Buenos Aires is a city full of historical memories. This city is a reminder of military rule, dictatorship, coups d’état and corrupt government from the last century.
Atmospheric old neighbourhoods are rife with romantic restaurants and thumping nightlife, and Buenos Aires' European heritage is evident in its architecture, boulevards and parks.
Where to stayEven in the midst of Recoleta’s many 20th-century chateux, the Palacio Duhau (00 54 11 5171 1234; buenosaires.park.hyatt.com) stands out. Rooms in the neo-classical palace, built for one of the city’s most prominent land-owning families, are hard to come by, but offer a well preserved glimpse into the city’s past. Smart rooms are also available in its modern annexe, which is separated from the palace by landscaped gardens; underground, an art gallery connects the two buildings.
Soak up the ambience — and malbec — in the hotel’s 7,000-bottle vinoteca; shiver in its cheese room; then warm up with a cigar and brandy in the Oak Bar, whose ornate panels were imported from a castle in Normandy. Doubles from £413, room only.
Where to eat and drinkMealtimes in Buenos Aires can last for hours — a necessity in a town where no one would be seen dead in a tango club before 3am — so small plates and large cocktails are all the rage at dinnertime. It’s not really fair to call the amazing tapas at Shout (00 54 11 4313 2850; shoutbar.com.ar) small plates; they include rib-eye steak, meaty empanadas and a catch of the day. The restaurant spans multiple floors of an old French-style townhouse in trendy Retiro, where you can sit at the long bar and marvel at the mixology magic — concoctions include ingredients like smoked pineapple — or at one of the tables encircling its open kitchen.
Slurp up a bowlful of Buenos Aires’ Italian immigrant culture at La Locanda (00 54 11 4806 6343; lalocandabuenosaires.com), a noisy, colourful Sardinian restaurant in Recoleta. Between blow-torching cheeses tableside and cracking jokes with locals, larger-than-life tattooed chef Daniele Pinna puts out generous plates including smoked sturgeon with rocket and capers; grilled octopus and enough fresh pasta to weigh down your tango dancing for hours afterwards.
Whether or not you choose to join the many morning rollerbladers in the 63-acre Bosques de Palermo park, stop at nearby Nana (00 54 11 4837 9220; nana.com.ar) to refuel. Based beneath the railway arches, its vibrant salads — broccoli, grilled halloumi, mixed pickles and baba ghanoush, for example — offer a great break from Argentina’s generally meat-heavy cuisine. Late in the evening the industrial-chic restaurant’s customers spill onto the pavement and mingle with the clientele from the cool neighbouring bars; but at lunchtime you should be able to snag an outside table overlooking the park’s heady rose garden.
Buenos Aires has embraced the craft beer boom with gusto. Blue Dog Beer Station (00 54 11 4832 3226; facebook.com/bluedogbeerstation) claims to have the best selection in the city; wash down glasses of its excellent IPA with empanadas and fiery patatas bravas. La Cerveceria Nacional (00 54 11 4771 3383; facebook.com/cervecerianacionalbar), another craft beer bar in Palermo, whose walls are lined with beer bottles, is a good alternative.
Where to shopRegularly voted one of the most beautiful bookshops in the world, El Ateneo Grand Splendid (00 54 11 4813 6052; yenny-elateneo.com) occupies an ornate former theatre, all white plaster and gold embellishment. The former stage’s heavy red curtains are drawn back to reveal the in-house café; bookshelves line the balconies on each tier, and restored boxes offer a place to sit and read in peace.
Less grand but equally interesting are the numerous second-hand bookshops that line the streets of San Telmo neighbourhood; Walrus Books (00 54 11 4300 7135; walrus-books.com.ar; closed Mondays), a tiny English language bookshop, is a great nook to explore.
What to doBuenos Aires’ tourist board offers an amazing number of free tours, including walking tours of every neighbourhood, “urban treks” of up to 18km around the entire city, and an hour-long, row-it-yourself boat excursion around the Puerto Madero district.
One of the more unusual tours, the Pope Francis bus tour, of the neighbourhoods where the Argentinian pontiff grew up, winds through the narrow streets of Buenos Aires’ further-flung neighbourhoods for a real look at the city away from the refined, regenerated expanse of Palermo and Recoleta. It’s in Spanish but an English leaflet helps you orientate yourself. Tours depart from outside the church of San José de Flores on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays at 9am and 3pm, but book in advance on the tourist board website.
Details: Buenos AiresBritish Airways (0344 493 0787; ba.com) flies daily from Heathrow to Buenos Aires.
The best way to get around the city is aboard the efficient if sometimes frenetic metro, or Subte; tickets are AR$4.50 (20p) with a Subte card.
turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar
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