Sights · Our pick in Buenos Aires
The Paris of the south, and much more: Buenos Aires’ great sights
The back story
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Mauricio V. Genta · CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia CommonsAbout The Paris of the south, and much more: Buenos Aires’ great sights
Buenos Aires grew rich and grand between the 1880s and the 1930s, and built itself in the image of Paris and Madrid: the Avenida de Mayo of cafés and theatres, the palaces of Recoleta, the opera house of the Teatro Colón. Older still are the colonial streets of San Telmo and the Plaza de Mayo, where the city was founded. La Boca, by the old port, painted its houses in the colours of ship’s paint; Puerto Madero has turned the docks into a riverside quarter of restaurants and towers.
The centre
The Plaza de Mayo, with the Cabildo, the cathedral and the Casa Rosada, opens on to the Avenida de Mayo, lined with cafés and theatres as far as the Congress: the Gran Café Tortoni, the Palacio Barolo, the Confitería del Molino. The Avenida 9 de Julio crosses it, with the Obelisco at its heart, and the Teatro Colón is a block away.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © ProtoplasmaKid · CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia CommonsRecoleta
The Recoleta Cemetery is a city of marble mausoleums and sculpture, beside the Basílica del Pilar; around it are the Plaza Francia, the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes and the palaces of the Avenida Alvear.
Book a Teatro Colón tour or, better, a performance, before you arrive; the rest of the city is a walk or a short taxi ride away.
San Telmo and La Boca
San Telmo keeps the cobbles, antique shops and old houses of the colonial city; on Sundays the Feria de San Telmo fills the Calle Defensa. Further south, La Boca has Caminito, the painted street, the Fundación PROA and La Bombonera.
The river
Puerto Madero lines its docks with restaurants and the Puente de la Mujer; beyond them, the Reserva Ecológica Costanera Sur is wild marsh and woodland on the edge of the Río de la Plata.
Our advice: give San Telmo a Sunday, the centre a weekday, and keep La Boca for the daytime.
Why it's on our list
- The centre
- Recoleta
- San Telmo and La Boca
- The river
Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with The Paris of the south, and much more: Buenos Aires’ great sights before you go.