Buenos Aires Guide: The Last Word | Plan South America

Plan South America | Field Notes | Buenos Aires Guide: The Last Word

Recoleta

Recoleta exudes a quiet sophistication, its Belle Époque mansions whispering of a gilded age. Here, leafy avenues offer a reprieve from the city’s relentless energy, and the neighbourhood wears its affluence with restraint. It’s a place where grandeur lingers in the air, not shouted but suggested.

HISTORY

Recoleta owes its rise to an unlikely calamity. In 1871, a yellow fever epidemic swept through Buenos Aires, driving the city’s elite from the south to this once-quiet northern district. With them came ambition – a determination to craft a neighbourhood that mirrored the refinement of Paris and Rome. The resulting architectural medley – French, Italian, and neoclassical – established Recoleta as the cultural and intellectual heart of the city.

THINGS TO DO IN RECOLETA

Recoleta Cemetery: A city within a city, this haunting necropolis is a labyrinth of marble and shadow. Its mausoleums, as grand as palaces, tell stories of ambition and loss. The tomb of Eva Perón draws pilgrims in hushed reverence. Arrive early to wander its paths in solitude.
Avenida Alverar: A promenade of understated wealth, lined with embassies and boutiques housed in opulent mansions. Take a moment beneath the chandeliers of the Alvear Palace Hotel with a gin and tonic in hand, and soak in its old-world charm.
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes: Argentina’s preeminent art museum juxtaposes works by national masters with European icons such as Degas, Goya, and Manet—a subtle dialogue between continents and eras.
Museo Nacional de Arte Decorativo: A monument to early 20th-century opulence, this mansion-turned-museum brims with European and Argentine treasures. We recommend lunch at its garden café, Croque Madame.
Plaza Francia: At weekends, the square becomes an artisanal market, alive with craftsmen and their creations. Pause to watch the city amble past, unhurried and full of charm.
Dinner at Roux: No restaurant receives more consistently outstanding reviews from our clients than this diminutive corner bistro, renowned for its deft touch with seafood – we recommend the seafood salad.

San Telmo

The bohemian San Telmo neighbourhood, named after the patron saint of seafarers, sits midway between bustling Downtown and the quiet port area of La Boca. It wears its imperfections beautifully. Time hasn’t smoothed its cobblestones or polished its wrought iron; instead, it has infused the place with an air of quiet rebellion. This is Buenos Aires in sepia tones, all shadowy corners and sudden flashes of brilliance.

HISTORY

San Telmo’s trajectory is one of reinvention. Once home to the city’s elite, when the yellow fever epidemic drove the wealthy away, artists and immigrants filled the void. The grand mansions became canvases for ambition and creativity. Revitalisation has added a contemporary sheen, yet the neighbourhood remains defiantly itself, its landmarks now protected as national treasures.

THINGS TO DO IN SAN TELMO

Plaza Dorrego: On Sundays, this sleepy square erupts into an outdoor art and antiques market with impromptu tango performances. Arrive early to avoid the throng, then linger over a leisurely lunch at Caseros. Petty crime is common in San Telmo, so please exercise caution when walking here and avoid taking valuables.
Tango Milongas: Forget polished shows – this is tango in its realest form. Places like La Catedral are raw, unscripted, and utterly transporting.
El Zanjón de Granados: Beneath the streets lie tunnels that predate modern Buenos Aires, a subterranean labyrinth that reveals the city’s colonial origins.