City review: Buenos Aires
I spent 6 days in Buenos Aires, with a metro population of 15,624,000 million it’s a massive city and things move quick. Culture oozes from the city and there’s so much to get your teeth stuck into.
The city has certain European influences such as French themed cafés and neo-classical architecture which, for a South American city, gives the place a unique feel. I spent my time in the city soaking in the atmosphere and walking the streets, looking at the sights. From Boca Junior’s famous stadium La Bombonera to the Guardian’s second-best book shop in the world, you won’t run out of things to do in Buenos Aires.
La Boca
La Boca is a tourist hotspot with several streets dedicated to being restaurants and bars celebrating the big draw in the area, La Bombonera.
La Boca is a cool neighbourhood and has a great atmosphere. There is an array of painted buildings, all in matching colours that look great on a sunny day. If you’re willing to explore the side-streets of the area, you’ll be rewarded with cute cosy markets, selling a mishmash of goods.
I didn’t manage to get inside Boca Juniors’ La Bombonera, but it’s a bucket list ground. I wasn’t in town for a game but getting tickets is notoriously difficult (or expensive). Firstly, to buy tickets you need to be a member of the club of which there is a waiting list- i.e. not accessible for tourists- so you’re looking at getting them from a tout. Furthermore, tickets don’t come cheap, I heard people were paying close to $160USD (£126.61) for a ticket. If you want to go to a Boca Junior’s game, be prepared to reach deep into those pockets. However, if you shop around on Viagogo and other ticket resellers, there may be cheaper options.
A visit to the club’s museum is another option if you’re desperate to get inside La Bombonera, but still it won’t come cheap with tickets around £75-£85.
San Telmo market
My first day in the city was spent exploring the San Telmo markets on Sunday. The whole area shuts down- or turns up- to host a massive market selling a whole variety of randomness. Have you always wanted a matchstick sculpted to look like Maradona? Well this is the place to get one.
The market has a large focus on Mate (pronounced matt-e), a herbal drink which is accompanied by hot water and you can buy every kind of jug possible. There’s also loads of cool shops to nosey about in. Look for musical inspiration in the record stores or try local meats, beers, cheeses and wines from the market stores.
If you keep your eye out, you’ll also be able to see several tango performances and if you’re feeling brave, you can even have a go. Not a chance for me though, maybe next time…
It’s easy to spend a whole day here discovering the market and that’s what I’d recommend doing.
Parks & Museums
Buenos Aires has some incredible parks that are well worth checking out. Throughout my stay in the city, the Reserva Ecológica Constanera Sur was closed but looked cool and I’d recommend going if it’s open. If you then walk north through the city, up by the water, there’s a whole host of parks and green spaces. The parks are great and give a good representation of Buenos Aires’ architecture. If you head up this way, there’s a few museums and sculptures that are impressive.
All around the Tres de Febrero Park is a great area and rival any the parks of any big city I’ve been to.
I didn’t go to any of the museums in the city, but there’s loads of them. If I had more time in the city, I would have gone, just check for English options before going.
Monserrat, Balvanera, Villa Crespo and Palermo
These areas are central to the city and are great to walk through. If you’ve seen the images of the world cup celebrations, it’s along Av.9 de Julio, a massive road cutting through the city with several notable buildings on it such as the Teatro Colón. I didn’t get inside, but it still has a spectacular exterior.
There’s loads of cafés, restaurants and shops here for you to spend your time going to and from. I’d recommend making the most of it. There are also several small parks well worth relaxing in and soaking up the sun. However just be careful, there’s a few dodgy looking fellas knocking about.
Off Av.9 de Julio, you can find the famous book shop, El Ateneo. However, I thought it was overrated. I think you’d have a better time trawling through second hand-book shops in San Telmo.
Around this area, there is a ‘shopping centre’ called Bond Street which is more worth your time. It’s more on the alternative side of things as it's full of skateboard shops, tattoo parlours and graffitied up to the eyeballs.
It’s really cool and there’s a no camera policy in Bond Street, so you’ll have to use your imagination on this one. Anyone from Manchester think an Argentinian version of Afflecks and that’ll give you a good idea.
Palermo is also a great area to check out and has some hipster vibes going on. I visited here for a night out and there were several locks with bars and clubs. I was with a few hostel folk and found a techno night. I really enjoyed the evening, the venue was outdoors and I was able to get my boogie on. In the day, there’s loads of places to eat and drink, Palermo would be a good area to stay in.
Walking about Buenos Aries
I spent the lion’s share of my time in Buenos Aires walking around the city streets, to which, the most part felt very safe. The city is enormous though and if you’re in town for only a few days, there is no way you will be able to see everything- you won’t even get close. I didn’t always feel totally safe walking on the streets by myself at night, I’m not sure there would’ve been any problems but I wouldn’t recommend doing it.
Getting to terms with the Argentinian peso can also be difficult. I can’t tell you why but the Argentinian peso is extremely volatile which, for some reason, gives a really bad exchange rate. To circumvent this, one of the safest ways of getting cash out can be to send yourself money through Western Union and withdraw money at one of their branches.
There is also a lot of propaganda regarding the Falklands/Malvinas. It’s a weird feeling seeing the 80s conflict so wieldy referenced as, in England the conflict is rarely talked about.
Nevertheless, it’s interesting to see and gave me a new perspective on the war. It is hard to say if I felt any anti-English sentiment in Buenos Aires. Occasionally there would be moments when I thought so, such as when a barista made fun of my accent but who knows? He may of just been having a bad day.