What to do in Buenos Aires

What to do in Buenos Aires, a complete and basic guide for you to know the best attractions of the city!

As you may have already noticed, it is an incredible city, large in size and full of places that are worth visiting.

Each neighborhood has its own characteristics and aesthetics, becoming something unique and different. For this reason, we want to recommend the best places to plan your visit to Buenos Aires!

The most organized is to segment your visit to the city in neighborhoods or areas, grouping the activities by their proximity on the map. In this way, you will avoid traveling long distances in the same day. We recommend you dedicate 5 days or more to walking around Buenos Aires and, thus, be able to fully enjoy it.

Very well, let’s start listing all the options on What to do in Buenos Aires:

PLAZA DE MAYO AND SURROUNDINGS (Montserrat neighborhood)

It is the historic heart of the city. Here, you will find the Cabildo (colonial town hall) and the Pink House (government palace), famous for its characteristic color. The Plaza de Mayo is the oldest in the city and, therefore, the most important witness to our history.

Around you, you will be able to see and enter the Cathedral, where the remains of the most important liberator of Argentina, General José de San Martín, lie. A few blocks away, on Av. de Mayo (historical boulevard that has the most beautiful buildings) is the emblematic Café Tortoni, one of the oldest, a benchmark for tango and art.

We invite you to join our City Center Free Tour here, to learn more about each site!

OBELISK AND THEATER COLÓN (San Nicolás neighborhood)

About 10 minutes from the Plaza de Mayo, you will glimpse a very tall white building. It is the Obelisk of the city, a representative icon, located in the middle of the widest avenue in the world: July 9th Avenue.

Around here, you will see countless people, transport and a lot of traffic pass through…clearly, you are standing in the middle of downtown Buenos Aires!

Just a few blocks from there, you can visit the impressive Colón Theater. It is one of the most important jewels at a cultural level for Buenos Aires. The Theater has guided tours that you can meet here!

If you want to walk a little, on Av. Corrientes you can visit all kinds of pizzerias, theaters and bookstores! In addition, about 10 minutes from the Colón, is the National Congress.

CAMINITO AND  LA BOCA (La Boca neighborhood)

It is the most colorful and picturesque place in the city. Here, you will be able to walk through one of the streets that is best known worldwide in Buenos Aires: Caminito. With collective immigrant houses, known as “Conventillos”, a tango and bohemian air, and walls bursting with vibrant colors.

The identity on this site is really strong, in addition to being related to soccer (it is the home of the Boca Juniors stadium!), tango and the working class.

Here we invite you to our Walking Tour La Boca!

In this note, we tell you everything you can do in this great neighborhood of Buenos Aires…

RECOLETA AND RETIRO

Considered the most aristocratic areas of Buenos Aires, where it enhances its splendor and beauty. You will find the largest number of monuments, parks and impressive architecture, in addition to the fact that Recoleta is the neighborhood where residences and stately palaces abound, with a classic European style.

In Retiro, we recommend you visit the General San Martín Square, an immense green space, with a gigantic monument to San Martín, surrounded by the Peace Palace and the Anchorena Palace. In addition, you can have a panoramic view of the city, going up to the Monumental Tower (or Tower of the English), right in front of the Square.

The prettiest streets in this area are Av. Alvear and Arroyo Street. For this reason, do not miss out on enjoying a walk here! In addition, you will be able to get to Alvear Square, which is popularly known as France Square (Plaza Francia in spanish), in the heart of the Recoleta neighborhood, where you will be able to enjoy visiting the Recoleta Cemetery, the Pilar Church right next door and stroll for the fair in the square. In addition, here you will find a huge gastronomic offer, bars and luxury hotels!

Just a 10-minute walk from there, you will see the imposing Law University with its thousands of steps, the Museum of Fine Arts and its free exhibitions, and the Floralis Generic assembled in a lagoon to enjoy a break.

Obviously, we have a Free Tour of this neighborhood so you can get to know it better. More info here!

RECOLETA CEMETERY

We leave it aside because, really, it deserves a detailed visit. It is not a simple cemetery, but is known as an Open Air Museum. Not only is it the oldest in Buenos Aires, but it stands out for having monumental mausoleums, with beautiful ornaments, sculptures and large pavilions. All this set forms it as a small, mysterious and fantastic city, with many legends to its credit.

In addition, it is the place where several important personalities in the history of the country rest.

The best thing is to visit it while someone tells you the details and secrets, so we invite you to join our Recoleta Cemetery Tour here!

SAN TELMO AND THE FAIR

This neighborhood is characterized by being the trunk of memories of old Buenos Aires. With cobbled streets, low-rise houses, traditional cafes and typical bodegons.

You can visit the San Pedro Telmo Church (for whom it is named), sit in the Dorrego Square and visit antique shops and galleries in Defensa Passage, as well as walk through the Solar of French Gallery: an old house with a beautiful patio.

In addition, you can take a photo with the sculpture of Mafalda, the famous girl from the Quino cartoon, and enjoy the endless offers at the San Telmo Market, a very traditional gastronomic and antique center in the area.

On Sundays, there is the San Telmo Fair in the middle of Dorrego Square, in case you want to leave with a handmade souvenir!

We invite you to join our Walking Tour San Telmo here and tour it together!

PALERMO SOHO AND PALERMO PARKS

Palermo is one of the most popular neighborhoods visited by tourism. Due to its large size, it is subdivided with different names such as Palermo Soho, Palermo Hollywood, the best known.

In the part of Palermo Soho is where you will find the top area and full of bars to go out for a drink at night! Around the Julio Cortázar Square (known as Serrano) is where you can delight your palate and enjoy an exquisite menu of drinks and craft beers. In addition, you will find passages and many walls painted with Urban Street Art and a lot of youth culture.

On the other hand, you will be able to visit the most beautiful parks in Buenos Aires: The Rosedal, 3 of Febuary Park (known as the Palermo Forest), the Japanese Garden, the Botanical Garden and the EcoPark. To see all these spaces, here we leave you a section with all the info!

Moving from one to the other, you can walk along Del Libertador and Figueroa Alcorta avenues, nourishing your view with the high-class buildings and the groves of its streets.

If you want to know everything you can do in Palermo, follow this link!

If you want to enjoy all the art of this neighborhood, join our Graffiti Palermo Tour here!

PUERTO MADERO

Finally, we tell you about the most modern and current neighborhood in Buenos Aires. A combination of the old port and its industrial docks, with a modern skyline that was built over the last 20 years.

Among the “must know” we have the Women’s Bridge, surrounded by the dams where you will find many gastronomic options and cocktail bars, in addition to delving into the history of the Frigate Sarmiento (more info here!).

It is an excellent place to ride a bike, rollers or just walk or run. Going to the Coast, you can immerse yourself in nature, isolated from the hustle and bustle, in the Ecological Reserve. To learn more about the Reserve, follow this link!

Here you can find out everything about what to do in this neighbourhood.

Map of Attractions