Around Buenos Aires

The capital and day trips

Even in the age of jet travel and the internet, many first-time visitors to Buenos Aires are startled to find such an enormous, cosmopolitan city in such a far-flung corner of the world. It is New York, San Francisco and Washington, DC rolled into one, the country's cultural, countercultural and institutional heart. From Buenos Aires there are many possibilities for trips to nearby small towns in the pampas, such as San Antonio de Areco, north along the Rio Paraná to Tigre and the delta and its islands, or east along the coast as far as the provincial capital, La Plata. Most of the attractions described below can be seen in a day, but if you fancy a longer break from the city bustle, a good range of accommodations is available.

Places to visit around Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Grand, edgy and famously seductive, the Argentine capital continues to earn its right to be counted among the world's great cities. Read more about Buenos Aires...

Tigre

This attractive, popular town sits at the mouth of the Paraná delta. The principal economic activity revolves around the summer tourists and weekenders who come to fish, row, water ski, and cruise the winding channels and hundreds of little islands (many of them dotted with summer houses built on stilts) that make up the labyrinthine Paraná delta. While it is only 28km (17 miles) from downtown Buenos Aires, the air is clear, the vegetation subtropical, and the rhythm of activity less hurried (though be warned that Tigre gets extremely crowded on fine weekends). 

After strolling around the charming, plant-filled residential area of the town, head for the attractive riverside promenade, Paseo Victorica, lined with steakhouses and rowing clubs. The end of the promenade is marked by a stunning Italian-French-style mansion from 1912 that now houses the Museo Arte de Tigre. Its permanent collection includes works by important Argentine artists such as Antonio Berni and Raúl Soldi. 

Rio Paraná delta

As pleasant as a stroll around Tigre is, it can’t compete with a trip on the river. To get on a river bus or a tour boat, head to the Estación Fluvial, close to the town center. Four companies operate launches from here and you can browse what they have to offer at their respective booths. There are also stands representing various restaurants and leisure facilities on the islands; talk to the staff who will help you catch the right boat for each destination. One excellent option is to take the two-hour trip from here back to Puerto Madero. The launch leaves at 5pm, timing its approach to Buenos Aires so that the skyline appears at sunset – a memorable experience. 

San Antonio de Areco

Some 110km (68 miles) further northwest of Buenos Aires, on RN8, is the town of San Antonio de Areco, an especially picturesque country town that these days owes as much to tourism as to cattle raising. San Antonio’s fame rose alongside that of the author Ricardo Güiraldes, who grew up in the town and used it as the setting for his novel Don Segundo Sombra, one of the canonical works of gaucho literature. The Ricardo Güiraldes Gaucho Museum includes extensive grounds on the river with numerous indigenous plants. 

Pleasantly sleepy for most of the year, San Antonio roars into life in the second week of November, when it hosts Tradition Week, an exciting jamboree of gaucho shows and horse races culminating in the Tradition Day (Día de la Tradición) parade. 

La Plata

Despite being only 58km (36 miles) south of Buenos Aires, La Plata, the capital of Buenos Aires province, is representative of many of the country’s provincial cities. Life moves at a relaxed pace here, and the city’s inhabitants enjoy an independent political and cultural life.

Just off Plaza San Martín is the Legislatura, the Palacio del Gobierno, and the Pasaje Dardo Rocha, a large cultural center. The Gothic Catedral de La Plata is on the Plaza Moreno, and across the plaza you’ll find the Palacio Municipal. One block away, between calles 9 and 10, is the Teatro Argentino.

The Paseo del Bosque is a series of pretty parks in the center of the city, with lakes, a zoo (much more complete than the one in Buenos Aires), an observatory, and a theater, Anfiteatro Martín Fierro. The Paseo del Bosque is also home to the Museo de Ciencias Naturales de la Plata, which was founded in 1884. This museum has many fascinating geological, zoological, and archeological exhibits, and is considered the best of its kind in South America. The Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes has an excellent collection of Argentine paintings and sculpture. 

Discover Argentina...

Read about the impact of Eva Perón, the mythology of the gaucho and what it's like to visit an estancia, tucking into an Argentine steak, and our list of the country's top attractions...