Art and Culture

 

BA's Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Museum of Fine Arts) is always free, and its permanent collection features works by masters such as Degas, Gauguin, Klee, Kandinsky, and Van Gogh as well as Argentinian and South American artists. Closed on Mondays.

If you're in BA in November, check out the city's website to see when BA's museums, universities, and artistic spaces open their doors for free on La Noche de los Museos (Night of the Museums). One night a year the city's cultural spaces stay open late (from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m.) and host films and performances of jazz, tango, folk, techno, choral, and rock music.

 

Attractions

 

On Sundays, be sure to stop by the colonial-era neighborhood of San Telmo for the antique and handicraft fair of Feria de Plaza Dorrego. The fair attracts 10,000 visitors and features 270 vendor stalls selling books, tango paraphernalia, and much more. Enjoy the festival-like atmosphere provided by mimes, buskers, and tango performers.

BA's Barrio Chino (Chinatown), established in the 1980s, is also worth a visit to see one of the few Buddhist temples in the city and watch fishmongers at work.

Enjoy the neighborhood of Caminito, essentially an open-sky museum. Visit any day up to 5PM to browse the crafts fair and watch the street performers.

Stop by the city's oldest and most elegant cemetery, the Cementerio de la Recoleta (Recoleta Cemetery). Nearly 15 acres in size and graced with elaborate marble mausoleums, the remains of former presidents, Nobel Prize winners, and even Eva Perón rest here.

The weekend Feria de Mataderos (Fair of the Mataderos), situated in front of the Mercado Nacional de Hacienda, is a great place to browse traditional handicrafts and tools and instruments used by Argentina's cowboys, the gauchos. The fair is open on Saturdays during summer months (February and March) and Sundays year round, except in January when the fair is closed. A typical Sunday at the fair attracts about 5,000 people.

Stop by the Manzana de las Luces (the Block of the Lights, a name given to the area by a newspaper in 1822, referring to the many influential cultural, religious, and educational buildings and institutions built there), site of some of the oldest constructions in the city and its oldest church, the Iglesia de San Ignacio (the Church of Saint Ignatius), completed in 1722. Free tours are offered on Mondays to visit the 18th-century tunnels beneath the block (used by smugglers and to transport supplies to defend the city).

Hop on board the oldest Argentine ship still afloat at the Buque Museo Corbeta Uruguay (the Uruguay Corvette Ship Museum) in the Puerto Madero neighborhood. The Uruguay has circled the globe several times and was used by the Argentine Navy on several of its early 20th-century Antarctic rescue expeditions.

The Museo del Automóvil Club Argentino (the Museum of the Argentine Automobile Club), located in the Palermo neighborhood, exhibits some pretty hot sports cars and Argentina's first car from 1907.

 

Outdoors

 

Take a break from the bustle of BA at the Reserva Ecológica Costanera Sur (Ecological Reserve). This 865-acre park is a quiet place to stroll, bike, or enjoy a picnic lunch while taking in the beautiful view of the city's skyline.

Meander through the Bosques de Palermo (Forests of Palermo), an urban oasis close to 200 acres in size, featuring two artificial lakes and 12,000 trees. Stop and smell the roses at the park's El Rosedal rose garden.

The Jardín Botánico Carlos Thays (the Carlos Thays Botanical Garden) covers over 17 acres of green space and is home to more than 6,000 plant species. It contains sequoias, magnolias, and French-, Roman-, and Japanese-themed gardens. Free guided tours in English take place Fridays. in Spanish are offered more frequently.

 

Music & Dance

 

Teatro Colón (Colon Theatre) is considered by some to have the best acoustics in the world. The likes of Stravinsky, Copland, and Bernstein have conducted here while Callas, Carreras, and Domingo have filled the horseshoe-shaped main hall with their voices. They offer guided tours.

The University of Buenos Aires's School of Law offers free classical music concerts weekly in the late afternoons and evenings.

Milongas are the dance halls where tango is performed by local people (not tourist shows).

Here is a list with just some of the nightclubs in BA. Remember they open around 2AM until 7AM.

 

More Info

 

The official Buenos Aires Department of Tourism has  a lot of practical information on its website such as weather, activities, free internet spots all around the city, festivals, etc. You can also download maps and apps for your cellphone.

The Buenos Aires Herald is a good snapshot of local and world news in English and is available online.

Time Out Buenos Aires provides good coverage of things to do and see and places to say in BA.

The Government of the City has a great website called ¨Disfrutemos Buenos Aires¨, with more activities most of them free, and cultural venues.

Check the Governmet of the City website for Buenos Aires´festivals here http://festivales.buenosaires.gob.ar/en/home