Journey and Accommodation

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CLASSIC CITY TOUR

Buenos Aires is one of the hippest cities in the world right now. Be it for its splendid and varied architecture, that somehow manages to harmonically blend old Colonial buildings with precarious yet charming tin houses, French palaces and state-of-the-art steel and glass skyscrapers; for its infinite nightlife and numerous cultural options; for the multiple and exciting shopping opportunities it provides; or maybe just for the rich identity of the Porteños, who proudly bear the European heritage of their ancestors, more and more visitors are coming to visit. This tour will allow us to trace back the city’s historical evolution, visiting the city’s most distinctive landmarks, and getting acquainted with the uses and customs of its inhabitants.

Our journey starts at Plaza de Mayo, the city’s foundational site and witness of our country’s political history. There we’ll visit the Pink House, our Presidential Palace, the Cabildo, our primitive town hall, and the Neoclassical-styled Metropolitan Cathedral, the final home of Argentina’s founding father, José de San Martín.

We’ll then head for San Telmo, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Buenos Aires. It used to be the residential district favored by the upper class until late 19th century, when a yellow fever epidemic caused the wealthier families to leave northwards. The area was marginalized until the 1970s, when many artists and artisans came to San Telmo to install their workshops. Nowadays, thanks to its amazing architecture and convenient location, this ancient neighbourhood is really blooming. We’ll walk its cobbled streets, where the city’s Colonial past seems to come back to life, making a stop at Plaza Dorrego, best known for its traditional antiques fair, held every Sunday.

Leaving San Telmo behind, we’ll continue southwards to La Boca, one of the city’s most authentic and charming neighborhoods. It is a working class district, heavily shaped by Italian immigrants who came to our country in large numbers during the last quarter of the 19th century. The neighborhood’s colorful buildings and its characteristically tenant houses witness the cheerful spirit of the Italian community. As in San Telmo in the 1970s, nowadays La Boca is being renovated, and more and more artists and TV producers are choosing this neighborhood to install their workshops and studios. Here, we’ll make a special visit to the mythical Caminito Street, which sums up everything that gives La Boca its distinctive spirit: the strong passion for soccer, the heavy presence of art and color, and the tango-esque atmosphere.

Heading back north across the river, we’ll pay a visit to Puerto Madero, a rather contrasting port district. In 1991, its huge warehouses and silos where remodelled and redesigned, to finally integrate the river to the city and to create a new corporative, residential, hotel and gastronomically district, which is rapidly expanding southwards following our country’s growth, and has become the playground for the pretty Porteños and the international jet-set.

Following the trail of the upper classes in their retreat to the north, we visit La Recoleta, where we’ll discover a sharp contrast with the neighborhoods in the south. There we will learn about the dream of our local aristocrats in the late 19th century and early 20th, when they sought to build a small-scale Paris in the heart of Buenos Aires. After visiting the impressive Plaza San Martín, and admiring the sumptuous Belle Époque palaces, which contrast with the modern concrete mass of the Kavanagh Building, Latin America’s first skyscraper, we’ll walk down Avenida Alvear, chosen by the world’s most distinguished brands to install their exclusive boutiques, looking up to see the many wonderful French style palaces which nowadays house a number of embassies. Once in Plaza Francia, we’ll visit the Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar, one of the city’s oldest churches, which dates to the Colonial era. Finally, we’ll admire the celebrated Recoleta Cemetery, eternal home of the most important characters of Argentina’s political and cultural life. We’ll make a stop at Eva Peron’s grave, one of the country’s most recognizable icons.

We’ll come across sumptuous French palaces again in Palermo Chico, the area of Palermo best known for its large parks designed by celebrated landscape artists, such as the illustrious Frenchman Charles Thays.

Itinerary:

  • Montserrat – San Telmo – La Boca – Puerto Madero – Retiro – Recoleta – Palermo.

Approximate duration:

  • 30 hours

Included services:

  • Bilingual guide specializing in Buenos Aires’ History, Arts, and Architecture.
  • Transportation and transfers in a comfortable, top of the line vehicle. Uniformed driver.
  • Brochure with extended information of the tour and Buenos Aires postcard.

FULL DAY CITY TOUR

This genuine experience of cultural immersion offers a broader view of the city, which will allow us to achieve a fuller understanding of Buenos Aires’ urban identity and of the peculiar character of its inhabitants, learning the history of the city through its buildings, and paying special attention to the paradoxes and contradictions that constitute the essence of Porteños.

We’ll depart as expected from the illustrious Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires’ foundational site, where we’ll visit the Pink House, truly the President’s office (he works but doesn’t live there); the Cabildo, primitive town hall and witness of our first independence movement; and the Metropolitan Cathedral, the final home of Argentina’s founding father, José de San Martín.

We’ll then head for San Telmo, once the residential district chosen by the primitive Buenos Aires aristocracy until 1871, when a yellow fever epidemics and the relentless growth of immigration forced the wealthier families to relocate to the north, abandoning the area. A hundred years later, San Telmo appeared on the map again, since many artists and intellectuals started moving to this charming barrio, drawn by its fascinating architecture, low property value and nearness to the city center. The neighborhood now houses a myriad of designer stores, art galleries, independent theaters, trendy bars and posh restaurants. We’ll visit San Telmo’s lovely cobbled streets, stopping by Plaza Dorrego, one of the most traditional spots. On weekends, an antiques fair takes place in this square, where you can purchase anything from art and antiques to old magazines and records.

Our next stop is at Avenida de Mayo, a Paris-inspirated boulevard that opened to the public in 1894, which simbolically unites the Pink House with the Congress. Despite the mostly French architecture, Spanish immigrantes arrived in large numbers and gave the Avenue its distinctive spirit, opening many cafés and restaurants, as well as the maginificent Teatro Avenida, the city’s second opera house. We’ll make a stop at the mythical Café Tortoni, founded in 1858 by a Frenchman called Touan, who named it after the famous Parisian café. The place was traditionally frequented by artists, intellectuals and politicians, and sitting at one of its tables we’ll feel transported back to the 19th century. After a snack at the Tortoni, we’ll literally take the A-train, South America’s first subway service, built in 1914. The stations have been preserved exactly as they were back then.

The port district of La Boca is one of the city’s most characteristic spots. It’s a working class district, where most of the Italian immigrants, mainly from Genoa, settled during the last decades of the 19th century. Arriving at La Boca, we’ll be surprised to see houses made out of tin and painted with the strangest colors: this is because the first immigrants built their homes with spare materials they found at the nearby shipyards and docks, using any leftover paint the could get. Also in La Boca we can find two of the most famed icons of the city: the mythical Caminito Street, an outdoors museum dedicated to tango and soccer, and La Bombonera, Boca Juniors’ stadium, home of Argentina’s most popular team, the one that sent Diego Armando Maradona to world stardom.

Heading back north across the river, we’ll pay a visit to Puerto Madero, a rather contrasting port district. Puerto Madero is nowadays Buenos Aires’ most modern and sophisticated area, and the spearhead of an urban renovation project started in 1991 with the remodelling of a series of huge warehouses and silos, which were transformed into trendy apartment buildings, restaurants and night clubs. Its construction served a double purpose: integrating the city to the river, and placing The Queen of the River Plate, as Buenos Aires is usually called, among the capitals of the globalized world.

We’ll leave the South behind and head for the city’s more traditional residential districts of the north. In Retiro, we’ll observe the splendid Plaza San Martin, which stands out for its imposing elegance and the buildings that surround it, a majestic memento of the French Belle Époque: the former Palacio Paz, nowadays the Círculo Militar (Military Society), the Palacio San Martín and the Plaza Hotel, among others. To keep us from waking from that dream, we’ll travel to Recoleta, where we’ll first visit Avenida Alvear, where one can find the top designer houses in the world, such as Cartier, Hermès and Louis Vuitton. In Plaza Francia, we’ll visit the colonial Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar, the second oldest in town. Next to it we find the celebrated Recoleta Cemetery, where many of the greatest personalities in Argentinian history are buried, Eva Perón included. Finally, we head for Palermo, one of the city’s most proteic neighborhoods. There we first visit Palermo Chico, similar in its spirit to Recoleta; then we travel to Palermo Hollywood, named after the presence of many TV studios that have gathered around them a number of restaurants and cafés frequented by local celebrities; and finally we visit Palermo Soho, the Buenos Aires version of the N.Y namesake district, full of boutiques, designer stores, trendy restaurants and bars.

Ending our visit, we head for the Costanera Norte (Northern Promenade), where we’ll get a different view of the river. There, we’ll walk along the riverside path, enjoying the lovely vista and the river breeze.

Itinerary:

  • Montserrat – San Telmo – La Boca – Puerto Madero – Retiro – Recoleta – Palermo

Approximate duration:

  • 8 hours

Included services:

  • Bilingual guide specializing in Buenos Aires’ History, Arts, and Architecture.
  • Transportation and transfers in a comfortable, top of the line vehicle. Uniformed driver.
  • Snack at Café Tortoni.
  • Brochure with extended information of the tour and Buenos Aires postcard.

Note: Visitors will have time for lunch, if it’s their wish.