I have heard so much about Buenos Aires from friends who have previously visited BA, that I could hardly wait for an opportunity to visit this beautiful city. The opportunity came faster than I expected. We were flying from Miami to Rio and wanted to take a day flight, instead of a night flight (I prefer day flights, because to me they feel much shorter). The best flight option was flying through Buenos Aires, so we decided to go for it.
Buenos Aires is truly the gem of South America. More than once I had to pinch myself to remember that I’m not in Europe. The architecture in the city centre is very grand, romantic and European inspired. Certain areas reminded me so much of Paris. We stayed in a beautiful AirBnB apartment. We always choose to rent apartments instead of staying in hotels - make sure to check out AirBnB here.
Palermo was our favorite area to explore in BA. It’s a beautiful mix of Europe and South America. I loved the fact that I couldn’t recognize any stores or restaurants. Most of the stores in Palermo are local and unique to Argentina. It was such a treat to go through dozens of new fashion stores that I had never heard about. Such a far cry from most of the world, where the streets are lined with the exact same stores: H&M , Zara, Gap, etc.
Things to See, Do and Eat:
- Plaza San Martin was truly the highlight of our short trip to BA. It’s one of the most romantic parks I have ever been to.
- Palermo is a great area to explore for the whole day. It’s a hip neighbourhood with cool restaurants and unique fashion stores. It feels like you could spend days there and still have more to discover.
- Hyatt Hotel has a beautiful courtyard and is a great place to have some tea/coffee or lunch/dinner. (And of course take lots of pictures, haha)
- Elena Restaurant at Four Seasons. We had amazing food experiences in this restaurant that we ended up eating there twice. The prices are very reasonable.
- Ricoletta neighbourhood is where we stayed. It’s a very posh area with cute squares, a park and European inspired architecture.
- San Telmo is the oldest neighbourhood of BA. That’s where all the Europeans settled when they first arrived to BA. I think it’s a great area to explore, although I would be a bit more cautious in this area, as it is touristic. You really got to watch your purse here.
Tips:
- Make sure to take USD cash with you when traveling to Buenos Aires or Argentina in general. They are having a currency crisis at the moment. We had a hard time paying with our credit cards in some restaurants/shops. Also, taking out cash from bank machines was very problematic. Most bank machines simply refused our bank cards. Finally, we found a Chinese Bank that worked for us and we were able to take out some cash.
- Exchanging USD cash instead of paying with a credit card can increase the value of your money by 40%.
- Do not wear flashy jewellery or clothes if you are planning to be walking on the streets of BA. Although we felt pretty safe for the most part, BA is known for having a lot of incident with pickpocketing. If you have camera gear, bring a back pack and keep it in the backpack when not using it.
- Pick up some Spanish before you go to BA. We found that most people didn’t speak any English, although they tried, haha.
I am wearing an H&M top, Fidelity jeans, J.Crew necklace and bracelets, Zara flats and bag, RayBan sunglasses.
