Known for
European-style boulevards, tango culture and Belle Epoque architecture
Must-see landmarks
Teatro Colón, Casa Rosada, Caminito in La Boca and Recoleta Cemetery
Best time to visit
Autumn (March to May) and spring (September to November)
Free to visit
Plaza de Mayo, Obelisco, Puerto Madero's waterfront and the Caminito
Rising 67.5 metres over Avenida 9 de Julio, the Obelisco was built in 1936 to mark 400 years since Pedro de Mendoza's first founding of the city in 1536, designed by architect Alberto Prebisch. It stands in Plaza de la República, where the city's widest avenues meet. Teatro Colón is a 9 minute walk north-west.
Buenos Aires's grand opera house, Teatro Colón stages opera, ballet and classical concerts inside a lavishly decorated auditorium. Paid guided tours run daily except on major holidays, taking in the Foyer, Bust Gallery, Golden Hall and Main Hall. Plaza de Mayo is a 21 minute walk south-east.
Argentina's political heart since colonial times, Plaza de Mayo is framed by the pink Casa Rosada, the colonial Cabildo and the Metropolitan Cathedral. The Cabildo's museum and the Casa Rosada Museum both have free entry, the latter Wednesday to Sunday, 11:00 to 18:00, no reservation needed. Puerto Madero is an 11 minute walk east.
Engineer Eduardo Madero's docks, built 1900 to 1905, sat abandoned for decades before a 1989 redevelopment made today's promenade of converted warehouses and glass towers. Santiago Calatrava's rotating Puente de la Mujer, his first Latin American work, crosses the water nearby. San Telmo is a 29 minute walk south-west, or a short bus ride.
One of the city's oldest and most emblematic neighbourhoods, San Telmo keeps its colonial mansions, cobbled streets and antique shops around Plaza Dorrego. Sundays bring the Feria de San Telmo, an open-air antiques fair with tango dancers at its edges. La Boca is a 33 minute walk south, or bus route 29 along Defensa to La Boca's terminal.
Genoese immigrants built La Boca's conventillo tenements from wood and sheet metal in the late 19th century; after the railway closed, the area fell quiet until artist Benito Quinquela Martín and neighbours repainted the tenements in the 1950s, creating today's Caminito. Its craft fair runs every day amid tango dancers and street artists.
Argentina's central square is open to walk through at any hour, framed by Casa Rosada, the Cabildo and the cathedral. Weekday mornings, before tour groups arrive, are the quietest time to see it.
Plaza de la República and its landmark Obelisco cost nothing to visit at any hour; the monument is best seen lit up after dark, when Avenida 9 de Julio's traffic streams past on either side.
The presidential palace's Casa Rosada Museum has free entry Wednesday to Sunday, 11:00 to 18:00, with no reservation needed for individual visitors.
Caminito's open-air craft market and street art are free to browse every day of the week; the street fills with visitors around midday, so early morning is quieter.
Puerto Madero's dockside promenade and the rotating Puente de la Mujer footbridge are open to walk across at any time, free of charge, away from the paid restaurants that line the water's edge.
Plaza Dorrego's Sunday antiques fair is free to browse, best visited before midday while the stalls are still easy to reach along Defensa.
Browsing the shelves of this former theatre costs nothing; buying a book or visiting the cafe on the old stage is what costs money.
Argentina's national fine arts museum has free entry Tuesday to Friday, 11:00 to 20:00, and Saturday and Sunday, 10:00 to 20:00, closed on Mondays.
The colonial-era town hall on Plaza de Mayo holds a free history museum, one of several national-government museums the city lists among its free attractions.
This steel flower sculpture in Plaza de las Naciones Unidas is on permanent outdoor display, free to view at any hour.
Argentina's capital grew from a Spanish colonial port into a city of wide European-style boulevards, ornate Belle Epoque buildings and a passion for tango that spills from milongas onto the street. Avenida 9 de Julio cuts through the centre, while immigrant neighbourhoods such as San Telmo and La Boca kept their own distinct character. Football, steak and late dining shape daily life across the city's barrios.
South of the centre, San Telmo and La Boca hold some of the oldest streets and the brightest colours, from Plaza Dorrego's antiques to Caminito's painted tenements. Puerto Madero's converted docks line the eastern waterfront between them. North of the centre, Recoleta and Palermo spread out along tree-lined avenues, with the cemetery's mausoleums in one and parks, a rose garden and the restaurant-filled Palermo Soho and Hollywood in the other.
Buenos Aires sits in the Southern Hemisphere, so summer runs December to February, hot and humid, while winter, June to August, is mild by comparison. Autumn (March to May) and spring (September to November) bring milder days and are generally the most comfortable times to visit. Three to four days cover the main sights; travellers adding Tigre, La Plata or a ferry crossing to Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay should allow extra time.
The Subte underground and the city's extensive colectivo bus network both run on the rechargeable SUBE card, which also covers the commuter trains. Much of the centre, from Plaza de Mayo to Puerto Madero and San Telmo, is flat and walkable, while La Boca, Recoleta and Palermo are better reached by bus, taxi or rideshare from further out.