After living in B.A. for more than 6 weeks I put together this list of 10 budget friendly things to do in Buenos Aires which offers great activities and tips for every type of traveler. Beside doing tours it is all about experiencing the argentine culture as best as possible without being in a rush – have a look at the video and see what it is like to bike around this metropole, walk around the markets and relax at the parks!
The Video: 10 things to do in Buenos Aires, Argentina – on a budget
1) free walking tour (innercity & main sights)
I discovered Demasiado tours through Couchsurfing and recommendations from friends I met at different CouchSurfing meetings in Buenos Aires. There are various agencies that offer a free walking tour – not all of them are on a daily base, therefore I recommend checking out their websites before to get to know the meeting point and the time.
more info: Demasiado Tours can be found on TripAdvisor
2) Recoleta neighborhood & cemetery
This “barrio” is one of the fancy onces, close to the city center – great architecture, nice parks and one of the most popular cemeteries in town with impressive graves of notable people like “Evita”. I did a free tour here as well to get a quick overview before walking around on my own.
more info: Buena Onda offers free Recoleta tours, check out Wikipedia for more information about the Recoleta Cemetery
3) Buenos Aires Street Art Tours
Matt became a good friend of mine and runs unique graffiti tours providing loads of information about the murals, the artists and the Street Art Scene in general – a great way for people who are new to Street Art to dive into this interesting culture! As he did a lot of investigation for a book he wrote about this topic he knows some great spots with impressive artwork and also provides private tours.
more info: check out BA Street Art for the tours but also for the great Blog!
4) Ice Cream, Helado, Gelato – mmmh!
The amount of people who immigrated from Italy to Buenos Aires and Argentina in general is very high – therefore you can find loads of great Ice Cream Parlours here. Beside the big chains like “Freddo” you should go for some family owned businesses – ask the locals as they know best where to go!
more info: take this list of the top 5 ice cream parlours from the Argentina Independent to treat yourself ;)
5) Discover Buenos Aires by Bike
Time to do something active: grab a bike and cycle around the city (like I did in Berlin)! Since 2 years the city provides a decent network of bicycle routes & most of the hostels offer a bike rental service. This is a great way to get to know Puerto Madero as there is no Subte (Metro) station close to it.
more info: official website with routes and maps (spanish)
6) Parks
After all these activities it's time for a break! Luckily you can find a decent amount of green areas all around the city. My favourite one has been “Bosques de Palermo”
more info: the Argentina Independent also provides a list of “top 5 parks in Buenos Aires”
7) Tango
As it is another popular part of argentine culture you can find a lot of Tango Dinner shows all over the place taking place every night. If you want to have it less touristy you should go out of Buenos Aires to Rosario where you'll find more authentic options. Anyway: Tango was born in San Telmo and there is an option to watch it for free at the sundays open-air market.
more info: find out more about on Wikipedia and on this Faceook page!
8) San Telmo Market / Sunday fair
The best day to visit the oldest barrio of Buenos Aires, San Telmo, is possibly on Sundays where you can stroll along the antique-market. Though it is very touristy it is a good place to get some nice souvenirs.
more info: all about San Telmo on Wikipedia
9) Steak & Malbec Wine
There is no visit to Argentina without having a great steak sided by some of the best wines you can find! Beside having an Asado with friends, the restaurant “Las Cabras” is a very good and budget friendly option which is quite popular by locals, too!
more info: the address can be found here (you go there and line up – waiting time is usually 30mins, depending on when you arrive – remember: argentines eat very late!)
10) Party & Nightlife
Buenos Aires is exhausting as you can party there every night ;) Around the neighborhood Palermo you can find a high density of Bars and Clubs.
more info: have a look at “A guide to Buenos Aires nightlife from a seasoned professional” by Matador network
Here you have it – enjoy your stay in this vibrant city!
Tip: Rosario is just a short 4h bus ride away and another great place to be – have a look at the photo essay from Rosario and check out the previous episode “things to do in Rosario”.
I continue my journey to the more relaxed capital of Uruguay: Montevideo. To make sure you don't miss further episodes Subscribe to my YouTube channel or simply sign up for the mailing list which ensures a notification for new blog posts!
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Disclosure:
My accommodation in Buenos Aires was supported by Hostelbookers.com – together with Traveldudes they help me to show you South America on my #HolaGringo trip.
All the content I provide from my travels is completely my own – this goes for opinions and views as well as for recommendations.
Very Well!
Thanks for linking to the Happy Tango: Sallycat's Guide to Dancing in Buenos Aires Facebook page in your article. The book is now available on Kindle, especially handy for travellers! See http://pirottapress.com/happytango for full details of the book; the FB page has the updates.