Discover Buenos Aires: A must do guide to the city

Greer Ransom
Feb 28, 2024
6 min read

Updated: Apr 25, 2024

Welcome to the vibrant and mesmerizing city of Buenos Aires! With its rich culture, breathtaking architecture, and energetic atmosphere, this Argentinean city is truly an outstanding place to visit. As you step foot in Buenos Aires, you will feel the life of the city as you see people socializing, skating, singing, eating and just living. And you are never far from a magnificent Argentenian flag waving proudly in the sky. Buenos Aires holds over a third of the population of Argentina which is one of the larger cities in the world. There are so many things to experience in the city as it is massive. But Buenos Aires is much more than a singular city.

To truly understand the city you have to understand its diverse neighborhoods. Buenos Aires is split into different neighborhoods, each with their own personality. Check out my guide to the amazing neighborhoods Where I dive deeper into some of the different neighborhoods in Buenos Aires and the best of each:

The Diverse neighborhoods of Buenos Aires.

Buenos Aires as a whole is massive but here are some of my absolute must dos throughout the whole city that needs to go on your list. To be honest, each one of these on the list needs to be given a day to complete so you can take time to enjoy and also not overdo yourself. You need AT LEAST a week but 10 days to 2 weeks is my recommendation at the very least. We spent 16, and are planning to come back to spend an entire month. Let's dive in!

Sight Seeing

I wanted to make this its own section because you always have to sight see in a major city. So as far as sightseeing goes, here are some of the marvels you need to check out on your stroll around the city center of Buenos Aires.

Take a stroll down Avenida de Mayo, where you will find landmarks like Casa Rosada , Obelisco and the Metropolitan Cathedral that stand proudly as a testament to Argentina's history. The “BA” verde which is just the letter B and A covered in grass but it’s very cool. Just around the corner is the Puente de la Mujer (the women’s bridge), Other sites you need to check out that are outside of the city center are the Floralis Genérica. And lastly the Jardín Japones

And Without further ado here are some of the different activities you must experience while visiting and are my absolute favorites.

#1 Eat your way through the city.

Argentina is known for its asados and empanadas along with medialunas, toasties and sweet treats. One thing you definitely need to do is eat out as much as you can. Eating out is very cheap and will cost less than shopping at the supermarket. An average dinner is 10-15 USD. But I'm writing this in Feb 2024 and the Argentinian Peso fluctuates a lot. Check here: Currency Converter but overall only be prepared to spend >10 USD for breakfast and 15-20 USD for lunch or dinner for 2! The neighborhoods Palermo and San Telmo have the most variety of bars and restaurants, along with the city center. If you are looking for a great place to eat, start in those neighborhoods. Check out my article on best places to eat in Buenos Aires:

A Taste of Buenos Aires

Exploring the Heart of Buenos Aires: a Guide to the City Center.

And if you want a full list of all the foods and drinks you need to try while in Argentina check out this article: A Taste of Argentina

#2 Take a Cooking Class

Going along with the food theme, one of the most fun things we did in Argentia was sign up for an asado experience. Asado is an event that brings people together and getting to experience meeting new people and cooking around a BBQ with a family, was such a fun experience. This is your way to really experience what the Argintnian asado really is like. By far the best asado experience was with Betty and Marcelo who took us into their house with 4 other couples and we spent the night eating, drinking (malbec), and laughing around the table as Marcelo cooked so many different asados for us. They are a really interesting couple, they both had their jobs and kids but wanted something different as their kids began to grow and have their own lives and because he was a good cook and she could speak english decided to do these asado experiences. IF you are in Buenos Aires book your night with them here: Asado experience and you can even follow them on instagram! BettyandMarcelo

#3 See Recoleta cemetery.

Recoleta is another neighborhood with tones of green space. Recoleta cemetery is the final resting place of notable people, including Eva Perón, presidents of Argentina, Nobel Prize winners, the founder of the Argentine Navy, and military commanders such as Julio Argentino Roca. People from all over come to see this cemetery full of those who helped curate Buenos Aires. Google maps also provides a

location of key graves to check out in their maps view. Along with touring around the cemetery the surrounding park space is a great place to relax on the grass, watch the performers, listen to music, see the Floralis Genérica (flower statue), and if you are able to go on the weekend visit the Sunday markets.

#4 Become a futbol fanatic

Buenos Aires is home to over 30 soccer stadiums in its metropolitan area making it the city with the most in the world. Futbol is a lifestyle for Argentinians, having some of the most influential players in the world representing their nation, Messi and Maradona, while being the host of the world cup in 1978 and in52022, where Argentina won. La Bombonera is the largest stadium in the city and home of the Boca juniors futbol team. People congregate not just to watch games but to have BBQs, shop, socialize, dance, and sing. A game means an entire day event. If you enjoyed seeing this stadium you can also visit another one of Buenos Aires famous futbol stadiums in Belgrado, The River Plate stadium where you can book tours through this stadium because it is closed to non members. La Boca and Rivar Tour

La Boca and Rivar Tour

#5 Visit San Telmo

Many elements of true argentinian culture are centered around San Telmo. The Mercado de San Telmo has all the shopping, tasting, and entertainment that makes Argentina great. Taking a day trip through this neighborhood gives you a peek into food, music, art, and the life of argentinian culture.

#6 Walk Through the Jardin Botanico.

The botanical gardens of Buenos Aires is one of the most beautiful gardens to walk through as it dedicates different patches of flowers to many places of the world. I love walking around parks. The botanical garden is amazing and unique because of the diversity of plants that symbolize different countries. My favorites within the park were The Jardin Japones and The Tres de Febrero Park.

#7 Boat the Tigre River Delta

Who doesn't love a good boat tour? This is a fun experience where you can either do a tour or my favorite, just rent a boat and cruise around by yourself and enjoy the serenity of the river and its sights. The town is okay but not necessarily the coveted part of the trip.

#8 Go to a tango Show

Tango is the dance of passion in Buenos Aires. The amazing rhythms will excite anyone watching. Tango can be seen everywhere in Argentina, on the streets, theater, dinner shows becasue this dance is such. ahuge part of the culture though out the country. From start to finish these shows have you engages and mesmerized. Going to a tango show is a must do if you want a true Argentinean experience.

Well that is my top of the list and if you tick those off, great, because next you need to include visiting more of the diverse neighborhoods, being a gaucho for a day in San Antonio (cowboy ranch tour), wine tasting through the city, and the list goes on and on. Buenos Aires is definitely a city that you need to stay for more than a week. I could spend a month here and keep discovering new things. And that's just what I plan on doing. Buenos Aires is a city I am going to always come back to. But don't worry, I will keep updating this post every time.