Update: At the time of
writing, one Argentine peso was
equal to exactly one US dollar.
Recent political upheaval, however,
has led to a major devaluation of
the peso and rapidly fluctuating
exchange rates. Please keep this in
mind when referring to any mention
of costs throughout this guide.
BUENOS AIRES is a city
which lends itself perfectly to
aimless wandering. Though vast, it's
mostly a very walkable place, and
orientating yourself is made pretty
straightforward thanks to the city's
regular and logical grid pattern.
The city is approximately triangular
in shape and its boundaries are
marked by Avenida General Paz
to the west, the River Plate
to the northeast and by its
tributary, the Riachuelo , to
the south. Holding the whole thing
together is Avenida Rivadavia
, an immensely long street (Porteños
claim it is the longest in the
world) which runs east to west for
nearly two hundred blocks from Plaza
de Mayo to Morón, outside the city
limits. Parallel to Avenida
Rivadavia run four major avenues,
Avenida de Mayo, Corrientes, Córdoba
and Santa Fe. The major north-south
routes through the city centre are,
to the east, Avenida L.N. Além -
which changes its name to Avenida
del Libertador as it swings out to
the northern suburbs - and, to the
west, Avenida Callao. Through the
very heart of the centre runs the
spectacularly wide Avenida 9 de
Julio - an aggressively
car-orientated conglomeration of
four multi-lane roads.
The city centre is bounded
approximately by Avenida de Mayo to
the south, Avenida L.N. Além to the
east, Avenida Córdoba to the north
and Avenida Callao to the west. At
its southeastern corner lies the
city's foundational square, the Plaza
de Mayo , centrepiece of the
Haussmann-style remodelling that
took place here in the late
nineteenth century, and home to the
governmental palace, the Casa
Rosada . Within the centre lie
the financial district, La City
, and major shopping, eating and
accommodation districts. It's a
hectic place, particularly during
the week, but from the bustle of Florida
, the area's busy pedestrianized
thoroughfare, to the fin-de-siècle
elegance of Avenida de Mayo
and the café culture of Corrientes
, the area is surprisingly varied in
both architecture and atmosphere.
With the exception of the Plaza de
Mayo and the Teatro Colón - Buenos
Aires' world-renowned opera house -
it's perhaps not so much the
centre's sights that are the main
draw but rather the strongly defined
character of its streets, which
provide a perfect introduction to
the rhythm of Porteño life.
The south of the city -
for many tourists and locals alike,
its most intriguing area - begins
just beyond Plaza de Mayo. It
contains the oldest part of the city
and its narrow, often cobbled
streets are lined with some of the
capital's finest architecture,
typified by compact late
nineteenth-century town houses with
ornate Italianate facades, sturdy
but elegant wooden doors and finely
wrought iron railings. From the
cultivated charm of San Telmo
, setting for the city's popular
Sunday antique market, to the
passionate atmosphere of La Boca
on match days, when the
neighbourhood seems to drown in a
sea of blue and yellow, the south
offers an appealing mix of tradition
and popular culture. It's also home
to one of the city's most unusual
green spaces, the unexpectedly wild Reserva
Ecológica , which lies out to
the east, beyond the chaotic rumble
of lorries which trundle along the
city's dock area.
The north of the city is
generally regarded as beginning at
Avenida Córdoba. Four of the area's
neighbourhoods, Retiro and Recoleta
- jointly known as Barrio Norte,
plus Palermo and Belgrano
, are renowned for their palaces,
plazas and parks. They're the city's
mostly wealthy garden barrios,
swallowed up one after another as
Buenos Aires expanded northwards,
following the fatal epidemics that
struck the south in the 1860s and
1870s, and as the city's population
swelled. Set off against luxuriant
native trees such as jacarandas and
tipas, the architectural styles of
the many aristocratic palaces are
part Spanish and part British, but
overwhelmingly French. Some are now
open to the public, and this is
where you'll find some of the city's
finest museums - such as
Retiro's Museo de Arte
Hispanoamericano, Palermo's Museo de
Arte Decorativo, and Belgrano's
Museo de Arte Español. Despite
opposition from the city elite,
Evita is buried at La Recoleta
, one of the world's most
astonishing cemeteries, in terms of
atmosphere and the sheer beauty of
its tombs. Further north, incredibly
wide avenues sweep past landscaped
gardens, including a Japanese
Garden, enormous parks, such as
Parque 3 de Febrero, and some of the
country's major sports venues,
including the National Polo Field.
Pockets of mid-nineteenth-century
Buenos Aires are still left, the
most atmospheric of all being Palermo
Viejo , whose cobbled streets
and single-storey houses contrast
with the grandiose houses and
high-rise apartment blocks that
populate most of this side of the
city.
Beyond Avenida Callao lies the
west , an immense, mostly
residential district which has its
own commercial centre around the
barrios of Caballito and Flores.
There are only a small number of
sights to see in this area, but two
of the best of them are amongst
Buenos Aires' most idiosyncratic
offerings. No one with the remotest
interest in tango should neglect to
pay a visit to the shrine-like tomb
of Carlos Gardel, the nation's most
famous singer, in the huge cemetery
of Chacarita , whilst the
Sunday gaucho fair in the barrio of Mataderos
offers the unforgettable sight of
dashingly dressed horsemen galloping
through the city streets, as well as
providing an authentic brew of
regional cooking and live folk
music.
