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Buenos Aires Essentials: 24 Hours

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With only one day in Buenos Aires, you have no time to waste. Get started early, in the south of the city, and work your way north, taking in a bit of tango, history, and arts and culture along the way, not to mention the world-famous cuisine.

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Author: elizabeth

Day 1 - Buenos Aires

With only one day in Buenos Aires, you have no time to waste. Get started early, in the south of the city, and work your way north, Get the day started early in the southern-most neighborhood of Buenos Aires, La Boca. Stroll down Caminito to snap some photos of the brightly painted houses, but try to dodge the tourist-trap souvenir shops and mediocre street performers. Be sure to stick to the blocks with the colorful buildings – beyond this small area, La Boca is a very rough neighborhood and muggings nearby Caminito are not all that uncommon. Travel north up Paseo Colon to Plaza de Mayo, the famous square that to this day hosts Argentina’s major protests and demonstrations (and sometimes riots). Surrounding Plaza de Mayo are some of the city’s most important governmental and historical buildings, from the president’s office in the Casa Rosada (the gigantic pink house) to the Catedral Metropolitana, located on the northwestern corner of the square. Cabildo, the original city hall, now houses a museum that can provide information about the formation of Argentina as a country. Walk west out of Plaza de Mayo onto Avenida de Mayo, a beautiful, wide boulevard that links the Plaza de Mayo on the east end to Congreso, located on the west end of the avenue. Avenida de Mayo flaunts some of the most beautiful examples of Argentine architecture. A few blocks up the way is Café Tortoni, one of the oldest, and grandest, cafés in Buenos Aires. Stop in for a coffee and some medialunas before catching a taxi to Plaza Francia, where the Recoleta Cemetery is located. Entrance to the famed cemetery is free, but vendors do sell maps at the entrance, with the tombs of some of the cemetery’s more famous residents highlighted. Free guided tours are also offered throughout the day in English and Spanish. Next door to the cemetery you will find the Centro Cultural Recoleta, the lively arts and culture center that attracts some of the biggest and best exhibitions, performances, and films from around the world. The center is a long galleria of halls and rooms, so grab a schedule on the way in and take note of the locations of the exhibitions you really want to see. If you don’t recognize anything, rest assured that you can’t really go wrong with anything the center puts on the walls. To wind down, head back to the southern part of the city for a stroll around San Telmo, one of the more popular neighborhoods for foreigners and young locals. Get your name on the waiting list (there is one almost every night) at La Brigada, a wildly popular traditional-style steak house with possibly the best combination of service, quality, and bang for your buck in town.

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El Caminito

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Estados Unidos 465
At Bolívar
Buenos Aires, Argentina

Phone:

54 11 4361 4685

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