TOP 7 REASONS TO VISIT BUENOS AIRES ARGENTINA

Buenos Aires is a pul­sat­ing, pas­sion­ate, cos­mopoli­tan city. The com­bi­na­tion of rich archi­tec­tur­al and cul­tur­al her­itage, mod­ern cre­ative ener­gy, elec­tric nightlife, unique tra­di­tions, a vibrant arts scene, exten­sive parks, and warm, friend­ly hosts makes it one of the world’s most excit­ing capitals.

There are dozens of rea­sons to vis­it, hence why the city has repeat­ed­ly been vot­ed the best in Latin Amer­i­ca by users of Tri­pAd­vi­sor, but here are just ten of the big ones.

1. You can dance the world’s most romantic dance in its birthplace

Sen­su­al, nos­tal­gic, and fiendish­ly dif­fi­cult to learn, tan­go emerged in the city’s port­side neigh­bour­hoods in the mid-19th cen­tu­ry and has since con­quered the world. Today, Buenos Aires is a place of pil­grim­age for tan­go dancers from all over, and the dance is still very much alive — danced by the young and young-at-heart well into the ear­ly hours every night of the week. As well as wit­ness­ing tra­di­tion­al social danc­ing and learn­ing some steps at a milon­ga, you can treat your­self to sump­tu­ous din­ner-shows with spec­tac­u­lar­ly chore­o­graphed per­for­mances, and see live orches­tras play­ing every­where from cosy neigh­bour­hood bars to grand sym­pho­ny halls.

2. You can enjoy nightlife that goes on well into the morning

Buenos Aires is a city that nev­er sleeps, famous for its phe­nom­e­nal nightlife, which ranges from tra­di­tion­al neigh­bour­hood tav­erns to award-win­ning cock­tail bars, big clubs, hid­den gig venues, and under­ground nightspots cater­ing to every niche. The city’s incred­i­ble open­ness and diver­si­ty also make it the top des­ti­na­tion in Latin Amer­i­ca for LGBT vis­i­tors. Just be pre­pared to stay out late! We eat late, par­ty late and sleep late, if at all!

3. You’ll experience sporting passion like never before

Buenos Aires is a city that lives and breathes foot­ball (soc­cer), and the pas­sion can be felt in the sta­di­ums, the neigh­bour­hood cafes and the goal cel­e­bra­tions of a local ama­teur team. The atmos­phere at the city’s sta­di­ums has to be expe­ri­enced to be believed, and the Boca vs Riv­er der­by has been described as the most intense sport­ing event in the world.

4. You’ll find yourself in a historic melting pot of cultures

The city’s cos­mopoli­tan, mul­ti­cul­tur­al iden­ti­ty was forged in a melt­ing pot of cul­tures, from Native Amer­i­can and colo­nial Span­ish roots, to the influ­ences of immi­gra­tion from Italy, France, Great Britain, the Mid­dle East, Africa and Asia. You’ll see this eclec­tic mix of influ­ences in the city’s archi­tec­ture, food and in the char­ac­ter of its peo­ple. And while Buenos Aires is a cos­mopoli­tan city always look­ing towards the lat­est trends, they also have pas­sion­ate pride in their his­to­ry and tra­di­tion. Feel the nos­tal­gia in the cob­bled streets of neigh­bor­hoods like San Tel­mo, vis­it old cafes where poets used to gath­er, wit­ness tra­di­tion­al gau­cho dis­plays of horse­man­ship and folk danc­ing at the Feria de Mataderos, and explore the polit­i­cal his­to­ry of the Plaza de Mayo, where huge crowds turned out to see Eva Perón speak.

5. You can enjoy a wealth of culture

Long seen as Latin Amer­i­ca’s cap­i­tal of cul­ture, Buenos Aires has almost 300 the­atres, 380 book­stores and 160 muse­ums, and some of them will take your breath away. The Teatro Colón is one of the world’s best opera hous­es, with out­stand­ing acoustics and beau­ti­ful inte­ri­ors, the Ate­neo Grand Spendid is con­sid­ered one of the most beau­ti­ful book­shops in the world, and you’ll find cre­ative, artis­tic expres­sion not only in the many gal­leries and cul­tur­al cen­tres, but in the streets them­selves. The city has its own tra­di­tion­al form of folk art known as filetea­do, recog­nised as cul­tur­al her­itage by UNESCO, and you can find incred­i­ble street art on every cor­ner (pay a vis­it to the incred­i­ble 2000m² mur­al El regre­so de Quin­quela in Barracas).

6. Festivals and events

A guide to what’s hap­pen­ing in Buenos Aires through­out the year.
• 125th Argen­tine Open Polo Tour­na­ment: One of the world’s great­est polo tour­na­ment every Novem­ber — December.
• Inter­na­tion­al Tan­go Fes­ti­val and World Cup: (Every August. 2018 edi­tion: August 9 — 22) Two weeks of con­certs, shows, class­es and milon­gas every August. Come to watch, lis­ten or dance!
• BA Inter­na­tion­al Jazz Fes­ti­val: (Novem­ber 14 — 19, 2018) Every­thing from Bebop to jazz fusion at this inter­na­tion­al fes­ti­val every November.Click here for more

7. You can eat like a king

Des­ig­nat­ed Ibero-Amer­i­can cap­i­tal of Gas­tro­nom­ic Cul­ture 2017, the city boasts out­stand­ing culi­nary options, from ele­gant 19th and ear­ly 20th cen­tu­ry “bares nota­bles” to some of Latin America’s most acclaimed con­tem­po­rary restau­rants and bars. Din­ing is impor­tant in Buenos Aires, and you can enjoy the world’s best steaks, Argenti­na’s famous mal­bec wines, and hearty Andean fare, plus there’s piz­za, pas­ta and ice cream on every cor­ner thanks to the city’s Ital­ian her­itage. Buenos Aires boasts sev­er­al restau­rants recog­nised in Latin America’s 50 Best. Local treats to look out for include the tra­di­tion­al infu­sion mate and addic­tive alfa­jores — choco­late-cov­ered dou­ble-deck cook­ies filled with caramel-like dulce de leche.