway celebrated by running up a tab of 51 dry martinis. He spent the next few days at the hotel and Charles Ritz ensured Hemingway had one of the best rooms overlooking the Place Vendome.

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A: The Ritz Paris , 15 Place Vendôme, 75001 Paris

Read More: Favourite places in Paris to shop, eat and down a glass or two of wine!

Brasserie Lipp

As a young expatriate in Paris, Hemingway resided in a small apartment in the Latin Quarter. He often found himself strolling along the Left Bank. In his memoir A Moveable Feast , Hemingway recounts visiting the Musée du Luxembourg without any food in his stomach, which made him appreciate Paul Cézanne’s paintings all the more because of his hunger.

A: Brasserie Lipp , 151 Bd Saint-Germain, 75006 Paris, France

Read More: All Aboard Through France’s Pretty Waterways

Madrid’s Casa Botin (Sobrino de Botín)

Hemingway called Casa Botín, located in Madrid, the best restaurant in the world and the final scene of his debut novel The Sun Also Rises also happens to be set here. He often dined at the historic restaurant, established in 1725 (the world’s oldest, according to the Guinness Book of Records ) and was friends with the owners. Casa Botín, even after two centuries, retains its 18th-century charm with centuries-old ovens, ancient wooden beams, and antique furnishings and décor. The restaurant is very much known for its signature dish sopa de ajo , which is an egg poached in chicken broth and laced with garlic and sherry.

A: Sobrino de Botín , C. de Cuchilleros, 17, 28005 Madrid, Spain

Read More: Made In Madrid, Europe’s most fashionable city

Cerveceria Alemana

La Cervecería Alemana was established by a group of German manufacturers on the Plaza Santa Ana in 1904, and its décor feels like it has been untouched ever since. Hemingway frequently visited this place in 1950s after returning to Madrid after reporting on the Spanish Civil War and WWII. He would often get the opportunity to have a drink with Ava Gardner and her love interest, Luis Miguel Dominguin. One could easily imagine Hemingway sitting in one of the corners of the bar, on one of the marble tables, and guzzling litres of the bar’s exceptional beer.

A: Cervecería Alemana , Plaza de Sta. Ana, 6, 28012 Madrid, Spain

Read More: It’s time to rediscover Mallorca. Start by tapping into a whole new scene, where authenticity is key.

La Venencia

Since the Spanish Civil War days, nothing much has changed in this place. In those days, Hemingway would just drop by to know about the latest updates of the war from the Republican soldiers who often visited the bar. Some of the rules that were laid out at that time, like taking no photographs and no tipping are still in place, and believe it or not but the tabs here are still written in chalk on the bar and the sherry is stored in huge wooden barrels.

A: La Venencia , Calle de Echegaray, 7, 28014 Madrid, Spain

Hemingway’s fascinating insights of Paris and Madrid in his works makes one desire to visit these places, and they also reveal his excellent choice of places. ◼

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© This article was first published online in Aug 2021 – World Travel Magazine.

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Ernest Hemingway Quotes About Travel

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If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.

Never go on trips with anyone you do not love.

Writing and travel broaden your ass if not your mind and I like to write standing up.

How lazily the sun goes down in Granada, it hides beneath the water, it conceals in the Alhambra!

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Ernest Hemingway

• Born: July 21, 1899
• Died: July 2, 1961
• Occupation: Author
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Cuba: Its Culture and Its People

• March 11, 2013
• No comments
• 5 minute read

Destination:

Description:

Travel to Cuba with National Trust and take part in an immersive People-to-People experience. During our specially designed program, you’ll learn about this enigmatic island nation’s fascinating culture through firsthand contact with Cuban artists, musicians, students, teachers, environmentalists, and others who are eager to exchange views with you on Cuban contemporary life. Explore the World Heritage site of Old Havana, where you’ll learn about the ongoing preservation of the city’s architecture. Meet artists and writers and experience Ernest Hemingway’s legacy as well as authentic Cuban rumba rhythms. You’ll meet with Afro-Cuban spiritual leaders, park rangers at a bio-reserve, and traditional farmers. This People-to-People Cultural Exchange is permitted by a license from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

In January of 2011, the Obama administration announced the easing of travel restrictions for cultural and educational groups to once again visit Cuba by restoring the “People to People” travel category. The National Trust for Historic Preservation was among the first cultural institutions to receive a license through the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) last year and began offering unparalleled cultural exchanges in Cuba. We hope you can join one of our upcoming departures of Cuba: Its Culture and Its People in 2013 or 2014.

Many National Trust members have traveled to Cuba since November, 2011, to learn about and exchange ideas on architecture, historic preservation, planning and other subjects in the cultural heritage arena. The reviews are in, and our programs have exceeded the expectations of our travelers, with many of them noting that their time in Cuba was “an experience of a lifetime.”

We hope that you will be able to join us and witness for yourself the world-class architecture, music and educational exchange only the National Trust can deliver.

December 7-14, 2013

February 1-8, 2014

For more information on this trip please contact  National Trust Tours , an affiliate of the National Trust for Historic Preservation

202-588-6301

A few thoughts from National Trust Tours:

“I had high expectations and they were exceeded.”

“From touchdown to lift off it was a magical experience.”

“I have wanted to go to Cuba my entire life and this group of leaders, study lecturer and guide & driver made it the experience I had hoped for!”

“National Trust is the only way to travel to Cuba.”

“The interaction with the Cubans on the program was both inspiring and informative.”

Read Ernest Hemingway to prepare for a visit to Finca Vigía, Hemingway’s 12-acre property where the National Trust for Historic Preservation has played a lead role in working with its Cuban counterparts to preserve and restore. The trip will also include a visit to the fishing village of Cojimar which provided the author with inspiration for The Old Man and the Sea .

Day 1 — U.S., Havana, Cuba Depart from Miami International Airport on a charter flight to Havana. Take a short orientation drive through the city. Check in to the Melia Cohiba, a well-appointed hotel located along the lovely Malecón and affording water views. Gather for an informational briefing with introductory remarks by your National Trust study leader. This evening, depart for the welcome dinner in Old Havana. (L, D). (L,D)

Day 2 — Havana

Start the day with a presentation and discussion from a representative from the City Historian’s Office. After the presentation, depart for the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Old Havana, founded in 1519 and now a world class preservation site. Join a walk through the city’s Colonial architecture and historic squares. Later in the day, continue your exploration of Habana Vieja and discover Calle Obispo, Havana’s busiest pedestrianonly street. Later, meet with Miguel Coyula, a representative from UNEAC Commission on the City, Culture and Architecture, who will discuss the Cathedral of Saint Christopher city’s preservation efforts. (B, L, D)

Day 3 — Havana

Begin the day exploring the Havana’s neighborhoods outside of Habana Vieja with an architect and see examples of restoration projects. Afterwards, depart for a forum at the prominently located University of Havana. Here we will have the opportunity to relate directly with the students and staff in a group and one-on-one discussion. Then, visit the Instituto Superior de Arte, which is considered to be Cuba’s premier art institute and one of the country’s most outstanding examples of post-revolution architecture. (B, L, D)

Day 4 — Havana, Vadado

Begin the day by venturing out to the Vedado area for a visit to the Cementerio de Colon. During a walking discussion with a specialist, learn about one of the most distinguished cemeteries in Latin America. Afterwards, visit the Corona cigar factory with an expert guide to learn of the fascinating process of leaf selection, rolling and the boxing of the famous Cuban export. Then, visit an  organopónico, an urban organic garden, and learn about Cuba’s emerging agricultural sector. Later in the day, attend a special meeting at the Ludwig Foundation of Cuba, a private foundation from Aachen, Germany, which supports both art and theater projects. Take the opportunity to converse with both local Cuban artists as well as those from other countries who have, with the assistance of the foundations, come to Cuba to absorb styles and share ideas with the local art community. (B, L)

Day 5 — Cienfuegos Today, depart Havana for the culturally rich city of Cienfuegos, another UNESCO World Heritage Site. Learn how the local architecture reflected the prosperity of sugar, tobacco and fruit trading. Later, attend a musical performance of the Choir of Cienfuegos and afterward gather for a discussion with the choir members. (B, L, D)

Day 6 – Trinidad This morning we depart for the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Trinidad, a beautiful and historic city founded in 1514 and once one of Spain’s most prosperous Colonial settlements. After an orientation walk by a city historian, visit with business people who live and work in the historic buildings. (B,L,D)

Day 7 — Cojimar Today, we return to Havana and stop along the way in the fishing village of Cojimar, which was the inspiration for Ernest Hemingway’s famous novel, The Old Man and the Sea. Upon our return, visit Finca Vigía, Ernest Hemingway’s home. During our visit, we will learn more about the 12-acre property that contains original furniture, artwork, personal memorabilia, and other objects collected by the author. Also learn about the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s involvement in past and present preservation projects underway at the house. Tonight we will have a farewell reception at the hotel to say goodbye to fellow travelers. (B, L, D)

Day 8 — Havana Check out of the hotel and transfer to the airport for your return charter flight to Miami. (B)

Throughout your program, enjoy lectures and informal commentary with your National Trust Experts who will add depth and insight throughout your stay.

Land arrangements: $4,890

Single supplement: $595

Deposit: $500

Round-trip charter airfare, from $500 per person, subject to change, between Miami and Havana, is additional and must be purchased with your tour.

National Trust travelers stay at the Hotel Meliá Cohiba, a modern, comfortable hotel located in the Vedado neighborhood of Havana, overlooking the famed oceanfront walkway, the Malecón. Guest rooms are spacious and there are several restaurants, shops and music venues. In the Cienfuegos/Trinidad area, travelers stay at clean, modest hotels with more limited amenities.

Related Topics

• Ernest Hemingway
• Finca Vigía
• Literary Tours
• Literary Travel
• National Trust for Historic Preservation
• Travel to Cuba

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Best Beach Towns in Florida

Take a tour of some of the best beach towns in Florida, including "Oystertown" and the former home of author Ernest Hemingway.

There’s no shortage of stunning coastline in Florida, and the Sunshine State boasts some of the most captivating beach towns in the entire United States. From the easygoing charm of the Gulf Coast in the west to the popular Atlantic destinations in the east, each town has its own unique take on coastal living.

Located on Florida’s west coast, Bradenton boasts beautiful beaches with sugar-white sands, but it has also become a scenic hub for art, culture and cuisine. Founded in 1999, the town’s Village of the Arts is where local artisans make a splash creatively. The village is filled with galleries, shops and restaurants in cracker houses built by early Florida settlers, quaint bungalows and other structures painted in a rainbow of colors. The recent grand opening of the 252-room Palmetto Marriott Resort and Spa means locally caught seafood and stunning sunset views of the Gulf of Mexico are now served up daily on the property’s rooftop restaurant, just one of four at the hotel. The 1.5-mile Riverwalk in downtown is a popular gathering place for locals and tourists to stroll along the Manatee River.

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Tucked away off the beaten path, through a reserve and across several bridges, Cedar Key is a rustic fishing village on North Central Florida’s Nature Coast. The hidden gem is explorable on foot and serves as a hub for all things water, from boating and kayaking to fishing. But perhaps its biggest claim to fame lies in clamming. The town produces an estimated 95% of Florida’s clams, totaling around 200 million annually. It’s no surprise Cedar Key has earned its unofficial title as the clam chowder capital of the Sunshine State. A quick jaunt through town to Tony’s Chowder House or Steamers Clam Bar & Grill is all that’s required to score perhaps one of the best bowls of chowder in the entire United States.

Apalachicola

Apalachicola on the Northwest Coast started out as a trading post in the early 19th century thanks to its location at the meeting point of the Apalachicola River and Gulf of Mexico. This laid-back port, also called "Oystertown," still has a working waterfront, making it the perfect place to go for a seafood feast. After filling up on blue crab, oysters, shrimp and other dishes at restaurants like Half Shell Dockside and The Station Raw Bar , take off on a tour of the artistic town’s many galleries and shops featuring the work of local artisans. Housed in an 1840s shipping warehouse, the riverfront Apalachicola Center for History, Culture and Art showcases ongoing exhibits. It’s a must-see destination for art enthusiasts.

The main star of Hollywood, the Floridian version, is the town’s 2.5-mile boardwalk (pictured). The historic brick pedestrian promenade features a showstopping array of restaurants and shops, great for endless people-watching opportunities. Hollywood’s impressive hotels and resorts are just as popular and many are also located near the water. There’s lodging to suit every preference, from the lively Margaritaville Hollywood Beach or bustling Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino to the luxe Diplomat Spa & Resort . The area is great for nature lovers who want to explore beyond the beach since it’s home to scores of parks, including the family-friendly 1,501-acre Anne Kolb Nature Center , with its impressive 3,500-gallon aquarium.

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