Buenos Aires, Argentina, is a huge but charming city to visit and there are a lot of attractions that make it a must-see when visiting South America. It is often a launch point for numerous South America and Antarctica cruises, but we would encourage you to stay a few days and visit the city. If you have more time, take a short flight from Buenos Aires to Iguazu Falls which is spectacular.
The city of Buenos Aires actually had two founding dates. First, Pedro de Mendoza founded the city back in 1536 but it was destroyed. Later, Juan de Garay founded it again in 1580 as part of the Spanish Empire. In 2023, Buenos Aires had almost 15,5 million inhabitants.
With its numerous parks and outdoor cafes and its extensive shopping venues, it is often referred to as the Paris of South America. We enjoyed walking around the many streets and seeing the local architecture. The hop-on hop-off bus was a great way to see the city.
First day in Buenos Aires
Arriving on our overnight flight, we opted to stay for one day and then head out to Iguazu Falls the next day. While we were quite tired from the flight, we strolled through the parks and were able to cover a lot of ground on foot. We didn’t feel unsafe at all, and people were friendly.
We were surprised at the number of people trying to exchange money. I guess this is a business where they can make some profit off the exchange rate. We came with our own Argentinian money (and later learned that some street vendors may also pass along old, devalued currency notes to unsuspecting travelers so do be careful).
We stayed at the beautiful Marriott Park Hotel (right next to the Sheraton) that was located near the train station in the Retiro district. From here we walked up Florida Street all the way to Plaza de Mayo (featured above). On the way we popped inside the Galerias Pacifico to have a look at the beautiful domed ceiling decorated with intricate murals.
Next to the Plaza de Mayo we saw the 17th century Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires. At the far end of the Plaza de Mayo, you’ll see Casa Rosada, a pink building housing the presidential offices. There was also the protest of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo about the disappeared children and a nice monument filled with rocks bearing children’s names. There were so many names, we can’t imagine the grief of the families.
Also notable around the plaza is the former colonial town hall, the Cabildo of Buenos Aires.
From here we walked along Cinco de Mayo Avenue and turned right on 9th of Julio Street and shortly after the obelisk in Plaza de la Republic we saw the Teatro Colón.
It was a nice walk, but the sun was brutal. Buenos Aires was experiencing a heat wave when we arrived. We opted to spend the hot afternoon visiting the air-conditioned opera house. We cut the day short and headed back to our wonderful hotel to enjoy the pool.
I must say the staff at the Park Tower Marriott were great and the service exceptional. From getting our room complete with upgrade ready for our 9am arrival to their willingness to store our big luggage (see tip) as we did an allez-retour to Iguazu Falls, we loved the hotel and the people we encountered. No post-covid excuses for reduced services or missing amenities here like we still see across the US and Canada.
We even had a butler that came to welcome us, bring us chocolates, and later take us up to a private presidential suite with balcony from which she took the time to point out local attractions.
Back in Buenos Aires after Iguazu Falls
After a fabulous trip to Iguazu Falls, we came back to Buenos Aires for a couple of days. On our first day we walked around to explore the area and visit attractions around the Plaza de Mayo. On day two we used the hop-on hop-off bus to visit further attractions. It was also an easy way to get a quick look at some of the city’s colorful neighborhoods such as La Boca and San Telmo.
Places to see in Buenos Aires
Teatro Colón
This beautiful theater is only available to tour using their guided tour option. There are some English tours at 1, 3 and 5 but when we went the tour was sold out and we preferred to just go see it and grasp what we could from the Spanish speaking guide.
The tour highlights the ceilings balconies and beautiful marble work. The highlight of course is getting into one of the theater’s box balconies and being able to admire the splendor of the theatre’s interior. Just beautiful.
After our tour we also treated ourselves with an excellent coffee and irresistible pastries at the cafe below. Dolce de leche pastries of course. We are in Argentina after all!
Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires
Near Plaza de Mayo the Cathedral was free to visit, and definitely worth seeing. Most notable were the vaulted ceiling adorned with frescoes and carvings and the golden altar. Be sure to look down at the intricate tile work on the floor. This cathedral was also the former seat of Pope Francis and where he presided over mass as an archbishop.
Cabildo of Buenos Aires
This museum showcases pieces from Argentina’s colonial heritage. It’s free to visit the museum and from the balcony there are good views of the plaza. The building dates back to 1580.
Recoleta Cemetery
In 1822 the Recoleta Cemetery became Buenos Aires’ first public cemetery. It’s a network of statues, mausoleums, crypts, and the final resting place of many notables, including Eva Perón, or simply Evita. Her tomb is very popular and there is always a long line of people wanting to see it. We actually preferred roaming around the lesser visited areas of the cemetery.
Next to the cemetery you’ll see a colonial-era church, the Basílica Nuestra Señora del Pilar. In the area there is also a market with a wide collection of colorful art pieces.
Obelisco
We walked by the obelisk in Plaza de la República but there was not much to see here. One of the stops from the hop-on hop-off that you can just stay seated and take a photo from the bus. The obelisk was erected in 1936 to commemorate the fourth centenary of the first founding of Buenos Aires.
Palacio Barolo
Visiting the Barolo Palace is only possible with a paid tour. The tour guides dress up in 1920s outfits to add to the fun. The construction was inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy and our tour guide did a great job of explaining what we were looking at.
The first floor was the interpretation of Hell and the higher you got the décor became more and more plain to represent passing by Purgatory before reaching Paradise on the top floor.
From the lighthouse tower we had great views of the city but to get up there you have to navigate a narrow staircase.
From the rooftop terrace we got a bird-eye view of the National Congress and the Plaza del Congreso.
Clock Tower
A gift to the city of Buenos Aires from the British to celebrate the centennial of Argentina’s independence. The Clock Tower (Torre Monumental) seems to resemble Big Ben. We had a nice view of it at night from our room with the clock face lit up in white contrasting the night sky. Spectacular!
Next to the clock tower there was a beautiful park with blooming trees. It reminded us of the cherry trees we had seen in Japan. It turns out that Buenos Aires is home to 11,000 jacaranda trees. While we read that these are normally in full bloom in or around November, we were pleased to see that there was still a lot of flowers filling the park with a pink and purple color.
Some of the sites also had National Guards in colorful uniforms. We were able to see a formal changing of the guards which takes place every two hours. Those guys must be hot in their full uniforms!
Caminito in La Boca
Located in La Boca, the Caminito is more like a small open-air museum with colorful homes and personage sculptures decorating the balconies. In the area there are also lots of restaurants and street tango shows.
Tango Show
No visit to Buenos Aires would be complete without a Tango show. These are everywhere but the concierge at the hotel was able to point out a few of the better venues in town. We went to the Café de los Angelitos.
The show was spectacular, and the dancers all amazing. The food was somewhat plain compared to the excellent cuisine we had found everywhere else in Buenos Aires so our recommendation would be to have dinner elsewhere and just come for the show.
Conclusion
While it was short, we found that 3 days in Buenos Aires was perfect for our visit. We packed up and headed out to the cruise port to take our South American cruise to Rio de Janeiro.
Buenos Aires makes an ideal add-on to a visit to Iguazu Falls or as a pre-and post-cruise in South America, or even Antarctica.
We would also suggest spending a night or two before connecting with a flight to Iguazu Falls or anywhere else in Argentina. Keep in mind that most domestic flights depart from a different airport near Buenos Aires whereas the international airport is about an hour’s drive from the city.