Luxury things to do in Buenos Aires
Lunch at Don Julio, Aramburu's tasting menu, El Ateneo's stage and the San Telmo market.
This is Buenos Aires at full volume: tasting menus, prime cuts carved tableside, luxury flagships, and rooftop bars above the river. Three neighbourhoods, each with its own register, stitched together by some of the best eating in South America. If you want to understand what this city can do when it's showing off, this is the route.
Day 1: Palermo: coffee, fire and tasting menus
The day opens with Palermo's best specialty coffee, idles through a century-old botanical garden, then builds toward Don Julio's legendary parrilla at lunch and Crizia's contemporary fine-dining table at dinner.
- 9:30 AM
Rita Specialty Coffee Soler
Palermo Hollywood specialty bar: a flat white or a filter of Latin American beans at the counter.
Map - 10:15 AM
Jardín Botánico Carlos Thays
Stroll the beautiful Jardín Botánico Carlos Thays, a grand historic landmark a short walk away.
Map - 12:30 PM
Don Julio
Palermo parrilla famous for grass-fed beef: order the bife de chorizo and the provoleta, and book weeks out.
Map - 2:30 PM
Distrito Arcos
Distrito Arcos is the neighbourhood's best open-air shopping strip, luxury and local brands a short stroll away.
Map - 8:30 PM
Crizia
Seafood-led tasting menu in a Palermo warehouse room, with produce from its own farm and fishermen.
Map - 10:30 PM
Backroom Bar
Low-lit Palermo cocktail bar for one well-made drink after dinner; porteños are only just going out.
Map
Day 2: Recoleta: El Ateneo to Aramburu
A slow cortado under La Biela's rubber tree, a long grill lunch at Fervor, and a night that peaks at Aramburu's tasting counter before cocktails at Los Galgos.
- 9:30 AM
Café La Biela
Recoleta institution under a giant rubber tree; a cortado and medialunas on the terrace by the cemetery.
Map - 10:30 AM
El Ateneo Grand Splendid
El Ateneo Grand Splendid, one of the world's most beautiful bookshops inside a converted theatre; unmissable landmark.
Map - 12:30 PM
Fervor
Recoleta grill on Posadas for prime Argentine beef and fish over coals; book the upstairs terrace for lunch.
Map - 3:00 PM
Patio Bullrich
Patio Bullrich, Recoleta's grand luxury mall for an unhurried afternoon of high-end shopping.
Map - 8:30 PM
Aramburu
Gonzalo Aramburu's tasting counter, eighteen-odd small courses built on Argentine produce.
Map - 11:00 PM
Los Galgos
1930 corner bar on Callao revived with classic cocktails; order a vermouth or a fernet con coca.
Map
Day 3: San Telmo and Puerto Madero: markets, river and skyline
The morning belongs to San Telmo's iron-and-glass market hall, the afternoon to prime cuts and a wetlands walk along the Río de la Plata, and the night to Osaka's Japanese precision and Trade Sky Bar's rooftop closer.
- 9:30 AM
La Poesía
Historic neighbourhood café, the city-guide pick for a slow morning cortado in San Telmo.
Map - 10:30 AM
Mercado de San Telmo
Iconic 1897 iron-and-glass market hall, antiques, local food stalls and street tango spill out onto the cobbles.
Map - 12:30 PM
Cabaña Las Lilas
Acclaimed Puerto Madero institution, the city's most famous asado table; prime cuts over open fire with a river view.
Map - 2:30 PM
Reserva Ecológica Costanera Sur
Vast ecological reserve on the Río de la Plata, a restorative post-lunch walk through wetlands and wildlife just minutes from Puerto Madero.
Map - 7:30 PM
- 9:30 PM
Where to stay
Sofitel Buenos Aires Recoleta
Sofitel's Recoleta address puts you a short walk from Aramburu, La Biela and Patio Bullrich, with the kind of grand lobby bar that suits a trip at this level.
Mio Buenos Aires
Mio Buenos Aires is a sleek, intimate Recoleta boutique that sits equally close to the plan's Palermo and San Telmo days without sacrificing any comfort.
Make Buenos Aires your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
Get Swearby on the App StoreBefore you go
Book ahead
- Salón Canning: a few days ahead
- Teatro Colón: weeks ahead
- Estadio Alberto J. Armando: weeks ahead
- Estadio Monumental: weeks ahead
- San Antonio de Areco: weeks ahead
- El Ombú de Areco: weeks ahead
Skip these
- Boca match tickets from touts or resale sites: the most reported scam, with fake or mis-sold seats. Non-members get in through hosted match packages.
- Florida Street cambio men and airport exchange desks, small premium and counterfeit or short count risk.
- Dinner show tango as your only tango, and wandering beyond the Caminito circuit in La Boca.
- Café Tortoni for a full meal, random Puerto Madero dockside grills, and Buenos Aires in a day mega tours.
The full Buenos Aires travel guide: when to go, safety, getting around