Go to Argentina for the wine, the mountains, the lakes, the music, the tango—all of it. But when you’re in Buenos Aires, do yourself a favor and think beyond the usual guidebook attractions. When I visited the country in April 2024, this lively city quickly emerged as my favorite part of the trip (which also took me to Mendoza and Salta), thanks to its layers of beauty, history, and dessert options. Here are a few ways to get beyond the basics in B.A.
Ogle the architecture
Look up when you walk around. I passed this random beauty on a walk in the Recoleta neighborhood.
Photo by Billie Cohen
Walk around the city, and you’ll see an eclectic mix of design influences that trace more than 300 centuries of Argentine history: the European Renaissance–style Teatro Colón opera house, the Belle Époque Villa Ocampo mansion museum, the colonial-style National Museum of the Cabildo and the May Revolution, the neoclassical National Congress, the art nouveau Palacio Barolo where visitors can tour its many references to Dante’s Divine Comedy, the art deco residential Kavanagh Building. But even a stroll around residential neighborhoods, like Colegiales, Recoleta, or Retiro, will reveal a medley of styles. Look for Beaux-Arts apartment buildings with frilly wrought-iron balconies and corner shops with surprising art deco flourishes. And stop by the green door of the narrowest house in the city, from 1820: Casa Minima, which is just two and a half meters wide, is believed to be an example of the small houses that were given to freed enslaved people by their former owners once slavery was abolished in Argentina in the mid-1800s.
Cabaio is an Argentine street artist who uses stencils to create complex collages, like this one at the Mercado de las Pulgas.
Photo by Billie Cohen
Get inspired by the street art
While the buildings of Buenos Aires are an urban museum showcasing the many layers of Argentina’s past, the walls of the city are galleries that echo the feelings of its present. Look just about anywhere and you’ll see something cool, but a diverse concentration of artwork decorates the neighborhoods of Colegiales and Palermo Hollywood. I take street art tours in nearly every city I visit (from Toronto to Ulaanbaatar), and the one in Buenos Aires by nonprofit arts organization Graffiti Mundo was fantastic. This group has been instrumental in supporting and creating urban art, and our guide was able to take us off the beaten path to see examples that ranged from serious (“memory tiles” in the Palermo pavement that honor the 30,000 people who were “disappeared” by the military dictatorship during the Dirty War of 1976 to 1983) to meme-inspired (a giant cartoon cat with its head through a piece of toast).
Plan an ice cream and pizza crawl
Dulce de leche is a popular flavor of gelato; it’s the same flavor you’ll find inside alfajores, Argentina’s signature sandwich cookies.
Photo by Billie Cohen
People will tell you about the steak in Argentina, and sure, I’m not going to say don’t eat the steak. But there are two other foods that Buenos Aires excels at that don’t get talked about as much: pizza and ice cream, culinary descendants of the Italian immigration wave that began in the 1880s. Gelato is especially woven into the fabric of life here: There’s a shop on nearly every corner and they stay open late. The three biggies are Freddo, which opened in Recoleta in 1969 and now has stores all over the city and a few in other countries; Persicco, which has been around since 1931; and Volta, which is a newer entry (2002) started by the family that originally launched Freddo. Others worth saving room for: Obrador Florida (a few blocks from acclaimed Argentine-cuisine restaurant El Preferido if you want a pre- or post-gelato dinner rec), Lucciano’s (which also serves playfully shaped ice cream pops), and Tufic (with such flavors as Turkish chocolate with figs and walnuts). If you ask any local staffer from your hotel or any Uber driver, you’ll get even more opinions and suggestions. Wherever you go, you’ll start to notice that dulce de leche is kind of the national flavor: Most ice cream shops have several versions of it (classic, with chocolate, with coffee, with cinnamon, with extra caramel, with cookies). During my trip, I conducted a very scientific study of dulce de leche scoops, and my favorites were the classic versions at Freddo and Obrador Florida.
For pizza, try Picsa, opened by Leo Azulay, who studied with Francis Mallman; it stands out for its sourdough crust. Two other renowned shops recommended by Afar contributor Katherine Gallardo, whose family is from Buenos Aires: Pizzería Güerrín, for slices loaded with cheese, and El Cuartito, an institution that’s been around since 1934.
Discover bookstores that are more than bookstores
Buenos Aires is a city of bookshops, like Eterna Cadencia, that are filled with character . . . and sometimes a café or jazz club.
Photo by Billie Cohen
Bookstores are a way of life in B.A. One afternoon, I saw a line waiting to get back into one that had closed for siesta—and there were two others just across the street. Keep your eyes open as you wander, because, from the sidewalk, a shop might look small and uninteresting, but don’t be fooled. Duck into every single one that you pass—they’re all a surprise. At the warm, library-like Eterna Cadencia (pictured left), floor-to-ceiling dark-wood shelving lines the walls, an ornate Old World chandelier hangs from the wood-paneled ceiling, and an outdoor café is tucked into a leafy courtyard. Borges 1975 becomes a bar and jazz club at night. Librería de Ávila is the oldest bookstore in the city, founded in 1785. And El Ateneo Grand Splendid is in a huge 1919 theater with a domed ceiling, shelves throughout what used to be the orchestra level and balconies, and a café on the old stage. On the opposite end of the size spectrum, Medio Pan is a 247-square-foot shop that still manages to be light and airy; it cleverly fits a reading nook and additional seating, and the glass doors double as bookshelves. There’s even a shop that brings books to life: Knowhere Collectibles Café, which is a funhouse to wander through. A giant dementor from Harry Potter haunts the staircase and there’s artwork based on Lord of the Rings. Make sure you to go to the roof, so you can pull your best superhero pose next to the life-size Bat Signal or stand face to face with a T-Rex.
The availability of English-language titles varies from store to store, but regardless it’s fun to explore the beautiful spaces, browse the bookshelves, and see the different cover treatments on your favorite tomes.
Architects Clorindo Testa, Francisco Bullrich, and Alicia Cazzaniga won a design competition to create the national library in 1961. It wasn’t completed until 30 years later.
Photo by Billie Cohen
Go to the library
I am a library nerd, and I try to visit one everywhere I travel, and I’m telling you: Bibliophiles, architecture fans, and people simply looking for a quiet place to sit should make a beeline for Argentina’s national library. It’s a brutalist creation that defies the gravity of all its cement blockiness, like a big, square lollipop on a stick. Built on the site of the mansion where Juan Domingo and Eva Perón lived (which was demolished after he was overthrown in 1955), the new library was designed in 1961, but it took 10 years before construction started and it was finally inaugurated in 1992. (And if you want to see Eva’s resting place, walk over to the nearby Recoleta Cemetery, a paved mini city of mausoleums.) Inside the library, there’s a great view from the fifth floor reading room, plus nearly a million books, maps, and recordings. Bring ID to enter and wander on your own, or check the website to find out when free guided tours are offered.
Where to stay
Hotel Casa Lucia opened in early 2024 in a 20-story tower that was the tallest building in South America when it opened 1929. It was erected by a shipping magnate who wanted to be able to see his boats in the harbor, and the shape is inspired by a lighthouse. The higher-floor rooms have views to the water, the lobby bar sits under a glass roof in the now-enclosed plaza in front of the ornate building, and the drinks menu offers more than 400 Argentine wines.
