Buenos Aires/Palermo & Recoleta

Palermo is a hip residential neighborhood of tree-lined streets and intersections packed with restaurants, bars, and boutiques. Palermo covers a large swath of residential Buenos Aires, including Palermo Viejo, Palermo Alto, and Palermo Chico as well as Palermo Park. Palermo Viejo is a large area that can be further subdivided into Palermo Soho and Palermo Hollywood. Palermo Hollywood is home to the trendiest restaurants in Buenos Aires.

Recoleta is one of the finest and most expensive areas of the city. It boasts many French style buildings, large green spaces, and first class restaurants. The famous Recoleta Cemetery is well worth a visit.

• 🌍 Recoleta Cemetery. An elegant last resting place for eminent residents. The elaborate tombs were built above ground because the bodies would float to the surface in the marshy land. Home to Eva Perón and other dignitaries. Tombs that have fallen into disrepair are often not maintained, so be prepared to see a few coffins! Well worth a visit. (updated Sep 2017)
• Parque de la Memoria (English: Remembrance park) a public space that is situated in front of the Río de la Plata estuary in the northern end of the Belgrano section of Buenos Aires. It is a memorial to the victims of the 1976–83 military regime during the Dirty War which was part of Operation Condor...pack some sandwiches and perhaps something stronger to relax on the hillside behind the exhibition hall in contemplation (and watch the planes landing overhead at the airport nearby) after learning more about this tragic yet important part of Argentina´s history that is a must visit for any visitor. (Open everyday 10:00-18:00, Free)
• 🌍 Museo Evita (Evita Museum), Lafinur 2988, Palermo, ☏ +54 11 4807-0306, info@museoevita.org. Tu-Su 11:00-19:00. The museum provides a good overview of the life of Evita Peron. Many of her personal belongings are displayed. 
• 🌍 National Fine Arts Museum (Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes), Avenida Libertador 1473 (located in the Recoleta neighborhood), ☏ +54 11 5288-9900. Tu-F 11:30-19:30, Sa Su 09:30-19:30. A top-notch museum - some well-known impressionists are represented, including some wonderful Degas ballerinas. The museum brings home to you the fact that BA was a rich part of the European mainstream for much of its history. It has offices in the City of Buenos Aires and in the city of Neuquén. This museum was founded in December 1896, it has approximately 12000 pictures and it is a public museum. The works of El Greco, Goya, Rodin, Rembrandt, Rubens, Renoir, Degas, Cézanne, Chagall and Picasso are among the international art heritage of the museum. Among the most important Argentine paintings, it has works by Cándido López, Lino Enea Spilimbergo, Prilidiano Pueyrredón, Fernando Fader, Benito Quinquela Martín, Xul Solar, Antonio Berni, Carlos Alonso and Antonio Seguí. The museum has a photography room, an art and a pre-Columbian art room, two terraces of sculptures and a library with 150,000 copies. Free entrance. (updated Sep 2017)
• 🌍 El Ateneo Grand Splendid Bookstore, Av. Santa Fe 1860. If you like books (or even if you don't), don't miss this beautiful bookstore. Back in the old days used to be a theater; now it is considered one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world . (updated Sep 2017)
• 🌍 Buenos Aires Botanical Garden (Jardín Botánico). The trees and other plants, organized by part of the world, fill the park densely enough that you may almost forget you're in the middle of a city. The quintessential "cat" garden is also filled with many flowers and a 19th-century glass house. (updated Nov 2017)
• 🌍 Buenos Aires Japanese Gardens (Jardín Japonés). A public space administered by the non-profit Japanese Argentine Cultural Foundation. One of the largest Japanese gardens of its type in the world outside Japan. (updated Sep 2017)
• 🌍 Palermo Viejo. Old part of Palermo. Most of Palermo is filled with high apartment buildings, Palermo Viejo is the only part of the district which has low houses and a more "tranquilo" feel to it. It has also become extremely trendy with many bars, restaurants and designer boutiques. (updated Sep 2017)
• Bosques de Palermo. Palermo is famous for its parks. Go take a nice stroll! (updated Sep 2017)
• Palermo chico. Expensive (very elite) area of Palermo where many diplomats and VIPs live. (updated Sep 2017)
• 🌍 Palermo Las Cañitas. The most exclusive and beautiful side of Palermo, and even inside of this sub-neighborhood, there is "La Imprenta" a couple of city blocks, with axe in migueletes and maure streets. Las Canitas remarks: It's an area with lots of nice restaurants, parrillas (Argentinean beef), sushi, specialized/ ethnic restaurants (Thai, Mexican, Greek, lyrical, custom, international, Chinese, Italian, French, German, etc.) Modern buildings, nice cars on the streets, upscale people, in general it's quiet especially during daylight. Close main avenues are Libertador Ave. and Luis Maria Campos. El solar de la abadia shopping mall has also cinema, food court and clothes like any shopping mall. Outdoors close to Las Canitas: Golf course, polo fields, race, Palermo lakes, bosques de palermo (crossing Libertador Ave). (updated Sep 2017)
• Del Pilar Church (Iglesia del Pilar). A beautiful church close to the cemetery with a lot of history. (updated Sep 2017)
• 🌍 Alvear Palace Hotel, Av. Alvear 1891. One of the most traditional and luxurious hotels in Buenos Aires, it has been home to notable guests such as Sofia Loren, and Nelson Mandela. Its restaurants (La Bourgogne and L'Orangerie) are among the top ones in Buenos Aires for eating. You can also go for tea time. (updated Sep 2017)
• 🌍 Palacio Duhau (Park Hyatt), Av. Alvear 1661. Inspired in the Chateau du Marais in Paris, it is one of the finest properties in Buenos Aires. Its interior is amazing, with the garden designed by Carlos Thays, who has also designed many parks in the city, such as El Rosedal, in Palermo. (updated Sep 2017)
• Libertador. Huge avenida (updated Sep 2017)
• Avenida Santa Fe/Alto Palermo. Shopping (updated Sep 2017)

• Behold the Floralis Generica, a giant mechanical sculpture of a metallic flower which closes when the lights of the day disappears.
• Go to the zoo!
• 🌍 Museo de Artes Plásticas Eduardo Sívori, ☏ +54 11 4774-9452. At Av. Infanta Isabel 555. The Museum of Fine Arts Eduardo Sivori was founded to cherish Argentine artistic production, gathering works that could lead the public to a direct knowledge of expressions of spirit. 
• See an art film or art at Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA) Av Figueroa Alcorta 3415. If you are a true lover of modern art, this is a must-see.
• Teatro Ciego, Zelaya 3006. Literally, "Blind Theater", it offers a unique experience: you can go and both enjoy a dinner and a theater performance in complete darkness. Recommended is the "A ciegas con Luz" show. 
• Ahin Spa, Palacio Duhau - Park Hyatt Buenos Aires Hotel, Avenida Alvear 1661, ☏ +54 11 5171 1234, buenosaires.park@hyattintl.com. 

• Walk along Avenida Alvear:. Right after seeing Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (MNBA), you can walk along Avenida Libertador until it splits in two. At this point, take the right path, which is the starting point of Avenida Alvear. Walk until it ends (around 7 blocks), where you'll find the French and Brazilian embassy. In between, there are also many beautiful buildings, like the Alvear Palace Hotel, Duhau Palace, the Ralph Lauren House, fine art shops, among others.

• 🌍 VOS Buenos Aires, Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear 1459,, ☏ +54 11 4812-1140. offers Regular and Intensive Spanish courses, Exam preparation CELU, DELE, and Immersion programs in Argentina. Vos Buenos Aires offers a wide range of cultural activities every day of the week. The school's main attributes are the excellence of their teachers, the cultural approach, and the great atmosphere. At VOS, Spanish is learned by speaking, feeling, thinking, writing, laughing and living in Spanish. 
• 🌍 Ibero, Av. Cnel. Díaz 1736, ☏ +54 11 3264-4289. This school has received attention in guide books. Their method of education is TEFL, a highly regarded method. You can expect, given their foreign press, a higher concentration of the younger backpacker crowd and a higher turnover of students. There has also been observed a high turnover of teachers and other difficulties. 
• 🌍 IntoWords Spanish School, Paraguay 3479, 3 A,Palermo, ☏ +54 9 11 5481 5456, info@intowords.com.ar. Provides face-to-face and online Spanish courses individually and in groups. (updated Sep 2020)
• 🌍 Vamos Spanish, Av. Cnel. Díaz 1736, ☏ +54 11 5984-2201. An all-rounded and eco-friendly Spanish school offering customized group and private classes supplemented with cultural immersion workshops and activities. 

Books in Spanish from the book fairs in Palermo.

Arts and crafts, mate cups, jewelry and lots of leather goods (somewhat cheap) at many other fairs on Saturdays and Sundays throughout Palermo.

• Galería Mar Dulce, Uriarte 1490 (2 blocks from Plaza Cortázar (formerly Plaza Serrano)), ☏ +54 15 5319 3597. Tu-Sa 15:00-20:00. Galeria Mar Dulce is the latest addition to the sizzling Buenos Aires' art scene. Housed on the ground floor of former town-house in the heart of the trendy Palermo Soho district, with light streaming in from large windows onto the street and a lovely little garden out back, it’s more like your trendy friend’s living room that a traditional white-cube gallery. Mar Dulce specializes in artworks by Argentine and Uruguayan artists (hence the name, a former term for the River Plate which runs between the two countries). Artists include some big names on the local art scene, such as Tulio de Sagastizábal, Santiago Porter, James Peck or the father and son Raoul and Ral Veroni. Nearly all artworks are small format however, so well within a traveling budget. The gallery changes exhibitions every 6 weeks or so and always presents 2 shows simultaneously: a solo exhibition and what they call their +COLLECTIVE, so there’s always plenty to browse. Up to date info in Spanish and English is available on the galeriamardulce.blogspot.com and also on facebook and twitter. The gallery is just a few blocks away from the new hub of Palermo art in Humboldt and Cabrera, and round the corner from the famous La Cabrera steakhouse, so present shopping and dinner plans made easy! free entry. 
• 🌍 Malambo, Thames 2098 (Thames and Guatemala), ☏ +54 11 4778-0870. M-Sa 10:00-14:00, 16:00-21:00. Malambo is a great wine shop with a small cheese and deli section. They also stock a range of sauces, conserves and other similar luxury products. The owner is knowledgeable and speaks excellent English. If you are staying nearby and need decent wine, this is a great place to shop; they are also good at recommending wine, cheese and meat combinations. Other shops (mostly small supermarkets) in the area offer cheaper wine selections with a lot in the 10-30ARS range, but these bottles are of a much lesser quality than what you will find here. Credit cards are accepted. Moderate. 
• Santa Fe Avenue features many fashionable clothing stores. Recoleta also has many antique and interior decoration shops.
• The Antique Bookshop, Libertad 1236. This small bookshop offers many rare, hard to find very old books about topics like Buenos Aires urbanization, French/English/Argentinean literature, British publications about things going on during the early days of Buenos Aires, etc. The store has a very nice atmosphere. 
• Patio Bullrich:. Originally an auction house dating back to 1867, Patio Bullrich is now an upscale shopping center, offering brands like Ermenegildo Zegna, Hugo Boss, Ferragamo, among others. It is located at Posadas 1245. 
• COTO Hypermarket, multiple in Barrio Norte. 08:30-22:30. The COTO chain is akin to Super Target and Walmart Supercenters. For expats living abroad, you'll find everything from groceries and paper products to electronics, bed and bath, and children's books. This chain has several locations in Barrio Norte, a section that's on the edge between Recoleta proper and Palermo. 
  • One great feature of this and other supermarkets in Buenos Aires is the availability of home delivery (envio a domicilio). It's a boon to anyone buying multiple jugs of water, beer, wine, etc. How it works: you'll shop in the store, and choose the checkout lines with "envio a domicilio" on the sign above. The clerk rings up your purchases, and when you pay, you give your address, telephone number and preferred delivery time. The groceries are then packed into plastic tubs. If the delivery will be made much later, or even the following date, the stores place the tubs containing your order into cold storage.
  • Time is a fluid concept in Buenos Aires, so give a time for which you can be home an hour before and an hour after. The delivery person will ring the bell for your apartment and come up in the elevator with a wheeled cart with your containers of food.
  • Tip: check the website for daily credit card discounts. Post-2001 crisis, the Argentine government, banks, and major retailers are partnering to give discounts for placing transactions on credit cards. Some of the discount comes from an instant reduction in the 21% VAT. This benefits the government by encouraging more transactions to come into the white economy.
• 🌍 Uru Recoleta, Vicente Lopez 2132, ☏ +54 11 4804-9844. Large leather goods showroom featuring jackets, gloves, handbags. Also has a nice selection of sweaters. Small selection of wallets, cuff links and similar accessories. Jackets are tried on in the showroom to choose the design and find your size, but can be custom fit to your taste. This shop offers a wide selection of leathers for each coat, and will alter a design to suit your preferences (such as shortening the length of a coat, if you're petite). Service is high-touch, attentive, and available in both Spanish and English. This is one of the most hassle-free places to browse for leather in Buenos Aires. 
• Feria Plaza Francia (Recoleta cemetery). Weekends during daylight. One of the more popular street fairs in Buenos Aires, the Recoleta Feria sprawls across Plaza Francia, just outside the famous cemetery. Most items are artisanal designs. Among the things you'll find here are leather belts; clothing; musical instruments, oft of African origin; stained glass; handbags; and more. Clothing is typically one-size-fits-all ("unica"), or comes in Size 1 and Size 2. If you want to shop for clothing, plan to pull it on over your clothes and assess in a handheld mirror. As most Portenas are quite slim and weight-conscious, a "size 2" seems to equate to a US size 4 or 6. Skirts and dresses are also noticeably shorter, owing more to the petite stature of the locals. 
• 🌍 El Ateneo, Santa Fe 1860, ☏ +54 11 4813-6052. originally a theater (Teatro Grand Splendid), has now become in one of the top 5 most beautiful bookstores in the world. It has a reasonable offering of books in English. 

Palermo is crawling with restaurants, cafés, and parrillas. Almost every intersection has a restaurant on at least one corner, and often three or four. Most cafés have outdoor seating and serve staples such as thinly cut steak sandwiches (lomitos), ham croissants (media luna) and malbec wine.

• 🌍 La Biela Cafe, Av. Presidente Manuel Quintana 600. A great place to settle in for a few hours outside under the huge ancient tree. Apparently, the Biela is part of a car necessary for it to run, and racers used to gather here a long time ago. 
• El Parillon de Recoleta. Excellent selections of meats, salads and pasta with an Uruguayan influence. Specializes in roast baby pig. Dependable and friendly service, moderate prices. 
• 🌍 Los Inmortales, Paraná 1209, ☏ +54 11 4803 3328. Su-Th 09:00-01:00; F Sa 09:30-01:30. As a consequence of the Italian immigration, Buenos Aires has a strong tradition in pizzas (pastas as well). 'Los Inmortales' is considered one of the most traditional pizza restaurants in the city, and one of the first 'pizzerias' to offer the "pizza a la piedra" (thin crust). One of five locations. (updated Sep 2017)
• 🌍 La Madeleine, Santa Fe 1726, ☏ +54 11 4813-8400. 24 hours. Open 24-hours and offering pizza, empanadas, salads, pastas and grilled meats. Also offers delivery. 
• 🌍 Club Sirio, Ayacucho 1496, ☏ +54 11 4806-5764. 20:30 until 01:30. Unique Arabian food restaurant complete with belly dancers in a beautiful 19th century building. 
• Gran Bar Danzon, Libertad 1161, danzon@granbardanzon.com.ar. A legendary restaurant/pub in Buenos Aires that still maintains its style. Great place to go for some drinks at night or also for couples looking for a romantic dinner. 
• Circolo Italiano, Libertad 1264. For those looking for Italian food in Recoleta, Il Circolo Italiano is one of the best options for its price/atmosphere/food value. The place offers an executive menu during weekdays at lunch worth trying. You can also go for dinner inside this beautiful house. 
• Palacio Balcarce. Av. Presidente Manuel Quintana 161, 1st Floor. This is a nice place where you can go and have dinner or also a brunch/tea while enjoying a beautiful atmosphere. Recommended for couples. 
• 🌍 Bio Solo Orgánico, Humboldt 2192, ☏ +54 11 4774-3880. Organic restaurant, Vegetarian/Vegan 
• 🌍 Lotus, Av. Córdoba 1583, ☏ +54 11 4814-4558. Vegetarian/Vegan 

Stop at any cafe for an espresso, cafe con leche (milk) or cortado.

• 🌍 The Shamrock Bar & Basement Club, Rodriguez Peña 1200, ☏ +54 11 4812-3584. Irish pub. (updated May 2016)
• La Biela, Quintana 596 and RM Ortiz. Luxurious. You can sit outside underneath a huge ancient ficus tree for a little extra cost. (updated Nov 2017)
• 🌍 Casa Bar, Rodríguez Peña 1150 (off Av. Santa Fe), ☏ +54 11 4816 2712. Open from 19:00 nightly. Popular Recoleta bar with a fantastic international beer and liquor selection, excellent American-style bar food, DJs and live music and all international sporting events on two floors. Happy hour specials 19:00-23:00. (updated May 2016)
• 🌍 The Spot, Ayacucho 1261, ☏ +54 (11) 4811-8955, thespot@thespot.com.ar. Tu–Sa 18:00–03:00. The bar invites visitors for a drink, especially if you are from far away lands. 
• Milion, Parana 1048, ☏ +54 11 4815-9925. Classy bar and restaurant in a renovated mansion in Recoleta. Come earlier in the evening for dinner and to get a table in the gorgeous enclosed garden. Expect upmarket prices and a good DJ, but don't expect to dance. This is a place to relax with a cocktail or linger over dinner. 

The Palermo Soho/Viejo area is home to some of the trendiest small boutique hotels in Buenos Aires. These hotels offer the amenities of their larger international chain counterparts, plus a more personal style of service often at a fraction of the cost. In addition to hotels and hostels Buenos Aires is a place where furnished apartments can be a great luxury at a cheap price. Palermo is a popular area for many expats, and there are many stores that cater to just Americans in this part of Buenos Aires.