The capital of Argentina is one of the world’s great urban experiences: a place of stylish people and buildings, wide boulevards and leafy parks, poignant history, gastronomic delights, tango in the streets and extravagant arts and architecture.
The city is divided into barrios (neighbourhoods), each different, yet all full of character. The colourful buildings of the working-class La Boca contrast with chic and showy Recoleta, best known for its lavish cemetery.
Bohemian San Telmo turns into a bustling market on Sundays, the trendy boulevards of Palermo are perfect for people-watching, while the gentrified dockland area of Puerto Madero which is full of restaurants and bars, provides a friendly counterpoint to the handsome Plaza de Mayo, dominated by the pink Presidential building.
Exploring the area
The joy of being in Buenos Aires is to explore these barrios on foot, pausing frequently to sit in a pavement café or traditional smoky bar, to sip espressos or a beer and watch the city flourish around you.
You can also explore the leafy suburbs by taking a train or boat ride up the Tigre Delta, or head into the great grass and cattle lands of the pampas which stretch, drum-flat, around this great city.
Estancias around Buenos Aires
Just over an hour through the flat, rolling pampas outside Buenos Aires lie a cluster of traditional working ranches which offer visitors the chance to live life the rural Argentinian way.
In all our favourite estancias you will be the guest of a family who will usually have owned the property for generations, and who still make their living from it. Sleep in four-poster beds under ancestral portraits, roam the private land on foot or horseback, relax by the swimming pool, and enjoy the hearty hospitality of your hosts.
As well as the iconic gaucho, some estancias are home to Argentina’s famous polo ponies and players, and we can arrange lessons and even games if this is where your interest lies.