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Buenos Aires Travel Guide

Buenos Aires has been called the “Paris of South America” for decades, but to know this city is to endure a decidedly more visceral affair. Beneath the neoclassical architecture, artful pastries, and sprawling green spaces is the bleeding heart of the city—a city where the soccer games are to be wept over, the whip-quick moves of tango never miss a beat, and the sounds of sizzling asado and flowing Malbec carry late into the night. 

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This Argentinian City Is Called the 'Paris of South America' but It's So Much More — How to Plan the Perfect Trip

Buenos Aires' local culture makes it a one of a kind destination.

Evie Carrick is a writer and editor who’s lived in five countries and visited well over 50. She now splits her time between Colorado and Paris, ensuring she doesn't have to live without skiing or L'As du Fallafel.

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Buenos Aires goes way deeper than its tired "Paris of South America'' cliché. Sure, it's got lively sidewalk cafés, a wealth of Belle Époque architecture, and grand leafy avenues leading to flowering urban parks. But Buenos Aires wouldn't be the dynamic capital city it is without the native Argentines and immigrant Portenos who call it home and make it distinctly Buenos Aires. 

“Buenos Aires’ architecture is a living testament to the blending of European and Latin American influences, creating a stunning urban landscape that never ceases to amaze. However, it's the people of Buenos Aires who truly set it apart. They are welcoming, vivacious, and have an infectious zest for life that is simply contagious,” Mery Calderón, the founder and CEO of Kuoda Travel , a luxury tour operator in South America, told Travel + Leisure .

In Buenos Aires, local passions run deep — whether it's for asado, tango, literature, art, or fashion. 

“From savoring delectable cuisine to immersing yourself in art, history, and exhilarating outdoor activities, Buenos Aires has it all. The delta, a hidden treasure accessible only by boat, holds a magical allure. And of course, the passionate heartbeat of the city is the tango, which pulses through its streets and venues,” said Calderón.

Paris could never.

Four Seasons Hotel Buenos Aires

The Four Seasons Hotel Buenos Aires does the chain proud. The luxury hotel is housed in a Belle Époque mansion surrounded by immaculate gardens and the only outdoor swimming pool in the neighborhood. Sophisticated suites feature stand-alone soaking bathtubs and glass chandeliers. The real action is down at the polo-inspired bar, Pony Line. Oh, and Madonna stays here.

Faena Hotel Buenos Aires

Faena Hotel Buenos Aires (or The Faena, as the locals call it) is the most distinct hotel in Buenos Aires. It is located in a converted warehouse, but thanks to top-line interior design by Phillippe Starck, known for his work on the Delano in South Beach and Mondrian in Los Angeles, it has everything you’d expect from a high-end hotel — and then some. Expect arabescato marble bathrooms and hand-embroidered throws in rooms that are punched up with red details. The art-centric property even has a giant crown sculpture in the middle of its chic outdoor pool.

Alvear Palace Hotel

The old-school luxury of the Alvear Palace Hotel has charmed presidents, Hollywood celebrities, and rock stars since the hotel opened in 1932, and thanks to some recent updates, it continues to wow anyone who has the pleasure of staying there. Expect Hermès bath products, Louis XVI furniture, and Buenos Aires' best views from the rooftop bar. Don't miss afternoon tea at L'Orangerie with monogrammed teacups and all the edible trimmings.

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Palacio duhau - park hyatt buenos aires.

This Neoclassical palace was built in 1934 as a private residence. It wasn’t open to the public until 2006 when it was brought back to life following a major $74 million renovation. "The hotel really captures the spirit of the city it's in in both historic and modern ways. Not only is the Palacio Duhau an actual historic palace with grand gardens and design, it's also home to a thriving art scene," said Elspeth Velten, T+L's general manager, who visited in October 2023.

Even after all the work, most of the original building’s details remain, including its distinctive red marble flooring. A second, newly constructed building added more rooms, suites, and amenities, including three restaurants, a bar, lush gardens, an expansive spa, and a private art collection.

"When I visited, a hundred or so hip Porteños celebrated an art opening in the hotel's underground gallery, which during the day also hosts the hotel's buzzing florist. Add a fantastic spa and an impressive plant-based restaurant (in addition to the hotel's more traditional steakhouse) and the Palacio Duhau makes the perfect complement to any time spent in this grand capital city," said Velten.

Home Hotel Buenos Aires

Ever imagined what it would be like to live like one of Argentina's coolest artists? Book a room at Home Hotel , a chic, boutique property set in a former private mansion. The vintage 20th-century decor includes Scandinavian design, vintage French wallpaper, and Eero Saarinen furnishings. The outdoor swimming pool is one of the city's best outdoor spaces, with jasmine and fruit trees providing smells and shade.

"During my springtime stay, I couldn't get enough of the hotel's blossoming grounds — we had breakfast outside, drank our coffee in the sun, and even sat poolside on a hot afternoon with a bottle of wine," said Velten. "The hotel's garden vibe extends throughout. Our room had a beautiful view of trailing vines on the building's facade. And every time I entered the mod-designed lobby, I truly did feel like I was coming off the street into someone's home."

Recoleta Cemetery

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Visiting Buenos Aires and not paying homage to Eva Perón’s (Evita) grave in Recoleta Cemetery (Cementerio de la Recoleta) is sacrilegious. Evita aside, wandering through the above-ground tombs and religious symbols in this National Historic Landmark is a memorable experience.

Rojo Tango Show

OK, so a tango show is touristy. But the Rojo Tango Show inside the sexy Faena Hotel is touristy done right. It's intimate, and fun, and might inspire a tango lesson or trip to a local milonga. The entertainment is paired with a multi-course meal that includes braised Patagonian lamb and tres leches. Free drinks include Champagne and wine.

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Strolling down the historical and colorful Caminito (“little path,” in Spanish) is like visiting an outdoor art gallery. If tango dancers and bargain souvenirs hawkers frequented art galleries. Colorfully painted houses edge the walkway, which is busy with artists selling their wares and tango and folk dance performances.

Estadio Alberto J. Armando Stadium (La Bombonera)

If you're a soccer (fútbol) fan, then La Bombonera is a church. If you manage to visit during the fútbol season, you can catch a Boca Juniors match. If not, take a tour and visit the stadium’s dedicated museum , which showcases the club’s history and is located under the grandstand.

Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA)

If you have to pick one museum to see in Buenos Aires, MALBA is it. The modern building is known for its permanent collection of famed contemporary Latin American artists. Check out works by Frida Kahlo, Fernando Botero, and Antonio Berni. Talented curators also highlight local artists for seasonal exhibits.

Galería Patio del Liceo

This shop-filled building brings designers and artists together in one of the hippest art and design spaces in Buenos Aires. The shops sell everything from basic clothing to vintage and one-of-a-kind artist-made finds. There’s a cute patio cafe for cafe chicos and an ongoing calendar of events and workshops that draw the city’s hip, artist crowd.

Gil Antiguedades

This labyrinth of a boutique has specialized in early- and mid-century vintage clothing and homewares since it opened shop in Buenos Aires in 1973. Gil Antiguedades is a collector’s dream, with everything from antique beaded necklaces and lace wedding gowns to rare vintage crystal and one-of-a-kind textiles.

After years of working in the Paris fashion industry for brands like Golden Goose, Hermès, and Isabel Marant, María Abdala Zolezzi (nicknamed “Maydi”) returned to her native Argentina and launched her own label. Maydi is a sustainable, high-fashion knitwear label that uses native materials and dyes. The selection of knitwear — for both men and women — is wearable art at its best.

Fueguia 1833 Recoleta

This perfumery, also known as Fueguia 1833 Patagonia , is a true Argentinian sensory experience. The lovely melody of smell found at Fueguia 1833 was inspired by founder Julian Bedel's travels throughout Patagonia and is a tribute to the Indigenous communities of South America. Pro tip: the handcrafted candles make perfect gifts.

El Ateneo Grand Splendid

Buenos Aires has a serious literary scene. Celebrate it at El Ateneo Grand Splendid , a bookstore housed in a grand theater that was built in 1919. The enormous space is now packed floor-to-ceiling with books and ornate original fixtures. The former stage now houses a cafe.

Sarkis is a family-style Armenian restaurant that's the perfect place to start a night out. Small plates of succulent lamb, marinated eggplant, and flaky nut pastries arrive willy-nilly, adding to the eatery’s distinct charm. The wandering belly dancers and coffee ground readers are a good distraction between courses and real Armenian coffee will keep you awake until the discotheque closes. 

La Cocina de Casa Cavia

La Cocina restaurant is tucked inside Casa Cavia, a high-end retail and restaurant concept in Palermo. In keeping with the creative vibes, La Cocina has an incredibly diverse and artistic seasonal food and cocktail menu. The interior alone is reason enough to visit. Inspired by 1920s cafes, it features white marble, brass, and antique mirrors — while still staying fresh and airy. If you can't get a dinner reservation, a breakfast of dulce de leche baked goods is almost as good.

There are lots of reasons why La Cabrera is considered to be one of the best steakhouses in the world — and great steak is just one of them. The asador (master griller) working a firebox filled with red-hot embers and racks of meat is another. And then there’s the fact that La Cabrera is overflowing with atmosphere. 

Calderón calls La Cabrera “a long-standing Argentinian steakhouse known for its perfectly seasoned rosemary-flavored steaks. Complemented by an array of delectable side dishes, La Cabrera has garnered a well-deserved reputation among Palermo residents.”

El Banco Rojo

Don't leave Buenos Aires without trying empanadas. Though hand-held street food is everywhere, finding empanadas with good dough texture and perfectly seasoned fillings can be a challenge. El Banco Rojo delivers both, along with a Buenos Aires-renowned menu of burgers and tacos. Pair your empanada of choice with a bottle of Rubia craft beer. This is a hip, counter-service spot with a picnic table and stool seating. 

Presidente Bar

If you want a glamorous night out in Recoleta, Presidente Bar is your spot. Every detail is carefully thought out, from the music and lighting to the staff — it's all on point. The glowing back-lit bar, high ceilings, and hanging chandelier evoke a classic era that adds to the bar’s old-world charm. The menu includes everything from calamari and empanadas to risotto and the Hamburguesa Presidente. 

The best time to visit Buenos Aires is spring and fall — just remember that spring in the Southern Hemisphere falls between September and December and fall is between April and June. 

“Spring, without a doubt, is my favorite season in Buenos Aires,” confirmed Calderón. “As the city awakens from its slumber, it transforms into a lush oasis. The jacaranda trees burst into bloom, painting the streets with their enchanting violet blossoms, creating an atmosphere of pure magic. Spring gifts Buenos Aires the perfect weather — sunny days and the intoxicating scent of blossoms in the air.”

Spring and fall may offer visitors mild temperatures, blooms, and thinner crowds, but Buenos Aires is a lively metropolis with something to see and do all year round. 

The league fútbol season for the Primera División, the country's premier level, runs from late January until early August, and Argentina's La Triple Corona, a polo triple crown, runs from late September until early December. The city also hosts an international tango festival in mid-August.

Keep in mind that travel might be tricky during Semana Santa, the Holy Week of Easter when Argentina all but shuts down while residents travel to visit family and attend religious services. 

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Buenos Aires is serviced by three airports: Ministro Pistarini International Airport, Ezeiza (EZE); Jorge Newbery Airport, known as Aeroparque (AEP); and El Palomar (EPA).

EZE is the biggest and most used airport, especially for travelers coming from the U.S., as there are plenty of direct flights between the U.S. and Buenos Aires. And from the EZE airport, it's around 20 miles (roughly 50 minutes) to the center of the city. 

The closest airport to central Buenos Aires is AEP, but most flights are to and from neighboring South American countries or other airports within Argentina. The same goes for EPA, which typically welcomes low-cost domestic flights.

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Palermo is top of the neighborhood-to-see list for most visitors. It has plenty of offerings that will make even the most Americanized visitor feel at home, and there are plenty of shady parks and tree-lined walking paths. According to Calderón, “Palermo buzzes with life, boasting an abundance of bars, restaurants, museums, parks, and picturesque streets to explore. It's where you'll find the pulse of the city.” 

This neighborhood has a high-end feel, with luxury hotels and glamorous bars, but it also acts as a cultural center for Buenos Aires, with ongoing concerts, art exhibitions, and popular local haunts. Calderón confirms that Recoleta “exudes elegance and offers a glimpse into Buenos Aires' architectural grandeur.”

Villa Crespo

If you’re looking for nightlife and a hip, up-and-coming vibe, Villa Crespo is your spot. This neighborhood, which surrounds a former shoe factory, has a great selection of cafes and bars.

This neighborhood is best known for its bohemian vibe, which is complemented with street murals and ongoing pop-up art galleries. The San Telmo Market , a large indoor market that opened in 1897 to serve the area’s immigrant populations, is a must.

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This colorful neighborhood is best known for its popular art walk, the aforementioned Caminito. But in reality, La Boca is an art mecca, with spaces like Usina del Arte , a cultural center located in an old power plant. If you want to avoid the tourist mayhem on Caminito, check out Calle Suarez or Pinzon.

If you’re planning to stay in the city, there’s no need to rent a car. The city is walkable and there’s a great city-bike system, BA Ecobici , which has over 3,000 bicycles spread throughout the city.

Subway: Buenos Aires also has a dependable and well-used subway system called Subte . Six lines connect commercial, tourist, and residential areas throughout Buenos Aires, with trains running every three to 10 minutes, depending on the line. To travel by Subte (or bus) in Buenos Aires, you'll need to get a rechargeable SUBE card . For schedules, routes, and live updates, download the transpo app, BA Cómo Llego . Train: For transportation with a tourist twist, Calderón recommends “ Tren de la Costa , a picturesque train journey that takes you on a captivating ride through the charming suburbs of Buenos Aires, particularly in Zona Norte.”

Taxi: You’ll find over 40,000 licensed taxis and plenty of Ubers waiting to take you to your destination any time of day (or night). Calderón also recommends trying out Cabify , a Latin American rideshare app that operates in Buenos Aires.

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Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires combines faded colonial architecture with Latin passion, dynamite dining and a robust nightlife. Sexy and alive, this beautiful city gets under your skin.

Best Time to Visit

Best things to do, leave the planning to a local expert.

Experience the real Buenos Aires. Let a local expert handle the planning for you.

Attractions

Must-see attractions.

Palacio Barolo

One of Buenos Aires' most beautiful monuments, this 22-story building has a unique design inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy. Its structure is divided into…

Teatro Colón

Occupying an entire city block, this impressive seven-story theater is one of BA’s most prominent landmarks. It’s the city’s main performing arts venue,…

Centro Cultural Kirchner

It was former president Néstor Kirchner who, in 2005, first proposed turning the abandoned former central post office into a cultural center. He died in…

Casa Rosada

The Casa Rosada was named for its distinctive color. It was from the balcony here, at the presidential palace, that Eva Perón famously addressed the…

Parque 3 de Febrero

This sweeping park abounds with small lakes and pretty gazebos. Stands rent bikes and in-line skates, and joggers and power walkers circle the ponds – if…

Plaza de Mayo

Surrounded by the Casa Rosada, the Cabildo and the city’s main cathedral, Plaza de Mayo is the place where Argentines gather in vehement protest or…

Cementerio de la Recoleta

Recoleta & Barrio Norte

This cemetery is perhaps BA's top attraction. You can wander for hours in this incredible city of the dead, where the ‘streets’ are lined with impressive…

Museo Benito Quinquela Martín

Once the home and studio of painter Benito Quinquela Martín (1890–1977), this fine-arts museum exhibits his works and those of other Argentine artists…

Top picks from our travel experts

The best 15 experiences in buenos aires.

Aldo’s Restoran & Vinoteca

This restaurant and wine shop is an upscale eatery serving a short, gourmet menu of steaks, seafood and pasta dishes, plus small plates and charcuterie,…

Como en Casa

This upscale cafe-restaurant has an elegant atmosphere and attracts Recoleta’s wealthiest. Its best feature is the shady patio, complete with large…

Casa Coupage

Wine enthusiasts love this sophisticated closed-door eatery run by sommelier Santiago Mymicopulo. The gorgeously presented gourmet cuisine, presented in…

Milonga La Glorieta

Belgrano, Nuñez & the Costanera Norte

It’s hard to imagine a more romantic setting for an outdoor milonga than the park bandstand at the Barrancas de Belgrano, where on summer evenings dancers…

Feria Artesanal Plaza Francia

Recoleta’s popular artisan fair has dozens of booths and a range of creative, homemade goods from leather wallets and silver jewelry to mate gourds and…

La Catedral

This rustic warehouse turned bohemian tango club and cultural center is a unique venue in the city. Join a tango class – walk-ins are welcome, and it's a…

La Bombonera Stadium

Seeing Boca Juniors play at La Bombonera is one of the world's top spectator sports experiences, especially if you manage to catch the 'superclasico'…

Salón Canning

Some of BA’s finest dancers (no wallflowers here) grace this traditional venue with its great dance floor. Well-known tango company Parakultural stages…

On the 13th floor of hip Hotel Pulitzer, this after-work spot draws a mix of locals and travelers at sunset for cold drinks, chilled-out Bossanova and…

Mercado de San Telmo

Occupying an entire city block, this striking marketplace was built in 1897 by Juan Antonio Buschiazzo, the Italian-born Argentine architect who designed…

Café Bar Roma

Join the locals for a merienda (afternoon snack) at this wonderfully atmospheric bar with exposed brick walls. It's been a neighborhood favorite since…

Parque de la Memoria

On the edge of the river on the Costanera Norte is this landscaped park and gallery that serves as a memorial to the victims of the military dictatorships…

Lo de Joaquín Alberdi

Nationally produced wines for every taste and budget line the racks and cellar of this attractive wine shop; ask the friendly owner for his…

Feria de San Telmo

On Sundays, San Telmo’s main drag is closed to traffic and the street is a sea of both locals and tourists browsing craft stalls, waiting at vendors’…

Reserva Ecológica Costanera Sur

Puerto Madero

The beautifully marshy land of this sprawling waterfront nature reserve is a popular site for weekend picnics, walks and bike rides (rental kiosks line…

Hugely popular for grilling up some of the city's best steaks – so soft they can be cut with a spoon. Yes, it's touristy and pricey compared to the local…

Classy service and a great wine list add an upscale bent to this traditional – and very popular – corner steakhouse. The bife de chorizo (sirloin steak)…

Recommended wine shop in San Telmo.

Alvear Roof Bar

This rooftop bar at the swanky Alvear Palace is a chic venue for a sunset cocktail or late-night drinks.

Fundación Proa

Only the most cutting-edge national and international artists are invited to show at this contemporary art center, with its high ceilings, white walls and…

Feria Plaza Belgrano

Belgrano’s artisan market is a great spot on a sunny weekend. Browse the stalls for handmade jewelry, mate (tea-like beverage) gourds, clothes and leather…

Top 10 free activities in Buenos Aires

Usina del Arte

This former power station has been transformed into a spectacular concert venue in an effort to regenerate a somewhat sketchy area of La Boca. It’s a…

Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes

This is Argentina’s most important fine arts museum, containing many key works by Benito Quinquela Martín, Xul Solar, Eduardo Sívori and other Argentine…

El Caminito

La Boca's most famous street and 'open-air' museum is a magnet for visitors, who come to see its brightly painted houses and snap photographs of the…

Plaza Dorrego

After Plaza de Mayo, Plaza Dorrego is the city’s oldest plaza. Dating back to the 18th century, it was originally a pit stop for caravans bringing…

Feria de Mataderos

On the outskirts of the city in the working-class barrio of Mataderos, this excellent folkloric festival happens on Sundays and national holidays. Come…

Within Parque 3 de Febrero is this gorgeous garden with more than 18,000 roses.

Planning Tools

Expert guidance to help you plan your trip.

Best Neighborhoods

The sheer scale of Buenos Aires can be overwhelming but delving into its neighborhoods will result in the trip of a lifetime. Here are 7 of our favorites.

Buenos Aires pulls you in with a magnetic grip, but beyond the city limits, you can explore even more on a day trip. 

Transportation

Navigating Buenos Aires' emblematic broad avenues is simple, and getting around the city by foot, bicycle, bus or subway is easy and generally safe.

Free Things to Do

If you want to explore Buenos Aires without breaking the budget, start with these 10 free activities around the capital.

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Of all South America’s capital cities, Buenos Aires – aka Capital Federal, Baires, BsAs or simply BA – has the most going for it. Seductive and cultured, sophisticated yet earthy, eclectic but with a strong identity, it never bores, seldom sleeps and invariably mesmerises its visitors. Influenced by the great European cities, Buenos Aires nonetheless has its own distinct personality enhanced by proud traditions, including football, tango and mate. Travellers who visit Buenos Aires will very quickly experience the modern and traditional charms of Argentina's capital city.

What to see in Buenos Aires

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On one flank lap the caramel-hued waters of the Río de la Plata, the world’s widest estuary: signs of BA’s regained prosperity include the wharves stacked high with containers and the ever-busier cruise-ship terminus. To the west and south, the verdant Pampas – historically the source of the city’s food and wealth – meld seamlessly into its vast suburbs.

Modern Buenos Aires enjoys an incomparable lifestyle. Elegant restaurants, glamorous bars, historic cafés and heaving nightclubs, plus a world-class opera house, countless theatres, multi-screen cinemas, avant-garde galleries and French-style palaces all underscore its attachment to the arts and its eternal sense of style. Its proud inhabitants, known as Porteños , are notoriously extravagant and well-groomed but they are also hospitable and eager to show visitors around. Another boon is the parks and gardens and the abundance of trees lining the streets and providing shade in the many lively plazas that dot the huge conurbation; they add welcome splashes of colour, particularly when ablaze with yellow, pink and mauve blooms in spring and, in some cases, autumn, too. The squadrons of squawky parrots and vociferous songbirds that populate the greenery help visitors forget that this is the fifth-largest conurbation in the Americas: there are nearly fourteen million inhabitants in the Gran Buenos Aires area, which spills well beyond the city’s defining boundary of multi-lane ring roads into Buenos Aires Province . Discover everything you need to know about Buenos Aires with our travel guide.

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On the map and from the air the metropolis does look dauntingly huge, yet the compact centre and relative proximity of all the main sights mean that you don’t have to travel that much to gain an overview. Of the city’s 48 barrios you will most probably be visiting only the half-dozen most central. The city centre (basically San Nicolás and Monserrat) is mostly a hectic place, particularly during the week and along pedestrianised Calle Florida, but the fin-de-siècle elegance of Avenida de Mayo and the bohemian café culture of Avenida Corrientes offer a contrasting atmosphere. Beyond the converted docklands of Puerto Madero, east of downtown, lies the unexpectedly wild Reserva Ecológica, one of the city’s green lungs.

The older south of the city begins just beyond the central Plaza de Mayo . The narrow streets are lined with some of the capital’s finest architecture, typified by late nineteenth-century townhouses with ornate Italianate facades. Increasingly gentrified, San Telmo is primarily known for its cutting-edge artists, lively antiques fair and touristy tango haunts, while resolutely working-class Boca, further south, is so inextricably linked with its football team, Boca Juniors , that many of its buildings are painted blue and yellow. The north of the city is leafier and wealthier; you can ogle the French-style palaces of Retiro, stay in one of the top-end hotels of Recoleta or head to Palermo to shop or dine or just to wander the streets. Most of the city museums are clustered in the northern barrios, with themes as varied as Latin American art, mate cups and Eva Perón.

Brief history of Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires was named in honour of Nuestra Señora de Santa María de los Buenos Ayres, provider of the good wind, the patron saint of the Spanish sailors who first landed on the banks of the Río de la Plata estuary in 1516. The first successful settlement came in 1580, but though the Spanish found the horses and cattle that they brought over from Europe thrived, the fertility of the land made little impression on them. They were more interested in precious metals, and named the settlement’s river the Plata (silver) in the belief that it flowed from the lands of silver and gold in the Andes.

Expansion was slow, however, and Buenos Aires remained a distant outpost of the Spanish-American empire for the next two centuries, with smuggling being the mainstay of the local economy. In 1776, in an attempt to shore up its empire, Spain gave the Argentine territories Viceroyalty status, with Buenos Aires as the capital. It was too little, too late: boosted by the defeat of two attempted British invasions, the people of the Viceroyalty declared independence in 1810, freeing the area from the last vestiges of colonial hindrance.

Immigration and growth

The industrial revolution gave Buenos Aires the opportunity to exploit and export the great riches of the Pampas, thanks to technological advances such as railways and refrigeration – which enabled Europeans to dine on Argentine beef for the first time. Few cities in the world have experienced a period of such astonishing growth as that which spurred Buenos Aires between 1870 and 1914. Massive foreign investment – most notably from the British – poured into the city and Buenos Aires’ stature leapt accordingly. European immigrants, over half of whom were Italians, flocked to the capital, and the city’s population doubled between 1880 and 1890. Most of the old town was razed and an eclectic range of new buildings went up in a huge grid pattern. The standard of living of Buenos Aires’ middle class equalled or surpassed that of many European countries, while the incredible wealth of the city’s elite was almost without parallel anywhere. At the same time, however, much of the large working-class community endured appalling conditions in the city’s overcrowded conventillos , or tenement buildings.

Modern troubles

By the mid-twentieth century the period of breakneck development had come to a close as the country slid into political turmoil and economic crisis. In September 1945, Buenos Aires saw the first of what was to become a regular fixture – a massive demonstration that filled the city centre. Rallies of almost religious fervour in support of Perón and his wife Evita, who came out onto the balcony of the Casa Rosada to deliver their speeches, followed at regular intervals until Evita’s death and Perón’s deposition. The long years of military dictatorship that followed saw the city in lockdown, with the mothers of the disappeared one of the few visible signs of the turmoil underneath the surface. Since the return to democracy in 1982, Buenos Aires has been the most visible face of the country’s economic rollercoaster. The temporary stabilisation of the currency in the 1990s brought a new upsurge in spending by those who could afford it – smart new shopping malls, restaurants and cinema complexes sprung up around the city. But Buenos Aires entered the twenty-first century in retreat, as a grinding recession led to weeks of protests and looting that came to a horrendous head in December 2001, when widespread rioting led to dozens of deaths. Demonstrations and roadblocks by unemployed piqueteros became part of the fabric of everyday life in the city during the messy recovery that followed, with the sad sight of cartoneros rooting through rubbish the most obvious example of the economic problems, and growing crime an inevitable offshoot of this rise in poverty.

As the focus of national bicentenary celebrations in 2010 – and despite some backwash from the global financial crisis – Buenos Aires is mostly in good shape. Long overdue repairs have been carried out, welfare plans have reduced (though not eradicated) the worst poverty and international tourism continues to be an engine of growth, leading to the opening of new gourmet restaurants and boutique hotels every week. Problems remain – traffic, crime, shantytowns, flooding in big storms, power outages and the still frequent roadblocks – but Buenos Aires seems confident of its future.

Buenos Aires is well served by numerous international and domestic flights. It is also a transport hub for the rest of the country, with frequent daily bus services to and from most towns and cities. Limited train services join the capital to the provinces, while fast and slow ferries cross the Río de la Plata to neighbouring Uruguay.

Buenos Aires may seem like a daunting city to get around, but it’s actually served by an extensive, inexpensive and generally efficient public transport service – albeit not the world’s cleanest, quietest or most modern. The easiest part of this system to come to grips with is undoubtedly the underground rail system, or subte, which serves the city centre, the north and the west of the city. You may also want to familiarize yourself with a few bus routes, as buses are the only form of public transport that serves the outlying barrios. However, as taxis are plentiful and relatively cheap, you’ll likely find them the most convenient means to get around.

Buenos Aires’ popularity with international visitors means that many of the city’s best accommodation – at all levels – is frequently full. With around half of all the country’s hotels in the capital, you will always be able to find somewhere to stay, but if you’re fussy about where you lay your head, you’re advised to reserve in advance. At the budget end, there are dozens of hostels, mostly cheerful, well-run places in converted nineteenth-century mansions. If you baulk at dormitory living, consider a private room at a hostel or a costlier but homely B&B, which tend to be a better deal than the city-centre budget and mid-market hotels, many of which can be dull at best, grim at worst. The city has also seen a surge in upmarket boutique hotels, altogether more pleasant (though naturally more expensive) places to stay, catering principally to international visitors and scattered throughout the central neighbourhoods. The label boutique can be misleading, as anywhere else; often it just means small and vaguely trendy, but is no guarantee of comfort or quality of service. Wherever you spend the night, a fan or air conditioning is really a requirement in summer, and heating a big plus in winter. Discounts can sometimes be negotiated, particularly if you are staying for more than a few days, but note that credit cards may entail a surcharge. Breakfast is not always included at the budget hotels, but in any case you’ll probably get a better start to the day in a nearby confitería .

There’s a superb range of cultural events on offer in Argentina’s capital, ranging from avant-garde theatre to blockbuster movies and grand opera with a wealth of options in between. One of the best features of Porteño cultural life is the strong tradition of free or very cheap events, including film showings at the city’s museums and cultural centres, tango and a series of enthusiastically attended outdoor events put on by the city government every summer; street performers are also of very high quality.

Venues offering live music, including folk, jazz, tango and rock, are scattered all over the city and differ enormously in style and ambience, though the quality is invariably high. For gigs by local bands, check the Sí supplement in Clarín on Fridays and the Buenos Aires Herald’s arts section. As well as larger venues like Luna Park or the outdoor GEBA, international stars often play at football stadiums, particularly River Plate’s Monumental – these gigs are widely advertised and best booked through a ticket agency. Smaller venues generally sell tickets on the door. If folk music is your thing, check out folkloreclub.com.ar . For information on classical music and opera performances. Websites with worthwhile dance clubs and live music listings include vuenozairez.com , wipe.com.ar and buenosaliens.com .

Tango has gained a whole new audience in recent times, with an increasing number of young people filling the floors of social clubs, confiterías and traditional dancehalls for regular events known as milongas . Even if you don’t dance yourself, it’s still worth going to see one: the spectacle of couples slipping almost trance-like around the dancefloor is a captivating sight. Apart from the skill and composure of the dancers, one of the most appealing aspects of the milonga is the absence of class – and, especially, age – divisions; indeed, most younger dancers regard it as an honour to be partnered by older and more experienced dancers.

Structure and etiquette

While the setting for a milonga can range from a sports hall to an elegant salon, the structure – and etiquette – of the dances varies little. In many cases, classes are given first. Once the event gets underway, it is divided into musical sets, known as tandas, which will cover the three subgenres of tango: tango “proper”; milonga – a more uptempo sound; and waltz. Each is danced differently and occasionally there will also be an isolated interval of salsa, rock or jazz. The invitation to dance comes from the man, who will nod towards the woman whom he wishes to partner. She signals her acceptance with an equally subtle gesture and only then will her new partner approach her table. Once on the dancefloor, the couple waits eight compases, or bars, and then begins to dance, circulating in a counter-clockwise direction around the dancefloor. The woman follows the man’s lead by responding to marcas, or signs, to indicate the move he wishes her to make. The more competent she is, the greater number of variations and personal touches she will add. Though the basic steps of the tango may not look very difficult, it entails a rigorous attention to posture and a subtle shifting of weight from leg to leg, essential to avoid losing balance. The couple will normally dance together until the end of a set, which lasts for four or five melodies. Once the set is finished, it is good tango etiquette for the woman to thank her partner who, if the experience has been successful and enjoyable, is likely to ask her to dance again later in the evening.

Classes and clothing

Watching real tango danced is the kind of experience that makes people long to do it themselves. Unfortunately, a milonga is not the best place to take your first plunge; unlike, say, salsa, even the best partner in the world will find it hard to carry a complete novice through a tango. In short, if you can’t bear the thought of attending a milonga without dancing, the answer is to take some classes – reckon on taking about six to be able to hold your own on the dancefloor. There are innumerable places in Buenos Aires offering classes, including cultural centres, bars and confiterías and, for the impatient or shy, there are private teachers. If you’re going to take classes, it’s important to have an appropriate pair of shoes with a sole that allows you to swivel (no rubber soles). For women, it’s not necessary to wear heels but it is important that the shoes support the instep. At a milonga , however, a pair of well-polished heels is the norm, and will act as a signal that you are there to dance. Any woman going to a milonga , but not intending to dance, should make that clear in her choice of dress and footwear; go dressed to kill and you’ll spend the night turning down invitations from bemused-looking men.

For all its parks and tree-lined avenues, Buenos Aires is nonetheless predominantly urban, and it can be nice to get away from the hectic tumult for a day or two.

Immediately surrounding the city limits as you cross the Avenida General Paz ring road, the Capital Federal spreads into greater Buenos Aires. Largely residential, the most appealing suburbs are those to the city’s north – the Zona Norte, an affluent suburban world of riverine villas where the subtropical heart that lies beneath Buenos Aires’ European veneer starts to show through. Most worth visiting is San Isidro, which preserves a villagey charm and worthwhile historic quarter that can be accessed via the Tren de la Costa or taxi. Further on, but still easily in day-trip territory, you will reach Tigre, a kind of cross between Venice and the Everglades, at the edge of the verdant Paraná Delta.

To the east of the city, meanwhile, boats cross the Río de la Plata to the small Isla Martín García, a steamy island that appears to have walked off the pages of a children’s adventure story. Once used as a penal colony, it is now mostly given over to a nature reserve (visits via Cacciola Turismo in Tigre). You can also reach the Portuguese colonial historic town of Colonia in Uruguay or even visit pleasant Montevideo, the capital of Argentina’s rioplatense neighbour – both destinations are served by Buquebus , whose ferries and catamarans depart regularly from Puerto Madero.

Go a little further beyond the city in any other direction and you will swiftly emerge in the emerald green pampas, Argentina’s heartlands. Magnificent estancias (farmsteads or ranches) and traditional Pampean villages are close enough to reach as a day-trip, though if possible they really warrant at least one overnight stay. The capital of Buenos Aires Province , La Plata , an orderly city with a large, old-fashioned natural history museum, is also only an hour or so on the bus from Retiro.

Buenos Aires is Latin America’s gastronomic capital and, with many places offering excellent quality for the price, eating out here must count as a highlight of any visit to Argentina . In addition to the ubiquitous pizza and pasta restaurants common to the country as a whole, the capital offers a number of cosmopolitan cuisines, ranging from Armenian and Basque to Thai and Vietnamese. Foodie fashions are enthusiastically adopted; Peruvian haute cuisine and mini-gourmet restaurants in the intimate space of someone’s house are currently all the rage. The city’s crowning glory, however – though you have to be a meat-eater – are its parrillas, whose top-end representatives offer the country’s choicest beef cooked on an asador criollo – staked around an open fire. There are plenty of humbler places, too, where you can enjoy a succulent parrillada in a lively atmosphere.

If you’ve come to Buenos Aires eager to experience the city after dark you will not leave disappointed. Porteños are consummate night owls and though nightlife peaks from Thursday to Saturday, you’ll find plenty of things to do during the rest of the week too. Worthwhile venues are spread all over the city, but certain areas offer an especially large selection of night-time diversions. The city’s young and affluent head to Palermo’s Soho and Hollywood to strut their stuff year-round, and the Costanera Norte as well in the summer. El Bajo, as the streets around Reconquista and 25 de Mayo are known, offers a walkable circuit of bars and restaurants as well as the odd Irish pub, while San Telmo harbours some eclectic and charismatic bars in among the tango spectacles. Though some bars open all day, most don’t really get going until around midnight. Increasingly, the smoother bars run so-called after offices on weekdays to fill the early evening slot, but these are almost invariably rather sleazy.

Shopping in Buenos Aires is a pleasure unmatched elsewhere in South America. While goods tend to be more Western and familiar than those you will come across in, say, Bolivia or Perú, you can nonetheless count on finding some highly original items to take home. The best handicrafts are found in their home provinces rather than in Buenos Aires, but if you miss out on your trip around the country there are good craft markets in the capital. Typically Argentine goods include mate paraphernalia, polo wear, wine and world-class leatherware. A box of widely available Havanna alfajores makes a good present, or take a jar or two of dulce de leche away with you to satisfy cravings. Opening hours are usually around 10am–7pm Monday to Friday, with stores closed Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

A sometimes chaotic mix of old-fashioned cafés, grand nineteenth-century public edifices, high-rise office blocks and tearing traffic, Buenos Aires’ city centre exudes energy and elegance – though it can be shabby and downright dingy in parts. Its heart is the spacious, palm-dotted Plaza de Mayo, the ideal place to begin a tour of the area and explore its historical and political connections; its mismatched medley of buildings includes the famous Casa Rosada, or government house. An amble westwards from the plaza will take you along Avenida de Mayo, the city’s major boulevard, offering an impressive display of Art Nouveau and Art Deco architecture. At its western end, Avenida de Mayo opens onto the Plaza del Congreso, presided over by the Congreso Nacional building, the seat of the federal parliament.

From Plaza del Congreso, Avenida Callao will take you northwards to Avenida Corrientes. Now a busy commercial artery, Corrientes was famous in the twentieth century as the hub of the city’s left-leaning café society. Though there’s less plotting going on here today, it’s still the place to get some culture, lined as it is with no end of bookstores, music shops, cinemas and theatres. A short detour north from Corrientes will take you to Plaza Lavalle, a long, grassy square most notable for the magnificent opera house that looms over its eastern edge, the regal Teatro Colón.

East from Plaza Lavalle, you’ll hit the jarring and enormous Avenida 9 de Julio – the city’s multilane central nerve. Presiding at its heart is the stark white Obelisco, a 67m stake through the intersection of avenidas 9 de Julio and Corrientes. Crossing east over 9 de Julio, you head into a densely packed and busy block known as the microcentro (the Argentine term for downtown), whose two main streets are pedestrianized Lavalle and Florida, where you’ll be swept along by a stream of human traffic past elegant galerías (arcades) and stores of every kind. Buenos Aires’ small financial district – called, in homage to London, ‘‘La City’’ – makes up the southeast corner of the microcentro, while to the northeast sits the quieter “El Bajo”, home to yet more downtown bars and restaurants.

Avenida Corrientes

Running parallel to Avenida de Mayo, four blocks north of Plaza Congreso, Avenida Corrientes is one of the city’s principal arteries, sweeping down to the lower grounds of El Bajo. It’s not so much the architecture that is of note but the atmosphere generated by its bustling mix of cafés, bookstores, cinemas, theatres and pizzerias. For years, cafés such as La Paz, on the corner of Corrientes and Montevideo, and the austere La Giralda, two blocks west, have been the favoured meeting places of left-wing intellectuals and bohemians – and good places to observe the Porteño talent for whiling away hours over a single tiny coffee.

Corrientes’ bookstores, many of which stay open till the wee hours, have always been as much places to hang out in as to buy from – in marked contrast to almost every other type of shop in the city, where you’ll be accosted by sales assistants as soon as you cross the threshold. The most basic places are simply one long room open to the street with piles of books slung on tables and huge handwritten price labels, whereas the leftish, alternative Liberarte at no. 1555 and its ilk take literature more seriously. Almost as comprehensive as the bookstores are the street’s numerous pavement kiosks, proffering a mind-boggling range of newspapers, magazines and books on subjects from psychology and sex to tango and politics.

Avenida de Mayo

An amble west from Plaza de Mayo takes you along one of the capital’s grandest thoroughfares, Avenida de Mayo, a wide, tree-lined boulevard flanked with ornamental street lamps and offering a stunning ten-block vista between Plaza de Mayo and Plaza del Congreso. Part of an 1880s project to remodel the city along the lines of Haussmann’s Paris, Avenida de Mayo is notable for its architectural melange; many of its buildings are topped with decorative domes and ornamented with elaborate balustrades and sinuous caryatids. Unimpressed with the city’s European pretensions, Borges called it one of the saddest places in Buenos Aires, yet even he couldn’t resist the charm of its confiterías and traditional restaurants, a handful of which remain open.

Jewish Buenos Aires

Argentina is home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the world, currently estimated at around 185,000, although this is around one-third of its peak figure in the 1950s, since when many have migrated to Israel, Europe and the United States. The majority live in Buenos Aires; the more well-to-do in Belgrano, and the lower middle classes in Once. The latter is where you’ll find most of the city’s kosher restaurants, especially on the streets around Pueyrredón between Córdoba and Corrientes. Approximately eighty synagogues dot the city, including the large Central Synagogue, along with more than seventy Jewish educational institutions.

The first Jewish immigrants arrived in Argentina in the early seventeenth century but were officially excluded from colonial society by the Spanish authorities. Following independence Jews were openly allowed to settle and began moving in from France and other Western European countries in the early nineteenth century; Jewish refugees later fled here in large numbers from pogroms and persecution in Russia and Eastern Europe, and were commonly known as “ rusos ”, a term still often used erroneously to refer to all Jews (two-thirds of whom are Ashkenazi).

In 1938 the foreign minister under President Ortiz signed an infamous circular that effectively instructed Argentine consulates not to issue visas to Jews seeking asylum from Nazi Germany. Perón’s government was one of the first to recognize the State of Israel, but he openly admired Mussolini, covertly hampered Jewish immigration and notoriously allowed Nazi war criminals to settle in Argentina, including Adolf Eichmann, an SS officer who masterminded the systematic massacre of Jews in Central Europe. In 1960 Eichmann was abducted from a Buenos Aires suburb, where he worked for Mercedes Benz, by Mossad and Shin Bet agents and whisked off for trial and execution in Jerusalem.

The Jewish community was the target of two of the country’s most murderous terrorist attacks: a bomb explosion at the Israeli Embassy in 1992, in which 29 people died, and another at the headquarters of AMIA, the Argentine Jewish association, in 1994, which killed 85 people. In 2006, Argentine prosecutors officially accused the Iranian government and Hezbollah of ordering the bombings, a charge Teheran adamantly denies, but the crimes have never been properly resolved. A monument in Plaza Lavalle remembers those who lost their lives in both attacks – another in the Plaza Embajada de Israel, at the corner of Arroyo and Suipacha, Retiro, focuses on the loss of life in the 1992 atrocity, with one lime tree representing each victim.

More water than dry land, Puerto Madero, Buenos Aires’ newest and glossiest barrio, centres on a defunct port directly to the east of the historical centre. Here four enormous oblong diques , or docks, run parallel to the Río de la Plata, connecting on either side to the Dársena Sur (Southern Harbour), near Boca, and the Dársena Norte (Northern Harbour), near Retiro, from where ferries depart for Uruguay. Lining these docks – which are officially numbered one to four, Dock One being the most southerly – are a series of preserved and restored brick and iron warehouses, originally used to hold grain from the Pampas before it was shipped around the world. By 1898, before the port was even fully finished, it was already insufficient in scale to cope with the volume of maritime traffic, and a new port was constructed to the north. For most of the twentieth century, Puerto Madero sat as a forlorn industrial relic, but in the 1990s private money was injected and it began to be converted into a voguish mix of restaurants, luxury apartments and offices. While this dockside development is decidedly upmarket and somewhat lacking in colour, it’s nonetheless a relaxing place to stroll, and there are far worse ways to spend a lazy summer afternoon than sitting on a terrace here, sipping a clericó, watching the yachts bob on the water and enjoying the gentle breeze off the river. Docks Three and Four host the pick of the barrio’s restaurants and bars.

Reserva Ecológica

The Reserva Ecológica is a strange but wonderful place, a fragment of wild and watery grassland stretching for 2km alongside the Costanera. Having self-seeded with grassland after the landfill project was abandoned in 1984, the reserve offers a juxtaposition of urban and natural scenes, whether factory chimneys glimpsed through fronds of pampas or the city skyline over a lake populated by ducks and herons. Inside the reserve, near the entrance, the visitors’ centre displays panels explaining the park’s development and serves as the starting point for ranger-guided walks along the park’s many trails. Full-moon nocturnal tours (weather permitting) allow you to spot all manner of creatures, mainly birds, which keep a low daytime profile. There is a surprising diversity of flora and fauna in the park, with over two hundred species of bird visiting during the year. Aquatic species include ducks, herons, elegant black-necked swans, skittish coots, the common gallinule and the snail hawk, a bird of prey that uses its hooked beak to pluck freshwater snails out of their shells. The park is also home to small mammals, such as the easily spotted coypu, an aquatic rodent, and reptiles such as monitor lizards. The reserve’s vegetation includes the bright red ceibo, but the most dominant plant is the cortadera , or pampas grass.

Described by Borges as “an older, more solid world”, the south is where Buenos Aires best preserves its traditions. Immediately south of the Plaza de Mayo lies the barrio of Monserrat, packed with historic buildings, churches and a couple of noteworthy museums. Heading south through Monserrat, you’ll emerge into the cobbled streets and alleyways of San Telmo, where grand nineteenth-century mansions testify to the days when the barrio was home to wealthy landowners. San Telmo is best visited on a Sunday, when its central square, Plaza Dorrego, is the scene of a fascinating antiques fair, although there are plenty of antiques stores also open during the week. At the southern end of the barrio, there’s the tranquil Parque Lezama – a good spot for observing local life, and home to an important history museum. Beyond Parque Lezama, and stretching all the way to the city’s southern boundary, the Río Riachuelo, the quirky barrio of La Boca is a great place to spend an hour or two, wandering its colourful streets and soaking up its idiosyncratic atmosphere.

More than any other barrio in Buenos Aires, Boca (or “La Boca”) and its inhabitants seem to flaunt their idiosyncrasies. Located in the capital’s southeastern corner, this working-class riverside neighbourhood has been nicknamed the “República de la Boca” since 1882, when a group of local youths declared the barrio’s secession from the country. Even today, its residents – many new immigrants from other South American countries – have a reputation for playing by their own rules and are most famous for their brightly coloured wooden and corrugated-iron houses. The district was originally the favoured destination for Italian immigrants, and the colours of the houses derive from the Genoese custom of painting homes with the paint left over from boats. Boca’s other most characteristic emblem is its football team, Boca Juniors, the country’s most popular club and probably the most famous one abroad.

Named after the boca , or mouth, of the Río Riachuelo, which snakes along its southern border, Boca is an irregularly shaped barrio, longer than it is wide. Its main thoroughfare is Avenida Almirante Brown, which cuts through the neighbourhood from Parque Lezama to the towering iron Puente Transbordador that straddles the Riachuelo. Apart from some excellent pizzerias, there’s little to detain you along the avenue: the majority of Boca’s attractions are packed into the grids of streets on either side. Even then, there’s not a great deal to see as such, and unless you plan to visit all the museums an hour or two will suffice; morning is the ideal time to go, when the light best captures the district’s bright hues and before the tour buses arrive.

Be warned that Boca remains a poor neighbourhood and has an unfortunate reputation for crime, with muggings a fairly common occurrence. There’s no need to be paranoid, but it is advisable to stick strictly to the main tourist district and follow the advice of the police who patrol the area; keep expensive watches and cameras out of sight.

La Bombonera

The true heart of Boca is Boca Juniors ’ stadium, La Bombonera. Built in 1940, it was remodelled in the 1990s and the name – literally “the chocolate box” – refers to its compact structure; although Boca has more fans than any other Argentine team, the stadium’s capacity is smaller than that of most of its rivals. This is the place where many of the country’s best young players cut their teeth before heading to Europe on lucrative deals – the Bombonera’s most famous veteran is Diego Maradona, who retains a VIP seat at the stadium. Seeing a game here is an incredible experience, even for non-soccer fans.

Just inside the stadium entrance, there’s a large painting by famous local artist Benito Quinquela Martín entitled Orígen de la bandera de Boca (“the origin of Boca’s flag”), which illustrates one of the club’s most famous anecdotes. Though the exact date and circumstances of the event are disputed, all agree that Boca Juniors chose the colours of its strip from the flag of the next ship to pass through its then busy port. As the boat was Swedish, the distinctive blue and yellow strip was selected.

Around the stadium, a huddle of stalls and shops sell Boca souvenirs while, on the pavement outside the stadium, stars with the names of Boca players past and present, some featuring their footprints, were laid as part of the club’s centenary celebrations in 2005. Some of the neighbouring houses have taken up the blue and yellow theme, too, with facades painted like giant football shirts.

Few people have captured the imagination of the Argentine public as much as Diego Armando Maradona. A bull of a player with exceptional close control, balance and on-field vision, the diminutive no. 10 was the finest footballer of his generation and arguably of all time – though the latter title is now seriously contested by his compatriot, Lionel Messi. Born in a poor neighbourhood on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Maradona’s playing career (1976–97) was peerless. He made his first-team, first-division debut for club Argentinos Juniors in 1976, when he was just 15. Maradona wore the colours of seven clubs in total, including Boca Juniors, Barcelona and, most famously, Napoli, where he is still venerated as the player who brought southern Italy’s poorer brother glory and silverware. He also led Argentina to win the World Cup in 1986, a campaign that included one of the most celebrated of all World Cup games, the quarter-final played against England, just four years after the South Atlantic conflict. Maradona scored two goals, including the infamous “Hand of God” goal, in which he tapped the ball in with his hand, and a second, legitimate goal considered to be one of the finest ever scored.

Like many geniuses, though, Maradona was flawed – in his case, by the excesses of alcohol and, particularly, drugs. He was suspended in 1991 for testing positive for cocaine, and then again for the banned substance ephedrine during the 1994 World Cup. After a low point in 2004 where he was hospitalized following a cocaine-induced heart attack, he bounced back to host his own talk show in 2005, where guests included Pele and Maradona’s friend Fidel Castro. In 2008 he surprised many when he took over as coach of the Argentine national side and during qualifications for the 2010 World Cup was strongly criticized for his tactics (or lack of them) – which led him to more notoriety, this time when he launched an obscenity-laden tirade against the press following Argentina’s qualification. He lost his job after a humiliating 4-0 defeat by Germany in the South Africa finals, but was soon after appointed manager of Al-Wasl FC, based in Dubai, earning €3.5 million a year.

Fileteado or filete art

As you wander around the city, look out for examples of fileteado or filete art, particularly on shop signs. Characterized by ornate lettering, heavy shading and the use of scrolls and flowers entwined with the azure and white of the national flag, this distinctive art form first made its appearance on the city transport system in the early twentieth century. Often associated with tango, its actual origins are a little murky, but it seems to have been introduced by Italian immigrants. Banned from public transport in 1975 – the authorities felt bus destinations and numbers should be unadorned – it moved onto signs above stores and cafés as well as more traditional canvases. Today it is synonymous with Porteño identity, particularly in the south of the city. As well as tango stars, a popular subject is the pithy saying, including the classic si bebe para olvidar paga antes de tomar (“if you drink to forget, pay first”) and the more obscure si querés la leche fresca, atá la vaca a la sombre (“if you want fresh milk, tie the cow up in the shade”).

You have to be very hard-hearted not to be seduced by the romantically crumbling facades and cobbled streets of San Telmo, a neighbourhood proud of its reputation as the guardian of the city’s traditions. A small, roughly square-shaped barrio, San Telmo is bounded to the north by Avenida Chile (six blocks south of Plaza de Mayo), to the west by Calle Piedras, to the east by Paseo Colón and to the south by Parque Lezama. Like neighbouring Monserrat, its main artery is Calle Defensa, once the main thoroughfare between the Plaza de Mayo and the city’s port.

The barrio’s appearance of decaying luxury is the result of a kind of reverse gentrification. When the city’s grand mansions were abandoned by their patrician owners after a yellow fever epidemic in 1871, they were soon converted into conventillos (tenements) by landlords keen to make a quick buck from newly arrived immigrants. This sudden loss of cachet preserved many of the barrio’s original features: whereas much of the north, centre and west of the city was variously torn down, smartened up or otherwise modernized, San Telmo’s inhabitants simply adapted the neighbourhood’s buildings to their needs. It’s still largely a working-class area, and well-heeled Palermo-dwellers may warn you off coming here, but the area’s superb architecture also attracts bohemians, students, backpackers and artists, from Argentina and abroad. Together with rising rents, the recent appearance of designer clothing and homewares stores among the traditional antiques shops is an indication that San Telmo may once again be going up in the world – though this latterday gentrification is not a development that everyone welcomes.

San Telmo is one of Buenos Aires’ major tourist attractions per se, particularly for its Sunday antiques market, the Feria de San Telmo, held in the neighbourhood’s central square, Plaza Dorrego; there’s usually a smaller version on Saturdays. It’s also the barrio most closely associated with tango, and the place where many of the best-known tango shows and bars have their home. At the southern end of the barrio, the small, palm-lined Parque Lezama, containing the city’s well-organized Museo Histórico Nacional , makes a restful spot to end a tour of the neighbourhood.

A combination of extravagant elegance and an authentic lived-in feel pervades the north of Buenos Aires, where the four residential barrios of most interest to visitors – Retiro, Recoleta, Palermo and Belgrano – each retain a distinctive character. Nearest to the centre, Retiro and Recoleta – known jointly as Barrio Norte – have chic streets lined with boutiques, art galleries and smart cafés, although the dockside fringes and the highly insalubrious bits near the city’s biggest train station, also called Retiro, are just as down at heel as parts of the southern barrios, if not more so. Recoleta is associated primarily with its magnificent cemetery where, among other national celebrities, Evita is buried. Both barrios also share an extraordinary concentration of French-style palaces, tangible proof of the obsession of the city’s elite at the beginning of the twentieth century with established European cities. Many of these palaces can be visited and some of them house the area’s opulent museum collections, but they are also sights in themselves.

Palermo and Belgrano, further north, are large districts composed of a mixture of tall apartment buildings, tree-lined boulevards, little cobbled streets and grandiose neocolonial houses. Many of Buenos Aires’ best restaurants and shops are here, so you should plan a visit in this direction at least once. It’s worth making a day of it to check out the beautiful parks and gardens, attend a game of polo, or to see another beguiling side of the city in, for example, Palermo Soho, a district of lively cafés-cum-art galleries.

Much of Palermo, Buenos Aires’ largest barrio, is vibrantly green and appealingly well kempt: ornate balconies overflow with jasmine and roses, grand apartment blocks line wide avenues, and plane trees, palms and jacarandas shade older, cobbled streets; its beautifully landscaped parks, some of the biggest in the world, come alive with locals practising in-line skating, playing football or walking their dogs.

Palermo takes its name from an Italian farmer, Giovanni Palermo, who in 1590 turned these former flood plains into vineyards and orchards. The barrio began to take on its present-day appearance when large parks and gardens were laid out at the end of the nineteenth century; the process of gentrification continued and Palermo is now regarded as a distinctly classy place to live.

Given its sizeable proportions – it stretches all the way from Avenida Coronel Díaz, on the border with Recoleta, to Colegiales and Belgrano, to the north – it’s not surprising that the barrio isn’t completely homogeneous. The bit of Palermo around Plaza República de Chile that juts into Recoleta is known as Palermo Chico and contains some significant museums, including the Museo de Arte Decorativo. Nearby, the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA) is a must for fans of modern art. About ten blocks west, Palermo Viejo is a traditional neighbourhood with lovely old houses along cobbled streets, but it’s become such a trendy place, full of funky cafés and avant-garde art galleries, that the area around Plaza Cortázar is now known as Soho. Across the rail tracks, people in the media work, eat and drink in a cluster of TV studios, restaurants and bars that have been christened Hollywood. Much of the north of Palermo is taken up by parks and gardens, such as the grand Parque 3 de Febrero, giving the area its soubriquet the ‘‘ bosques de Palermo ’’ (Palermo woods). At the barrio’s northern edge is Las Cañitas, a zone of upmarket bars and restaurants, focused on the corner of Báez and Arévalo.

Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA)

One of the city’s best museums, the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA), is housed in a modern, glass-fronted, purpose-built building that is an attraction in its own right, its airy, spacious galleries contrasting with the dark nooks and crannies of the city’s more traditional art museums.

The permanent Constantini collection, on the first floor up, concentrates on the best Latin American art of the twentieth century. It is arranged chronologically, beginning around 1910, when the Modernist movement in Latin America heralded the start of a real sense of regional identity. This is exemplified in paintings such as a series by Argentine master Xul Solar, a Frida Kahlo self-portrait and Brazilian Tarsila do Amaral’s Mexican-influenced Abaporu. Dark political undercurrents run through the 1930s to 1950s and the work of Antonio Berni and the Chilean Roberto Matta, while Catholic traditions are given a Surrealist twist in Remedios Varo’s votive box Icono. Things get more conceptual from the 1960s on, with the moving installations of Julio Le Parc and the LSD-splashed “end of art” collages by the “Nueva Figuración” movement.

Upstairs, temporary exhibitions generally feature the collected works of a prominent modern or contemporary artist, often an Argentine. MALBA also has its own small art-house cinema, a café, a bookstore and a fun gift-shop.

Palermo Viejo

Palermo Viejo is Buenos Aires’ most fashionable place to live, shop or have an evening out. The part of the city most closely linked to Borges, where he lived and began writing poetry in the 1920s, its architecture has changed little since then. Bounded by avenidas Santa Fe, Córdoba, Juan B. Justo and Raúl Scalabrini Ortíz, it’s a compact oblong of narrow streets, most of them still cobbled and lined with brightly painted one- or two-storey Neocolonial villas and townhouses, many of them recently restored, some of them hidden behind luxuriant gardens full of bougainvillaea and jasmine. Part run-down, part gentrified, it’s a leafy district with a laidback bohemian ambience, and many of its stylish houses have been converted into bars, cafés and boutiques. Large communities from Poland, Ukraine, Lebanon and Armenia live here, alongside an Italian contingent and some old Spanish families, and they all have their shops, churches and clubs, adding to the district’s colour. The area also boasts a dazzling blend of outstanding restaurants, serving cuisines as varied as Armenian and Vietnamese, and has succeeded in luring the city’s residents and visitors alike away from more superficial districts such as Puerto Madero and Las Cañitas.

Palermo Viejo’s official epicentre is Plaza Palermo Viejo, a wide, park-like square dominated by a children’s playground and some huge lime trees, but the barrio’s cultural and social focal point is nearby Plaza Serrano. The plaza’s official name (used on maps but unknown by most taxi drivers) is Plaza Cortázar, after Argentine novelist Julio Cortázar, who frequented this part of the city in the 1960s and set his Surrealist novel Hopscotch here. The plaza centre becomes the site of a crafts fair at weekends, while more permanently it is surrounded by trattorias, cafés and bars, some doubling as arts centres and galleries. Among them, a rash of independent designer shops sell upmarket bohemian clothes, jewellery and furnishings – hence the Soho nickname.

Borges and Buenos Aires

This city that I believed was my past,

is my future, my present;

the years I have spent in Europe are an illusion,

I always was (and will be) in Buenos Aires.

Jorge Luis Borges, “Arrabal”, from Fervor de Buenos Aires (1921)

There’s no shortage of literary works inspired by Argentina’s capital city, but no writer has written so passionately about it as Jorge Luis Borges. Though he was born in the heart of Buenos Aires, in 1898, it was the city’s humbler barrios that most captivated Borges’ imagination. His early childhood was spent in Palermo, now one of Buenos Aires’ more exclusive neighbourhoods, but a somewhat marginal barrio at the start of the twentieth century. Borges’ middle-class family inhabited one of the few two-storey houses on their street, Calle Serrano (now officially renamed Calle J. L. Borges), and, though his excursions were strictly controlled, from behind the garden wall Borges observed the colourful street life that was kept tantalizingly out of his reach. In particular, his attention was caught by the men who gathered to drink and play cards in the local almacén (a sort of store-cum-bar) at his street corner. With their tales of knife fights and air of lawlessness, these men appeared time and again in Borges’ early short stories, and, later, in Doctor Brodie’s Report, a collection published in 1970.

Borges’ writing talent surfaced at a precocious age: at 6 he wrote his first short story and when he was 11, the newspaper El País published his translation of Oscar Wilde’s The Happy Prince. However, it was not until he returned from Europe in 1921, where he had been stranded with his family during World War I, that Borges published his first book, Fervor de Buenos Aires, a collection of poems that attempted to capture the essence of the city. Enthused by his re-encounter with Buenos Aires at an age at which he was free to go where he wanted, Borges set out to explore the marginal corners of the city. His wanderings took him to the outlying barrios, where streets lined with simple one-storey buildings blended with the surrounding Pampas, or to the poorer areas of the city centre with their tenement buildings and bars frequented by prostitutes. With the notable exception of La Boca, which he appears to have regarded as too idiosyncratic – and perhaps, too obviously picturesque – Borges felt greatest affection for the south of Buenos Aires. His exploration of the area that he regarded as representing the heart of the city took in not only the traditional houses of San Telmo and Monserrat, with their patios and decorative facades, but also the humbler streets of Barracas, a largely industrial working-class neighbourhood, and Constitución, where, in a gloomy basement in Avenida Juan de Garay, he set one of his most famous short stories, El Aleph.

For a writer as sensitive to visual subtlety as Borges – many of his early poems focus on the city’s atmospheric evening light – it seems particularly tragic that he should have gone virtually blind in his 50s. Nonetheless, from 1955 to 1973, Borges was Director of the National Library, then located in Monserrat, where his pleasure at being surrounded by books – even if he could no longer read them – was heightened by the fact that his daily journey to work took him through one of his favourite parts of the city, from his apartment in Maipú along pedestrianized Florida. As Borges’ fame grew, he spent considerable periods of time away from Argentina, travelling to Europe, the US and other Latin American countries – though he claimed always to return to Buenos Aires in his dreams. Borges died in 1986 in Geneva, where he is buried in the Plainpalais cemetery. Borges pilgrims in Buenos Aires will find a commemorative plaque at no. 2108 on Calle Serrano, inscribed with a stanza from his Mythical Foundation of Buenos Aires.

North of Palermo, leafy Belgrano is largely residential, apart from the lively shopping streets on either side of its main artery, Avenida Cabildo. Named after General Manuel Belgrano, hero of Argentina’s struggle for independence, it was founded as a separate town in 1855. Over the next decade or two lots of wealthy Porteños built their summer or weekend homes here, and it was incorporated into Buenos Aires during the city’s whirlwind expansion in the 1880s. Many Anglo-Argentines settled in the barrio in those years, and it became popular with the city’s sizeable Jewish community in the 1950s. More recently Taiwanese and Korean immigrants have settled in Barrio Chino, Buenos Aires’ small Chinatown, which stretches along Arribeños between Juramento and Olazába. The central part of the barrio is known as Belgrano C, whose nucleus lies at the junction of avenidas Cabildo and Justamento. As well as stores, cafés and galleries, there’s a clutch of minor museums here.

The well-heeled barrio of Recoleta is, for most Porteños , intrinsically tied to the magnificent La Recoleta Cemetery at its heart. In around 1720, drawn to the area’s tranquillity, which was deemed perfect for meditation or “recollection” (hence the name), Franciscan monks set up a monastery here. It wasn’t until the cholera and yellow fever epidemics of 1867 and 1871 that the city’s wealthy moved to Recoleta, from hitherto fashionable San Telmo. Although many of its residents have left for the northern suburbs in recent years, a Recoleta address still has cachet. Avenida Alvear is Buenos Aires’ swankiest street: along it you’ll find stately palaces, plus designer boutiques, swish art galleries and one of the city’s most prestigious hotels. Scattered throughout the barrio are a host of restaurants and bars, ranging from some of the city’s most traditional to trendy joints that come and go.

Recoleta’s other notable attractions include one of the capital’s few remaining colonial buildings, the gleaming white Basílica Nuestra Señora del Pilar; the Centro Cultural de Recoleta ; and the country’s biggest and richest collection of nineteenth- and twentieth-century art at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes .

Evita’s final resting place

Recoleta cemetery’s most famous resident is undoubtedly Evita Perón, second wife of President Juan Perón and one of Argentina’s most enduring figures, who died in 1952. Given the snobbishness surrounding the cemetery – the authorities who preside over it treat it more like a gentlemen’s club than a burial ground – it’s hardly surprising that Porteño high society tried to prevent Evita’s family from laying her to rest here. Nevertheless, her family’s plain, polished black granite vault, pithily marked Familia Duarte and containing poignant quotes on bronze plaques from her speeches, has been her resting place since the 1970s – with the coffin supposedly inside concrete to prevent it from disappearing. Unlike many other graves, it’s not signposted (the cemetery authorities are still uneasy about her presence) but you can locate it by following the signs to Sarmiento’s, over to the left when you come in, then counting five alleyways farther away from the entrance, and looking out for the pile of bouquets by the vault.

La Recoleta Cemetery

One of the world’s most remarkable burial grounds, La Recoleta Cemetery presents an exhilarating mixture of architectural whimsy and a panorama of Argentine history. The giant vaults, stacked along avenues inside the high walls, resemble the rooftops of a fanciful Utopian town from above. The necropolis is a city within a city, a lesson in architectural styles and fashions, and a great place to wander, exploring its narrow streets and wide avenues of yews and cypress trees.

The tombs themselves range from simple headstones to bombastic masterpieces built in a variety of styles including Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Secessionist, Neoclassical, neo-Byzantine and even neo-Babylonian. The oldest monumental grave, dating from 1836, is that of Juan Facundo Quiroga, the much-feared La Rioja caudillo (local leader) immortalized in the Latin American classic Facundo by Argentine statesman and writer Domingo Sarmiento, also buried here. Facundo’s tomb stands straight ahead of the gateway. Next to it, inscribed with a Borges poem, stands the solemn granite mausoleum occupied by several generations of the eminent Alvear family. The vast majority of tombs in Recoleta belong to similar patrician families of significant means – but not all. Perhaps the most incongruous statue in the cemetery is that of a boxer, in the northwest sector – the final resting place of Angel Firpo, who fought Jack Dempsey for the world heavyweight title in 1923. Military heroes, many of them Irish or British seafarers who played a key part in Argentina’s struggle for independence, are also buried here, such as Admiral William Brown. An Argentine hero of Irish origins, at the beginning of the nineteenth century Brown decimated the Spanish fleet in the River Plate estuary. An unusual monument decorated with a beautiful miniature of his frigate, the Hercules, is a highlight of the cemetery’s central plaza.

Squeezed between the city centre to the south, Recoleta to the west and mostly inhospitable docklands to the north and east, Retiro gets its name from a hermit’s retiro (retreat) that was hidden among dense woodland here in the sixteenth century, when Buenos Aires was little more than a village. Today it’s surprisingly varied for such a small barrio: commercial art galleries and airline offices outnumber other businesses along the busy streets around the end of Calle Florida near the barrio’s focal point, Plaza San Martín, while west of busy Avenida 9 de Julio lies a smart, quiet residential area.

Lying at Retiro’s aristocratic heart, Plaza San Martín is one of the city’s most enticing green spaces, flanked by opulent patrician buildings. More outstanding examples of the barrio’s palaces, which reflect how wealthy Porteños of the late nineteenth century yearned for their city to be a New World version of Paris, are clustered around Plaza Carlos Pellegrini, one of the city’s most elegant squares. For most Porteños , the barrio’s name has become synonymous with the once grand but now mostly decrepit train terminal, the Estación Retiro, which still retains some original Edwardian features. Next to it is the city’s major bus terminal, a modern and fairly efficient complex, and beyond that urban wasteland and a shantytown.

Charles Thays: Buenos Aires’ landscape artist

In the 1880s, French botanist and landscape architect Charles Thays (1849–1934) travelled to South America to study its rich flora, particularly the continent’s hundreds of endemic tree species. He initially settled in Argentina, where his services were in great demand as municipal authorities across the country sought to smarten their cities up. They, like their European and North American counterparts, were spurred by the realization that the country’s fast-growing urban sprawls needed parks and gardens to provide vital breathing spaces and recreational areas.

In 1890, Thays was appointed director of parks and gardens in Buenos Aires, in no small part due to his adeptness at transforming open plazas formerly used for military parades, or plazas secas , into shady plazas verdes , or green squares, such as Plaza San Martín. He also designed the capital’s botanical garden and the zoo – which he planted with dozens of tipas (also known as palo rosa , or rosewood) – as well as Palermo’s Parque 3 de Febrero, Belgrano’s Barrancas, Córdoba’s Parque Sarmiento and Parque San Martín, Tucumán’s Parque 9 de Julio and, most impressive of them all, Mendoza’s Parque General San Martín. Thays received countless private commissions, too, including the garden of Palacio Hume, on Avenida Alvear in Recoleta, and the layout of the exclusive residential estate known as Barrio Parque, in Palermo Chico.

Despite his French origins, he preferred the informal English style of landscaping, and also experimented with combinations of native plants such as jacarandas , tipas and palo borracho (a spiky-trunked relative of the ceibo with handsome pink flowers) with Canary Island palms, planes and lime trees. Oddly enough, given the high regard in which he was held and his contributions to the greening of Buenos Aires, the lone plaza named in his honour, Plaza Carlos Thays, in Palermo, is disappointingly barren, and definitely not the best example of landscaping the city has to offer.

West of central Buenos Aires a vast, mostly residential area spreads out for over a dozen kilometres towards Avenida General Paz. Sights here are scattered; perhaps the neighbourhoods’ greatest appeal lies in their relative lack of tourists, offering a prize glimpse into the lives of ordinary working- and middle-class Porteños . Architecture fans shouldn’t miss the stunning Palacio de las Aguas Corrientes in the barrio of Balvanera, the neighbourhood just south of Recoleta. Northwest of Palermo, the barrio of Chacarita is best known for its namesake cemetery, where tango singer Carlos Gardel is buried. Caballito, right in the heart of the city, has an entertaining natural history museum. Finally, right at Buenos Aires’ fringes, the hugely enjoyable gaucho fair, the Feria de Mataderos, provides one of the best days out in the city.

Feria de Mataderos

The Sunday Feria de Mataderos is a celebration of Argentina’s rural traditions. This busy fair attracts thousands of locals and tourists for its blend of folk music, traditional crafts and regional food such as locro , empanadas and tortas fritas , mouthwatering fried cakes. You can also try your hand at regional dances such as the chamamé and chacarera . The undoubted highpoint, however, is the display of gaucho skills in which riders participate in events such as the sortija , in which, galloping at breakneck speed and standing rigid in their stirrups, they attempt to spear a small ring strung on a ribbon. Take plenty of cash – the artisan wares here are often good quality and cheaper than in the central stores, but the stallholders do not take credit cards – and make sure the fair is actually on before setting out, as it sometimes closes or moves to Saturday evenings, especially during the summer months; the city’s tourist kiosks should be able to advise.

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written by Andy Turner

updated 26.04.2021

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Buenos Aires   Travel Guide

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Why Go To Buenos Aires

Skirting the border of Argentina and Uruguay, Buenos Aires entices visitors with its blend of Creole, immigrant and heavily European-influenced culture. Featuring wide boulevards, neoclassical architecture and a cache of avant-garde museums, it's obvious why this city has the nickname "the Paris of South America." A lesser-known nickname among tourists, but well-known among porteños (the city's residents) is la Ciudad de la Furia (the City of the Fury). This second nickname alludes to a city that has come out of a brutal dictatorship, dealt with hyperinflation and weathered political uncertainty; all of which made porteños resilient, highly creative and extremely family centered as a result. Get to know them by visiting Buenos Aires' colorful art-laden barrios (neighborhoods), its world-class fútbol (soccer) stadiums or stopping by one of the many cafes to have a conversation with a local over a café con leche (coffee with milk) and medialunas (croissant-like pastries). They won't mind. Porteños are very chatty.

Get to know the city even more by attending a sultry show of tango, the dance this city birthed. Shop myriad antique shops and vintage clothing stores in San Telmo , where shopkeepers have as much personalities as their wares and meander through Recoleta Cemetery , a maze of stories mixed with marble art. Catch a horse race at the Palermo Hippodrome , and explore the National Museum of Fine Arts . Wander with your significant other through Palermo's Rose Garden Walk ( Paseo del Rosedal ), and, at least once on your trip, stay up all night drinking wine with a friend to truly tap into the late-night culture of Buenos Aires.

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• # 8 in Best Places to Visit in October 2024
• # 13 in Best Places to Visit in Central and South America in 2023

Best of Buenos Aires

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• in Four Seasons Hotel Buenos Aires
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Best Things to Do in Buenos Aires

• # 1 in Palermo
• # 2 in Recoleta Cemetery
• # 3 in Colón Theater (Teatro Colón)

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Buenos Aires Travel Tips

Best months to visit.

The best time to visit Buenos Aires is from April to June (fall) or from September to November (spring). These sweet shoulder seasons usher in mild temperatures, thin crowds and colorful foliage. Fall and spring also boast reasonable hotel prices. During January and February – Buenos Aires' summertime and peak tourist season – crowds as well as hotel room rates start to swell. While this season remains a popular time to visit, temperatures often rise into the high 80s and a muggy heat hangs in the air. The offseason starts in June, then has a small high season in July before becoming offseason again in August. This time of the year is usually filled with rainy days, cold winter temps and fewer tourists (though Argentine winter school vacations bring a spate of national tourists for part of July).

Weather in Buenos Aires

Data sourced from the National Climatic Data Center

What You Need to Know

Inflation causes prices to change rapidly Prices can change from month to month and might even change within the course of your visit.

Don't expect tango sessions to start until 3 a.m. The nightlife here tends to start later (much later), so if you came to dance, you should schedule an afternoon nap. This is not the case for tango dinner shows though.

Do leisurely sip your coffee Just as their European counterparts, Argentineans enjoy their time spent at cafes. Waiters will not rush you, and you can spend hours at a table.

How to Save Money in Buenos Aires

Do not pull money out of ATMs. ATMs can charge you the official rate, plus hefty service fees, while using credit or debit cards or withdrawing cash from Western Union will give you money at the Electronic Payment Market (MEP) rate, a preferential exchange rate that people with foreign cards can access (about double the official rate).

Bring large bills to exchange. Go to a cueva (an unofficial exchange house) to get the blue dollar exchange rate, and bring $100 bills, as you will get a lower rate for smaller bills. "Blue dollar" is what the unofficial (or "black market") rate is called in Argentina. While it might sound seedy, this is a very common practice that many locals and tourists in-the-know utilize to get the best rate.

Bring your savvy bargain-hunting skills Instead of hitting the racks of the upscale shopping districts in Recoleta, visit the eclectic secondhand stores in San Telmo (called feria americanas ) for better deals and fun vintage finds. Carry bills, as many shops will give a 10% discount if you pay in cash.

Bring your dancing shoes Instead of paying to watch a tango performance, check out one of the milongas (dance halls) where you can partake in classes or watch locals heat up the dance floor.

Culture & Customs

Porteños (the Spanish term for Buenos Aires residents) can be both welcoming and blunt. Their European heritage (heightened by the influx of Italian, Spanish and other European immigrants who flocked to Argentina during the late 1800s and early 1900s) distinguishes porteños even from other Argentines, as well as other Latin American populations, like Brazilians. There are a few cultural cues you'll want to keep in mind. Spanish is the spoken language here, but rather than calling it español, Argentine's call it castellano , and speak with a distinctive "sh" sound when pronouncing "y"s and double "l"s. Luckily for English-speaking visitors, most porteños comprehend key English phrases and will try to communicate with Anglophone travelers (if you stay on their good side). Making an effort to speak the language by using simple phrases such as " buen día " ("good morning") and " gracias " ("thank you") will go a long way.

Another traditional custom you'll pick up on is how locals greet one another. Instead of shaking hands, Argentines acknowledge each other with a kiss on the side of the cheek. Porteños also don't shy away from maintaining direct eye contact during conversation, and as a sign of respect, visitors should do the same. Some visitors find Argentines' intense gaze off-putting particularly when men stare at women as they walk past. Female travelers might also experience piropos (catcalls or vulgar, flirtatious comments). Should you find yourself in a situation where someone is giving you unwanted attention, ignore them and walk way.

When heading out for a night on the town, know that meals and evening entertainment start later than in the United States. For an authentic experience, you won't want to sit down for dinner until about 10 p.m. When deciding on what to eat, you'll have your pick from Buenos Aires' many cuisines, including: creative micro gastronomy, pastas and pizzas, multiple kinds of steak perfectly cooked on parrillas (grills), and a world of pastries. During the day, savor a café con leche (coffee with milk) and medialunas (croissant-like pastries) at one of the city's European-style cafés or opt for a cold brew at one of its many specialty coffee shops. Note that it's customary to tip 10% in restaurants.

Argentina uses the Argentine peso (ARS), which is much weaker than the United States dollar. Due to a complicated economic situation and governmental monetary controls, Argentina has parallel exchange rates. The Electronic Payment Market (MEP) rate is what you get if you use your Visa, Mastercard or American Express cards to pay for things in Argentina. The official rate is what you get for cash if you go to an official exchange house, and the blue rate is what you get for your cash, if you go to an unofficial exchange house. One U.S. dollar is equal to about 692 Argentine pesos at the MEP rate, 347 Argentine pesos at the official rate and 740 at the blue rate. Another way to access the MEP rate is to wire yourself money via a service like Western Union or Moneygram, then pick up the cash at a branch location in Buenos Aires. Keep in mind that because of the situation, exchange rates and prices for goods and services fluctuate wildly.

What to Eat

Cuisine in Buenos Aires draws from the country's indigenous heritage, as well as creole and immigrant roots. Though Argentina's famous for its wine, mate , a highly-caffeinated loose-leaf tea drunk in a gourd with a filtered straw, is the true national beverage shared in homes, parks and sporting events. All kinds of meats – from choripans (sausage sandwiches) at an asadao (barbeque) to multiple kinds of steaks at parillas (steakhouses), and panchos (hot dogs) sold at kioscos –  are being cooked at all hours of the day here. However, Buenos Aires has seen a boom of vegetarian and vegan offerings, from high-end restaurants experimenting with mushroom "steaks" to enterprising students selling vegan empanadas at street fairs.

Argentines also love coffee, carbs and craft beer. Classic cafes with old school waiters can be found throughout the city, but specialty coffee shops, featuring single-origin beans and skilled baristas, are on the rise. Pizza, pasta and ham sandwiches are mainstays of the local diet – but don't expect any type of spice, as most porteños can't palate it. Craft beer bars are found throughout the city, but the food a visitor must try is dulce de leche , a spread made of caramelized milk used to make alfajores (cookie sandwiches), adorn cakes or (to be really Argentine) just eaten directly out of the jar with a spoon.

Getting Around Buenos Aires

The best way to get around Buenos Aires is by the subte (subway). The subte is quick, affordable and easy to navigate with maps, usually plastered on the wall of each subway carriage. Bus lines are also efficient, and easy to navigate via the apps Google Maps, Como Llego or Moovit. Ride-hail apps, like Uber and Cabify, are convenient to use in the city, as are taxis (which are often cheaper than ride-hailing). Look for black and yellow radio taxis, which are metered. With an efficient public transportation system, many ride-hailing options, and an abundance of taxis, there's no need to rent a car in Buenos Aires (especially as driving in the city is highly stressful).

Buenos Aires' major airport, Ezeiza Ministro Pistarini (EZE), has many international carriers and sits 20 miles outside of the city center. There are several direct flights offered daily between major U.S. cities such as New York , Miami and Houston . Domestic flights often fly through Jorge Newberry Airport (AEP), which is located in the neighborhood of Palermo. While some visitors may opt to hop on a Tienda León bus (which runs roughly every hour between the city and both airports), taxis or ride-hailing apps are the most hassle-free means of getting into town.

Entry & Exit Requirements

A valid passport is required for U.S. residents traveling to Buenos Aires. U.S. citizens do not need a visa, unless they plan on staying longer than 90 days. Visit the U.S. State Department's website for the latest information on entry and exit requirements.

Corrientes Avenue's most famous section, featuring the Obelisk and theaters, is in Microcentro.

Explore More of Buenos Aires

Things To Do

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• Nov 16, 2020

Everything you need to know about Buenos Aires: a travel guide

Updated: Jul 26, 2023

Bienvenidos to Buenos Aires, the bustling capital of Argentina and the home of tango dancing, Evita Perón and a carnivorous dining scene dominated by parrillas (grills) and rich local wines. Dubbed the “Paris of South America,” for its romantic European architecture and flare, Buenos Aires is vibrant, cosmopolitan and diverse, making it one of the most visited cities in both South America and all of Latin America. With its own café culture and distinct neighborhoods like Palermo, Recoleta and San Telmo, it is a city of joie de vivre where you can taste delicious food from the parrilladas, drink Malbec, shop handmade goods in San Telmo and visit hot spots like La Boca for a tango performance or two.

Looking for a Day Trip from Buenos Aires to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay?

Where to stay in Buenos Aires

There are lots of great places to stay in Buenos Aires, but a few neighborhoods stick out as a favorite for many travelers. Palermo is a beautiful neighborhood with plenty of cafés, bars, restaurants and shops to keep you busy while experiencing trendy yet unpretentious Argentinian culture. The cobblestone streets are shaded by a canopy of trees and lined with charming storefronts and street art.

If a more posh, upscale environment is more your style, the Recoleta neighborhood is filled with palatial townhouses, high rises and luxury hotels. With its sweeping avenues and architecture, this area is perhaps the best example of the European architecture the city is known for. But in addition to the affluent socialites that live here, it’s home to the famous Recoleta Cemetery where ornate and extravagant mausoleums were constructed for famous dignitaries including beloved first lady, Eva Perón.

Many people seek out the “old town” section of a city to capture the historic and authentic charm of a culture, and the best neighborhood for that is San Telmo. This is the oldest barrio in the city, dating back to the 17th century when it was an industrial area and home to blue-collar laborers. The colonial buildings are beautiful and house bohemian art galleries and antique shops, restaurants and the famous San Telmo Market. The area is also known for a huge and impressive antique market on Sundays.

Check out where you should & definitely should NOT stay in Buenos Aires.

Why you should visit Buenos Aires

You should visit Buenos Aires if you’re a Europe lover, a culture lover, a food and wine lover and want to experience all of them at a fraction of the cost. Because of the mass immigration that happened at the turn of the 20th century, you feel the French, Italian, German and of course Spanish influences instead of just one culture. The proverbial melting pot makes it unique and more “European” than just lumping it all into Paris, though that’s what most people associate it with.

There's so much more to explore in our South America travel guide .

Another interesting feature about Buenos Aires is that it’s a very livable city. It’s not stuffed to the gills with tourist traps or places where only the tourists can be found. Sure, they’ve got places like the Japanese Botanical Gardens or the Jardín Botánico Carlos Thays with its beautiful glass greenhouse, but they’re not exclusive to visitors by any means. There are Argentinians enjoying all the places we’ve recommended so don’t be afraid you’re going to get stuck in a Hard Rock Café-type trap.

Where to eat in Buenos Aires

Patagonia sur.

Eat everything and everywhere. Buenos Aires is without a doubt, a foodie destination. While it’s known for its succulent selection of flame-grilled meats procured by world-famous gauchos, you can find just about anything you desire. They’ve even got a burgeoning vegan dining scene for those on the hunt for the elusive vegetable in a carnivorous land.

One of the hotly contested dishes people are most competitive about are the empanadas. In a pseudo street food war, everybody has their favorite place to get them and swears they are the best in the city. Including us. Here’s how we knew these particular empanadas were delicious: locals from all walks of life were standing outside in the rain, waiting to get in. There were doctors in white coats and scrubs, hipsters on skateboards, impeccably dressed Argentinian women and the occasional, unwashed passerby…. all waiting in line at La Cocina. It’s a hole-in-the-wall type place with just a handful of seats and stools.

Then there are the heavy hitters, world-renowned chefs and grill masters like Francis Mallmann with Patagonia Sur in La Boca, Gastón Riveira at La Cabrera or frequently listed on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, Don Julio Parrilla in Palermo. These are temples constructed to worship meat in many forms. It’s hard to understand how something as simple as cooking over an open flame can have such a profound effect on texture and flavor, yet this uncomplicated method of preparation is what puts Argentina on the culinary map. And they’ve been doing it this way for centuries. Want more?

Check out five of the best places to eat meat in Buenos Aires.

What to do in Buenos Aires

Cafe tortoni, take a tango lesson, go to a milonga, visit the casa rosada, see the obelisk, the puente de la mujer bridge, el caminito.

One really interesting thing about Buenos Aires is the fact that there are lots of things to do, but some of the most appealing seem to be just being in the city itself. The cafés are stunning, and you trip over one on each corner. The Café Tortoni is touristy for sure, but it was built in the mid 1800s and has hosted a slew of dignitaries and celebrities throughout history, so it is still a must-see. Restaurants and bars are another way to experience the city and culture, and there are notable choices everywhere. This is one city to skip cooking or making coffee for yourself.

Check out 15 things you seriously must see before leaving Buenos Aires.

Tango is a uniquely Rio de la Plata dance that is thick with passion and cultural significance in Buenos Aires. While you can see it just about anywhere in the world now, there’s nothing like seeing it from the source. Catch a milonga, an event where people come to dance and watch tango, on just about any night of the week. Many of them even start with a tango lesson beforehand so you can learn the steps ahead of time. If you visit La Catedral’s milonga, the instructors are multilingual.

There are many traditional attractions to see like the Casa Rosada, the Obelisco, the Puente de la Mujer bridge in Puerto Madero and El Caminito in La Boca. The city is a little spread out, but you can easily hop in a rideshare to get where you need to be, and it’s a cheap form of transportation. Or as cringe-worthy as it might be for some, you can take a hop on-hop off tour that will give you the lay of the land and make sure you don’t miss anything notable.

More things to see in Buenos Aires

Ashley Oñoz-Wright has been a travel writer and editor based in Las Vegas, NV for the last ten years. Her work has been featured in Manifesting Travel, Modern Luxury, Sophisticated Living, Greenspun Media Group, Vegas.com and LasVegas.com. She holds a degree in Sociology & Anthropology from DePauw University.

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Buenos Aires Travel Guide

Last Updated: May 4, 2023

Known as the “Paris of South America,” Buenos Aires lives up to its nickname thanks to its popular café culture, grand boulevards, and an incredible food scene that rivals its European counterpart.

Argentina’s capital and largest city is a hotspot for music, food, the arts, and dancing. The city is one of the most diverse cities in Latin America, home to beautiful, warm, and friendly people from all around the globe.

Visiting Buenos Aires is an incredible experience. I loved my time there. The city is filled with rich history, beautiful architecture, verdant parks, quirky bookstores, and a fantastic nightlife — particularly if you like lively clubs that party until dawn.

Because Buenos Aires is a city that sleeps in and stays out late!

The quality of life is very high and during my stay I just floated from cafe to cafe, park to park, and wine bar to wine bar, taking in the amazing cuisine and enjoying the local pace of life. I especially loved the growing international expat community in the Palermo district.

This Buenos Aires travel guide can help you plan your trip, save money, and ensure you make the most of your time in this cosmopolitan city.

Table of Contents

• Things to See and Do
• Typical Costs
• Suggested Budget
• Money Saving Tips
• Where to Stay
• How to Get Around
• How to Stay Safe
• Best Places to Book Your Trip
• Related Blogs on Buenos Aires

Top 5 Things to See and Do in Buenos Aires

1. Visit the National History Museum

This palatial building encapsulates Argentina’s history from the 1500s to the early 1900s. Most of the exhibits focus on the May Revolution of 1810 and the ensuing Argentine War of Independence from 1810-1818. It’s open from 11am-7pm and closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Admission is free.

2. Meander the San Telmo Market

For the best cultural and shopping experience, make your way to the Sunday antiques fair at Plaza Dorrego. Artisans, musicians, stilt walkers, and other street performers line the streets, and you can buy souvenirs such as silver, paintings, and sculptures for reasonable prices.

3. Tour the Casa Rosada

Dominating the city’s Plaza de Mayo is Casa Rosada is the office of the President of Argentina. Arguably the city’s most notable landmark, the emblematic pink building has played a starring role in the country’s history. Eva Perón (Evita) famously addressed crowds of workers from the building’s balcony.

4. Wander Recoleta Cemetery

It might seem a bit morbid to visit a cemetery for pleasure, but this place is the final resting place of many of the city’s most notable citizens, including Evita and the Paz family. Also worth seeing is the exquisite tomb of Rufina Cambaceres.

5. Learn to tango

Other things to see and do in buenos aires, 1. take in a fútbol game.

Fútbol (soccer) is big business in Argentina, and aside from having a fantastic national team, the country also has plenty of top-class league teams. There are two great stadiums in the city, La Bombonera and El Monumuenta. For the best experience, try to catch a match between the city’s two rival teams, River Plate and Boca. Plan ahead because tickets can be hard to come by but the crowds are lively and the matches entertaining!

2. Visit Museo Evita

Eva Perón (also known as Evita) is perhaps the most famous Argentine, known for her labor rights activism and position as First Lady (a film starring Madonna was made about her life in 1996). This museum explores her life from childhood through her career as an actress, onto her role as the First Lady and ultimately, ending with her early death. You’ll leave with a better appreciation and understanding as to why she is such a significant figure to the Argentine people.

3. Admire Círculo Militar

This is the former home of the Paz family, the wealthy owners of the La Prensa newspaper. Built by a French architect, the building has more than a subtle French influence, but strangely, a few rooms are also in the Tudor style. Today, the building is home to a social club for retired Argentine military officers. Visitors can view the elaborate, gilded interiors via guided tour and visit the National Arms Museum housed in the same building. As one of Argentina’s most beautiful buildings, this is an essential stop on your city tour. Admission is around 200 ARS.

4. Pay your respects at the Monument to the Fallen in the Falkland Islands

Under the military dictator Leopoldo Galtieri, Argentina declared war on Great Britain in 1982 by invading and occupying the Falkland Islands. The ensuing 10-week undeclared war ended in Great Britain retaining sovereignty over the islands, yet many lives were lost in the conflict. The monument is inscribed with the names of the 649 Argentines killed in the four months of conflict over the Falkland Islands (or “Islas Malvinas,” as they’re known in Argentina). To learn even more about the conflict, visit the free Malvinas Museum.

5. Stroll around the La Fería Mataderos

The Mataderos fair is an interesting and less touristy alternative to the other Sunday markets. Located on the southwestern edge of Capital Federal, Mataderos is very popular with locals. Over 15,000 people attend each weekend to enjoy the live music, great food, and handmade crafts. Best of all, the tango dancers here are not doing it for show — they are dancing because it’s their pastime and passion. The fair is open from April to December from 11am-8pm.

6. Tour Palacio Barolo

Tour this landmark building of Argentina, designed by Italian architect Mario Palanti and themed around Dante’s Inferno . When the building opened in 1923, it was the tallest building in South America, remaining so for over a decade. Visit to learn about the fascinating architecture, interesting history, and get the best panoramic views over the city. It’s open Tuesday through Saturday from 12pm-8pm by guided tour only. Tours cost 3,000 ARS.

7. See Temaiken Park

This zoological park spans almost 200 acres and offers a huge variety of animal exhibits, with large, open-air habitats and African, Asian, and South Americas zones as well as an aquarium. The park, which is the only AZA-accredited zoo in the country, focuses on research and conservation, and many animals here are protected endangered species. Just a short (35 minute) drive outside of the city, it is one of the major attractions of the area. Admission is 3,540 ARS.

8. Explore Recoleta

This is a high-class, expensive, and fashionable neighborhood, lined with boutiques, cafes, galleries, and fine arts museums. As a central location in the city, it’s a great area to check out and explore while catching your breath. There is also a bohemian street fair every weekend with musicians, performers, and artisans selling traditional Argentine products like leather goods and mate gourds. Located near the Recoleta cemetery, it’s open from 11am-6pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

9. Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes

This fine art museum is host to many significant works, from European masters to pre-Renaissance days, including Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, and Goya, among others. Additionally, there is an expansive collection of 19th and 20th-century Argentinian paintings and sculptures that make up one of the most impressive collections in the country. It’s open 11am-7pm daily but closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. The museum is in the Recoleta neighborhood and admission is free.

10. Relax in Jardin Botanico Carlos Thays

Inaugurated in the late 19th century, the Buenos Aires Botanical Garden is the perfect place for an enjoyable, relaxing afternoon outside. The 17-acre garden is full of winding paths, statues, creeks, and 5,000 species of plants from all over the world. There’s a French Garden, Roman Garden, Asian Garden, and Argentinean Indigenous Americas Garden, each with distinct landscaping styles and a diverse range of plants from each area. Take a stroll alongside the resident cats or stop by for a quick picnic to get out of the hustle and bustle.

11. Reserva Ecologica

Trash turns into treasure at this former dump-turned-oasis in the middle of the city. This ecological reserve is made up of nearly 865 acres of green area and lagoons. It’s home to over 300 species of birds and is a great spot for birdwatching, jogging, biking, or simply walking. Expect to spend over an hour getting around the reserve on one of the well-trodden paths, but it’s tranquil and a great escape from the noise of the city. Be sure to bring water. Guided tours are available on weekends and the reserve is closed on Mondays. Admission is free.

12. Day trip to Tigre

Dubbed “The Undeveloped Venice” with its plentiful canals, this city is only 45 minutes away from central Buenos Aires. It’s green, lush, and seemingly a world away from the chaos of the city — which is likely the reason why it’s a common retreat for Buenos Aires’ more affluent residents. Tigre makes for a great day trip and has museums, a market, artist workshops, restaurants, and even an amusement park to explore. Getting there is cheap, too: the train is around 12 ARS and the ferry is about 200 ARS.

13. Enjoy La Bomba de Tiempo

This must-see captivating 17-person percussion group provides 3-hours of lively, wild, pulsing musical entertainment each Monday night. Nearly 1,500 people pack into the Konex Cultural Center as the group performs improvisational music with African and South American rhythms. Doors open at 7pm with an opening act playing until 8pm. You don’t need to buy tickets in advance (though you can) but get there early to avoid standing in long lines and possibly missing the beginning of La Bomba’s set.

14. Relax in Jardin Japones

In a city as noisy as Buenos Aires, the Japanese gardens provide a beautiful, calm retreat. Maintained by the Japanese Argentine Cultural Association, the gardens have peaceful lagoons adorned with bright red bridges and a variety of Japanese flora. At 5 acres, the park is one of the largest such gardens outside of Japan , and contains a Japanese Peace Bell, Buddhist temple, traditional stone lanterns and sculptures throughout. For a small fee, you can buy food to feed the koi fish. Admission is 416 ARS.

15. Country-hop to Uruguay

Pop over to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay, just one hour from Buenos Aires via ferry. The historic quarter, rife with Portuguese influence, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a big change of pace from Buenos Aires. It’s the perfect town to meander about, with tons of quaint houses, plazas, and cobblestone roads. Make sure to see the lighthouse while you’re here. The ferry cost can seem steep at 9,300-19,000 ARS round-trip (depending on timing and ferry company), but you can save money by taking the slower one that gets you there in three hours.

16. Peruse El Ateneo Grand Splendid Bookstore

El Ateneo Grand Splendid is housed in an old theater from La Belle Epoque period (1871-80) and is one of the biggest bookstores on the continent. It’s impressively grand, there’s a huge English language section, and the old stage is now a cafe. It was named the “most beautiful bookstore in the world” by National Geographic. Don’t miss it.

For more information on other cities in Argentina, check out these guides:

• Mendoza Travel Guide

Buenos Aires Travel Costs

Hostel prices – Hostels start around 900 ARS for a large 10-person dorm room, though dorms with 6-8 beds are much more common, costing 1,350-1,800 ARS per night. Private rooms with a private bathroom start at around 4,000 ARS per night. Pricing stays consistent through the seasons. Free Wi-Fi and lockers are standard, and linens are typically included. Free breakfast is not common, though a couple (like Art Factory) do offer it. Most hostels also have a shared kitchen so you can cook your own meals, an outdoor terrace or bar, and many offer free walking tours as well. Some hostels even have extra amenities, like a hot tub or pool.

For quieter hostels, check out the ones in San Telmo or Palermo.

Budget hotel prices – Centrally-located hotels start around 6,300 ARS for a double room. Most include breakfast, free Wi-Fi, and many include air-conditioning. As with hostels, pricing doesn’t fluctuate much with the seasons.

There’s a good number of Airbnb hosts here and you can get a private room for around 1,050 ARS. Entire homes/apartments start at 2,100 ARS per night.

Food – Argentine food is a mix of Mediterranean influences: first from Spanish colonizers, and later Spanish and Italian immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries. Empanadas, pizza, polenta, and pasta all heavily feature in Argentine cuisine. But Argentines are most famous for their asado (barbeque) and consumption of beef, especially steak and ribs. In terms of veggies, tomatoes, onions, lettuce, eggplants, squashes, and zucchini are the most common. Dulce de leche , a caramel spread made from condensed milk, is the favorite national dessert.

For drinks, nothing is as famous as yerba mate, a caffeinated herbal drink that is prepared in a traditional gourd. It is consumed in social settings by passing around the gourd and its accompanying metal straw.

In most of the cafes around the city, you’re looking at 540-780 ARS for a light lunch of a sandwich or salad, though you can find lunch specials at the cafes downtown for 360 ARS. Light breakfast specials including a coffee and toast can be found for 150-400 ARS.

Pizza is popular in the city and costs around 250-400 ARS. Steaks begin at 1,000 ARS but are often more like 2,500 ARS and more. A vegetable-based pasta dish is 500-700 ARS, while pasta with meat or seafood starts at 900 ARS.

At a traditional Argentine steakhouse, expect to pay at least 2,700 ARS for a nice sit-down meal with good steak and wine. Bottles of wine start at 700 ARS and go up from there.

In terms of drinks, beer is around 300 while a glass of wine is 200 ARS, a cocktail is around 450 ARS, and a cappuccino is 175 ARS.

For super cheap food, be sure to eat at the choripan (sausage and bread sandwiches) stalls for 500 ARS. Empanadas , the staple of to-go food in the country, cost around 50-75 ARS for one. A fast-food combo meal (think McDonald’s) is around 730 ARS.

A dish at a Chinese takeout restaurant is around 500 ARS, while a dish at a sit-down Indian restaurant is around 600-800.

Some good restaurants to eat at are Don Julio, The Burger Joint, Origen Cafe, La Cabrera, and Freddo for ice cream.

You can buy a week’s worth of groceries (including bottles of wine) for around 2,515 ARS. This gets you basic staples like rice, pasta, seasonal produce, and some meat.

Backpacking Buenos Aires Suggested Budgets

On a backpacker’s budget, expect to spend 3,600 ARS per day. On this suggested budget, you’re staying in a hostel dorm bed, limiting your drinking, taking advantage of street food (empanadas!), cooking most of your meals, using the subway to get around, and doing mostly free activities like walking tours and free museum visits.

On a mid-range budget of 7,100 ARS per day, you can afford a private room at a hostel or Airbnb, eat out at cafes or cheap restaurants for most meals (including the occasional steak), take the occasional taxi to get around, and enjoy more paid attractions and activities like day-trips to Uruguay or Tigre.

On a “luxury” budget of 13,700 ARS or more per day, you can stay in a hotel, eat out anywhere you want, drink more, rent a car or take more taxis, and do whatever tours and activities you want. This is just the ground floor for luxury though. The sky is the limit!

You can use the chart below to get an idea of how much you need to budget daily, depending on your travel style. Keep in mind these are daily averages — some days you’ll spend more, some days you’ll spend less (you might spend less every day). We just want to give you a general idea of how to make your budget. Prices are in ARS.

Buenos Aires Travel Guide: Money-Saving Tips

Here are a few hacks to cut down your costs — because all those tours, wine, and steak dinners can add up if you aren’t careful!

• Learn to tango for free – Instead of forking over cash for tango lessons, be bold and head to a Milonga where there will be plenty of locals keen to show you the ropes for free. On Sundays, the San Telmo market has free tango lessons at 8pm. Many of the hostels also offer free tango lessons too!
• Get discounts on attractions – Most museums and attractions offer either discounts or free entrance to students, teachers, and seniors. Always ask if there are any discounts available when you arrive just in case.
• Buy discounted fútbol tickets – If you’re going to a fútbol (soccer) match, choose tickets in the standing room lower-level terrace, called “las populares” seating. These are half the price of the standard seats, and the casual fan atmosphere is much better.
• Use specialty discount cards – La Nacion Club and La Nacion Premium Club Cards are associated with the La Nacion Newspaper, one of the biggest newspaper publications in Argentina (written in Spanish). Every week La Nacion Club Card website lists participating establishments that give discounts to cardmembers. Although many of the restaurants offer the deals on Tuesday or Wednesday only, the discounts can range from 5-50% off. It’s definitely worth it, especially considering it only costs 165 ARS to get the card for a month.
• Take a free walking tour – There are a number of companies that offer free walking tours throughout the city. They are comprehensive and the best way to learn about the history of the city. Just remember to tip at the end! Two companies to check out are Buenos Aires Free Tour and Free Walks Buenos Aires.
• Eat at restaurants for lunch – Most of the cafes (especially those downtown) offer a set lunch menu for around 500-700 ARS. If you want to eat at the city’s many restaurants, it’s best to do it during lunch.
• Stay with a local – Couchsurfing connects you with locals who can give you a free place to stay and share their insider tips and advice. It’s the best way to meet locals and save money.
• Pack a water bottle – The tap water here is safe to drink so bring a water bottle with a filter to save money and reduce your single-use plastic usage. My preferred bottle is LifeStraw as it has a built-in filter to ensure your water is always clean and safe.
• Use the free public bikes – Buenos Aires has excellent biking lanes and a free public bike share scheme! With Ecobici, you use a bicycle for up to one hour from Monday to Friday, and up to two hours on the weekends. (This doesn’t limit how often you can use the bicycle throughout the day, though.)
• Stay at a Hola Hostel – Hola Hostels is a network of hostels with locations in South America and Europe. They offer a 10% discount to their members, as well as other discounts for local restaurants, transportation, and activities. Joining is free, and their hostels are also committed to environmentally sustainable practices.

For more tips on budget travel in Buenos Aires, check out these 12 ways to save money in Argentina .

Where to Stay in Argentina

Need a budget-friendly place to rest your head? Here are my suggested places to stay in Buenos Aires:

• Milhouse Hostel
• Sabatico Travelers Hostel
• America del Sur Hostel
• Art Factory Soho

How to Get Around Buenos Aires

Public transportation – Buenos Aires is the only city in Argentina with a subway system (the Subte). The subway runs from 5:30am-11:30pm on weekdays, 6am-midnight on Saturdays, and 8am-10:30pm on Sundays.

To travel by subway, you’ll need to pick up a rechargeable SUBE travel card and load it with credit. You can find SUBE cards at tourist centers and kiosks throughout the city, and then you can load them at subte stations, lottery outlets, and some kiosks with automatic terminals.

Fares are charged according to how many trips you’ve taken, getting cheaper the more often you travel. Your first 20 trips cost 30 ARS per trip, 21-30 trips cost 24 ARS per trip, and 31-40 trips cost 21 ARS per trip.

The bus system in Buenos Aires runs 24-hours and covers the entire city. Like the subway, you can use your SUBE travel card to get around.

Bicycle – Buenos Aires has excellent biking lanes and a free public bike share scheme. With Ecobici, you use a bicycle for up to one hour from Monday to Friday, and up to two hours on the weekends. To register, simply download the app and put in your credit card information.

If you’d rather have a bike for a longer period, you can rent bikes from companies like La Biclecleta Naranja. A rental costs 900 ARS for the full day or 2800 ARS for a week.

Taxi – Taxis around the city are metered and cost 85 ARS to start, going up by 43 ARS per kilometer. Trips within the city are generally around 300-800 ARS. You can hail taxis as you would anywhere else (and the wait is never too long), or you can use the government’s mobile app named BA Taxi.

Ridesharing – Uber and Cabify operate in Buenos Aires and are usually cheaper than taxis. However, since the subway and bus network are both extensive and affordable, there’s little reason to use ridesharing apps.

When to Go to Buenos Aires

The weather in Buenos Aires is most pleasant in the fall (March-May) and spring (September-November). Many people love to visit in October and November when the jacaranda trees are blooming.

The high season is from December to the end of February, while the low season is from June to August. But if you come between April and June, you’ll get the best travel deals and the fewest crowds.

Buenos Aires is the hottest in January and February. It’s humid and temperatures often leap up to 38°C (100°F) which can be a little unbearable. Be prepared for the heat if you visit during this time.

Winter can be chilly and rainy at times, but it rarely snows. Temperatures do not get extreme, but they can drop to 8°C (46°F) so bring a sweater and rain jacket.

How to Stay Safe in Buenos Aires

Argentina is a safe place to backpack and travel — even if you’re traveling solo and even as a solo female traveler. That said, while violent crime is rare, petty crime is very common. Don’t flaunt expensive jewelry or belongings and always keep your valuables secure and out of reach.

Cell phone theft is incredibly common, and thieves sometimes literally snatch the phone right from your hand in broad daylight. If you need to use your phone in public, step inside a store.

Solo female travelers will want to be cautious here at night. Avoid traveling alone and try to join groups when you can. As in any destination, never leave your drink unattended and never accept drinks from strangers.

Be aware of the “mustard scam” while you’re here. This is when someone on public transit points out a stain on your clothes and then tries to wash it out while someone else steals your wallet/belongings.

To learn about other common scams, read this list of common travel scams to avoid .

If you experience an emergency, dial 911 for assistance.

Always trust your gut instinct. Make copies of your personal documents, including your passport and ID. Forward your itinerary along to loved ones so they’ll know where you are.

The most important piece of advice I can offer is to purchase good travel insurance. Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. You can use the widget below to find the policy right for you:

Buenos Aires Travel Guide: The Best Booking Resources

These are my favorite companies to use when I travel. They consistently have the best deals, offer world-class customer service and great value, and overall, are better than their competitors. They are the companies I use the most and are always the starting point in my search for travel deals.

• Skyscanner – Skyscanner is my favorite flight search engine. They search small websites and budget airlines that larger search sites tend to miss. They are hands down the number one place to start.
• Hostelworld – This is the best hostel accommodation site out there with the largest inventory, best search interface, and widest availability.
• Booking.com – The best all around booking site that constantly provides the cheapest and lowest rates. They have the widest selection of budget accommodation. In all my tests, they’ve always had the cheapest rates out of all the booking websites.
• Get Your Guide – Get Your Guide is a huge online marketplace for tours and excursions. They have tons of tour options available in cities all around the world, including everything from cooking classes, walking tours, street art lessons, and more!
• SafetyWing – Safety Wing offers convenient and affordable plans tailored to digital nomads and long-term travelers. They have cheap monthly plans, great customer service, and an easy-to-use claims process that makes it perfect for those on the road.
• LifeStraw – My go-to company for reusable water bottles with built-in filters so you can ensure your drinking water is always clean and safe.
• Unbound Merino – They make lightweight, durable, easy-to-clean travel clothing.
• Top Travel Credit Cards – Points are the best way to cut down travel expenses. Here’s my favorite point earning credit cards so you can get free travel!

Buenos Aires Travel Guide: Related Articles

Want more info? Check out all the articles I’ve written on Argentina to continue planning your trip:

18 of the Best Spots in Patagonia

Patagonia: Thoughts on Getting Offline and Trying to Camp

12 Ways to Save Money in Argentina

16 Amazing Photos from My Visit to Torres Del Paine

Get my best stuff sent straight to you, pin it on pinterest.

• Where To Stay
• Transportation
• Booking Resources
• Related Blogs

Buenos Aires

• 1 Districts
• 2.1 Climate
• 2.3 Visitor information
• 3.1.1 Ezeiza International Airport
• 3.1.2 Aeroparque Jorge Newbery
• 3.2 By train
• 3.5 By boat
• 4.1 On foot
• 4.2 By taxi
• 4.4 By Subte (subterraneo)
• 4.5 By train
• 4.7 By bicycle
• 6.1 Football games
• 6.3 Gaucho party
• 6.4 Skydiving
• 6.5 Wine events
• 6.7 LGBT travellers
• 6.8 Helicopter tours
• 6.10 Jewish travellers
• 6.12 Medical tourism
• 7.1 University
• 7.2 Photography
• 7.3.1 Schools
• 7.3.2 Tutors
• 8.1 Call centers
• 8.2 Work permit
• 9.1 Opening times
• 9.2 Money exchange
• 9.5 Souvenirs
• 9.6 Shopping districts
• 9.7 Book stores
• 9.8 Markets and fairs
• 10.3 Vegetarian
• 10.4 Sweets
• 10.5 Service
• 10.6 Budget
• 10.7 Mid-range
• 10.8 Splurge
• 11.1 Clubbing
• 11.2 Rock concerts
• 14.1 Emergency numbers
• 14.3 Football
• 14.4 Rough spots and neighborhoods
• 14.5 Counterfeit money
• 14.6 Ezeiza International Airport
• 14.7 Stay healthy
• 15.1 Embassies

Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina and one of Latin America's most culturally significant cities. It is a city of beautiful parks and belle epoque architecture, a place of big historical events, and a city of intimate cafes and cosmopolitan nightlife.

Districts [ edit ]

The City of Buenos Aires has 48 districts called barrios ( neighborhoods ), which can be roughly grouped into the following areas:

Understand [ edit ]

Buenos Aires means fair winds , or literally good airs , in Spanish. The official name is Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires (CABA; "Autonomous City of Buenos Aires"), and it's also called the Capital Federal ("Federal Capital"), to distinguish it from the neighboring Buenos Aires Province . It is one of the largest cities in Latin America , with many cultural offerings, and is the point of departure for traveling to the rest of the country. People from Buenos Aires are called porteños , meaning "people from the port" as Buenos Aires was founded as a port city to fend off pirates and other enemies. Buenos Aires is an open and welcoming destination that allows the traveller not only to visit the city but also have an exceptional urban adventure.

The city is geographically contained inside the province of Buenos Aires but is autonomous politically.

The city extends across a plain covering 19.4 km (12.1 mi) from north to south and 17.9 km (11.1 mi) from east to west.

About three million people live in the City of Buenos Aires (the Federal Capital of Argentina with 202 km 2 (78 sq mi). The city is divided into 48 districts or barrios ( neighbourhoods ). Together with its metropolitan area called Great Buenos Aires ( Gran Buenos Aires ), it is in the top 30 of most populated urban conurbations in the world with over 15 million people. The majority of Argentina's economic activity is concentrated in this single city and its surroundings.

Buenos Aires always receives tourists from all over the world and offers a wide choice of cultural events, nightlife, restaurants and bars, for which you can expect good service.

Buenos Aires has one of Latin America's biggest LGBT communities. There is a receptive attitude towards LGBT culture in the city. Same-sex marriages are legally performed and recognized in Argentina. There are many LGBT oriented businesses based in the city which extend to the tourism industry. For example, there are travel agents, various classes and nightlife events as well as accommodation catered to LGBT travellers. There are gay cruise ships and even a gay five-star hotel.

Climate [ edit ]

Buenos Aires enjoys a temperate climate with 4 distinct seasons. Because it is located near the coast, extreme heat and cold are rare and the weather allows the city to be visited throughout the year. Winters are cold though frosts are rare. Though daytime temperatures are mild, nights are much colder. It is necessary to wear a coat. Dull, foggy and damp weather characterize winters in Buenos Aires although there is the occasional warm day. At the end of winter, heavy storms are common and they are popularly known as the Santa Rosa Storm , which marks the beginning of Spring. Spring and fall have changeable weather with heat waves pushing temperatures up to 38°C (100°F) and cold, polar air masses pushing temperatures down to -4°C (25°F). Even in November, temperatures can drop down to 2°C (36°F). Summers are hot and humid with heavy thunderstorms. It is the sunniest and least cloudy season. Heat waves can bring periods of muggy weather with high humidity, making it uncomfortable. However, these heat waves do not last for long and cold fronts bring thunderstorms followed by cooler temperatures and lower humidity, bringing relief from the heat.

Talk [ edit ]

The Spanish in Buenos Aires is pronounced differently from most of the Spanish-speaking world. Most conspicuously, the ll sound as in "calle" and "pollo" sounds like English sh . The difference in pronunciation probably reflects the influence of Italian traders in the port in the 19th century—many of the words that Porteños pronounce differently from the rest of the Spanish-speaking world are pronounced identically to an Italian word for the same thing.

Much has been written on the Spanish language in Buenos Aires. It was influenced by the many nationalities that immigrated here, especially Southern Italians.

If you have studied Spanish, you will find these differences enormous. Also, vocabulary differs greatly from Iberian Spanish and other Latin American varieties of Spanish. So it may be useful to get an Argentinian dictionary or take some lessons in Argentinian Spanish before getting to Buenos Aires. Despite these differences, any person who is fluent in Spanish should not have difficulty navigating through conversations with Porteños or other Argentinians. Anyway, most "Porteños" (inhabitants of Buenos Aires City) speak a little English but it is very easy to find people who are very fluent, particularly if you stay around the tourist friendly areas.

Visitor information [ edit ]

• Official tourism website

Get in [ edit ]

By plane [ edit ].

Buenos Aires ( BUE  IATA ) is the international gateway to Argentina and is easily accessible from Europe and North America, along with other major South American cities.

The main airport for international flights to and from Buenos Aires is Ezeiza International Airport , about 35 km south of the city center. Most domestic flights use Aeroparque Jorge Newbery Airport , a short distance from downtown Buenos Aires. Flight information for Ezeiza International Airport and Aeroparque Jorge Newbery is available in English and Spanish at ☏ +54 11 54806111 or the aa2000.com.ar website . Buenos Aires also has several small airports dedicated to chartered flights and private aircraft.

Flights from Buenos Aires and the rest of Argentina are usually more expensive for foreigners. This can pose a problem for short-term travellers who do not have time to take a bus to places like Iguazu Falls , Bariloche and Ushuaia . These travellers are often advised to find smaller travel companies or agents that can help them find lower prices on lower flights, deals that larger online travel sites would not have access to.

People from other nationalities must pay a reciprocity fee on arrival at Ezeiza. The amount depends on how much the country of origin charged for Argentinians to enter that country.

Ezeiza International Airport [ edit ]

To Ezeiza International Airport , count about an hour by car (more if huge traffic jams, which are not rare, particularly on Fridays or if it's raining). If you want something cheaper, there are private couch and public transport connections.

Aeroparque Jorge Newbery [ edit ]

Served by Aerolineas Aregentinas and JetSmart.

In Aeroparque, there are 2 ATMs. There is also a tiny change office, with a huge queue. Free (but very slow) Wi-Fi in the departure zone.

For budget-conscious travellers, regular bus line 33 stops a few metres from the main gate at Av. Costanera Rafael Obligado and goes to Retiro-Plaza de Mayo-San Telmo. New in December 2023, some branches of the bus line 8 also connect Aeroparque with Retiro and onwards. The fees are very low (<1 USD), but you need a SUBE card to pay.

By train [ edit ]

Long-distance trains are slowly returning to Argentina, but they are yet few in numbers and limited compared to the by inter-city bus network. There are no international services but using domestic train to get around have finally become a somewhat viable option again. Overnight services with sleepers are available from Bahía Blanca , Córdoba and San Miguel de Tucumán while there are daytime trains from Mar del Plata and Rosario . Most trains run 2–3 times a week. Ticket prices ranges from about AR$400 in second class to AR$1200 for sleepers. A full timetable and tickets are available at the national operator Trenes Argentinos . The best and updated site to check which lines are working is Satelite Ferroviario

Córdoba, Tucumán and Rosario trains arrive at the central Retiro station located in the centro . While Mar del Plata and Bahía Blanca arrive to Constitución Terminal.

By car [ edit ]

You can get to Buenos Aires from any of the neighboring countries by car, but it is far away from most of the borders. It is only common to travel there from Uruguay and Southern Brazil .

There are four main highways entering the city which connect to suburban areas and other national routes. As with the trains, the bigger and more frequented routes are centered in Buenos Aires, so you will have no problem driving to and from the rest of the country.

Heading to the city of Rosario , you can travel by highway all the way (north access highway, then route 9). From here you can keep heading north on a good route ( Panamericana ), or turn right about 80 km from Buenos Aires and go to the Mesopotamia region.

To the west, you can drive to the Cuyo region using the north access highway, then route 8. Traveling out of the city on the west access highway, you can follow routes 7 and 5, which will lead you to the west and southwest, respectively. If you want to visit western Patagonia , route 5 is a good choice.

Finally for visiting the Atlantic shore of Buenos Aires (province) , you need to head to the southeast access highway and then take route 2, a very good highway to Mar del Plata city.

You can rent a car while in Buenos Aires, in the zones of Centro, Retiro, Versalles, Nunez, and Ezeiza.

By bus [ edit ]

With an almost non-existent railway system and plane ticket prices that are somewhat expensive, the long-distance bus system is widely developed. Almost all long-distance buses use the huge and well-organized Retiro bus station on the northern edge of the city centre. The buses are mostly relatively new, however the roads they will travel through are relatively old; there are frequent services to most parts of the country and international bus services to neighbouring countries. A second bus terminal is situated in the Liniers neighborhood, but it is much smaller and not connected to the subway.

You may catch taxis from Retiro bus station, and the subte (underground) also stops there. There are many local buses that stop outside the station as well.

There are numerous operators. The basement level is for cargo and package services. The ground level holds waiting areas, cafes, shops and services including a barber. On the upper level you find a lot (close to 200) of ticket offices, or boleterias. The upper level is conveniently divided by color into geographic areas for companies which serve the place you want to go, including an international area. Look for the signs.

Cama Suites or Dormi Camas lie completely flat and some have dividing curtains. With these services, the seating arrangement is one seat one side and two seats on the other side. Semi-Cama services are laid out two and two, and do not recline as far. Companies usually have photographs of bus interiors. Make sure the journey you choose has the service you want. Most of their buses are double decker. You may also found out some bus classes such as Cama-Vip, Cama-Suite, Ejecutivo or more, just make sure to read info about it or look up photos of bus interiors, usually on websites about South American buses or websites with lots of info about Argentinian bus companies .

Bus travel times to Buenos Aires:

• Mendoza: 12–14 hr
• Córdoba: 9 hr
• Bariloche: 22 hr
• Iguazú: 20 hr
• Rosario: 4 hr
• Santiago de Chile: 20 hr

You can buy a ticket to practically anywhere in Argentina and departures are fairly frequent to the most popular destinations. Reservations are not necessary except during peak summer and winter holiday seasons (January, February, and July), but it is recommended to buy a ticket in advance for better prices.

To find out which companies are available for a specific destination you can consult online information system for buses from Buenos Aires to the main national and international destinations.

By boat [ edit ]

There are daily journeys to and from Colonia and Montevideo in Uruguay .

Three companies operate this service:

• -34.59777 -58.36746 6 Buquebus , Av. Antártida Argentina 821 (1104) ( Dársena Norte/Puerto Madero terminal ), ☏ +54 11 4316 6500 . ( updated Jan 2023 )
• -34.4728 -57.8447 7 Seacat Colonia , Av. Antártida Argentina 821 (1104) ( Dársena Norte/Puerto Madero terminal ), ☏ +54 11 4314 5100 . ( updated Jan 2023 )
• -34.6247 -58.3615 8 Colonia Express , Pedro de Mendoza 330 ( Dársena Sur terminal ), ☏ +54 11 4317 4100 . ( updated Jan 2023 )

All three offer ferries to Colonia and connecting buses to Montevideo, Piriapolis , and Punta del Este . Buquebus also offers a significantly more expensive direct ferry to Montevideo. For all three companies, tickets are cheaper if you book in advance.

Colonia Express is typically the cheapest option. To Colonia, it can be as low as AR$216.60 online and this is frequently available. However, it leaves from the small and dilapidated Darsena Sur terminal which is in La Boca. When arriving from Uruguay late at night, catch a taxi from the terminal area instead of trying to meander around.

Seacat Colonia is the second cheapest option. To Colonia, it can be as low as AR$228 online though it is hard to get this rate and most will likely have to pay the Economía rate of AR$328, the Flexible rate of AR$356 or Full Rate of AR$397. They leave from the much nicer Dársena Norte/Puerto Madero Terminal. If you are already in Buenos Aires already there is an AR$277 rate available at the terminal. In low season, you may be on the same ferry as the Buquebus passengers who probably paid significantly more.

Buquebus is the most expensive but most popular option. To Colonia, they have a cheaper slow boat as well as a slightly more expensive hydrofoil. Like Seacat Colnoia, they leave from the Dársena Norte/Puerto Madero terminal. For about AR$36 you can upgrade to first class both ways, which includes VIP lounge access and a free glass of champagne. Highly recommended on the nicer boats (you can upgrade on board).

Dársena Norte is a modern terminal. Currency exchange, food, and rental cars are available. Luggage storage, in the basement level of the parking area, costs AR$50 and is not secure.

The Benito Quinquela Martín Passenger Terminal, a few blocks away from downtown, at Ramón Castillo street between Avenida de los Inmigrantes and Mayor Luisioni street, has tourist information, handicrafts shops, snack bars, and the offices for Migration, Customs, Interpol and Prefectura (Coast Guard).

You may also take a boat from nearby Tigre to Nueva Palmira in Uruguay. Trains leave from Retiro Station to Tigre frequently. Boat services to Nueva Palmira also connect to Colonia del Sacramento by bus.

There is also a service from Montevideo-Carmelo-Tigre-Buenos Aires [formerly dead link] . A one-way ticket is AR$900 (about US$31), which is not cheaper than the competition, but you do have the option of taking the 8-hour voyage overnight to arrive around 09:00 in the city center. Get the tickets and depart from Tres Cruces in Montevideo. The price includes a bus to Carmelo , boat to Tigre, and another bus to the center of Buenos Aires. They often have very good special offers that include some nights in hotels in Buenos Aires.

• Grimaldi Lines ( Freighter Travel ). Operates a bi-monthly freighter link from Europe to South-America via Africa. Five freighter ships do the rotation and each accepts 12 passengers. The journey lasts about 30 days (60 days for a round trip) and port calls include: Hamburg, Tilbury, Antwerp, Le Havre, Bilbao, Casablanca, Dakar, Banjul, Conakry, Freetown, Salvador da Bahia, Vitória, Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Zárate, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Paranaguá, Santos, Rio de Janeiro, Dakar, Emden, and back to Hamburg. Only the stops in Europe and at Buenos Aires permit passengers to either embark or disembark. However, passengers are allowed to visit all of the visited ports. All the port calls are subject to change depending on the loading and unloading needs of the ship. Tickets for a cabin on a Europe to Buenos Aires trip start at €1,450/pp for a double cabin and €1,890 for a single cabin (more expensive luxury cabins are available) . ( updated Aug 2019 )

Get around [ edit ]

The public transport in Buenos Aires is very good, although crowded during rush hour and the bus network can be confusingly complex. The metro (or underground railway) here is called the "Subte", which is short for Subterraneo ( underground ). The network itself is not very large, but reaches most tourist attractions of the city, and there is a large range of bus routes and several suburban railways used by commuters. Trains, subte and bus are most easily paid for with a SUBE card (AR$30), which is a magnetic card that you can buy at kioscos, some newsstands, and at every subway station. It will have no credit when you buy it, but you can charge with money in train/subway stations or kioscos (grocery shops) equipped with the relevant machine (they will likely have a SUBE logo on display). One card can be shared by any number of people since it is used only once, upon entering the transport (except on trains, where every passenger needs its own card). The card is also used in many other cities (e.g. Bariloche), so don't throw it away when you leave Buenos Aires, as your balance can be used elsewhere.

Since February 2018, a multimodal system has been implemented in which increasing discounts are applied to the fare when doing connections, regardless of the chosen method of transportation. The second trip will receive a 50% discount, the third trip will have a 75% discount and so on, up to 5 trips within the lapse of 2 hours.

Some electronic resources can help you find bus routes : the websites ComoViajo and CómoLlego (official and the most reliable app for Buenos Aires), or the iPhone App miTinerario . Google Maps Transit isn't always accurate when it comes to buses and many important lines are notably absent.

Finding your way around is relatively easy. Most of the city grid is divided into equal squares with block numbers in the hundreds, using a grid system similar to Manhattan, New York . Most streets are one way with the adjacent parallels going the other way, so beware that the bus or taxi won't follow the same route back. If travelling by taxi, tell the driver the street and block number, e.g. "Santa Fe 2100"; or two intersecting streets, e.g. "Corrientes y Callao".

City maps are issued by many different publishers ( Guía T, LUMI ) and the local tourist authority. They are indispensable for those wanting to use public transportation, since they include all bus routes. As always, check towards which direction the map is pointing, because some maps are bottom up (South on the top of the map). This is true for the maps at the official taxi booth at Ezeiza airport.

On foot [ edit ]

Walking is a great way to get around Buenos Aires during the day. With the grid system it is relatively easy to get around and because of the traffic it may even be quicker than a taxi or bus. The larger avenidas are lined with shops so there is plenty so see. In the Micro centro calle Florida is a pedestrian shopping street where you can walk from Plaza San Martin to Avenida de Mayo near the Plaza de Mayo. It crosses Lavalle (also pedestrian only) which takes you to the Plaza de la Republica and the Obelisk. For safety reasons do not walk to La Boca; take a bus or taxi instead.

By taxi [ edit ]

Taxis are not the quickest way to move around the more congested parts of the city, especially during rush hour, as traffic jams are common. Still, you will find that taxis are usually rather inexpensive, convenient, and exciting (in a white-knuckled, classic-wooden-roller-coaster kind of way). Make sure to take the "radio taxi", as some taxis do no turn on the meter and will ask for a very expensive fare.

It is relatively safe to travel by taxis. For details refer to Stay safe . If you are uncomfortable hailing a taxi on the street you can have your hotel or restaurant call a taxi for you. You should always check the driver's personal information is legible in the back part of the front seat, and make sure they turn on the meter after they set off, to avoid any disagreement over the fare later. It is suggested to use small bills and exact or almost exact changes with taxis, since as with many large cities around the world, it sometimes can be quite problematic of getting changes back from a taxi driver.

As of December 2016, Uber is readily available. You will often have a 5-10 minute wait compared to a taxi which can be hailed in seconds, but there are few of the risks associated with catching a taxi as a tourist. Since taxi drivers are against Uber, it's not recommended to order an Uber from a taxi stop, or from other places with taxi lines, as some big hotels or the cruise ship terminal. It is never a bad idea to send a SMS to the driver to arrange the pickup location.

The principal means of public transportation within the city are the buses ( colectivos ). Tickets must be bought on the bus through a machine using a prepaid RFID proximity card named SUBE, since April 2016 it is the only way to pay for transportation. You can expect to pay AR$8-9, each ticket price depending on approximate distance and rising in AR$0.25 intervals.

In case of an emergency, ask a local to pay your ticket with his/her SUBE and then pay him/her back: it is an unorthodox but frequent way to travel, but locals are aware of these difficulties and most of the times helpful. In no case will the driver accept money for a ticket; he (rarely she) will simply deny you entry. The reason that this is doable is because a SUBE card can be shared between multiple people and subsequently scanned multiple times when getting on a bus or at a ticket gate. If you are travelling in a group or a couple, it is possible to purchase just one SUBE card and simply scan it twice when necessary.

There are more than 150 lines covering the whole city. They work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, but run less frequently on holidays and late at night. For each route the bus is painted differently making them easy to distinguish. The best way to figure out the bus system is using the BA Como Llego app , or to buy a Guía "T" (which might not be up-to-date). It's essentially a little book with a directory of streets, which corresponds to map pages, and has bus listings on the facing page for each map. These can be bought at many kiosks around the city, or subway stations; once mastered - not a simple task - it is fairly easy for a seasoned traveller to get pretty much anywhere in the city at any time by combining two or more bus and/or subte lines.

On most services, board the bus and tell the driver your destination (or if you already know the fee, do what Argentines do—just yell how much the ticket is); he will press a button instructing the SUBE machine to deduct the fare from your card, you will notice the amount to be paid on the display of the reader with the SUBE label next to him. You can then use the card against it and the payment will be processed, and the balance of the card will be shown. Please note that no actual ticket will given to you when paying by SUBE card. Do not use the card before the driver selects your destination, since he may still be in the process of processing your order and say "no, todavia no" ("No, I'm still selecting the destination", or "not yet!")

You can also use buses to move in and around the suburban area ( Gran Buenos Aires ), but navigating Buenos Aires' immense metro area (10 million people) while avoiding dangerous areas can be a daunting task. The suburban-only lines (you can differentiate them because their line numbers are above 200) have less comfort, and many of them don't run after 23:00.

By Subte (subterraneo) [ edit ]

The city has a subway network ("subte", short form of "tren subterráneo", which means "underground train"). It is very efficient and you can save a lot of time by using it. It is cheap (in 2017, AR$7.50 for unlimited transfers as long as you keep underground travelling throughout the network). If you need to be somewhere by 08:00-09:30 or 17:00-18:00 on a weekday, however, the Subte will be incredibly crowded and depending on where you are catching it from, you may have to miss several trains in a row before there is space for you. Once on board, during peak hours it can get very crowded. Factor this into your timing arrangements to make sure that you make your meeting on time.

The subte runs approximately from 05:00-22:00, except on Sundays, when service starts at 08:00.

Many subte stations have interesting murals, tiles and artwork. The "Peru" station is the oldest subway station and still has the old trains that require passengers to open the doors manually. Transferring between lines is indicated by combinación signs.

Remember to know which way your destination lies from your starting point, as the network uses its cabeceras (head stations) as way pointers and it can get confusing which way is the one you are supposed to ride. If you happen to realize that you are headed in the wrong direction, ask a local if they know of which the next station with a andén central (central platform) is, there you can easily get on the right train by just going across the platform.

For example, if you want to get from Palermo to El Centro using the D line, you will use the platform headed to Catedral because that's the one in Plaza de Mayo. If you instead go for Congreso de Tucuman, this one in Cabildo Avenue, simply wait to get to Palermo, Plaza Italia, or Carranza station and the take the other train.

As for the bus, you can use your SUBE card to pay your trip (simply swipe the card at the turnstile to get to the station). Also every station has a SUBE charging post, either automatic or attended, this can be quite useful because sometimes its easier to walk to a close known Subte station than trying to find a kiosk that charges.

The current network comprises six underground lines, labelled "A" to "E" and "H" which all converge to the downtown area and connect to the main bus and train terminals.

The A line used to be a destination on its own because of the old wooden carriages. It was built in 1913 making it the oldest metro system in Latin America, the Southern Hemisphere, and the entire Spanish-speaking world. The old wooden carriages have been replaced in 2013.

In the southeast branch (the E line), the service is extended by a trainway known as premetro , but beware, it goes to some of the least desirable places in the city. Premetro is AR$0.60, or AR$0.70 with a Subte Transfer.

The subte and premetro services are own by the city transport and operated by Metrovias S.A. authority . You can reach their Customer Service personnel by calling -toll free (within Argentina)- on 0800 555 1616 or by sending a fax to +54 4553 9270.

There is a good deal of railway connections to the suburban area and nearby provinces (commuter trains) laid out in such a way that it resembles a shape of a star. The quality of the service ranges from excellent to not quite so desirable, depending on the line; ask before using them at night time. They mostly cater to local commuters and not tourists, except perhaps Tigre branch of Mitre Line. The terminal stations are the same from suburban transportation. From Retiro station you can take the Mitre Train to the Tigre Delta. Those trains are modern and all of them have A/A. There you can do a boat cruise and see the wetland and recreational area of the porteños.

The main railway terminals are Retiro , Constitución , Once and Federico Lacroze . From all of these you can then use the metro and bus network to get right into the center. The suburban fares are very cheap.

More information:

• Metrovias : Urquiza trainway and metro - Good service, safe for traveling at any hour.
• Trenes Argentinos : Sarmiento, Mitre, Roca, San Martín and Belgrano lines. The Sarmiento line is the most used one. It is however overcrowded and can be very difficult to use in rush hours; also covers less desirable places. Mitre line takes you to some really beautiful places like "Tigre", a very picturesque small town with old French-style little houses and a beautiful walkside by the river near a theme park, Parque de la Costa in the north of the suburban area. Be careful as every line has its own branches, so be sure you are boarding the correct train, which would be the Tigre one (there are displays on each platform, and a huge display on central hall). Mitre, Sarmiento and most Roca trains are new and all of them will have A/A and loudspeakers
• Tren de la costa (site available in English): It's a small, cosy tourist train which runs from Maipu st (change from TBA's Mitre Line, Mitre Branch, Mitre station) to Parque de la costa in Tigre, with stops in very exclusive zones such as San Isidro which is worth a couple of hours walk. As a tourist attraction, tickets are far more expensive than regular trains: one way daily ticket costs 16 pesos for non-residents and allows you to hop on hop off as many times as you want. Be sure to check their website as it offers a brief description of each station and its attractions.

All trains are payed with SUBE card, and in most cases you'll just have to approximate it to a turnstile, both when entering the departure and exiting the arrival one.

If you are truly adventurous (and a bit of a risk-taker), cars are available to rent in Buenos Aires. There are several things to keep in mind before renting a car in Buenos Aires. First, Buenos Aires is such an excellent city for walking that if something is within 20 or 30 blocks, it is often worth the extra effort to go on foot and get to know the city on a more intimate level. The terrain is flat, so it can be easily walked on. Second, if you aren't much of a walker, the public transportation system in Buenos Aires is cheap and efficient. It can get you anywhere fast! Third, and perhaps most important, the traffic in Buenos Aires is extremely unpredictable. Stoplights, signs, traffic laws—for many porteño drivers, are mere references . Picture yourself trying to get several thousand head of cattle to move down the street and stay inside the lanes, and you have a decent idea of driving in Buenos Aires. It's also very difficult to find where to park your car in many neighborhoods, and close to impossible in downtown. Do not leave your car parked where you're not supposed to because it will be towed away, and the recovery fee is very expensive . Many hidden speed control cameras have been installed lately (specially in avenues), so be sure to stick to the speed limit, even in routes outside the city. DO fasten your seat belt and have your lights turned on or you will be fined.

If driving outside the city, you should not only stick to the speed limit (which varies a lot depending on where you are), but have your identification and driving license with you, as it's possible that you get stopped by traffic control policemen. National routes are in a good state of maintenance, but be careful in province only routes as there may be unexpected and dangerous potholes in the pavement.

There is also the option to do private car tours. One (fun) option is to go for Buenos Aires Vintage Tours, which offers original Citroën 3CVs to do the tour. Check Buenos Aires Vintage [dead link] for details on available tours.

By bicycle [ edit ]

Buenos Aires is not the most suitable city for cycling. Traffic is dangerous and hardly respectful toward bicycles; the biggest vehicle wins the right of way, and bikes are low on the totem pole. However, a bicycling network has been developed and it's constantly expanding. Check the web site for the updated map . It also has the advantage of being pretty flat, which means you can cover good distances and you won't get so tired. It can be a very hectic experience, but by no means impossible if you have ridden a bike in traffic before. Be sure to avoid avenues, specially if busy.

Some spots call out for two-wheeled exploration, such as Palermo's parks and the Reserva Ecológica Costanera Sur; on weekends and some weekdays you can rent bikes at these places. Here's some tips:

• In Buenos Aires, traffic is really good at anticipating the green light: some cars/buses start going when it's still red, knowing that it will turn green in the next second or few.
• Indicators and head lights seem to be used randomly, don't be surprised if a car suddenly cuts into you without indicating first.
• On one way streets, stick to the left lane to avoid the buses which go really fast and stop all the time as well as the taxis that go at a snail's pace and stop or change direction suddenly to pick up a fare.

See [ edit ]

Buenos Aires is a big city, so check the districts section for detailed listings.

If you are a fan of walking in green open spaces and parks in big cities like Buenos Aires, be sure not to miss a promenade in Palermo, a beautiful area in the northern part of the city. Here you will find not only open spaces to walk in but also a large lake where you can rent paddle boats and a huge flower garden that is free to enter! Although the Japanese and the botanical gardens and the surroundings are very nice, they are also very noisy as several major roads traverse the area. For a quiet, shady walk or jog head to the golf course north of the railway tracks.

Another great place to walk along and experience Argentine street life is El Puerto de Buenos Aires . Its personality however is quite contrasting during the day and during the night.

La Boca has the Caminito pedestrian street with arts and crafts. There is also a river cruise you can take from there where you can see a huge picturesque metal structure across the river. You can try and catch a rowboat to Avellaneda on the other side of the water for AR$0.50, but you will have to try your luck as the rower may not allow you on citing that its dangerous. La Boca is famous for Tango and you can often catch glimpses of Tango dancers practicing in the streets. If you fancy having a picture taking with a tango dancer you can but expect to pay a small fee. In addition to tango, La Boca is famous for its football, and you can take a tour of the La Bombonera Stadium where the buildings are painted in bright colors.

The prices for almost everything in La Boca tend to be 2 to 3 times higher compared to the rest of the city. It's very touristy since it is an enjoyable place with some authentic Argentine sights. La Boca is probably best to be enjoyed during the day when the streets are crowded and there are other tourists around, it is generally advised to be avoided at night.

There is no Subte to La Boca, but many buses go there.

Remembrance park (Spanish: Parque de la memoria ) a public space that is situated in front of the Río de la Plata estuary in the northern end of the Belgrano section of Buenos Aires. It is a memorial to the victims of the 1976–83 military regime during the Dirty War...pack some sandwiches and perhaps something stronger to relax on the hillside (and watch the planes landing overhead at the airport nearby) contemplating things after learning more about this tragic yet important part of Argentina's history that is a must visit for any visitor.

The Cementerio de la Recoleta : This is where all the rich families in Buenos Aires have their final resting places. Expect to see big ornate tombs. Be sure to visit the tomb of Eva Perón, the daughter of an aristocrat and beloved First Lady who, despite having the most visited tomb in the cemetery, is considered by many to be too close toward the people for eternal interment in Recoleta.

The Palermo Viejo district: This is a trendy neighborhood with charming cobblestone streets, bookstores, bars, and boutiques; definitely better than the touristy San Telmo area for a nighttime excursion. The Palermo station, on D line, is the closest metro stop.

San Telmo: Best visited on Sundays when tourists and locals alike flood in to attend the weekly street fair and flea market. Be watchful for good deals, and bring in your own water, as it's quite expensive here. On Sunday nights, there is a tango performance in the lovely plaza, which is specifically for tourists. (Visit an underground tango club for the most amateur experience. If there is advertising, or disco ball, then it's not an amateur)

Do [ edit ]

Football games [ edit ].

Argentina has a renowned football reputation and the sport is big throughout the whole country including of course, Buenos Aires. The capital is the home town of two of the most appreciated football teams in the world, Boca Juniors (which resides in Boca) and River Plate (Núñez). A game between these two legendary teams is called the "Superclásico". This is by far the hottest ticket in the city and one of the most intense rivalries in the world, with violent confrontations between the fans being a regular occurrence, sometimes even resulting in fatalities. It is often necessary to buy tickets well in advance.

Also, the Argentine National Team is very, very popular. Tickets to their World Cup Qualifying matches can difficult to come by, involve waiting in very long lines, and should be ordered in advance for more convenience.

Argentinian fans are known for their passion and the songs (which are practically love songs) which they sing to their teams. Even if you are not a huge football fan, going to a game is definitely worth it just to take in the atmosphere and to observe the fans singing and cheering. While this is an experience you don't want to miss while visiting Buenos Aires, it can also be dangerous for tourists to go on their own depending on the stadium.

Tourists are often advised to go with large, organized groups such as LandingPadBA with bilingual guides, in particular to a Boca Juniors game. This ensures that you can watch the game in peace and still have a great time. If you want to see a match on your own, the best choice is to see River Plate, in the rich northern suburb of Belgrano. Best to purchase a (more expensive, ~AR$900, 2018) Plateas (grandstand) ticket rather than being in the Populars (terraces, ~AR$350 prices, 2018).

In the Plateas you can safely take your camera and enjoy the show. Go with a friend or someone local you trust who knows not only the area but also supports the local side and is familiar with the way things operate on match day.

Purchase tickets in advance or through a friend if they are a member of the club or supporters' section, also known as a socio. Often tickets are mainly sold out for the big times, but you can sometimes find them on sale on match day for teams like Racing, and as the ticket prices have risen only matches rarely sell out (except the above-mentioned Superclásico).

Tango [ edit ]

A trip to Buenos Aires is not complete without some sort of experience of the Tango , the national dance of Argentina. A good place to go and watch some authentic Tango is at the Confitería Ideal Suipacha 384 (just off of Corrientes, near Calle Florida). However Tango is best experienced not in La Boca and on Calle Florida, but in the Milongas . A milonga is both a place where a Tango dance will take place, as well as a specific type of tango dance.

Milongas take place either during the day or late at night. "Matinée Milongas" usually start in the early afternoon and go until 20:00-22:00. They are popular with tourists who may struggle staying up until 05:00 every night. Inside a milonga, you will find many locals who will be more than willing to show you how to dance. The night Milongas start at around 23:00, but don't fill up until around 01:30. They may go on until 05:00 or 06:00. Some Milongas to note are: Salon Canning , El Beso and Porteño y Bailarin .

There are many milongas held in different parts of the city every day. There's a free distribution guide called TangoMap Guide which contains all the information of the milongas day by day, including times and location. This guide also informs about tango teachers and tango shops, so it's the best reference for any tango lover. It is edited by Caserón Porteño , a Tango Guest House in Buenos Aires that also gives free tango lessons every day for its guests.

You can start learning tango through the group lessons offered at many studios. Some popular schools are at the Centro Cultural Borges, on the very top floor. It can be very hard to find the actual place as there are some stairs you have to go up, and then you have to go through a museum. Ask the security officer where the "Escuela de Tango" [dead link] is. In the summer time the rooms can get very hot. The Centro is within the Galerias Pacifico, the American-style mall near Calle Florida on San Martin. The best way to learn, and the quickest, even if you do not have a partner, is with private lessons. You can find instructors who charge as little as US$40 per hour, all the way up to ones that will charge US$100 per hour. If you want to try the authentic style that the Argentines dance socially in the milongas, look up some of the milongueros who teach tango, like Alejandro Gee, Juan Manuel Suarez, Jorge Garcia, Jorge Kero. They will not only teach you traditional tango or milonga, but you can also find out a lot about the culture by hanging out with them. You can google them up for videos or in order to find them. Many of the more 'famous' instructors command a premium price. If you start taking tango lessons it will seduce and consume your life and you will then be force to make many pilgrimages back to Buenos Aires to dance.

If you prefer to start taking lessons in reduced groups and have personal attention, there are two tango oriented hotels with professional tango teachers who offer group tango lessons every day (free for their guests). One option is Caserón Porteño and the other one Tango Lodge [dead link] . You can check the complete schedule for the tango lessons at their websites.

Gaucho party [ edit ]

Spend a night seeing what it is like to be a real gaucho. Live the life of an Argentine cowboy; ride horses , eat traditional gaucho foods, drink traditional gaucho wines, and dance like they used to do back in the day. A great way to get out of the city for a day and see another side of Argentine culture. Great for adults, kids, or anybody who ever wanted to be a cowboy when they were younger.

Skydiving [ edit ]

Buenos Aires hosts exhilarating skydiving activities within its clear blue skies. You can experience a 20-minute flight, followed by a 35 seconds freefall, and a slow descent of nearly 7 minutes to enjoy a breathtaking view. Discover a unique bird's-eye view of Buenos Aires and its expansive pampas as you dive through 3,000 meters (9,000 feet) of open air. There is no better place to feel the adrenaline of a tandem skydiving jump.

Wine events [ edit ]

Argentina is renowned for its excellent selection of wine. The most popular being Mendoza which is rated among the world's most popular regions due to its high altitude, volcanic soils and proximity to the Andes Mountains. The terrain seems to complement the European grape varietals with interesting notes not present when produced in other climates, this allows the Argentine wine to be positioned in a league of its own.

The best way to experience and understand the selection of Argentine varietals is a wine tasting, which is offered by quite a few companies and bars around the city.

Polo [ edit ]

Argentina is well known for having one of the best polo teams and players in the world. The largest tournament of the year takes place in December at the polo fields in Las Cañitas. Smaller tournaments and matches can also be seen here at other times of the year. For news on tournaments and where to buy tickets for polo matches, check Asociacion Argentina de Polo .

Around Buenos Aires there are plenty of Polo schools. Most Polo courses run for a week and include accommodation on site. A popular option for a day-trip is Polo Elite , who operate polo lessons for beginners as well as guided trips to polo matches. They provide transportation for the 45min drive from downtown to their school.

Another option is Argentina Polo Day [dead link] which runs professional polo games every day of the year, as well as polo lessons for beginners and pros. Its full day program includes also a typical Argentinean BBQ with unlimited wine and refreshment. The Polo Clinics includes also accommodation. Transportation is provided, for the 45 minutes drive from downtown to their polo ranch.

Puesto Viejo Polo Days [dead link] is another option. These full day experiences collect participants from the city and take them to a luxury polo estancia in the countryside. They offers transport, snacks, Argentine lunch with wine, lesson, mini match, use of hotel infinity pool, and an opportunity to watch a full polo match.

LGBT travellers [ edit ]

Buenos Aires has become a popular destination among LGBT travellers. For international LGBT travellers, the "Paris of the South" has also become the gay capital of South America. Same-sex marriage is legal in the country and in the central districts you will find most people helpful and amiable. There are many gay-oriented services to help you make the best of your stay.

If you are looking for accommodations you can start by visiting BA4U Apartments [dead link] which specializes in finding rentals for the LGBT community. They can also direct you to tours and services their clients use like Day Clicker Photo Tours [formerly dead link] . While you are visiting you might also want to stop in to see Chef Mun at the popular closed door restaurant Casa Mun .

Helicopter tours [ edit ]

The city of Buenos Aires and its suburban surroundings cover a tremendous expanse of land that cannot be easily and quickly walked, biked, or driven. That is what helicopter rides are for. You can discover Buenos Aires from a unique perspective: see the skyline of Puerto Madero's skyscrapers, the grid of concrete streets filled with taxis and colectivos or buses, the tourist attractions including the Obelisco, Casa Rosada, and Cementario Recoleta. Tour the skies above the human traffic on an exciting helicopter ride, a different way to explore the city.

Golf [ edit ]

You might not think of it as you walk around this big city of skyscrapers, but there is some very good golfing very close by. There are many trips to the golf courses that make it easy and relaxing for tourists to enjoy a day on the green. . Packages include any greens fees, equipment and a caddie who you can blame when you hook that shot into the woods!

Jewish travellers [ edit ]

Buenos Aires is home to the biggest Jewish community in Latin America and one of the biggest in the world. There are many sights and activities specifically for Jewish people. There are beautiful synagogues, museums, monuments, barrios and history for all travellers to soak up and enjoy. Tours are given around the city to hit all the major Jewish landmarks. This is a great way to see a different side of Buenos Aires that many people wouldn't think about seeing.

Spas [ edit ]

Urban spas or day spas have flourished, some of them at large hotels such as the Alvear, Hilton, Hyatt among others. Furthermore, some green spas have opened shops and offer a great range of eco-friendly treatments.

Medical tourism [ edit ]

Making medical procedures part of your overall vacation package is a growing trend, and since Buenos Aires is relatively affordable for Westerners, it is at the forefront. If you decide to go the medical vacation route, there are a number of firms that have established relationships with local medical clinics who can deliver a total package. Make sure you check out the credentials of the doctors and other healthcare professionals before making your decision. Buenos Aires is home to plenty of well-trained doctors with excellent reputations.

Learn [ edit ]

University [ edit ].

Foreigners have been flocking to Buenos Aires to take advantage of the great deals. For those who come to Argentina, it is essential to know, for themselves and their children, that the country's education is considered one of the best in Latin America.

Photography [ edit ]

Buenos Aires is a great photography destination, offering a huge array of locations that provide something for everyone, whatever you like photographing, Buenos Aires has it all, an exciting street art scene, gritty culture, beautiful architecture, an intriguing and visually exciting food culture and inhabitants that generally, don't mind being photographed. Brush up on your photography skills at one of the colleges or private schools.

Spanish [ edit ]

Many people interested in learning Spanish choose Argentina as an inexpensive destination to accomplish this. You will hear Argentines refer to Spanish as Castellano more often than Español, as the Castillian dialect that is often called "Spanish" is actually only one of several dialects and languages spoken in Spain. Spanish in Buenos Aires is Rioplatense Spanish. The Spanish of Argentina uses the verb form of voseo instead of tú (Ex: vos sos estadaounidense ). While the Spanish of Argentina is beautiful, it is slightly unusual sounding to the rest of Latin America. Generally, language schools will teach you standard Spanish, while also providing insight into local words, phrases, and quirks. You might also pick up a little of the slang of Buenos Aires known as Lunfardo, and is influenced by several other languages.

There are several options for studying Spanish. You can attend one of several fine schools, study individually with a tutor, or there are social groups where people get together for the purpose of talking in each other's languages to improve their skills.

Schools [ edit ]

Schools provide a very rigorous schedule, typically, of intense study. Universidad de Buenos Aires offers some options. Be wise, if you have spent three weeks in classes and find yourself getting overwhelmed, a week off will help your brain catch up. There is the occasional student who has been in classes for six weeks whose brain is clearly suffering from overload. The schools would rather keep you in class, so it's up to you to pace yourself.

• Centro Universitario de Idiomas (CUI) . A language school under UBA's School of Agronomy. UBA's language schools are mainly geared towards foreign students who want to attend UBA, but want to improve their Spanish before doing so.
• UBA Idiomas (Laboratorio de Idiomas). Another of a handful of language schools associated with UBA.
• VOS Buenos Aires . A private Spanish institute, VOS has a more personalized, relaxed, and less rigid atmosphere than UBA's language schools.
• LyCBA ( Lengua y Cultura Buenos Aires ). There's one Spanish School that is specialized in the language for tango and addressed at tango lovers (even when they teach anyone interested in their lessons). Also has teachers who can attend to the place where the person is staying.  

Events take place almost nightly in bars and restaurants throughout the city.

Tutors [ edit ]

Many very qualified teachers advertise on Craigslist [dead link] , which is more known by foreigners on the Buenos Aires page than locals. Often these teachers have formal education in teaching language and prior or current experience in a school of language. It is also worth a shot to seek private lessons within language schools.

Work [ edit ]

Employment is available for Spanish-speaking visitors in Buenos Aires. Many foreigners work as translators, or English teachers. There's also a trend for technology and recruiting companies hiring English-speaking or bilingual employees.

Call centers [ edit ]

It is very common for foreigners to work in call centers. There are companies that provide customer care and technical support services to many big American and European companies like Microsoft, Verizon, Vodafone, Motorola and others. If you speak just a bit of Spanish, you can get this kind of job. Wages in call centers are much less than in countries like the US, far lower than the difference in the cost of living. In 2007, typical wages were 1/5 of the typical rate for the same work in the US, while living costs were between 1/3 and 1/2.

Work permit [ edit ]

If you wish to work, remember to obtain proper immigration status so as to be able to work legally. It is possible to convert your tourist visa into a work permit, but you need to bring with you a letter of good conduct from your country of residence and a birth certificate. Both documents have to have an apostille. You may find the latest requisites at Dirección Nacional de Migraciones . Some employers may still offer you work under less than formal terms, but be reminded that if you accept this sort of employment you may not receive the full benefits that are mandated by law and are actually 'helping' that employer break a good number of local laws.

Buy [ edit ]

Opening times [ edit ].

Shops at shopping malls and supermarkets are usually open from 10:00 to 22:00, 7 days a week. Non-chain, small stores usually close around 20:00 and stay closed on Saturday afternoons and Sundays except on big avenues and tourist areas. All of the main avenues are full with kiosks and very small convenience stores that stay open 24 hours. You will find no less than 2 for each 100 meters you walk. In the Recoleta area, several bookstores and record stores close as late as 02:30 daily.

Money exchange [ edit ]

Money can be exchanged at Banco de la Nación Argentina at the airport and at any of the cambios ( changes ) along Florida or Lavalle, but, if you have the time, shop around for the best rate at the zone known as "La city". This zone is the banking district of Buenos Aires, and numerous exchange places are located right near one another. This means fierce competition and options to check the best rates. In addition to this, in this zone it is possible not only to change US dollars or euros, but also some other major currencies from Latin America (such as Brazilian reals, Mexican pesos, Colombian pesos), Canadian dollars, Asian (Japanese yen, Chinese yuan, etc.), and Europe (Swedish kronas, Swiss francs, etc.) This can mean a saving of time and money by not having to convert twice. Take into consideration that whenever you go to an official money changer, you are always required to present your passport. Copies might be accepted but this should not be assumed.

Banks [ edit ]

Banelco or "Red Link" ATMs can be found around the city, but banks and ATMs are few and far between in residential neighborhoods like Palermo . Try major roads near metro stations.

Change [ edit ]

Change is not a problem in Buenos Aires anymore since the implementation of the SUBE card for urban transport. However, if you haven't acquired your SUBE card yet, be sure to always have some spare change in coins, as these are required in large numbers for the bus (Subte and urban train lines do have cashiers).

Souvenirs [ edit ]

• The mate: It is a sort of cup made from different materials, commonly from a desiccated vegetal core (a gourd), sometimes with silver or gold ornaments; which is used to drink mate , the most traditional social non-alcoholic beverage. The mate is drunk in Argentina , Paraguay , Uruguay , and southern Brazil .
• Other gaucho items: Traditional clothes, knives, etc.
• Leather items: The cow is totally used here: meat, milk, sausages, and leather; all high quality. You can find coats and other leather products on Murillo street though the quality of the goods here varies widely. The best place to find high quality leather goods may be the malls and other major shopping streets.
• Alfajores: These traditional cake/cookies, often containing dulce de leche, are delicious.
• Football Jersey: Football ('soccer' for Americans) is a huge part of Argentine culture, so it is normal to bring home a jersey to represent your time there. Shirts from River, Boca or the Argentine National Team are always very popular and make great gifts.
• Tango Shoes The zona de calzados is just Past Diagonal Norte on Suipacha. You will see many shops grouped together that sell tango shoes. As with many things in Buenos Aires shop around and make sure you are not getting the gringo price. Men can buy excellent hand made leather shoes for around US$50. For those of you with time on your hands you can ask them to make you a pair. They will draw your foot on a piece of paper and you can design your own shoe for the same price. Do be aware that if they tell you that it will be ready in a week, that probably means about 10 days (or around 7 business days).
• Handmade Ponchos: The Native Americans in Argentina wear ponchos made of handwoven materials, usually distinct from other regions of South America. Some are seasonal, many are considered unisex. A good deal can be found, especially on the outskirts of the city.
• A Bottle of Malbec: Argentina is famous for its wine, and Malbec is the signature grape of the land. A fine quality Malbec can be had for US$8-10 per bottle and makes a fine gift. If you know nothing about wine, go to a liquor store and look for the same brands/years found in nice restaurants.

Shopping districts [ edit ]

• Florida Street and Lavalle Street (from 500 up to 1000) are for pedestrians only and is the place to find the majority of tourist's shops in the centro . At the intersection of these two pedestrian streets, there is often some sort of interesting street performance going on, especially at night.
• The Palermo Viejo in Palermo has many shops that will appeal to young or artsy people (think New York's SoHo). Nearby is Murillo Street, a block full of leather houses.

Book stores [ edit ]

One of the Porteño's passions, which they are very proud of, is to read. Buenos Aires is believed to be the city with the most bookstores per citizen in the world, it hosts some of the biggest and prettiest bookstores of the continent, and it hosts some of the most prestigious publishing houses in the Spanish speaking world. Expect to see people reading at the bus, metro, at the park, and even at the streets! There are several options:

• Santa Fe Avenue offers not only lots and lots of clothes and book shops but also a nice atmosphere where you can walk along. You can start from the intersection of Santa Fe Avenue with 9 de Julio Avenue, and walk along Santa Fe up to the Alto Palermo Shopping (Av. Santa Fe 3253).
• On Corrientes Ave. from the Obelisco (big obelisk in the intersection with 9 de Julio avenue) up to Ayacucho St., you will find a lot of cheap bookstores with tons of books mostly in Spanish. Some remain open as late as 03:00, seven days a week.
• For second-hand books, try Parque Centenario and Parque Rivadavia's kiosks, both in the Caballito neighbourhood. Open from Wednesdays to Sundays, they offer a great variety of books, many long out of print, for convenient prices. You may also find food stands and a very relaxed and familiar environment.
• For that rare, collectible, antique or hard-to-find book, try ALADA, the Asociación de Libreros Anticuarios de la Argentina (Argentina's Guild of Antique Booksellers). In their website you will find an index of the most prestigious bookstores of the city, some of them of international prestige. Most of these are located at Microcentro and Recoleta.

Markets and fairs [ edit ]

Saturdays and Sundays are great days for the outdoor markets, especially in the summer.

• Feria Recoleta . All sorts of artisan products, from jewelry to shawls.  
• Palermo , Plaza Serrano, Palermo viejo . M-Sa 10:00-21:00 . comes alive in the afternoon with more artisan's handiwork and freelance clothes designers. Another nearby Plaza (in Palermo viejo) between Malabia, Armenia, Costa Rica and Nicaragua streets has stalls with items for sale. The Último Taller at Jorge L. Borges 1975 (between Soler and Nicaragua streets) sells funky candles and street address plates and markers; there are charming cats, and photos can be etched onto these plates as well.  
• San Telmo , Plaza Dorrego, San Telmo . On Sundays . offers tango and antique products. Defensa street from Chile to San Juan comes to life with live performers and vendors. The crowds are thick, so keep an eye on your possessions.  
• Feria de Anticuarios , San Isidro ( at the train station of Barrancas ). Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays . has a nice atmosphere. It offers nearly 70 stands of antiques, from toys to books and stuff for your home.  
• San Fernando , in Madero and Rosario streets ( located at San Fernando train station, between Sarmiento and 9 de Julio ). Sa 10:00-18:00, W 10:00-16:00 . This is a market where you will be buying items directly from producers, with the condition that goods are produced with social and environmental ethics in mind. You'll find books, vegetables, handmade clothing, musical instruments, etc. If you plan to buy things, remember to bring your own bag.  

Eat [ edit ]

While the primary food consumed by Argentinians is beef, there are other options in this cosmopolitan city. Italian food is pervasive but in neighborhoods like Palermo, pizza joints are seeing heavy competition from sushi, fusion, and even vegetarian bistros. Just about everything can be delivered - including fantastic, gourmet helado (ice cream).

Meat [ edit ]

You will want to try asado (beef/steak barbecue) at a parrilla , restaurants specializing in roasted meats. There are expensive parrillas , and more simple and cost effective ones, In either case you will likely have some of the best "meat" you have ever tasted. The bife de lomo (tenderloin) is unbelievably tender.

As a matter in fact, the first regular refrigerator ship is the Steamers Le Frigorifique and Paraguay , that carried frozen mutton from Argentina to France.

Jugoso means rare (literally "juicy"), however the Argentine concept of rare is very different from that of someone from the States (perhaps its a tourist thing, but an American ordering rare is likely to get something between medium well and hockey puck). Argentines cook their meat all the way through, and they can only get away with this method because the meat is so tender that cooking it well does not necessarily mean it's shoe leather.

For Westerners, don't be afraid to order "azul" ("blue"), you will not get a blue steak, more like an American Medium Rare. If you like your meat "bloody", or practically "still walking" it might pay to learn words like "sangre" ("blood"), or to make statements like "me gusta la sangre" ("I like the blood"). Don't be afraid to spend two minutes stressing how rare you want your steak to your waiter- this is something no one talks about in guidebooks but every other American and Brit once you arrive will tell you the same thing, if you want it rare, you have to explain exactly how rare.

Only the most old school parrillas (grills) don't offer at least one or two pasta dishes and pizza is everywhere.

Parrilla Tour Buenos Aires leads walking tours around different neighborhoods of classic parrillas. During the tour, participants stop and sample traditional foods at 4 restaurants, 3 parrillas (steakhouses) and an artisanal ice cream shop, as well as learn about the history and culture around Argentine cuisine. The stops chosen tend to be hole-in-the-wall, locals only, establishments not in guidebooks.

Pizza [ edit ]

Italian and Spanish food are almost native here, as the cultural heritage heralds in great part from these two countries. Other popular meals are pizzas and empanadas (small pastries stuffed with a combination of cheese and meats). They are a popular home delivery or takeaway/takeout option.

Pizza is a strong tradition in Buenos Aires. It comes al molde (cooked in a pan, usually medium to thick crust), a la piedra (baked in a stone oven, usually thin to medium crust), and a la parilla (cooked on a parilla grill, very thin, crispy crust). Best places: "Los Inmortales", "Las Cuartetas", "Guerrín", ·El Cuartito", "Banchero's", "Kentucky".

"El Cuartito" in Recoleta has a delicious "Fugazzeta rellena" pizza. This restaurant can be packed with families and friends even at midnight.

In "Guerrin", ask for a slice of pizza muzarella with a glass of Moscato.

Vegetarian [ edit ]

In Buenos Aires, as in the rest of the Argentina, beef is served everywhere, and even items like french fries, pastries, and snack foods are apt to be cooked with animal fat. However vegetarians and vegans need not despair. No less than a dozen vegetarian oriented bistros have popped up in the last few years (notably in Palermo ) and many spots popular with tourists offer inventive vegetarian versions of traditional meals.

Sweets [ edit ]

One incredible and typical Argentinian kind of "cookie", is the alfajor, which consists of two round sweet biscuits joined together with a sweet jam, generally dulce de leche (milk jam, akin to caramel), covered with chocolate, meringue or something similarly sweet. Any kiosk, supermarket, bakery and even cafe is crammed with a mind-jamming variety of alfajores, and every porteño has their favorite. Be sure not to leave without trying one.

Also, all bakeries offer a wide selection of facturas , delicious sweet pastries of all shapes, doughs and flavors, most of them of French, Spanish and Italian inspiration but with a twist of their own. Porteños are very keen on these, which are generally served by afternoon, with some mate of course.

Service [ edit ]

Do not expect service to be comparable to large cities in Europe or in the USA. Don't expect your waiter to take your drinks order when the menu is delivered and don't expect the menu to arrive very quickly. If you want service, attract the waiter's attention. S/he will never come over to take your empty plate, etc., unless they want to close.

Patience is the key. Argentinians are so accustomed to the relaxed service that they don't bother to complain directly to the waiter, but only comment toward fellow Argentinians. Speak out to the waiters if you feel it is appropriate.

Budget [ edit ]

There are a lot of al paso (walk through) places to eat; you eat standing up or in high chairs at the bar. Meals vary from hot-dogs ( panchos ), beef sausages ( chorizos , or its sandwich version choripán ), pizzas, milanesas (breaded fried cutlets), etc. Don't forget to indulge in the perennially popular mashed squash - it is delicious and often comes with rice and makes a full meal in itself. It is perfect for vegetarians and vegans to fill up on.

Mid-range [ edit ]

You can go to a huge variety of small restaurants, with cheap and generous servings, most notably the ones owned by Spanish and Italian immigrants. There are also many places which offer foreign meals, mostly Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Arabic, Spanish, and Italian.

Splurge [ edit ]

The most expensive and luxurious restaurants are found in the Puerto Madero area, near downtown, heading to the River Plate.

But the nicer places in terms of decoration, food and personality are in Palermo .

Drink [ edit ]

The main areas to go out are: Puerto Madero, close to the Casa Rosada . Safe during the day and night, due the obvious reason (Casa Rosada). At Recoleta area (close to the famous cemetery) there are also plenty of restaurants, bars and a cinema complex. This area used to be trendy but it is now mainly for tourists. Palermo SoHo and Palermo Hollywood are full of trendy stores, restaurants, and young and trendy bars. Palermo Las Cañitas is another nice area close to the Polo stadium. Also, San Telmo has a very bohemian, and very fun, nightlife scene. Buenos Aires has a popular cafe culture.

• Confiteria Ideal , Suipacha 384 . Ancient, authentic and full of character. ( updated Nov 2017 )

Clubbing [ edit ]

Buenos Aires has a great variety of clubs and discos that are open until late hours (06:00 or 07:00) and bars that stay open 24 hours a day. Have in mind that at closing times the streets will be swarmed with people trying to get home, so it isn't easy to get a taxi and the public transportation will be very busy.

Young teens are used to staying out and by-passing the little security, so be cautious when engaging girls in provocative clothing. They might try to hit off with foreigners as part of a dare with their friends. The famous Palermo Barrios (SoHo, Hollywood, Las Cañitas or simply "PalVo") have many hip restaurants that turn into bars as it gets later.

• Late Night Tango Late night tango shows are also very popular among tourists and locals alike. They often include dinner, a great show, dance lessons, and a few complimentary drinks. The dancers are all professionals and bent on putting in their best shows every single night. These shows start around dinner time, but can go well into the night. They can be a great starting block for the rest of your crazy night in Buenos Aires.

Rock concerts [ edit ]

Buenos Aires has a tradition of rock concerts going on all the time. Most of the time top international artist include several dates on their tour in Buenos Aires. Football stadiums are frequently used for the concerts.

Buenos Aires rock fans often claim to be the "best crowd in the world" and this claim is echoed by a number of international acts, including Foo Fighters and AC/DC (who in 2009 released a live DVD of 3 sold-out concerts, called Live at River Plate ). They constantly jump, sing as loud as possible, do Pogos (they usually push each other while jumping following the music, but it's not a kind of violence, it's a friendly and common thing), they also do Moshpits, and sometimes, Walls of death. If you're not accustomed to this, don't try to get to the front row because there is where it happens. People don't stop for a second not even to take pictures.

Fans also go to the airport to receive artists and give them gifts, take pictures and ask them for sign things. They follow them to their car or van and sometimes they even follow it. Argentina and especially Buenos Aires have long had a thriving local rock scene, known as "Rock Nacional", which has produced numerous bands which have achieved popularity throughout Latin America.

Sleep [ edit ]

You will be able to find a good selection of budget and mid-range options as well as more luxurious and expensive hotels. Accommodation is scattered around the city; some areas to look in include:

• Centro - There are budget hotels and hostels in San Telmo on the edge of downtown. In addition, lots of foreign travelers prefer to stay at hotels in Puerto Madero, the most secure area of the city, such as the Hilton.
• North - chic high-end boutique hotels, and the four-star and up crowd including the Park Hyatt.

There are hundred of apartments, ranging from economy to deluxe, and the prices are very good. As well as going through an agency keep an eye and an ear out for individuals who rent their upscale apartments by the day, week, or month. Many times these apartments are three times the size of a hotel at half the price.

There are many short-term rental agents in Buenos Aires (an online search will bring up most of them). However the availability calendars can be misleading, since the apartments are often advertised by multiple agents and these agents don't communicate with each other. Photos can also be misleading and street noise can ruin an otherwise beautiful apartment so do some research off and on the field before signing up. If you are flexible on the area it may be better to wait until you arrive before looking. It is also easier to negotiate discounts face-to-face.

For budget accommodation there is an enormous number (more than 150) of hostels. In the more famous hostels, booking in advance might be necessary, but you'll always find a dorm bed if you need it. There are several budget hotels where you can get your own room for no more than AR$55-75 per night. You will not find them advertised on the internet. They can be hard to find, but there are many. Walk down Avenida de Mayo near Café Tortoni. Start from Avenida 9 de Julio (the giant, wide one) and make your way towards the Plaza de Mayo. Look on the small side streets plus or minus two blocks and you will find many of these places.

Unlike most South American cities, the better Buenos Aires hostels will be fully booked at weekends. You can always find something, but if you want a specific hostel, book in advance.

The stylish and Bohemian Palermo Soho and Palermo Viejo neighborhoods are home to some of the trendiest small boutique hotels in Buenos Aires. These hotels offer the amenities of their larger international chain counterparts, plus a more personal style of service, often at a fraction of the cost.

Connect [ edit ]

Cafés and restaurants commonly offer customers free Wi-Fi, as do hotels, and there is a public Wi-Fi network in the city called BA WiFi .

All major mobile carriers (Claro, Movistar and Personal) have good 4G coverage throughout the city.

The Argentine postal service Correo Argentino handles mail and parcels, see here for locations of their offices.

Stay safe [ edit ]

Emergency numbers [ edit ].

• General Emergencies Line - Toll free call 911
• Emergency - Ambulance emergency service SAME ( Immediate Health Emergency Service ), Toll free call. 107
• Tourist Ombudsman - Communicate with the Tourist Ombudsman, phone number: ☏ +54 11 4302 7816 . To contact personally, can go to Ave. Pedro de Mendoza 1835 ("Benito Quinquela Martin" Museum) in the neighborhood of La Boca. Daily 10:00-18:00.
• Tourist Police Station - Corrientes 436. ☏ 0800 999 5000 (in country only) / ☏ +54 11 4346 5748 ( [email protected] ). Provides information in English, Italian, French, Portuguese, and Ukrainian.

Crime [ edit ]

Most people travel in Buenos Aires without any incident. Nevertheless, as with any large city, like in Europe, crime is an issue for tourists and residents alike. Conduct yourself intelligently as you would in any large city.

The most frequent incidents of crime involve pick-pocketing, distraction theft, and bag snatching. Distraction thefts commonly occur in public areas such as internet cafes, train stations, and bus stations. You should keep a close eye on your personal possessions and bags at all times, which is also why many inhabitants wear their backpack in front of them. In some public spaces you will find that chairs with webbing and clips to clip to your bag or purse to the chair. An aid in avoiding problems is, dress to blend in and avoid carrying lots of items. It safer to travel just the bare necessities in your front pocket. While using public transportation or walking around common sense should be used.

In a common scam one person sprays something on the victim like hand cream, mustard or the like. Another person tries to help the victim. There can be several people at once working in coordination. The object is to distract you from your belongings and, in the chaos, steal from you. Avoiding confrontation is their object so do the same. Ignore their 'help', just focus on your belongings and extracting yourself from the scene.

Another common occurrence is the slitting of handbags in crowded places. Be particularly attentive in popular tourist areas, such as San Telmo. You should avoid carrying large amounts of cash or wearing ostentatious jewelry.

If a woman (or even a man) apparently normally calls you on the street to see an "apresentación" and earn massage girls for free, without commitment, the first time, do not pay attention and leave! In fact, they are agents of brothels. Once taken "inside", they do not let you out, physically preventing you, until they disburse a large sum of money. This type of scam is relatively common in the center, especially in Corrientes Avenue, Florida Street, and Lavalle Avenue.

The dangers of hailing a taxi has received lots of press but is not common. Petty crime continues (like taking indirect routes or incorrect changes during payment). Taxicabs that loiter in front of popular tourist destinations like the National Museum are looking for tourists, and some of these drivers are less honest than others. Do things like the locals would be a good choice, like stopping a cab a block or two away on a typical city street. Alternatively, Uber is widely available, although you can expect a 5-10 minute wait while the driver locates you and picks you up.

Armed robberies in the street, in taxis and in restaurants are highly unlikely. In the past, kidnappings occurred, where victims are grabbed off the street based on their appearance and vulnerability. They are made to withdraw as much money as possible from ATM machines, the victim is usually quickly released unharmed. However, this is even more unlikely for tourists to happen.

Football [ edit ]

Argentinians are very passionate football (soccer) fans, and the local derby between Boca Juniors and River Plate , known in Spanish as El Superclásico is one of the most intense in the world, with violence between the supporters of both clubs being a regular occurrence. Be sure to avoid wearing the jerseys of either team whenever possible, and should you want to support one of them on matchday, be careful to avoid wandering into groups of supporters of the other club.

Argentinians are also very passionate supporters of their national team, so be sure to avoid wearing a Brazil or England national team jersey, as doing so could make you a target of violence from local football fans. That said, it is generally not a problem wearing the jerseys of Brazilian or English clubs, particularly if it has the name of an Argentinian player on it.

Rough spots and neighborhoods [ edit ]

As with any major city, some spots are suggested to be visited carefully, and others avoided entirely. Common dangerous spots are the three biggest train terminals at the city: Constitución, Once and Retiro. They are very busy and centrally located, so it is highly probable that a tourist shall pass by any of these. While mostly safe during the day, petty thefts are common, so be sure to keep an eye on your belongings, avoid any confrontation and be cautious; avoid them entirely past 22:00. The same goes with some touristy spots like La Boca or the vast city parks of Palermo.

Dangerous neighborhoods that should not be visited without the guidance of locals are Constitucion, Nueva Pompeya, Villa Lugano, Villa Soldati, Villa Riachuelo, Bajo Flores (not Floresta) and Mataderos.

Counterfeit money [ edit ]

Counterfeit money is frequent, especially from a regular exchanger of currencies from people of various lifestyles (like taxi drivers), so be on the lookout for counterfeit bank notes being given with your change. Some counterfeit notes are very well done and may even have what appears to be a watermark. Get to know the notes and exactly what they look and feel like, also identify the water marks and serial numbers. When exiting a taxi, hold up your notes to the light to check them before final exit, or better yet, use exact change in taxis (or use Uber).

Be careful of counterfeit money. There have been occasions where genuine bills have been exchanged for counterfeit ones. Counterfeit bills are mostly fifties, given as changes. Hundreds are frequently given back to tourists by deceiving exchangers claiming that counterfeit bills were given to them, after they have switched the bill given to them with a fake one. Using exact or almost exact changes will pretty much solve most of this kind of problems.

Don't accept torn or damaged bills, as they are difficult to use.

Characteristics of good currency can be found at the Argentine Central Bank web site .

In order to use a credit card to pay for items, you will also need an ID such as drivers license or passport.

As any large airports in many countries, there are records of airport staff stealing from the passengers.

In July 2007, Argentina's TV network "Canal 13" conducted an investigation revealing that several security operators at the airport are stealing valuable objects such as iPods, digital cameras, cellular phones, sun glasses, jewelry, laptops, and other valuables while scanning the luggage of passengers.

According to the special report, security operators at the airport are supposed to check each luggage before putting it into the plane; however, some operators take advantage of the scanner machine to detect valuable objects and steal them. The report states that this event occurs every day. The stolen items include anything from electronic devices to perfumes and works of art or even expensive clothes (such as football jerseys or leather coats).

Travelers and residents are strongly encouraged to place high-value items in your carry-on luggage to prevent any incidents. However, since these carry-on luggages will be scanned too before being carried into the plane, their insides are also at risk of being stolen. With the staff or accomplice distracting the passengers (usually when the staff is searching for any metal or other item on the passenger), while another staff or accomplice steal the items. Another extra accomplice from outside the airport will usually pick up the items later.

Wrapping your baggage and carry-on luggage when leaving and arriving is an idea, since for only around US$16.50. you can discourage robbers from opening (and probably breaking) it. However, for checked-in baggage, it can not be used for passengers exiting and entering the US, since the Transportation Security Administration demands that all checked-in baggage to be easily accessible. While wrapping a carry-on luggage will pretty much also deny you quick access to the carry-on luggage.

Before and after check-in, It would be better to carry only 1 carry-on item and place all of your items (including tickets, wallets, handphones, any metal such like a beltbuckle, and so on) securely inside and not easily accessible, requiring the entire carry-on item to be stolen and only 1 item to be watched upon. Travelling in groups will also allow you to divide the task of minding your belongings, one person or more can guard the belongings, while another one is being scanned by the metal detector.

Stay healthy [ edit ]

The plumbing water in Buenos Aires, unlike in many Latin American cities, is drinkable straight from the tap.

Public hospitals are available for tourists, with 24-hr emergency service, without charge.

There are many stray animals in the city. They usually do not cause harm, but be careful not to touch them as they may harbor diseases and you may not be aware of their temperament.

Cope [ edit ]

Embassies [ edit ], go next [ edit ].

• La Plata - located 56 kilometres south of Buenos Aires, La Plata is easily accessible with buses running from Retiro, trains running from Constitución station (much more reliable, fast and cheap service than the buses) and various other points in the city multiple times per day. A medium-sized, student-centered city, La Plata is known for its array of plazas, its Central Park-like Bosque , and it's vibrant music scene.
• Capilla del Señor - a quaint old town filled with memories of colonial times, it is ideal for a weekend visit. You can complete your day out with a bicycle tour, a hot air balloon ride or a trip on an old historic steam train.
• Tigre - a town up the river delta where people can go shopping or take boats to go further up river to explore the habitat, with a quaint amusement park, a great crafts fair on the weekends, a multi-storied casino, and a beautiful river to walk along. A popular choice is to take a boat ride through the Paraná Delta, ideal on a sunny day. It is an easy 45 minute train ride from the Retiro train station in the north east of Buenos Aires. There are many tours that go to Tigre, and it's a great place to get out of the city for a day and get some fresh air. The most popular day to go is Sunday, but there are things to do all week long.

• Lujan - famous for its incredible (although controversial) zoo and its world famous cathedral. Other than that, it is just a great place to go for a day if you want a break from the city. There are tours all the time that can help you get there and show you where to go once you arrive.
• San Antonio de Areco - located 113 km from the city of Buenos Aires, Areco is an old-fashioned village with quaint colonial architecture. Exploring the streets you will discover ancient houses with colonial fences and narrow footpaths that speak of historic times.
• Montevideo - Uruguay's capital, just across the "Rio de la Plata". You can get there by ferry that departs from the ferry terminal in Puerto Madero, at the bottom of Avenida Cordoba. Companies from cheapest to most expensive: Colonia Express, Seacat, Buquebus. Please note Colonia Express departs from a bit more south of the city than the other two.
• Colonia del Sacramento - a historic town in Uruguay that can be reached from the same ferry terminal.
• Carlos Keen - a small town, stopped in time somewhere in the 19th century. A gastronomic haven, Carlos Keen is full of restaurants and tea houses.
• San Isidro - an upscale neighborhood which consists of the old city zone, with colonial houses in front of the Río de la Plata, the area behind the famous Cathedral, whose gardens take over the tracks and lead to an open view of the river, as well as the areas around Plaza Mitre where time seems to have stopped. San Isidro is still the oldest and most traditional neighborhood in the area.
• Iguaçu Falls - too far for a day trip but close enough for a 2-3 day trip and one of the world's most amazing natural wonders. Accessible via air (1:40h flight) or bus.
• Martínez - affluent suburb.
• Adrogué - a distinguished residential area 23 km south of the city, with numerous cobbled streets, lush trees and several squares.

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Trip to Buenos Aires: Travel Checklist for First Time Visitors

Planning your trip to Buenos Aires will be much easier after reading to travel guide. Is it your first time visiting Buenos Aires or even several times? Then this travel checklist will help you. In this post, I’ll help you on your way to making the most of your stay in the city. A step-by-step guide and hopefully soon “welcome to Argentina”!

Read also: 10 Foods to Eat in Buenos Aires and Where to get them

Trip to Buenos Aires Travel Checklist

Step 1: what is the best time to visit buenos aires and argentina.

My favorite time to visit Buenos Aires are October – November and February till April. Especially during Spring, the city has that kind of vibrant atmosphere with the beautiful Jacaranda trees and nice temperature to discover all the things in Buenos Aires.

>> Check this article if you want to know more about the temperatures and climate all year round in Buenos Aires and Argentina. Perfect to plan your trip to Patagonia too. 

Step 2: Do you need a VISA to enter

Argentina asks some tourists for a VISA document to enter the country. This is not necessary for most countries in the European Union and North America. But be sure to check this list . (Link to the official migration website of Argentina).

If you travel VISA-free, you can stay in the country for 90 days. You can extend this by submitting an application to the migration service in Buenos Aires. You are not allowed to do paid work.

>> I wrote an article on how to get a visa to work in Argentina

Step 3: Stay connected in Argentina with a mobile network

Have a trip to Argentina and you may want to be connected to a mobile network? You can now install an e-SIM with the latest smartphones. You are immediately online as soon as you land in the country. Connectivity is good in the cities, especially in Buenos Aires. Of course, in deserted areas of Argentina, it is sometimes difficult, but that has its charms

>> I wrote an article about all the sim card options as soon you arrive in Buenos Aires.

Step 4: Power plugs and sockets

Alright, so if you’re heading to Argentina, keep in mind they roll with a voltage of 220 volts and 50 hertz. That’s the juice that powers up your gadgets. Now, when it comes to plugging in, they mostly use Type C and Type I sockets. Type C is your typical European two-prong deal, while Type I is like a three-pin triangle setup. Note that the Type I is the most used socket in Argentina.

Before you jet off, make sure you’ve got the right adapters or converters to keep your gadgets happy and charged.

Step 5: Where to stay in Buenos Aires?

Staying in a neighborhood that appeals to you the most is important during your trip to Buenos Aires. My favorite neighborhoods are San Telmo and Palermo. While San Telmo is a bit quieter and more authentic, you’ll find the opposite in Palermo. A trendy area with many bars and discotheques.

There are also neighborhoods where it is best not to stay for practical reasons such as accessibility and proximity to tourist attractions.

Are you curious about which neighborhood appeals to you the most?  >> Then be sure to read this article where I explain it in detail.

Step 6: Which are the best hotels in town?

You have a hotel available in Buenos Aires for every budget. And there are quite a few. That’s why I made a list of the best hotels in Buenos Aires . Based on my personal experiences, from friends and family, but also from my work experience in the tourism sector. I will keep the list up to date with changes.

Most of the hotels are located in Palermo and Recoleta but sure check out also the boutique hotels in San Telmo.

>> Check here the “best hotels in Buenos Aires” list

Step 7: Do you need to bring cash and where to exchange it?

Argentina is a bit strange when it comes to exchanging foreign money for the local currency (Argentine Peso – ARS). There is an official way, credit card payments for tourists, and an unofficial way (Dollar Blue). With the last two options, you can even make your trip cheaper by half. Although you have to watch how and where you pay for something. In the article “ Where to exchange money in Buenos Aires ” I explain all the possibilities.

Step 8: Transportation from/to the airports

Buenos Aires has two airports. You have Aeropuerto Jorge Newberry (AEP) and Ministro Pistarini International Airport Ezeiza (EZE). Most international flights from North America and Europe arrive at EZE. This airport is about 50 – 60 minutes from Buenos Aires city with smooth traffic. It is, therefore, useful to see how best to travel from EZE airport to Buenos Aires city for you.

There are several options such as a taxi, private airport transfer, public bus, Uber, … There is no train or metro connection at both airports.

Be sure to read the article “How get from Ezeiza (EZE) airport to Buenos Aires city”.

Step 9: Things to do in Buenos Aires (also on Sundays)

Planning a trip to Buenos Aires also means planning fun activities as well as making sure you don’t miss the main attractions in the city.

After living in the capital for more than 5 years, I still discover new things here and there. I always do many of the major attractions with friends and family. I have listed for you the top 20 best things to do in Buenos Aires. You can read this or watch my Youtube video below.

My favorite things to do in Buenos Aires is still discovering the secrets of the Recolata cemetery but also Chacarita. Also, visit Palacio Barolo, the Sunday market in San Telmo, and see a tango show. Just to name a few of the many things in town.

Step 10: What to eat and drink?

Buenos Aires has its typical cuisine and variations on world-famous dishes, including the pizza that really has something special ( link to the best pizzarias ). Of course when you say Argentina, many think of meat. But where can you find the best steakhouses in Buenos Aires , for example?

And then I have only named two dishes. There are also the empanades, locro on national holidays, the alfajor with tea or for breakfast. Read the article “ 10 Foods to Eat in Buenos Aires and where to get them “.

I think you can stay in the city for up to a week and discover something delicious to eat every day 😀

Step 11: Day trips from Buenos Aires

If you are staying a little longer in the city and you want to go on a day trip, you have some options. For example, a day trip to Tigre or even crossing the border with Uruguay and visiting Colonia del Sacramento. Also where I have eaten the most delicious Paella ever. My two favorite day trips if you are planning a trip to Buenos Aires.

In the article “ Day trips from Buenos Aires ” I list some nice trips.

Step 12: How early should you get to the airport in Buenos Aires?

I hope you enjoyed your trip to Buenos Aires and most likely you will return home or continue your journey to another city in Argentina. I was regularly asked “How early should I be at the airport” so as not to miss my flight. As mentioned earlier, there are two airports in Buenos Aires, AEP and EZE.  For Ezeiza Airport (EZE) I recommend being at the airport 3 hours in advance for an international flight. And so it is best to leave from Buenos Aires city 4 hours in advance.

Check here how early you need to be at the airport . I have taken into account the heavy traffic in the capital and its highways, border and security control.

I hope I could help planning your trip to Buenos Aires with this checklist guide. Enjoy!

My roots in Buenos Aires started as a tourist. After some great adventures in Argentina, I moved in 2017 to the metropolitan city of Buenos Aires. I felt a need for correct and honest information for tourists. That's why I love to write to you. Sharing my discoveries in Buenos Aires. I hope you enjoy the city as much as I do! Buenos Aires ❤️

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The Insider’s Guide To Buenos Aires

On your way to Buenos Aires? I hope you’re ready; this city has stolen many a traveller’s heart and there’s a good chance you’ll be next.

Buenos Aires is exciting. Despite the economic woes, the city is still vibrant with activity. With Brazil to the north, Chile to the west and Uruguy to the east, it’s also the perfect launching pad for a trip through the continent.

Argentina’s capital may also be the most international city in South America, seamlessly blending local traditions with influences from Italy, Spain, Georgia, Lebanon, Germany and more. Many foreigners have decided to call this city home, resulting in a tantalising city that brims with culture, food and faces from every corner of the world. Add to that the spectacular architecture, interesting art, world class steak and wine and a surprising number of Tarot readers, and there really is something for everyone in Buenos Aires.

In This Guide

1. map of buenos aires, 2. where to stay, villa crespo, 3. day trips, tigre delta, 4. getting around buenos aires, 5. getting a sim card in buenos aires, 6. getting cash in buenos aires, 7. safety in buenos aires, map of buenos aires.

With over 40 neighbourhoods and a myriad of cultural influences, where you choose to base yourself can have a huge impact on your Buenos Aires experience.

In the map above I’ve outlined what I think are the four best areas to stay in Buenos Aires for travellers. Each of them rank highly in atmosphere, things to do, safety, and availability of accommodation.

Each area is special in its own way, we’ll break them down below:

Where to Stay in Buenos Aires

The oldest neighbourhood in Buenos Aires, San Telmo is all cobbled streets, well-preserved colonial buildings, and 17 th century brick factories, many of which have been converted into trendy bars and funky tattoo parlours. The area juxtaposes antique stores with steakhouses and hip cafes, giving the entire area its bohemian feel. This is a major destination for tourists, but with its multicultural local community it doesn’t feel too touristy, and isn’t overly expensive. This is also the place to find Buenos Aires’ best tango parlours, frequented by tourists and locals alike.

While each of the neighbourhood’s streets hides unique cafes and shops, Defensa Street is the centre of the action. It’s lined with restaurants, bars, cafes and boutique shops, and on Sundays the whole 5km street transforms into an open-air market. Artists rock up to sell their wares, but they’re also happy to sit and discuss their work with you without pressure to buy. You will encounter many artists here decorating the small wooden cups that many Argentinians wander the streets with. These are used for drinking mate , a caffeine-rich tea that’s very popular in Argentina (do try it!)

They say that Argentinians never throw anything away, which won’t be hard to believe after visiting San Telmo Market, a large indoor antiques market in the heart of San Telmo. You can buy pretty much anything here, including other people’s old family photos (yeah, really!). The market is also a great place to fill your belly, and has a wine bar in the centre where you can sample different local wines by the glass. The Parilla on the outskirts of the market is an excellent place to try some famous Argentinian BBQ and sample local beers.

Heading north, San Telmo is only a short walk from the city centre where you can find all the modern shops that occupy the centre of all big cities. Heading south you will encounter the Museo Historical Nacional. If you are willing to walk even further south, you’ll eventually reach La Bombonera, the home of the city’s famous football team – the Boca Juniors. It’s generally advised not to head there alone at night, or on match day. Go with a local – it can get a little gnarly!

Other Things to see in San Telmo:

• Iglesia Apostolica Ortodoxa Rusa , a gorgeous Russian Orthodox Church featuring blue onion domes.
• Nuestra Senora de Belén Church , which has been gradually developed since the early 18 th century and looks a bit like an iced wedding cake.
• Museum of Modern Art , with over 6,000 works of art from the likes of Josef Albers, Antonio Berni, Macció Marcelo and Emilio Pettoruti.
• El Solar de French , a colonial house turned art space.

Stay in San Telmo if you:

• Want to stay in the heart of Buenos Aires, close to everything;
• Are looking for a more hipster/bohemian experience;
• Want to stay among classic Buenos Aires architecture, tango and antiques.

Where to Stay In San Telmo

For the backpackers – america del sur hostel buenos aires.

A modern hostel right in the heart of San Telmo. Their 24 hour front desk is staffed by friendly multilingual locals who also organise activities like tango lessons and pizza nights. While there is no bar, the common room and TV room are still a great place to socialise and meet other travellers. Best rates here.

For the Budget Traveller – Hotel Babel

This boutique hotel in San Telmo offers great access to the bohemian quarter of the city, and is close to the city centre. Its nine rooms open up onto a bright and friendly courtyard where you can have breakfast, drinks, and relax and chat with other travellers. Fun spot! Best rates here .

For the Luxurious Type – Patios de San Telmo

For a luxurious escape among the busy streets of San Telmo. Tucked away in a 19 th century building with award-winning restoration, a rooftop pool and sun terrace. Its onsite restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, and will do take-out meals for guests heading off on excursions. A piece of Buenos Aires luxury and worth every penny. Best rates here .

Recoleta is one of the pricier areas to stay, and is currently one of Buenos Aires’ most expensive postcodes. A little like a Latin American Paris, it’s populated by little townhouses, former palaces and upscale boutiques. Its residents also enjoy a variety of green spaces with some interesting and quirky sculptural delights.

Here you will find Buenos Aires’ most exclusive and expensive hotels, its Michelin star restaurants, and expensive bars serving the best wines. Wandering around the suburb on foot is a delight, and you won’t have to go far before finding a café or boutique that catches your eye. It is not well connected to the rest of the city in terms of public transport, so taxis will be needed to get you to other parts of town.

The main tourist attraction here is Recoleta Cemetery – almost like a self-contained city, with the tombs of important men and families organised along little streets. The cemetery covers about 14 acres and has over 4,500 tombs dating from between 1880 and 1930. A large number of tombs feature military titles, revealing the decorated military history in Argentina. Joining a cemetery tour is a good idea to truly understand the place.

Next to the cemetery is the Centre Cultural Recoleta , a modern centre hosting exhibitions and concerts. Also nearby is the Iglesia Nuestra Senora del Pilar , a small but picturesque church popular with tourists.

Other Things to See in Recoleta:

• Museo Nacional de Belles Artes , a free museum holding works from pre-Renaissance to the modern day including many works by the European masters.
• National Library of Argentina , the largest library in Argentina founded in 1810 and featuring distinctive brutalist architecture.
• Pizzurno Palace , a six-acre palatial home left to the city by an heiress in 1882 which now houses the Ministry of Education.
• Gomero de la Recoleta , a rubber tree planted more than 200 years ago which now has a 50 metre wide crown.
• Plazoleta San Martin de Tours , one of the city’s oldest squares and most attractive green spaces.

Stay in Recoleta if you:

• Are looking for exclusivity and luxury;
• Are a high-end food and wine tourist;
• Want to experience the upper end of Buenos Aires;
• Have a passion for architecture.

Where to Stay In Recoleta

For the backpackers – benita hostel.

For cheap accommodation in the centre of Recoleta, look no further. This hostel offers a range of accommodations including shared and private rooms, as well as nice shared areas for socialising. It has a clean but retro vibe and a very nice rooftop terrace. Best rates here .

For the Budget Traveller – Hotel Bel Air

For an affordable hotel in the area, consider Hotel Bel Air. Housed in an impressive neo-baroque building in the heart of Recoleta, rooms are basic but clean and comfortable. There is a daily breakfast buffet included, and the restaurant serves food throughout the day. Also has a gym on site! Best rates here .

For the Luxurious Type – Palladio Hotel Buenos Aires MGallery Sofitel

Recoleta is full of luxury hotels, but this is one of the best and isn’t ridiculously priced. The rooms are fully equipped to five star standard; ask for a balcony room as the views are fantastic. The hotel is complete with outdoor swimming pool, fitness centre, terrace, and in house restaurant that does both Continental and American breakfasts. You can’t go wrong here, I promise! Best rates here .

Away from the commercial city centre, Palermo is Buenos Aires’ cultural heart. Here you will find sweeping boulevards, gorgeous green spaces, countless restaurants and some of Argentina’s most celebrated nightlife. Originally the city’s port, Palermo is now a picturesque coastal area, and you can enjoy a pretty magnificent ocean view from the iconic Club de Pescadores.

Palermo can really be split into two parts, Palermo Hollywood, which is where you will find the restaurants and trendy boutique stores, and Palermo Soho, which is full of green spaces and museums. Palermo Soho is where you will find Las Canitas , 350 acres of parks and wooded areas. Families flock here on the weekends to picnic, bicycle, jog, and generally enjoy the sun. Nearby highlights are the Rose Garden, with 18,000 rose bushes which create a spectacular space when they are all in bloom, and the carefully manicured Japanese Gardens, featuring traditional Japanese plants like Bonsai, Sakura, Katsura, Momiji and Azalea. The perfect place for some greenery in the big city.

While Palermo Soho is the place to visit during the day, Palermo Hollywood is the place to visit in the evening for a lively night out. Drinks are not cheap here, although this does seem to be the heart of the nightlife, and the groups from my hostel always ended up here each night.

Besides the local wine and beer, one drink to try when in Buenos Aires is fernet , which is considered the liquor of the city. It is a bitter amaro that is usually drunk mixed with Coca-Cola. I tried this several times in Buenos Aires (it was always offered by locals) but wasn’t a fan. They love it though!

Note: Many tourists used to visit Palermo for the Eco Park, which was basically a large zoo, but it was closed down relatively recently with no confirmed date for reopening (as of 2019).

Other things to see in Palermo:

• Eva Perón Museum , dedicated to the famous first lady who inspired the film Evita starring Madonna.
• Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA), a new gallery opened only in 2001, it features modern artists from across Latin America.
• Museo de Arte Popular José Hernández , an interesting collection of religious icons, artworks, silver and furniture originally collected by Isaac Fernández Blanco.
• Parque Tres de Febrero , also known as Palermo Woods, it adds to the collection of gorgeous green spaces in the area.
• Galileo Galilei Planetarium , a UFO-shaped structure which is also home to a collection of 100 million year old sea life and ammonite fossils.

Stay in Palermo if you:

• crave green spaces;
• adore quality museums;
• are looking to enjoy Buenos Aires’ nightlife.

Where to Stay in Palermo

For the backpackers – meridiano hostel boutique.

This hostel is both stylish and affordable and a great base for exploring Palermo. Choose between dorm or private accommodations, and enjoy the shared terrace space with amazing views of the gardens and city. Despite the 19 th century building that gives a nice atmosphere, it has some of the best bathrooms you can expect from a hostel. Best rates here .

For the Budget Traveller – Selina Palermo

The Selina Palermo is a cosy yet affordable place to stay in this part of the city. The rooms are comfortable, and all rooms also include a balcony. The hotel has a playground for kids, and its own restaurant and bar. The common areas are trendy and a great place to socialise. Best rates here .

For the Luxurious Type – Nuss Buenos Aires Soho

If you are looking for something higher end, this luxury hotel offers stylish Spanish accommodations in the perfect location. Fitness centre, sauna and beautifully furnished rooms come standard for all guests. There is a buffet breakfast and onsite restaurant, but it is also close to a number of excellent local restaurants when you are looking for something different. Easily one of the top hotels in Palermo. Best rates here .

A little further from the city centre is Villa Crespo. It’s a middle-class area with a cool edge, and is the centre of the city’s Jewish community, which is the largest in South America. This means it is teaming with Jewish cafes, bakeries and restaurants where you can sample traditional cuisine.

However, Villa Crespo is not just home to the city’s Jewish community, it’s a very multicultural part of the city and is home to restaurants and shops from all over the world. A few popular joints to try are El Chiri de Villa Crespo for something classically Jewish, or if you’re a fan of Middle Eastern cuisine try the famously delicious Sarkis . The atmosphere of the whole neighbourhood is very welcoming, so while it is quite spread out and sometimes tiresome to walk around, it feels very safe. It’s much less touristy than the aforementioned areas too.

Leather goods are big here, with Calle Murillo being both the traditional home and current centre of leather goods in the city. It also has a number of outlet stores around Loyola and Serrano if you are looking for bargains from top name brands.

The other thing that makes Villa Crespo special is its street art. Many now well-known Argentinian artists, such as Ever, Jaz and Pastel, started out painting murals in this part of town. The crossroads of Castillo and Serrano is the place to go for the newest and best. Look up Graffitimundo for a local tour!

Other things to see in Villa Crespo:

• Parque Centenario , a beautiful park full of jacaranda trees and with an amphitheatre for shows. It has a large street market on the weekends.
• Villa Malcolm , a traditional milonga where you can sample some quality but affordable wine and experience tango up close.
• Café San Bernardo , a classic pool hall where you can spend the night drinking, dancing and playing pool with the locals.

Stay in Villa Crespo if you:

• Want to experience Buenos Aires like a local;
• Have a passion for street art;
• Want a less touristy area;
• Want some offbeat and bargain shopping!

Where to Stay in Villa Crespo

For the backpackers – hostel plaza.

Offering a range of private and dormitory accommodations, this hostel has the lively atmosphere that backpackers have come to expect. The beds are comfortable and the shared spaces are vibrant. Best rates here .

For the Budget Traveller – Hotel Nontue Abasto

This basic but friendly hotel is a great place to stay for visiting Villa Crespo. The breakfast buffet is always excellent, the rooms are large, plus a swimming pool, sauna and fitness centre are available for all guests. Best rates here .

For the Luxurious Type – Mine Hotel

For those not scrimping on comfort, the Mine Hotel will house you in style. At the border of Villa Crespo and Palermo, this award-winning designer hotel is complete with pool, terrace and sun garden. Both luxurious and homely – in my opinion – the best kind of luxury in a city like BA. Best rates here .

If you want to get beyond the big city and see a little bit more of what Argentina has to offer, Buenos Aires is a great base for making a few day trips.

The small town of Tigre is less than 30 miles from Buenos Aires and can easily be reached by train. The best way to arrive is the scenic Tren de la Costa , which lets you take in the coastal sights on your journey.

The town itself dates from the early 19 th century and sits on an island created by several small streams and rivers. It features a craft fair, several antique shops, and riverside restaurants and bars in a gorgeous natural environment. It is also home to a small amusement park, a casino, and the Naval Museum, so can make a great family destination. Definitely worth checking out if you’re looking to get out of the city.

If you want to venture a little further, you can cross into Uruguay and explore its capital Montevideo. It’s only a short 2 hour ferry across the Rio de la Plata.

Montevideo is a charming city full of history, making this one of the most popular day trips for visitors to Buenos Aires. It also has a gorgeous sandy beach, Pocitos, right in the centre of the city. You can explore on your own or join on the many organised tours leaving from central Buenos Aires.

Very cool way to spend a day and collect another stamp in your passport!

Getting Around Buenos Aires

It’s relatively easy to get around the centre of Buenos Aires. The subway is called the Subte , and can be used with a rechargeable SUBE card, available to purchase at any subway station.

The subway has six lines that connect pretty much all the major commercial, tourist and residential areas and run until 11pm. Recoleta is the only major city destination not easily reached on the subway, the closest stop at least a 15 minute walk.

Your SUBE card also gives you access to the bus, useful when heading further from the subway stations. About 140 bus lines that run 24 hours a day, though knowing which one to catch can be challenging. Google maps is your friend!

Also be wary that public transport can get pretty crowded during rush hour. Also frequent strikes can see the service shut down.

When travelling at night, Taxi or Uber is the good choice. When hailing taxis in the street get a Radio-taxi, with a lightbox on the roof, rather than a different type of street taxi. Ordinary taxis are more likely to be run by a member of Buenos Aires’ infamous taxi mafia, and you could end up paying more. Legally taxis are only allowed to stop if their passenger side is facing the curb, so if you find that taxis are ignoring you, cross to the other side of the street. Try and have the exact change to hand as drivers in BA occasionally try the “no change” hustle in order to keep your few extra pesos.

If you are looking to go to Buenos Aires’ outer suburbs or another city you can take the train – they all leave from Buenos Aires’ Retiro-Mitre Station in the city centre.

From the airport

Getting into central Buenos Aires can take between 1-2 hours, depending on traffic. Taxis and Ubers are relatively cheap and recommended.

There is also an airport shuttle that stops at various hotels, though sometimes you’ll need to switch to smaller buses in the centre before getting to your accommodation.

If you are on a tight budget, you can also get bus number 8 from Plaza de Mayo or Plaza Congreso for about 10 pesos. It will take about 2 hours.

Overall a taxi or Uber is the best option if your budget allows it.

Getting a SIM Card in Buenos Aires

Both Claro and Movistar offer prepaid packages. Movistar also offers a data only package if you do not need to make calls. Coverage is good within Buenos Aires itself, though can become a bit sketchy if you go further afield.

Get them at the dedicated phone stores or at convenience stores (kioscos). You will need your passport. If you choose to buy in a convenience store you’ll need to set up the service yourself. It’s relatively straightforward, but head to the provider if you are unsure.

Getting Cash in Buenos Aires

I usually don’t recommend travelling with large amounts of cash, but it can be difficult to get money in Buenos Aires. ATMs in the city have very high fees and very low limits, which means that you can be paying 10% every time you want to take cash out. It can be a good idea to bring whatever cash you will need, if you have a safe way to store it.

USD is also accepted. While you can’t use them everywhere, and shouldn’t expect to be able to buy your SUBE card or pay for meals with USD, market sellers are happy to accept them. Currently the Argentinian peso is so unstable people are eager to take the US dollars off you. There are also lots of money changers in the street if you have US dollars or other currencies that you would like to convert to pesos.

Safety in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is relatively safe compared to other big South American cities, but still poses risks, particularly at night. Most of the inner-city neighbourhoods are clean and well-lit, and a strong police presence in the city keeps petty crime in check. The four areas explored in this post – San Telmo, Recoleta, Palermo and Villa Crespo – are all relatively safe. Be wary of venturing alone into La Boca or Retiro, especially at night.

Of course, visitors still need to be on their guard, especially for pickpockets and bag snatchers. Women in particular should be wary of walking alone at night. It can be a good idea to carry a few hundred pesos in an easily accessible pocket to hand over quickly in the case of an incident.

The other thing to be wary of in Buenos Aires is scams, such as taxi drivers trying to charge you higher fares or keep your change, sellers giving you change in counterfeit notes, and overpaying for cheap products. You can avoid this by paying in smaller bills or exact change where possible.

Common sense and extra vigilance at night will go a long way.

Enjoy Buenos Aires!

Photo Credits: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , Featured Image

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About Buenos Aires

Known as the "Paris of Latin America," the vibrant Argentine capital city perfectly blends art, culture, history. When you travel to Buenos Aires, you'll discover a cosmopolitan city with a population of 13 million people where anything is possible, with dynamic atmosphere that combines the historical with the avant-garde. The range of activities and attractions is simply overwhelming. You can immerse yourself in captivating museums, explore art galleries, enjoy the rich theater scene, visit iconic monuments and churches, and indulge in the city's finest restaurants and cafes. Argentina’s capital city is a hotspot for food, music, art and night life and it’s one of the most diverse cities in Latin America.

Buenos Aires boasts picturesque squares, lush green parks, and enchanting gardens that invite you to relax and soak up the ambiance. Wander through romantic alleys and admire the city's beautiful colonial architecture, which coexists harmoniously with modern shopping malls and antique fairs.

Each of Buenos Aires’ neighborhoods has its own unique charm. Experience the vibrant nightlife of hip Palermo, take a stroll along the waterfront of Puerto Madero, hunt for treasures in the antique boutiques of San Telmo, immerse yourself in the passionate world of tango in La Boca, explore fascinating museums in the city center, pamper yourself with designer shopping in Recoleta, or take the opportunity to learn Spanish in Buenos Aires.

Our Buenos Aires travel guide aims to be your trusted companion throughout your journey. We have handpicked the best hotels and hostels in Buenos Aires to ensure your stay is comfortable and memorable. Remember to explore our sections on tours in Buenos Aires, restaurants and cafes and must-visit tourist attractions. Come and uncover the hidden secrets of Buenos Aires. You’ll be captivated by the city's unique charm and allure. Prepare to embark on an unforgettable journey through art, history, and culture in this unique metropolis.

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, is a fantastic cosmopolitan city and also  one of the most important in Latin America. This metropolis has preserved its ancient traditions and enchanting hidden corners, making it a place capable of   both surprising and charming its visitors .

Buenos Aires Travel Guide

• Information
• What to see and do
• How to arrive
• Where to eat
• Where to stay

Why visit Buenos Aires?

Like the best of Carlos Gardel's tangos, Buenos Aires is a passionate and exciting city and a lively and colorful destination where there’s always something to see , do, or taste. As with its delicious cuisine , Buenos Aires is a city to be enjoyed at a relaxed pace so you can savor all its contrasting tones.

A great way to immerse yourself in the city’s atmosphere is to try some of its excellent cultural activities and discover the personality of its colorful neighborhoods , the charm of its people, and the flavor of its delicious dishes as the joy of the old tango bars envelop the city.

Booking your hotel in advance

We have the best price guarantee. By using our hotel search engine and booking in advance, you can get amazing discounts of up to 75%. We also have the best price guarantee.

If you book with our search engine, you can cancel your reservation for free. You also won't need to make any payments until you arrive at the hotel .

• Hotels in Buenos Aires - Book online with the best price guarantee.

top activities

Sunset Boat Tour along the River Plate A boat trip along the River Plate is simply an unmissable experience if you're in Buenos Aires. Watch the sunset over Argentina's beautiful capital city .

Campanopolis Day Trip On this day trip to Campanopolis from Buenos Aires , we'll take you to visit a medieval-style village built in the middle of the 20th century.

Madero Tango Show Looking for plans in Buenos Aires? Don't hesitate & book a ticket for the show at Madero Tango,  one of the most famous tango shows in the Argentine capital!

Ferry Between Colonia & Buenos Aires This ticket for the ferry between Buenos Aires and Colonia del Sacramento is the best way to travel between the two cities on the River Plate .

Discover the most emblematic places in Buenos Aires with this private tour around the Argentine capital city with an exclusive guide just for you.

Colonia del Sacramento Trip Colonia del Sacramento is one of Uruguay’s prettiest cities. Discover its charms on this day trip from Buenos Aires and explore its most emblematic monuments.

Tango Porteño Theatre Show The Tango Porteño Theater in Buenos Aires is the perfect place to enjoy Argentina's famous dance while enjoying a delicious traditional dinner.

La Bomba de Tiempo Show Ticket Feel the electrifying mix of rhythm and energy at La Bomba de Tiempo , the improvised percussion show that has revolutionized the Buenos Aires music scene

Diego Maradona Tour Discover the most emblematic places in the life of Diego Armando Maradona, one of the most loved and admired Argentinian football players of all time !

Colon Theatre & MALBA Museum Walking Tour With this tour, not only will you enjoy a  guided walking tour of Buenos Aires , but you'll also explore the famous  Colon Theatre  and the incredible MALBA Museum.

Tango Show in La Ventana Enjoy an authentic tango show at La Ventana , a venue with a longstanding, important tradition within Argentine folklore.

El Viejo Almacén , located in the heart of the San Telmo neighborhood, is one of the best places in Buenos Aires to enjoy an authentic tango show.

Palermo Free Walking Tour On this free tour of Palermo , we'll visit the main attractions of one of the most beautiful and extensive neighborhoods in Buenos Aires!

This free walking tour of Buenos Aires is the best way to get to visit the city's charming historic center & learn tons of fascinating fun facts.

Puerto Madero Free Tour On this free tour of Puerto Madero , we'll explore one of the most modern neighborhoods in Buenos Aires and walk across the Puente de la Mujer (Women's Bridge) .

Chacarita Cemetery Tour Join our tour and delve into the historical Chacarita Cemetery , seeing tombs of illustrious figures like Perón , Carlos Gardel , and other notable figures.

Film Tour of Buenos Aires On this  film tour of Argentina's capital we'll visit various locations thorughout the city of Buenos Aires where many movies were filmed.

Buenos Aires Layover Tour This tour is perfect for those travelers who have a layover at Buenos Aires airport and would like to use the time to explore this enchanting city.

Tigre Delta Boat Trip This tour sails along the River Plate and the Parana Delta to Tigre, one of the most popular destinations in Argentina which we will explore extensively.

Free Walking Tour of the Recoleta Cemetery Explore the history of Buenos Aires' legendary Recoleta Cemetery and uncover the stories of the illustrious people buried there on this captivating free tour.

Pope Francis Tour Want to follow the path of Jorge Bergoglio before becoming the “Pope from the end of the World”? Discover the early life of Pope Francisco in Buenos Aires

Guided Bus Tour of Buenos Aires Explore every side of Buenos Aires, enjoying the main districts, avenues, and monuments of the city. The perfect introduction to the city of Tango !

Tango Lesson in a Milonga in Buenos Aires Enjoy a passionate tango lesson in a famed milonga; a traditional tango bar that's a local favourite. The most authentic way to learn how to tango !

Montevideo Transport: Ferry + Bus Leave Buenos Aires behind and discover the beautiful capital of Uruguay on this self-guided trip to Montevideo . Unmissable!

Fiesta Gaucha at the Don Silvano Ranch Do you want to enjoy an authentic Fiesta Guacha? Come with us to the Don Silvano ranch and see the cowboy-style festivities in the Argentinian countryside.

Buenos Aires Graffiti Tour This tour serves as an introduction to the artistic, political, and revolutionary mix of the Argentinian capital via its stunning and thought-provoking murals.

Rio de la Plata Boat Tour Capture the best views of Buenos Aires with this Rio de la Plata Boat Tour. Enjoy the beauty of the Argentine capital from the important estuary.

Iguazu Falls Private Trip Discover one of the most impressive places in the world when you take our fantastic private trip to the stunning Iguazú Falls.

Photo Tour of Buenos Aires Take out your camera and join us as we photograph some of the most iconic sights around Buenos Aires such as the Puente de la Mujer bridge and San Telmo.

Tango Show at Palacio Tango Experience Argentinian culture through its most characteristic dance at this tango show at Palacio Tango. You'll love it!

Buenos Aires Private Tango Class Learning to dance the tango is not as difficult as it looks . Feel the passion of the music and learn to dance like a pro with this private tango class.

Rojo Tango Show Enjoy one of the most iconic tango performances in Buenos Aires when you buy a ticket for the mesmerizing Rojo Tango show  at the famous Hotel Faena !

Gaucho Cowboy Cookout Traditional barbecue, pastries, horse rides and folk shows. All the essential ingredients for a Gaucho Party one of our most popular tours.

Buenos Aires Bike Tour Discover beautiful areas around the Argentine capital with this Buenos Aires Bike Tour . You can choose between a route in the north, in the south or in both.

Café de los Angelitos Tango Show Let the sensual dance of the Tango seduce you at this fantastic show at Café de los Angelitos , one of the most iconic venues in Buenos Aires!

Buenos Aires Food Tour Enjoy the flavors of Argentine cuisine with this food tour in Buenos Aires ! You'll taste local delicacies either in the Palermo or San Telmo neighborhood.

Boca Juniors and River Plate Football Tour Delve into Argentina's footballing history, visiting the country's two most famous stadiums – La Bombonera of Boca Juniors and Monumental of River Plate.

Buenos Aires Beer Tour Don't know what to do in Buenos Aires? Explore the Palermo neighbourhood and the legendary Casa Malta. You'll try the best flavours in Argentina !

Argentinian Cooking Class Learn how to prepare meat empanadas and other specialties of Argentinian gastronomy with this cooking class in Buenos Aires. What a treat!

With this tour of Villa Devoto,  discover one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in Buenos Aires , standing out for its rich architecture and gastronomy.

Tango show and Dinner at El Querandi The El Querandi restaurant is one of the most intimate venues in Buenos Aires in which to experience the romanticism of the Tango .

Buenos Aires Domes Tour In this tour of the Argentine capital, we'll check out the most outstanding domes of Buenos Aires and discover the history of the buildings they adorn .

Buenos Aires Bookstores Tour Calling all bookworms! Don't miss this tour of the Argentine capital's most beautiful bookshops , including El Ateneo Grand Splendid, El Túnel.

Dinner at The Argentine Experience If you're interested in Argentinian cuisine, don't miss this dinner at the iconic  The Argentine Experience  in Buenos Aires.

Buenos Aires and Patagonia 9 Day Trip Discover the most beautiful natural landscapes of Argentina and its captivating capital city when you take our fantastic 9-day tour .

Ferry + Bus to Punta del Este from Buenos Aires Sumergíos en la magia de la costa urugaya reservando este traslado a Punta del Este desde Buenos Aires . ¡La forma más cómoda de llegar!

Buenos Aires Beer & Tapas Tasting Calling all foodies! Join this culinary experience in Buenos Aires and enjoy tastings of 10 local craft beers paired with two savory tapas and one sweet treat.

Argentina Tour Package Buenos Aires, Iguazu Falls, Salta, Bariloche, El Calafate and Ushuaia: discover the best of Argentina on this unforgettable two week tour !

Buenos Aires Electric Scooter Tour If you're looking to zoom through the streets of the Argentine capital , hop on this electric scooter tour of Buenos Aires and get to know the city!

Day Trip to Temaiken Zoo Leave the hustle and bustle of Buenos Aires behind and learn about animals and plant species from around the world on this day trip to Temaiken Zoo.

Buenos Aires Tourist Bus + Attractions With this multi-ticket, you'll enjoy the bus and boat tour of Buenos Aires as well as lots of other fun activities . Let's go!

Fall in love with Argentina's flavors on this wine and tapas tour in the Palermo area of Buenos Aires. You'll visit 2 wine shops and taste typical products!

La Plata Day Trip Take a trip to La Plata from Buenos Aires and discover the entire city, including its cathedral, its captivating squares and even the Natural Science Museum.

Mama Antula Tour On this tour through Buenos Aires , learn about the first saint in Argentina, Mama Antula , as we follow in her footsteps throughout the city.

Diego Maradona House Museum Tour + Argentine Asado History , football and food come together on this tour of La Casa de D10S , the house in Buenos Aires where Diego Armando Maradona lived between 1978 and 1980.

Skydiving in Chascomús Looking for an adrenaline rush? If so, don't miss this sky diving experience in Chascomús . It also includes transfer from Buenos Aires !

Palermo Mosque + Racecourse Tour On this tour of one of the most famous neighbourhoods in Buenos Aires , we'll visit the Palermo Mosque and the racecourse , where we'll attend a horse race .

Gaucho Cultural Experience Tour In this tour, you'll learn all about Gaucho customs in San Antonio de Areco , a local town in the middle of Argentina. Don't miss out!

Chacarita Food Tour Indulge your taste buds on a culinary journey in Buenos Aires and enjoy a tasting of vermouth, empanadas, Malbec wine, and even ice cream .

Argentine Asado Experience + Workshop Learn how to make Argentine asado in this cooking workshop in Buenos Aires . Discover the different cuts, cooking times and all the secrets of this famous dish .

Mendoza Wine Tasting Experience Join us for a wine-tasting experience at Florio Wine Cellar , in the charming La Boca neighborhood , featuring wines from the renowned province of Mendoza !

Bosques de Palermo Bike Tour + Kayaking in Tigre On this activity, we'll enjoy a  bike  tour around Bosques de Palermo and go on a  train to Tigre  for a kayaking trip down the   Delta .

Buenos Aires Private Helicopter Ride Looking for a unique experience?  Take a private helicopter ride over Buenos Aires  and enjoy privileged views of the Argentine capital's tourist attractions.

Martín García Island Private Helicopter Excursion On this private helicopter excursion to Martín García Island , we'll fly over the Uruguay and La Plata rivers to reach a natural oasis full of history.

Tigre Delta Private Helicopter Excursion On this private helicopter excursion to the Tigre Delta , you'll enjoy stunning views of Buenos Aires and dine at a restaurant on the banks of the Paraná River.

Horseback Riding at Estancia Villa María Experience the charm of the countryside on our horseback ride at Estancia Villa María , a ranch in Cañuelas —the perfect nature escapade & cultural immersion!

Argentinian Mate Workshop in Recoleta Discover how to make the classic South American herbal infusion  at this Argentinian mate workshop in Recoleta, Buenos Aires.

Tango Show in Michelangelo At this tango show in Michelangelo, you'll enjoy the legendary Argentinian musical genre in San Telmo, one of the main tango neighbourhoods in Buenos Aires.

Horse Polo Experience at Estancia Villa María Try out the sport of polo , a renowned equestrian sport, amidst the picturesque landscapes of Estancia Villa María , then enjoy a delicious Argentinian asado.

Jewish Quarter Private Tour On this private tour we'll follow in the footsteps of the Jewish community, visiting sinagoges, squares and the most emblematic institutions.

Buenos Aires Markets: San Telmo & Mataderos Tour Explore the San Telmo Antiques Market and the Mataderos Market, two perfect spots to discover the most deep-rooted culture of Buenos Aires .

Buenos Aires, Iguazu Falls & Salta: 8 Day Tour Discover the best of northern Argentina on this unforgettable eight-day tour! You'll explore Buenos Aires, visit Iguazu Falls and see the sights of Salta.

Ferry to Colonia del Sacramento + Winery Visit On this tour, you'll cross the border to discover the wine culture of Uruguay . You'll take the ferry to Colonia del Sacramento and visit a winery .

Argentina & Peru 11-Day Trip Make the most of this unforgettable 11-day trip around Argentina and Peru, visiting Buenos Aires, Lima and Cusco . Boat tours and tango shows await you!

Buenos Aires, Salta, Jujuy & Tucumán: 9 Day Tour Lively cities, legendary history and spectacular natural landscapes: explore northern Argentina on this nine-tour of Buenos Aires, Salta, Jujuy and Tucumán.

Buenos Aires Tango & Football Tour Discover the two greatest passions of Buenos Aires: tango and football. Explore the Abasto and La Boca neighbourhoods and discover this passion for yourself!

Buenos Aires & Patagonia: 11 Day Tour Package Bariloche, Puerto Madryn, El Calafate and Ushuaia. Discover Buenos Aires and Patagonia on this eleven-day tour of southern Argentina.

Parque de la Costa Day Trip Rollercoasters and attractions for the entire family . Buenos Aires is perfectly located to visit the popular Parque de la Costa theme park.

Buenos Aires Tourist Pass Make the most of your trip to Buenos Aires and save money with the Buenos Aires Tourist Pass that includes admission to up to 10 activities and attractions!

Palermo Speakeasy Bar Tour The Palermo neighbourhood of Buenos Aires is home to a large number of speakeasies . We'll find out which are the city's secret spots with this tour.

Gala Tango Show Gala Tango is one of the best places in the magical city of Buenos Aires to enjoy an authentic tango show . Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!

Alijibe Tango Show Let yourself be seduced by the passion of the most popular dance in Argentina with a tango show at Aljibe Tango, a traditional ‘Tangueria’ venue .

Private Filetado Tour of San Telmo Discover Buenos Aires' fileteado lettering and drawing tradition with this fantastic private tour of the San Telmo neighborhood.

Buenos Aires Night Tour If you've fallen in love with Buenos Aires in the day, wait till you see it at night! There's a whole new city waiting to be discovered !

Buenos Aires Walking Tour + Pizza and Moscato Tasting On this tour of Buenos Aires, we'll go on a walking tour of the capital city before going for an Argentinian pizza with a glass of Moscato .

San Telmo Market Tour Join us on our amazing tour around the iconic San Telmo market in Buenos Aires . We'll even get to  taste some delicious local products .

Explore the beautiful streets of Buenos Aires, and discover all the city's landmarks and monuments  from the comfort of an enjoyable bus tour.

Fuerza Bruta's Aven Show This ticket grants you access to the mesmerizing Aven show in Buenos Aires , brought to you by Fuerza Bruta , a renowned Argentinian theater company .

Mendoza Wineries Private Trip Join us as we hop on a quick flight from Buenos Aires to Mendoza and enjoy a day exploring the best wineries around this picturesque city.

Palacio Barolo Tour Discover the symbolic Palacio Barolo with this guided tour . You'll uncover the secrets hidden within the former tallest skyscraper in South America.

Palacio Barolo Night Tour Experience a unique evening with this Palacio Barolo night tour , where you'll learn about the structure and enjoy a live music or dance show.

Quilmes Brewery Tour On this visit to the Quilmes Brewery , we'll visit the museum and facilities of this great Argentinean brewery , located 25 kilometres from Buenos Aires.

Aquafan Ticket with Transport If you like water parks, you can't pass up this fantastic opportunity to dive into the Aquafan waterpark including transport from Buenos Aires.

Capilla del Señor Horseback Riding Embark on a delightful countryside adventure with a horseback ride through Capilla del Señor , complemented by a an authentic Argentinean asado , or barbecue.

Horse Polo Experience Enjoy an authentic polo experience in Capilla del Señor, where we'll practice & play Argentina's quintessential equestrian sport at La Carona Polo Club

Nighttime Horse Polo Experience Experience a  Night Polo event in Capilla del Señor , an hour from Buenos Aires . Watch a thrilling polo match under the moonlight and enjoy an Argentine dinner.

Rollerblade Tour of Buenos Aires Explore Buenos Aires in a truly unique way with this fabulous rollerblade tour of the magnificent Argentine capital. Let's go!

Explore the iconic areas of Buenos Aires with this electric bike tour . Visit famous neighbourhoods in the city, such as Palermo , Recoleta,  and Puerto Madero .

Parador Fogón Boat Trip On our  Parador Fogón Boat Trip , you'll take a pleasant boat ride to a well-known restaurant and beach in Buenos Aires where you can enjoy water sports .

The best guide of Buenos Aires

Introducing Buenos Aires is a guide made by travelers like you  who've traveled to Buenos Aires to get the best advice and information about the city.

The information and practical data  in this guide were updated in  February 2024 . If you see any mistakes or something that you think we should change, please let us know .

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6 fabulous hotels to visit in April

Stay at a zoo in Sydney, or meet vortex hunters in Sedona

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This April, escape from the ordinary. Now is the time to go big and try something new on your vacation. That could mean spending the night at a zoo, booking a suite at a resort where you can swim straight to your room or staying at a hotel with a pet psychic on stand by. Here are six options that promise a fresh way to hotel.

Wildlife Retreat at Taronga in Sydney, Australia

You never know who might be outside your window at the Wildlife Retreat at Taronga

When you look out your window at the Wildlife Retreat at Taronga , expect to see a koala gazing back. This boutique hotel is at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, and gives guests who book Animal View Rooms an incredible, immersive wildlife experience. Those who want to be at the zoo but prefer some distance from the animals can stay in rooms with bushland or Sydney Harbor views. Rates include two-day access to Taronga Zoo, a special guided tour of the wildlife sanctuary, sustainable amenities and daily breakfast. 

Romeo Napoli in Naples, Italy

Rooms at Romeo Napoli have views of Naples, the Gulf of Naples and Mount Vesuvius

April is a great time to visit Italy. You can enjoy the sights before the large crowds and sweltering temperatures arrive in the summer. For a taste of contemporary luxury, book Romeo Napoli . The hotel's 79 rooms and suites feature warm tones and original photography and have fantastic views of the city of Naples, Gulf of Naples and Mount Vesuvius. Wellness is a focus, with some rooms including infrared saunas, sensorial showers and private Zen gardens. Keep the pampering going downstairs at La Spa by Sisley Paris, where guests can relax in the Finnish sauna, frigidarium with snowfall, steam bath and cold immersion bath.

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Sky Rock Sedona in Sedona, Arizona

Rooms at Sky Rock Sedona look out at the city's gorgeous red rocks

Sky Rock Sedona makes a stunning first impression. Walking into the lobby, guests are greeted by a sparkling amethyst-encrusted wall, and the titillations only increase from there. The rooms feel like sanctuaries, with cozy neutral tones and leather accents, and some have fireplaces perfect for cooler nights. Up on the rooftop, there are fire pits and couches so guests can take in the 360-degree views of Sedona's red rocks, including the iconic Snoopy Rock, Coffee Pot Rock and Thunder Mountain. Sedona pulls in many New Age seekers, and Sky Rock guests can take advantage of offerings like on-call pet psychics and vortex hunters.

Generations Riviera Maya on Riviera Maya, Mexico

Riviera Maya is on Mexico's Caribbean coast

As long as you pack a bathing suit, you will do just fine at Generations Riviera Maya . This family-friendly resort on Mexico's Caribbean coast is known for its massive pool with a swim-up bar. All of the suites have ocean views, and several have direct access to the pool from their private balconies, making it easy to go swimming whenever you please. Rates are all-inclusive and cover meals, butler service and access to a private beach.

Akara Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand

Akara Hotel is about one mile away from Bangkok's Victory Monument

The Akara Hotel is in the middle of everything in Bangkok's Ratchathewi district. Museums, shops, night markets and restaurants are all a short walk away — for those willing to leave the hotel, that is. Akara offers a lot of amenities, from a rooftop swimming pool to a culinary school and library, and some guests might want to stay put and take good advantage. The sizable rooms feature wood and marble decor, separate living and work areas and mini-bars with local delicacies. For even more space, book the large Akara Suite, which comes with a rain shower, jacuzzi tub and television in the bathroom.

Legado Mitico in Buenos Aires, Argentina

A Pedro Subercaseaux painting depicting José de San Martín at the Battle of Chacabuco in 1817

Learn all about Argentine history and culture without having to leave your hotel. At the elegant Legado Mitico in Buenos Aires, the 11 rooms are themed, honoring the people, arts and sports that shaped Argentina. The Liberator, for example, recognizes José de San Martín, a general who fought for independence and earned the nickname the Father of the Country. Paintings of the national hero hang on the walls, and books are stacked on a desk for guests wanting to read more about him. Legado Mitico is in the Palermo Viejo neighborhood, close to restaurants, bars and shops.

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Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com . Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com , The New York Times , The Book of Jezebel , and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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Aerolineas Argentinas To Cancel Buenos Aires-New York Route

• Argentina's flag carrier, Aerolíneas Argentinas, will suspend its New York-JFK route this fall.
• The route is unprofitable, resulting in significant losses for the airline.
• The airline will instead increase capacity on profitable routes to Miami and Madrid.

Argentina's flag carrier, Aerolíneas Argentinas , will be suspending its route to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York in August as it looks to consolidate its international network to more profitable destinations. This includes flights to Miami and Madrid , which will see additional capacity as the canceled route frees up its aircraft.

According to the Argentinian business daily El Cronista , services to New York have been deemed unprofitable, causing hefty losses for the airline and prompting a reevaluation of its international network.

Current operation

Aerolíneas Argentinas connects the capital, Buenos Aires, with JFK three times a week with its fleet of Airbus A330s. Compared to its other destinations, a thrice-weekly operation is nothing significant. For instance, its services to Madrid stand at 11 weekly flights, rising to 14 weekly between June 29th and August 10th.

The airline flies to New York on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays and offers 816 seats per week, according to data from aviation data and analytics firm Cirium . The route has intense competition from two larger US airlines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines. Both offer daily services, providing upwards of 1,900 seats per week. This difference is quite important as more significant capacity generally results in more flexibility in pricing.

Delta Air Lines To Continue Its Airbus A330neo Flights From New York To Buenos Aires Through June

American uses a fleet of Boeing 777-200ER and -300ER aircraft, while Delta uses the Airbus A330-900neo. It is believed Aerolíneas Argentinas will place its code on Delta's services between Buenos Aires and New York once it suspends its own. Simple Flying has contacted the airline for a comment and and awaits a response.

$1 million in losses

Sources told local Argentinian media that the airline will indefinitely suspend its route to JFK as of August 10th. The move will allow the carrier to "increase the productivity of its fleet by deploying them to more profitable destinations," including services to Miami and Madrid.

The flight between the two cities generated losses of $250,000 USD exclusively for February and March. In turn, the airline estimates more than $1 million USD in losses by the end of December for the entirety of 2024.

“The decision reflects the consolidation of a permanent evaluation policy on the profitability of routes faced with an extremely volatile aviation market.”

Flights to JFK will continue as usual through August 10th, from which point customers "will be able to continue flying to NYC through codeshare flights offered with our partner Delta." The Argentinian airline will also propose alternatives via Miami.

Increases to Miami and Madrid

As such, the airline will deploy its aircraft on routes to Madrid and Miami, which will see frequency increases push the total operation to twice daily on each of the routes, "in addition to having resources to increase frequencies to the Caribbean and Rome."

Aerolineas Argentinas Carried More Passengers In 2023 Than Ever Before

Miami has the highest concentration of Argentinians in the US, while Spain has the largest diaspora outside of Argentina. This, in addition to political and economic ties and lower airport costs, makes Madrid and Miami better options financially.

Cirium data shows an increase in the Miami operation to double daily flights in September. Flights to Madrid will move to 11 weekly flights, with double daily service on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.

Find the latest aviation news from Argentina here.

Have you ever flown with Aerolíneas Argentinas from Buenos Aires to New York? Let us know in the comments below.

New York JFK Airport

IATA/ICAO Code: JFK/KJFK

Country: United States

CEO: Rick Cotton (Executive Director of Port Authority of NY and NJ)

Passenger Count : 16,630,642 (2020)

Runways : 4L/22R - 3,682m (12,079 ft) |4R/22L - 2,560m (8,400 ft) |13L/31R - 3,048m (10,000 ft) |13R/31L - 4,423m (14,511 ft)

Terminals: Terminal 1 |Terminal 2 |Terminal 4 |Terminal 5 |Terminal 7 |Terminal 8

Aerolneas Argentinas

IATA/ICAO Code: AR/ARG

Airline Type: Full Service Carrier

Hub(s): Ezeiza International Airport, Aeroparque Jorge Newbery

Year Founded: 1949

Alliance: SkyTeam

CEO: Pablo Ceriani

Country: Argentina

Region: South America