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 has something for everyone, including the dog-lover. Thanks to the open attitude of its denizens, abundance of city parks, great weather year round, and low cost of pet care services, it is an ideal city for us dog owners. Just watch where you step!
Buenos Aires is known for its bar and café scene, and of course Argentina is famous for its wines, so put these marvels together and what do you get? A godly nectar drink fest fit for a wine-ing king. Whether we are drinking by the glass, by the wine flight, by the bottle or by the case, let’s fill our copa to the brim and explore the city’s best wine-centric spots to drink our porteño lives away.
Buenos Aires is a mixture of the old and the new. Along with the many cutting-edge fashion boutiques and name-brand clothing stores pushing the latest trends, there is also an incredible array of shops full of vintage items where you can buy unique clothes and other treasures without spending a fortune. After vast research, we’ve pulled together this list of the top vintage and thrift shops in Buenos Aires where you can find the piece of your dreams.
In our own way we all have an idea of what tango is, even if that comes down to stockings, stilettos and men rocking enough hair gel to fill the Río de la Plata. But an independent revolution’s going on in Buenos Aires and the protagonists want to shout it from their barrio’s rooftops. Tango’s not a crop, it’s culture and it’s not just for export.
Visitors to Buenos Aires will immediately discover that café culture is an integral part of Argentine society, and while some porteños happily receive their daily caffeine injection from big-name chains, others will only settle for a coffee and dose of tradition from a bar notable. In Buenos Aires around 70 old-school cafés – living and breathing museums dressed up as eating and drinking establishments – fall under a government protection order, keeping them safe from the evil clutches of global enterprises.
Soy porteña. Well, not exactly – I am from Oklahoma. But what I am is a milonguera and my Argentina is late nights that spill into early mornings, the beauty of the tango embrace and lots and lots of Malbec. Buenos Aires is full of tango. Most tourists visiting the city only ever have access to smallest section, the part the city creates for them. The dancers in La Boca, the tango shows hawked by tour guides and hotel concierges. But Buenos Aires IS tango… there is so much more. And it’s way more complicated than it looks on stage.
Argentina is a land of innumerable pleasures. That’s why you will find many who say, “Oh, I came here for a month to learn Spanish… That was 6 years ago.” People stay because, every time they think they’re done, something new turns up that just keeps them hanging on. It could be the meat, the people, the culture, or for many, including me, it could be the wine. Oh, the wine!! Purists may argue that, be it Malbec, Torrontés or Bonarda, wine is never to be touched, tampered with or tarred by any force other than age and temperature, but I beg to differ.
You thought you knew how to speak Spanish in your language class, with a teacher that seemed to come from Spain (olé!) or even worse, learned from one. Then you come to Argentina and discover that “cana” doesn’t mean what you thought – instead of “a person with grey hair,” it means “the police!” Don’t despair! Here is a list of Porteño slang terms that you can use to quickly sound like a local in Buenos Aires.
It’s a well-known fact that some die-hard vegetarians have returned to the dark side after scenting the meaty whiff of a perfectly seared Argentine steak. Caught between righteous beliefs and the urge to just, try, a, little sliver of lomo (because you’re only in Argentina once, right?), many have fallen at the first hurdle when faced with a parrilla. But for those beef eaters who have no such qualms, how do you choose from the hundreds of steakhouses in Buenos Aires? Here’s our indispensable guide to steaks in the city.
Ever wondered what makes the Palermo area of Buenos Aires – where fashionable porteños enjoy the excellent shopping, art and cafe culture – the hottest travel destination in Argentina? In the latest video in our “My Argentina” series, The Real Argentina, brought to you by Argento Wine, hits the streets of Palermo to find out what life is all about in Buenos Aires’ most stylish barrio.