The BuenosTours guide
Buenos Aires Guide
Ezeiza and Aeroparque call for different arrival plans. A hotel in Palermo puts you farther from the historic center than one in Recoleta. And a cortado is easier to order when you know what’s in it. We’ve been guiding visitors in Buenos Aires since 2006; these articles deal with the practical questions behind a good trip.
Four useful starting points
What would you like to find out?
Choose the subject you need. Each section leads to more detailed articles.
Plan your trip
Start with your airport, a way into town, payment options and an area to stay.
Start planning → 02Eat and drink
Learn the café orders, then read about asado and some of the meat cuts you may see on a menu.
Explore food and drink → 03Things to do
Follow Alan’s older walk from Plaza de Mayo along Avenida de Mayo to Congress. Check its directions before setting out.
Find things to do → 04Explore by neighborhood
Short introductions to Recoleta, Palermo, San Telmo, the center and La Boca.
Choose an area →Start here
Before you leave
Check the airport code on your ticket and decide how you’ll reach your accommodation. The money and packing guides cover the other things best sorted at home.
Arriving in Buenos Aires
Ezeiza or Aeroparque? Compare your options for reaching your accommodation.
Money in Argentina
What to use for everyday payments, and what to carry as a backup.
What to pack
Shoes for long walks, clothes for the season and essentials to bring from home.
Getting around
Walk, take the Subte or bus, or call a car when the journey calls for it.
Buenos Aires safety
Straightforward habits for phones, bags and busy places.
Where to stay
Compare Recoleta’s central location with Palermo’s restaurants and nightlife, plus the tradeoffs of other areas.
Eat and drink
At the café and around the table
The coffee article tells you what to ask for in a traditional café, including a cortado or lágrima. Read about Frank’s hosted asado if that experience interests you. The meat-cut and café pieces below are older stories, marked as archive reading.
How to order coffee
Café, cortado, café con leche, medialunas and how porteño table service works.
Experience an Argentine asado
Our current guide to Frank’s Asado Adventure, including the BuenosTours reader discount.
From the BuenosTours archive
Things to do
A walk through the historic center
Alan’s self-guided route starts at Plaza de Mayo and follows Avenida de Mayo to Congress. It was written in 2007, so check the directions and access to any places you plan to enter.
Explore the city
Explore the neighborhoods
Start with Recoleta for the cemetery and nearby museums, Palermo for parks and places to eat, or San Telmo for older streets and antiques. The short area pages also cover the center and La Boca.
Buenos Aires’ historic Cafés Notables
Explore the interiors and stories of Buenos Aires’ historic cafés in Jonathan’s preserved collection on Buenos Aires Local Tours.
See the city with context
Want the stories as well as the street names?
Our seven-hour Essentials Tour takes no more than seven guests through Barrio Norte, Recoleta, the city center and San Telmo. Bring your questions. La Boca is an optional eighth hour.