Fodor's Buenos Aires: with Side Trips to Iguaz� Falls, Gaucho Country & Uruguay

By Fodor's Travel Guides

Written by locals, Fodor's travel guides have been offering expert advice for all tastes and budgets for 80 years. 

The most European of South America's capitals, Buenos Aires charms with its cobbled streets and wrought-iron balconies and dazzles with fast-paced tango dancing, thrilling soccer matches, and a seemingly endless array of eateries and nightclubs.

This travel guide includes:
· Dozens of full-color maps 
· Hundreds of hotel and restaurant recommendations, with Fodor's Choice designating our top picks
· Major sights such as Parque Tres de Febrero, Calle Museo Caminito, Plaza Dorrego, and Museo Evita
· Side Trips from Buenos Aires including Buenos Aires Province, Iguazu Falls, Montevideo, Colonia del Sacramento, and Punta del Este
· Coverage of Buenos Aires, Iguazu Falls, Gaucho Country, and Uruguay

Planning to visit more of Argentina? Check out Fodor's country-wide travel guide to Argentina.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fodor's Travel
• Release date: Dec 23, 2014
• ISBN: 9780804143103

Fodor's Travel Guides

For over 80 years, Fodor's Travel has been a trusted resource offering expert travel advice for every stage of a traveler's trip. We hire local writers who know their destinations better than anyone else, allowing us to provide the best travel recommendations for all tastes and budgets in over 7,500 worldwide destinations. Our books make it possible for every trip to be a trip of a lifetime.

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Buenos Aires Maps

Main Table of Contents

Experience Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires’ Oldest and Newest

Recoleta to Palermo: Art in the Parks

Exploring Buenos Aires

Centro and Environs

San Telmo

La Boca

Recoleta

Cementerio de la Recoleta

Almagro

Palermo

Side Trips

Buenos Aires Province and the Atlantic Coast

San Antonio de Areco

Puerto Iguazú

Foz do Iguaçu

Side Trips to Uruguay

Montevideo

Colonia del Sacramento

Punta del Este

Experience Buenos Aires

Main Table of Contents

Buenos Aires Today

Buenos Aires Neighborhoods

Buenos Aires Planner

Top Attractions

A Buenos Aires Walk: Oldest and Newest

A Buenos Aires Walk: Recoleta to Palermo

Buenos Aires with Kids

Free (Or Almost Free)

Argentina’s Wines

The Sporting Life of Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires Today

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The insistent 2/4 beat of a tango, the banging bass drum at a protest march, the screams of fútbol fans when a player scores a game-winning goal: tune in to the soundtrack of Buenos Aires and your pulse is sure to quicken. Porteños (as residents of Buenos Aires are known) take their passions very seriously—you’ll notice this when you see them sampling a sizzling cut of beef at their favorite neighborhood steakhouse or listening to live music at a basement club—and those passions can be contagious.

Blending Old and New

Cobbled streets, wrought-iron billboards, and quaint cafés that seem untouched since 1940 are all part of Buenos Aires’ trademark time-warp look. But though porteños are nostalgic, even they’ve had enough of exquisite stone facades crumbling (sometimes plummeting) through lack of maintenance. Suddenly scaffolding is everywhere, as old buildings are revamped and savvy developers transform century-old mansions and warehouses into hotels—some boutique, others behemoth.

Even though the Argentine economy has been on shaky ground over the past several years, new buildings have continued to push heavenward. Notable new structures include architect Sir Norman Foster’s first Latin American project, a residential building called El Aleph in swanky Puerto Madero. Local-boy-gone-global César Pelli has completed a modest (by his high-flying standards) skyscraper nearby.

Controversy shrouds some of the makeovers: the city government was accused of selling the historic cobblestones they replaced with asphalt, and the restoration of the Teatro Colón went way over schedule and budget. Still, like other aging local beauties, many of Buenos Aires’ historical buildings are looking younger by the minute.

Eating and Drinking

Foodie culture has hit Argentina in a big way. Celebrity chefs are busy evangelizing enthralled TV audiences, and former table-wine drinkers now vigorously debate grape varieties and name-drop boutique vineyards. Their beer-drinking peers are turning from the ubiquitous bottles of Quilmes lager to local craft beers. A growing number of food blogs and food tours alert both locals and visitors to the dishes of the day, often found behind the unmarked entrances of puertas cerradas, the city’s famous closed door restaurants.

The food scene is rife with contradiction, however. Argentina is one of the world’s largest producers of organic produce, but nearly all of it gets exported. A small slow-food and farm-to-table movement is fighting back at the farmers’ markets scattered around Buenos Aires and the rest of the country. Saddest of all, the exponential growth of genetically modified soy farming is pushing Argentina’s famed grass-fed cattle from the Pampas and into feedlots—these days only very high-end restaurants can guarantee you are enjoying a totally grass-fed steak.

Taking to the Streets

Forget writing to your political representatives when you’ve got a gripe with the system—in Buenos Aires you take to the streets. Strikes, marches, rallies, and piquetes (road blocks) have long been fixtures of daily life. Plaza and Avenida de Mayo fill regularly with drum-and-banner-toting crowds. Sometimes they’re protesting or petitioning to change laws; other times they are celebrating victories both political and sporting.

One of these events has become famous around the world. The Asociación Madres de Plaza de Mayo (Mothers’ Association of the Plaza de Mayo), the brave women who organized the first protests against the military junta, continue the weekly marches around Plaza de Mayo that they started 40 years ago in search of their missing children.

Going Global

Argentina is a long, long way from a lot of places. The weak peso makes it hard for porteños to travel abroad—instead, the world comes to Buenos Aires. Locals say that they can’t get over the number of out-of-towners there are today. (Thankfully, the numbers are still small enough to keep sightseeing from being a competitive sport.)

And more and more of the visitors are staying: Buenos Aires has growing Asian and Latin American communities, the number of exchange students at city universities has soared, and there’s a thriving English-language expat scene complete with how-to blogs and magazines. And the urban landscape is changing, too: the ultimate nod to globalization came when Starbucks opened its first branches in Buenos Aires. But some things never change: the city’s time-honored cafés are as popular as ever.

What’s New

The hottest accessory on the city streets is a bicycle. Some 80 miles of new bicycle paths, a free bike-sharing program, and a traffic-reduction plan targeting downtown streets are slowly convincing locals that two wheels might be better than four. Boutique bike shops and bike tours are part of the burgeoning trend, and the monthly Critical Mass rides draw hundreds of non-motorized porteños. Local drivers still aren’t totally on board, however: their driving habits and aggressive manner often make cycling in the city feel more like an extreme sport.

Argentineans have always been patriotic, but flags are flying higher and brighter than usual in the aftermath of the bicentennary of the May Revolution in 2010. Celebrations culminated in five days of parades and musical performances attended by 6 million people on the massive Avenida 9 de Julio, which was closed to traffic for the occasion. The festivities are set to return in 2016, the 200th anniversary of the country’s independence.

Being out has never been this in. Argentina is the first country in Latin America—and only the ninth in the world—to fully legalize same-sex marriage, sealing Buenos Aires’ claim on the title of Latin America’s gay capital. The Marcha del Orgullo Gay (Gay Pride March) is a big draw every November. It doesn’t attract the millions of Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo, but the 250,000 participants it attracted in 2015 still place it among the largest in the world.

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Buenos Aires Neighborhoods

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Centro. Locals use Centro or El Centro as umbrella terms for several busy downtown districts. The heart of the city is filled with bars, cafés, and bookstores—not to mention crowds. The area around Plaza and Avenida de Mayo is the hub of political life and home to some of the city’s oldest buildings.

Puerto Madero. Gleaming skyscrapers, an elegant boardwalk, and the Museo Fortabat are among the draws in Puerto Madero, the poshest part of town. Its high-rise residential and office towers—many designed by big-name architects—are flanked by a sprawling nature reserve.

San Telmo. Antiques shops and hip clothing stores compete for store space along San Telmo’s dreamy cobbled streets—ideal for lazy wandering and relaxing at bars or cafés. Highbrow art is another attraction, and its two world-class museums are dedicated to contemporary works.

La Boca. Gritty La Boca was the city’s first port, which explains a name that means The Mouth. Visitors come for a snapshot of the colorful Caminito area, and soccer fans fill the Boca Juniors stadium. A magnet for art lovers, the Fundación Proa sits on the waterfront in La Boca.

Recoleta. The elite live, dine, and shop along Recoleta’s gorgeous Paris-inspired streets. They’re also often buried in the sumptuous mausoleums of its cemetery. Art galleries and museums—including the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes—are also draws.

Almagro. Peruvian restaurants, fringe theater, and a lively tango scene distinguish Almagro. The area is home to the sprawling Abasto shopping mall and the hip arts venue Centro Cultural Konex.

Palermo. Large Palermo has many subdistricts. If it’s cool, chances are it’s in Palermo Viejo: bars, restaurants, boutiques, galleries, and hotels line the streets surrounding Plaza Serrano. The hipster action spills over into Palermo Hollywood. There are two excellent museums (the MALBA and Museo Evita) in Palermo Chico, the barrio’s northern end.

Belgrano. Posh apartment buildings and interesting boutiques fill the landscape of residential Belgrano.

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Buenos Aires Planner

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By Victoria Patience

For 500 years, Buenos Aires has been in the throes of a powerful identity crisis. The unlikely lovechild of a troubled marriage between Europe and Latin America, Argentina’s capital has never wholly aligned itself with either of the cultures that spawned it. Each wave of immigration has brought new flavors to the mix, and the resulting fusion—or creative confusion—is attracting more visitors to this city than any other in South America.

There’s no denying Buenos Aires’ architectural appeal: the graceful stone facades of its 19th-century townhouses and civic constructions speak of Paris or Madrid, so just wandering the streets is a memorable experience. The shopping is world-class, too, whether you covet contemporary couture or quality handcrafts; and the electric nightlife further heightens B.A.’s cosmopolitan ambience. Many of the city’s classic cultural institutions have been renovated, and bleeding-edge spaces are keeping hipsters happy. Traditional dance floors, moreover, have come back to life thanks to a booming tango—and tango tourism—revival. Meanwhile, marriage and equal rights for same-sex partnerships plus a thriving scene have made the city a prime gay destination.

But grit offsets the glamour. Crumbling balconies, uneven sidewalks, and fresh layers of photo-worthy graffiti are reminders of your real coordinates. The devalued peso means that Buenos Aires keeps getting cheaper for anyone with hard currency, despite rising prices—though growing numbers of homeless people and ever-expanding shanty towns within the city limits speak of tough times to come for on-the-edge residents. In the face of so much change, however, some things do remain the same. Food, family, and fútbol are still the holy trinity for most porteños (as the locals are called), and they still approach life with as much dramatic intensity as ever.

What To Buy

The array of open-air ferias (markets) in Buenos Aires testifies to the fact that locals enjoy stall-crawling as much as visitors do. Argentina holds its craftspeople, both traditional and contemporary, in high esteem. The selections include crafts, art, antiques, curios, clothing, and jewelry; stalls are often attended by the artists themselves, who are happy to explain to you how something was made. Bargaining isn’t the norm, although you may get a small discount for buying lots of items.

Visitor Information

Turismo Buenos Aires.

The website of the city tourist board, Turismo Buenos Aires, is packed with useful information and suggested itineraries. English-speaking staffers can be found at information booths at the airports and seven other locations around the city. The handiest locations are near Plaza San Martín (Florida at Marcelo T. de Alvear), Plaza de Mayo (Florida 50), and the Recoleta Cemetery (Quintana 596). They’re open weekdays 10–5 and weekends 9–6. | www.turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar.

Getting Around

Intriguing architecture, an easy-to-navigate grid layout (a few diagonal transverses aside), and ample window-shopping make Buenos Aires a wonderful place to explore on foot. SUBE, a rechargeable swipe card, can be used on the subway, buses, and commuter trains.

Public Transit. Service on the subte (subway) is quick, but trains are often packed and strikes are common. Four of the six underground lines (A, B, D, and E) fan out west from downtown; north–south lines C and H connect them. Single-ride tickets cost 5 pesos. Monday through Saturday, the subte opens at 5 am and shuts down between 10:30 and 11 pm, depending on the line. On Sunday, trains run between 8 am and 10–10:30 pm.

Colectivos (city buses) connect the city center with its barrios and the greater Buenos Aires area. If you pay by SUBE card, fares within the city cost 2.50 to 2.70 pesos, but are double that if you pay cash (on-board ticket machines accept coins only). Bus stops are roughly every other block, but you may have to hunt for the small, metal route-number signs: they could be stuck on a shelter, lamppost, or even a tree. Stop at a news kiosk and buy the Guía T, a route guide.

Taxis. Black-and-yellow taxis fill the streets and take you anywhere in town and short distances into greater Buenos Aires. Fares start at 11.80 pesos, with 1.10 pesos for each click of the meter. You can hail taxis on the street or ask hotel and restaurant staffers to call for them.

Safety

Although Buenos Aires is safer than most Latin American capitals, petty crime is a concern. Pickpocketing and mugging are common, so avoid wearing flashy jewelry, be discreet with money and cameras, and be mindful of bags and wallets. Phone for taxis after dark.

Protest marches are a part of life in Buenos Aires: most are peaceful, but some end in confrontations with the police. They often take place in the Plaza de Mayo or along Avenida de Mayo.

Where to Stay

Booming visitor numbers in Buenos Aires and the rest of Argentina have sparked dozens of new accommodation options. There’s plenty of variety, whether you’re looking for the reliability of a tried-and-tested international chain, the hipness of a boutique property, or the charm of a family-run B&B.

Hotels. There are plenty of names you’ll recognize when you consider where to stay in Buenos Aires, from Four Seasons and InterContinental to Hilton and Sheraton. Some of the most common chains are more familiar to South American and European travelers, but they have the same high level of service. If you’re looking for more modern accommodations, you’ll find them in more recently developed areas like Puerto Madera. But perhaps a better choice would be the grandes dames that show off the charm of a bygone era while treating you to all the most modern amenities.

Bed-and-Breakfasts. If you’re looking for local flavor, consider a smaller hotel or bed-and-breakfast. Some are simple family-run affairs, others are boutique properties; many are housed in recycled old buildings that pack plenty of charm. Friendly, personalized service is another major appeal. Although many now use the term B&B, posada is the more traditional term. Most hotels in Argentina include breakfast in their rates, so they could be considered B&Bs even if they don’t actively advertise themselves as such.

Apartments. Self-catering options are plentiful in Argentina and increasingly popular with visitors. The savings are especially significant if you’re traveling as a family or group. In Buenos Aires and other big cities you can rent furnished apartments (and sometimes houses) daily, although weekly and monthly rates are usually cheaper. Some properties are in new buildings with pools, gyms, and 24-hour concierges; others are in atmospheric, but less luxurious older buildings.

Estancias. For a taste of how Argentina’s landed elite live, book a few nights on an estancia (ranch). Most estancia accommodation is in grandiose, European-inspired, century-old country mansions. Rates include activities such as horseback riding and four generous meals daily, usually shared with your hosts and other guests. Estancias vary greatly: some are still working cattle or sheep farms, but many have switched entirely to tourism. At traditional establishments you’ll be hosted by the owners, and stay in rooms that once belonged to family members. Accommodations are usually tastefully furnished, but rarely luxurious.

When to Go

Remember that when it’s summer in the United States, it’s winter in Argentina, and vice versa. Winters (July–September) are chilly. Summer’s muggy heat (December–March) can be taxing at midday but makes for warm nights. During these months Argentines crowd resorts along the Atlantic and in Uruguay.

Spring (September–December) and autumn (April–June), with their mild temperatures are ideal for urban trekking. It’s usually warm enough for just a light jacket, and it’s right before or after the peak seasons. The best time for trips to Iguazú Falls is August–October, when temperatures are lower and the falls are fuller.

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Top Attractions

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Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes

Originally the city’s waterworks, this russet-color, columned building in Recoleta is your one-stop shop for Argentine painting and sculpture, although renovation work means much of the collection is temporarily out of bounds. A surprisingly comprehensive collection of lesser works by European and North American masters, spanning the 13th century to the present, is an added boon.

Plaza de Mayo

Since the city was founded, civic and political life has centered on this large, palm-shaded square in El Centro. The favored stage of protesters and politicians alike, this was where Evita told a rally of thousands not to cry for her. Since the 1976–83 dictatorship, a group of mothers (now nongovernmental organizations called Madres and Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo) have been protesting their children’s disappearances here each week. The presidential palace, a cathedral, the central bank, a colonial town hall, and the senate all flank the square.

Cementerio de la Recoleta

The city’s illustrious departed rest in mausoleums as sumptuous as their mansions. Heavily adorned with marble facades and dramatic statues, these second homes are arrayed along shaded avenues, forming an eerie but beautiful city of the dead. Residents include the must-see Evita, national heroes, sporting greats, writers, and several wandering ghosts—or so local legend goes.

Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires’ first truly world-class museum is a luminous temple to the gods of 20th-century Latin American art. A vigorous acquisitions program means you see the latest talents as well as Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Fernando Botero. The architecture, rooftop views over surrounding Palermo, and gift shop are excuses in themselves to stop by.

Parque Tres de Febrero (Los Bosques de Palermo)

Porteños desperate for some green relief love this 400-acre Palermo park, which includes wooded areas, a rose garden, lakes, a planetarium, and a small art museum. Bask in the sun with a picnic and/or a book, or make like sporty locals and go for a run around its trails.

Calle Museo Caminito

An entire postcard industry has been built on the Technicolor corrugated-iron constructions on this street in La Boca. A purpose-built tourist attraction, Caminito is unashamedly tacky and brash, but is still an exuberant must-see (and must-snap) on your first visit to Buenos Aires.

Plaza Dorrego

Sunday sees this quiet San Telmo square transformed into the Feria de San Pedro Telmo, Buenos Aires’ biggest antiques market. Junk, memorabilia, and, occasionally, genuine antiques are all part of the cult of nostalgia celebrated here in the shadow of century-old townhouses. A beer or coffee at a traditional bar is an essential part of the experience.

Museo Evita

Forget Madonna: for the true scoop on Argentina’s most iconic citizen, come to this well-curated museum. Evita’s life, works, and wardrobe are celebrated through insightful displays and original video footage, all housed in a gorgeous turn-of-the-20th-century mansion she requisitioned as a home for single mothers.

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A Buenos Aires Walk: Oldest and Newest

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Most buildings from the colonial era and the early days of the republic have long since been built over, but San Telmo still offers glimpses of bygone Buenos Aires. Adjacent Puerto Madero is the fastest-changing part of town, home to some of Latin America’s most expensive real estate.

Buenos Aires’ Oldest and Newest

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Time Travel in San Telmo

Start in Plaza Dorrego, the city’s second-oldest square and the heart of San Telmo, and head north up Defensa. Late 19th-century town houses line the street—most now contain antiques shops or clothing boutiques. Detour left onto Estados Unidos to explore the Mercado de San Telmo, a produce market dating from 1897 (antiques now outnumber the apples on sale). Continue north up Defensa to No. 755, El Zanjón de los Granados, a restored 18th-century house (guided visits include the tunnels under it). Turn right into Pasaje San Lorenzo, a cobbled alley. At No. 380 stands Casa Mínima, the city’s thinnest building—about 8 feet wide—which once belonged to a freed slave.

Backtrack down Defensa and left onto Pasaje Giuffra, another quiet lane, then right onto Balcarce, lined with more old houses. Follow Estados Unidos east and over busy Paseo Colón. The huge neoclassical building is now the University of Buenos Aires’ School of Engineering, but was the headquarters of Evita’s social-aid foundation.

Watery Wonders

Cross Avenida Huergo onto Puerto Madero—Estados Unidos changes its name to Rosario Vera Peñaloza and becomes a wide boulevard with a leafy pedestrian median. Facing the end of the street is an ornate white fountain, Fuente Las Nereidas, sculpted by Argentinean Lola Mora in 1902. It was commissioned for Plaza de Mayo, but the nude nymphs were considered too scandalous to stand so close to the cathedral.

Wander north along the Costanera Sur: to your left are Puerto Madero’s skyscrapers; to your right is a stretch of water separating Puerto Madero proper from the Reserva Ecológica. (The ecological reserve’s entrance is through the trees behind Fuente Las Nereidas—a detour here will add gorgeous greenery and lots of extra mileage to your walk.) Be sure to try a vaciopán (steak sandwich) sold by the food carts along the Costanera.

Urban renewal

Turn left onto Martha Lynch, which curves past the Parque de las Mujeres Argentinas, a small park, and ends at one of Puerto Madero’s former docks, now home to Buenos Aires’ newest buildings (and newest construction sites). The original redbrick warehouses over the water now house restaurants and offices.

Just ahead is Santiago Calatrava’s sculptural pedestrian bridge, Puente de la Mujer. Continue up the side of the docks along Pierina Dealessi: the compact steel-and-concrete structure at the end of Dique 4 contains the Colección Fortabat art museum, which also has a stylish café.

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A Buenos Aires Walk: Recoleta to Palermo

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Locals see busy Avenidas Figueroa Alcorta and Libertador as functional routes connecting downtown with the northern suburbs. But the parallel avenues also join Recoleta’s major sights to Palermo’s, and woven between them are beautiful green spaces. Use the avenues to get your bearings, but do your actual walking through the squares and parks.

Recoleta to Palermo: Art in the Parks

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Iconic Recoleta

From the Cementerio de Recoleta and Centro Cultural Recoleta, wind your way through Plaza Francia’s market stalls (weekends) or past the couples lounging on the grass midweek and over Avenidas Pueyrredón and Libertador to the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, with the world’s biggest Argentine art collection. The colonnaded building behind it, over Avenida Figueroa Alcorta, is the University of Buenos Aires’ School of Law—continue past it into Plaza Naciones Unidas and the giant metal flower sculpture Floralis Genérica.

Art and Barrio Parque

Cross back over Avenida Figueroa Alcorta and weave through Plaza Uruguay and Plaza República de Chile. The white stone mansion on the other side of Libertador is the Museo Nacional de Arte Decorativo. Continue along Rufino de Elizalde, a curving cobbled street that’s part of the Barrio Parque mini-neighborhood. Writer and socialite Victoria Ocampo commissioned the house at No. 2831 as an homage to Le Corbusier. The architect, Alejandro Bustillo, also designed the French neoclassical building opposite it at No. 2830, now the Belgian embassy.

Other mansions line the rest of the street and adjoin Alejandro M. de Aguado, which leads you back to Avenida Figueroa Alcorta. The block-long brown building opposite is the Palacio Alcorta, built by an Italian, Mario Palanti, for an American automobile company, Chrysler, but now bearing a French name, the Museo Renault. Consecrated modern Latin American masters are on display next door at the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, and up-and-coming ones are at the Daniel Maman gallery at Libertador 2475, two blocks away down San Martín de Tours.

Los Bosques de Palermo

Steel yourself for two blocks along busy Avenida Libertador, then cross back into green space at Cavia: a diagonal route through Plaza Alemania takes you to the entrance of the Jardín Japonés—stop off to see the bonsai and carp. Then wander on through the Parque Tres de Febrero roughly following Avenidas Berro and Iraola to Infanta Isabel. Skirting the lake’s south side takes you to the Paseo del Rosedal, a large rose garden. Stroll southeast through Plaza Holanda, parallel to Libertador. The white-marble column at the intersection with Sarmiento honors four Argentine regions (note the bronze allegories in the pool at the base) but is known as the Monumento de los Españoles. Turn right onto quiet República de la India, which flanks the Buenos Aires Zoo—you can glimpse century-old pavilions and some animals through the railings—or turn right when you hit Avenida Las Heras to the entrance on Plaza Francia.

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Buenos Aires with Kids

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Family is a big part of local life. Porteños definitely believe kids should be seen and heard, and local children keep pretty much the same schedule as their parents. Don’t be surprised to see local kids out until the wee hours.

It’s completely normal for kids to sit through adult dinners, and restaurants (and other diners) are fine with them dozing at the table. Children’s menus aren’t common in Buenos Aires: local kids usually eat the same as adults, in smaller portions.

When it comes to rewarding—or bribing—their kids, porteño parents are unanimous: helado (ice cream) is the way to go. There are shops on nearly every block, but classy chains Freddo, Un’Altra Volta, and Persicco do the creamiest scoops.

There’s not much of a language barrier when it comes to entertainment geared toward younger members of the family. You don’t need Spanish-language skills to enjoy circo (circus), títeres (puppets), and rock para chicos (kiddie rock). Listing for these and other events are in the local newspapers.

Best Museums

Kids can go to the bank, shop at a supermarket, and play at adult jobs in the Museo de los Niños (Children’s Museum) in Almagro. Although the museum is entirely in Spanish, activities like crawling through a large-scale plumbing system and operating a crane on a building site have universal appeal.

The motto of Recoleta’s Museo Participativo de las Ciencias (Participative Science Museum) says it all—"Prohibido No Tocar, or Not Touching Is Forbidden." The colorful interactive displays—which explain how music, light, and electricity work—are hands-on enough for most kids to enjoy them despite the Spanish-only explanations. Better yet, it’s on the first floor of the Centro Cultural Recoleta, so you can squeeze in some adult cultural time, too.

The gloriously retro building of the Planetario Galileo Galilei is alien-looking enough to attract your kids’ attention. So does the state-of-the-art night-sky projection room, with seats that vibrate during meteorite collisions. Cotton candy and popcorn machines near the asteroid collection outside make for more earthly postmuseum treats.

The Great Outdoors

The best place for unbridled running and jumping is Palermo’s Parque Tres de Febrero. There are acres and acres of well-maintained greenery, and you can rent bicycles of all sizes (including ones with child seats), in-line skates, and pedal boats. There are also hamburger stands, balloon sellers, and clowns.

The gross factor is high at the Jardín Japonés, where your kids can pet the slimy koi carp swimming in ornamental ponds (and you might manage to sneak some sushi). Even more back-to-nature is the unkempt Reserva Ecológica—guided moonlight walks are an extra thrill.

The Zoo de Buenos Aires is home to pumas, tapirs, llamas, aguarrá guazús (a kind of wolf), and yacarés (caymans). And these are just some of the South American animals here that your kids might never have seen.

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Free (Or Almost Free)

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With so many world-class galleries and museums, Buenos Aires can put a dent in your wallet. But the good news is that even the city’s top spots for art have days when you can visit for little or nothing. And some of the favorite pastimes, including wandering around the Cementerio de la Recoleta or finding a bargain in the flea market at San Telmo, are always gratis.

Art and Archtecture

It costs absolutely nothing to visit what is arguably the best collection of Argentine art in the world: Recoleta’s Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes is free all week. Entrance to most other state-run museums is less than a dollar or two.

Take in art both old and new on Tuesday, when you can gaze for free at the antique furnishings of the Museo Nacional de Arte Decorativo and the contemporary works at the Museo de Arte Moderno, also free on Thursday. Wednesday, go for handicrafts and 19th-century painting at the Museo de Artes Plásticas Eduardo Sívori; it’s in the middle of the Parque Tres de Febrero.

Check out colonial art downtown in Retiro free of charge on Tuesday and Thursday at the Museo de Arte Hispanoamericano Isaac Fernández Blanco. The one serious artistic saving you can make is at Palermo’s Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, which reduces its 50-peso entry fee to 25 pesos on Wednesday—expect to compete for floor space, though.

History Lesson

It costs thousands to spend an afterlife in the Cementerio de la Recoleta, but nothing to spend a morning or afternoon there. San Telmo is the best barrio for a free local history lesson: churches and traditional houses (many now antiques shops) are some of the historic buildings open to the public.

Seeing the City

You can pay as little—or as much—as you want on the popular Buenos Aires Local Tours (www.buenosaireslocaltours.com), which use city buses to keep its overhead low. You will want to tip the enthusiastic young guides at the end, however. Tours take place on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, usually in the morning. To take part, register online as early as possible.

Enthusiastic local volunteers are your guides on the free city tours run by Cicerones de Buenos Aires (www.cicerones.org.ar). You can see the city on two wheels for free by checking out one of bicycles that are part of a city

Reviews for Fodor's Buenos Aires

[varwenea · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is quite the perfect guidebook for visiting the Buenos Aires area. The city itself is well divided region by region; the side trips are truly must do’s with Iguazu Falls being particularly critical. Thusly, this book covers all the areas that one ought to see. It has the basic history, with coverage on Peronism, Evita, Che, Gauchos, and of course, the tango. In general, I find these guidebooks to be insufficient for detail planning but good for a starting point and also as a reminder when on the ground, away from internet access. The topics covered in this book is very good for the traveler nevertheless.