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Buenos Aires: A Taste Of Europe In South America

Having never been to South America before, I had no idea what to expect when I flew into Buenos Aires for the first time. I was expecting something more like what I had experienced in Central America – blocky buildings, hot and humid weather, bad roads, tropical foliage, and limited food options. Instead, I found a city center reminiscent of one you might find in southern Europe. There were limitless food options, beautiful architecture, clean streets, and friendly people. Parts of it even reminded me of Florida!

The city center is definitely different from the outlying parts of the city, and is much safer. There is a lot of history here, and a lot of good food to be eaten! Buenos Aires is also a good starting or ending point for any hiker’s trip to Patagonia, which is what we did in this post.

Where To Stay In Buenos Aires

There are many different neighborhoods in Buenos Aires. Each one is a little different from the other. We stayed in Recoleta, which we found more relaxing and local. For the first leg of our trip, we stayed in a hotel. When we came back from our hiking we stayed in an AirBnB, again in the same neighborhood. We considered staying in La Palma, which was full of shopping, wonderful cafés, and great restaurants, but we decided in the long run that Recoleta was more of a fit for us.

La Palma was a beautiful neighborhood but had many more tourists, which was not the vibe we were going for. We visited the most amazing cafés here, though, and I had the best cortado of my life (no joke) in a café called Full City Coffee House. It was the most perfect combination of coffee and creamy milk I have ever tasted! See below for more on coffee in Buenos Aires.

What To Do In Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is full of interesting architecture. Many of it dates to the colonial days, and a lot of it is in bad need of repair.

Can you find the dog in this photo? Argentines love their dogs!

Cementerio de la Recoleta

Visit the famous Cementerio de la Recoleta, where Argentine elite are buried and commemorated for their wealth. We didn’t see many people that were commemorated for their good deeds, sadly. It was sobering walking through these beautiful (and in some cases in extreme disrepair) mausoleums. The famous Evita herself is also buried here. If you don’t take a guided tour you could probably follow the crowds to find her burial place. it is also interesting just wandering through the tombs and looking at the names and buildings.

Some of the mausoleums were in need of repair

Tango

Most people who visit Argentina know that this is the birthplace of the tango. We weren’t sure if we wanted to see a show, especially as we knew that it was specifically catered towards tourists. We did manage to find the next best thing at the Cultural Center.

Most tango shows are catered towards tourists and involve a dinner, drinks, and then a show. The Cultural Center cut out the dinner and just offered an hour and 15 minutes of performance, including six amazing dancers, two singers, and a band of four musicians (piano, bass, violin, and bandeon). The show was brilliant, well paced, and not too pricey. I highly recommend it if you don’t want to go too touristy on the tango shows, but also don’t feel comfortable attending the more local milongas (where you are often expected to dance as well).

The inside of the Cultural Center

You are not allowed to take photos during the show, but here are our tickets!

The Market

Every Sunday in the San Telmo neighborhood there is a huge, open air market that takes place. It was the biggest outdoor market we had ever seen, and the tents lined the streets for many blocks. This is your best bet in finding a good souvenir, but it is also interesting just to go and look at what is on offer.

For all other days of the week, you can visit the Feria San Telmo, an indoor market offering antiques and many food options. If you are looking for last minute souvenirs, this is probably not the place to buy them as it is more of a locally catered market.

What To Eat In Buenos Aires

Steak and wine are what Argentina is known for, and thankfully, neither will lighten your wallet too much. If you are a vegetarian you will struggle a bit, but there are usually some cheesy or spinach filled empanadas you can eat just about anywhere!

You will never suffer for want of delicious food in Buenos Aires!

There are little markets all around the city, and you can get plenty to eat for very good prices.

Steak

We had steak at a few different places, but can highly recommend the steak at Don Julio. They were reputed to be the second best steak restaurant in Buenos Aires. It would be best to call ahead and make a reservation if you want to eat inside and have a chance of getting a table. We showed up before the restaurant opened and there was already a line outside the door. Thankfully, the weather was great and they had enough seating outside that we were able to get a table!

It may not be steak, but there was great street art everywhere!

Wine

A very cool wine experience that you should try out is in the Palermo neighborhood. We went to a place called Vico. They give you a card that you can then slot into the wine machines they have covering the walls. Select how much wine you want to sample and which bottle, and then you pay at the end of your visit. You can try out as many different kinds of wine as you like. The staff can answer any questions about the wine or you can choose to experience everything on your own. We spent a good few hours here enjoying a cheese plate and many different kinds of wine.

Inside of Vico. We went early before it filled up.

This card is your ticket to wine!

Like any typical European restaurant, the outdoors seating was for the smokers.

A tip: if you find a wine you like, ask the price, then cross-check online if you can get it cheaper. We found we could order wine for nearly half the price back in Germany rather than get it at inflated prices at the restaurant.

We also found a little gem of a wine shop in the Recoleta neighborhood called La Vinoteca de Don Aldo. Don Aldo himself runs this shop and cares very much about the wine here. When he saw that we were serious buyers of wine he was very happy to share as much information as he could. We started speaking in Spanish but he speaks very good English so no worries about the language!

Coffee

If you are a coffee lover, be aware that getting a cappuccino in Buenos Aires is a bit of a complicated affair. Most cappuccinos will come to you in a glass with fancy whipped topping and some chocolate sprinkled on top. We honestly didn’t have one cappuccino that was good. However, do try a cortado. Cortados are the most delicious coffee I have ever had in my entire life. I love coffee and try different local coffees everywhere I go. Hands down, cortados are a beautiful invention, and Buenos Aires can do these well. We went to a coffee shop called Fully City Coffee House in Palermo for these. I would also suggest you go to a proper coffee shop and not a bakery or pastry store for a good coffee.

Our first attempt to order a cappuccino. The pies were amazing and the cappuccinos were not …

Ice Cream

Argentines also do not fool around with their ice cream. Not only did I have the best coffee of my life in Buenos Aires, I also had the best ice cream of my life (and I’ve had Italian gelato). Ice cream here is very rich and creamy. We would suggest that you try the signature “dulce de leche” alongside any chocolate combination. It was very difficult to get small portion sizes here, and the prices were excellent. A good chain ice cream store to check out is Nicolo.

Waiting for more of the best ice cream of our lives …

Make sure you stock up on dulce de leche before you leave!

Empanadas

My suggestion would be to just wander the streets and window shop for empanadas. The most local looking places are where you will find the best empanadas. We were randomly walking down a side street on our way home one day when we stumbled across a busy, cafeteria that was full of locals. After deciding to sit down, we had some of the best empanadas of our stay here.

This was probably the best place we found with the most delicious empanadas!

How To Get Around Buenos Aires

You will see the cutest and coolest old buses trundling around town, as well as a few metro stations. One of the easiest ways to get around, however, is by taxi or Uber. Contrary to popular belief, the local taxis are fairly cheap and have meters. They are often quite easy to pick up, for example, from the airport. The AEP (Aeroparque Internacional Jorge Newbery) has a special area where you can key in where you are going, print a ticket, then get your taxi right outside the door.

This was the easiest way to get a taxi inside of the airport!

Uber works very well and is very cheap. We did find in some exceptionally busy areas it was difficult to get drivers to accept our requests and we ended up taking local taxis instead. Our Uber drivers admonished us that the local taxis are dangerous drivers. We definitely experienced some crazy driving, but it was nothing compared to our experiences in Italy, India, or Africa! Our Uber drivers were also exceptionally friendly and thoughtful, with many giving us advice on places to to see while we were there.

Typical train station entrance … but we found most of them were closed and not convenient to use.

Typical city buses

Do You Need A Visa?

If you are from the United States you do not need a visa to enter Argentina. This applies for visits under 90 days for tourist purposes. If you are traveling for business or coming for another reason, please check your embassy requirements. Citizens of other countries should also check with their embassies about whether they need a visa or not.

Language Barriers

If you don’t speak Spanish you might have some difficulties getting around Buenos Aires. We were lucky that our AirBnB host spoke English and German! Our hotel also had some staff that spoke English. Ordering food is done almost exclusively in Spanish unless you are at a fancy restaurant. Taxi drivers also only speak Spanish, but we had a few Uber drivers try out some English with us. Definitely brush up on your Spanish or download a Spanish dictionary into your phone. A dictionary and basic understanding of Spanish should be enough for you to get by.

One of our Uber drivers told us about this flower and said that it closes at night and opens during the day. It is quite the sculpture!

One of the most amazing sights you will see is the dog walkers. They are everywhere in the city and can handle the most amazing numbers of dogs!

We saw dog walkers everywhere! How many dogs do you see here???

Would You Live In Buenos Aires?

Buenos Aires had a genuinely European flavor, and we really enjoyed our stay here. I believe that if we moved continents again I would be happy living here! The city has lots of culture, a great climate, felt very safe, and friendly people were around every corner. If you haven’t yet visited the South American continent, then make Buenos Aires your first stop!