Buenos Aires is the capital of the Argentine Republic and is located on the western bank of the Rio de la Plata. Besides, it is one of the most popular destinations worldwide. According to the Trip Advisor website, Buenos Aires is the eighth preferred destination in the world by tourists. The city is home to more than 2,8 million inhabitants, what turns it into the second most populated city in South America. It hosts around 4 million tourists a year. Discover with The Real Argentina –Bodega Argento’s blog– the places that you must not miss while visiting Buenos Aires. Those are the most exquisite restaurants and the most traditional taverns, the most welcoming cafés and bars, the places where you can eat the best meat Argentine cuts, the most interesting open-air fairs, the trendy conceptual shops or the best hotels to stay the night during your visit. You can also find out about the secrets of Buenos Aires’ gastronomy, with its red meat, fish, empanadas and pastas (there is a plain influence of Italian cuisine). Tour the streets of the cosmopolitan capital to visit its museums, theatres (Buenos Aires has one of the biggest concentrations of theatres in the world, with Colón Theatre as the most important one) and places where you can behold the elegance of tango –the classical Argentine dance that is labelled as Intangible Cultural Heritage. Buenos Aires also has a big number of libraries and is the publishing hub of the country. While visiting Buenos Aires, you must walk around the city centre –where you will find Montserrat and San Telmo neighbourhoods– and the stately area of Recoleta. You must also visit the country’s presidential headquarters located at the Casa Rosada, as well as the Mayo Avenue and the Manzana de las Luces, which hosts several buildings with high historical value. And, please, do not miss the opportunity to go to the modern neighbourhood of Puerto Madero. Buenos Aires is also a centre of attraction for football lovers. Football is the most popular sport in Argentina. Some of the most important and emblematic teams and stadiums –such as the Monumental Stadium where River Plate plays its home games– are found in the city. Our Argento blog collaborators will also reveal simple routes to discover the charming villages nearby the capital, such as Carlos Keen or San Antonio de Areco, as well as the local markets where you will be able to purchase the best Argentine products.
Buenos Aires barrios are famously chaotic, crowded and completely captivating. But one new neighbourhood projects a totally different vibe. Want water, wide open space and traffic-free wandering? Puerto Madero is right on the dockside; it’s so far removed from the hustle of the crazy city it provides a breath of fresh air. Check Puerto Madero out in the summer sunshine with our guide to the most un-Buenos Aires barrio in BA.
A personal fave in the Porteño calendar, La Noche de los Museos sees museums and cultural spaces opening their doors to hungry culture vultures seeking their fix. And true to Argentine tradition, it goes on late. But feelings of twitchy excitement quickly got overrun with plain bamboozled delirium as I scrolled through the epically long list of 222 venues to choose from.
Desperately seeking Sriracha or sweet chili sauce? Got a taste for tahini or fresh sushi rolls? Barrio Chino in Belgrano has the answer. Buenos Aires’ Chinatown gives you a greater variety of spicy, herby and healthy ingredients and products in two short blocks than you’ll find anywhere else in the city – you’ll even find peanut butter. Local dieteticas, Disco and Jumbo may match you a few of your food cravings but if you want to fill a basket to bursting and still walk out feeling like you should have bought more, Chinatown is your barrio. Tingling taste bud-heaven for foodies. Here’s where to go.
A free invitation to peek behind BA’s closed doors
Nosing around buildings and peering into people’s living rooms is a favourite personal past time but let’s face it, plenty of disgruntled residents would prefer me to keep my beak out. Open House festival however, gives everyone license to snoop around, some of Buenos Aires’ most revered and interesting spaces for free, over a playful 48 hours.
We all like the experience of dining by candlelight but how about dining in the dark, when you can’t even make out your hand when it’s right in front of your face, let alone see the food on your plate? Add some interactive musical theatre to the mix and you’ve got a whole new spin on the concept of dinner theatre. Sophie Lloyd experiences Teatro Ciego’s A Ciegas Gourmet.
Tango’s lyrics of nostalgia, passion and heartbreak are a powerful testament to the countries multicultural history. It’s a serious business for many tangueros who dedicate the twilight hours to the scene of late night milongas, dancing to the wee small hours until it’s time for desayuno (breakfast) and a snooze, before doing it all over again. So entwined is the genre with Argentine culture that much of the old tango slang or lunfardo is still in popular use today and scratchy tango tunes play over the airwaves 24/7 on dedicated radio stations. 1930s heart throb and poster boy Carlos Gardel is still regarded as the best tango singer, so don’t be surprised to hear his canciones (songs) seeping out onto the streets from taxi driver’s windows and señoras clutching stereos on doorsteps. So much more than a sexy stereotype, tango illustrates the Argentine psyche and is every bit the embodiment of a way of being.
Buenos Aires’ food scene has been evolving at an unprecedented rate over the last couple of years, visible not only in the increasing breadth of dining options available, with new culinary outfits inaugurating on a weekly basis, but also with ever more sophisticated and experimental dishes and bold ingredients and culinary influences on offer. This…
One such area, characterized by its close proximity to Palermo, has been dubbed Palermo Zoo, Botanico and even Palermo VIP. This upscale leafy BA neighborhood has seen a boom in new restaurants and delis and a plethora of independent boutiques and private showrooms opening up in the last couple of years.
Spring has officially sprung in Buenos Aires and the winter layers are finally being ditched in favour of something lighter in the sartorial department. During the city’s fashion weeks (namely BAF Week and Designers BA) that took place earlier this month and last, the city’s local designers declared what’s hot to wear this spring / summer (unlike other fashion weeks around the world that are one step ahead, Argentina’s designers and brands work in line with the season). Sophie Lloyd rounds up the key trends for Spring/Summer 2015 from BA’s runways.
While it’s most famous for its swampy waterways taking you up the Delta to hundreds of tiny islands, the town is also home to a bustling artisan market and a thriving community of artisans, artists and designers who are injecting some creative flair into the area and offering up some unique shopping gems. Just an hour north of the crazy metropolis of Buenos Aires is the infinitely more tranquil town of Tigre. Sophie Lloyd shares her top picks.