With its modern art museums, hidden basement bars, and fast-evolving food scene, Argentina’s capital is the most sophisticated city in Latin America.
Buenos Aires today is a city for good times, and late nights. Just bear in mind that 1am is an early kick-off when it comes to Argentinian nightlife, and head for Palermo. Divided into numerous sub-districts, this is the city’s pumping pulse.
Buenos Aires has also cleaned up its act in recent years. The Metrobus and extended Subte, its subway network, means getting around is relatively painless, while 180km of cycle lanes and free bike hire hint at a greener future..
Here are some things to do during your time in the City…….
Parque Tres de Febrero, a park more commonly known as the Bosques de Palermo offers a beautiful burst of nature in the middle of a bustling concrete city. In the spring, the purple Jacaranda trees are in bloom and their purple petals float to the ground, creating truly picturesque purple pathways with flowering branches that create an archway overhead.
See or even participate in a live Tango show in the colourful La Boca neighborhood. The Argentine Tango originated in Buenos Aires and the music and dance style is still very prominent today. You can catch passionate performers dancing to the sad yet romantic music in the streets of La Boca neighbourhood. Some street performers will even grab volunteers and teach them a few steps.
Spend some time in San Telmo, the oldest neighbourhood in Buenos Aires. San Telmo is a great mix of the old and the new, with cobbled streets, colonial architecture, and antique shops as well as great bars full of rock music or people dancing Tango.
El Cementerio de la Recoleta (Recoleta Cemetery) contains the graves of many famous Argentines.The cemetery was built in the early eighteenth century and the impressive tombs have been well-preserved. There you will find the graves of notable historic figures such as former presidents, famous writers, and the beloved Eva Perón. Eva (Evita) Perón was a First Lady of Argentina, but her roots in a poor rural village and dedication to labor rights and women’s suffrage, amongst many other things, made her a national treasure and her grave remains one of the most visited decades after her death in 1952.
Teatro Colón is one of the most famous opera houses in the world. The building has been around since 1908 and boasts a stunning interior with excellent acoustics. You can catch a variety of famous singers, dancers and conductors performing on the stage or you can simply take a guided tour.
If you want to party like a Buenos Aires local, take a nap in the afternoon and get ready to stay out all night. On a weekend, it’s not uncommon to grab dinner around 10 or 11 p.m., head to a bar for drinks around midnight, and then roll into a boliche or local dance club at 2 a.m.
When it comes to choosing an area, the main contenders would be the Palermo and San Telmo neighbourhoods. Palermo, which has subsections known as Hollywood and Soho is generally known as a fashionable and trendy area, while San Telmo offers a slightly grungier or more bohemian feel.
