Activities in Buenos Aires – Know What To Skip and What To Do Instead
No matter how much time you’ve scheduled in your trip for Buenos Aires, it will never be enough to see everything there is to see. You already knew that. So of course you want to make the best use of your time and know what you can skip and what to do instead that might save you time and hassle, or to give you a more authentic experience.
| INSTEAD OF THIS | DO THIS |
|---|---|
| Paying a lot for a tango/dinner combination, where they lock you in for several hours and feed you an average meal. | Catch a street tango performance either in La Boca or near the entrance of La Recoleta cemetery. Both areas have many dinner options nearby. |
| Stressing over getting a reservation at a well-known restaurant that can’t accommodate you on the day you’d like. | Keep an open mind about which restaurant to go to. The best, most authentic ones are often not the ones mentioned the most often in TripAdvisor, etc. Ask a local. A few “asado” restaurants we really enjoyed were Las Petunias in Palermo, Tribu in San Isidro, La Parilla de Raul in city center, and Barilla 1880 near San Telmo. |
| Randomly exploring leather stores as you come across them. | Go straight to Calle Murillo (Murillo Street), considered the leather district. There are so many leather goods stores, and something for everyone. |
| Going on a guided tour of the famous Colon Theater. | Consider seeing a non-opera concert, which costs about the same or less, and you get to experience the amazing acoustics of the Colon Theater. Or skip it altogether and go to El Ateneo Grand Splendid, a theater turned bookstore, which is free to visit. |
| Paying for a tour of the Obelisk (Obelisco). | Get the best view of the Obelisk from either the top floor of the Panamericano Hotel or from the Cielo Sky Bar on top of the Grand Brizo Hotel. You may have to buy a drink, though, to get access. |
| Spending money for a hop-on-hop-off bus. | Take Ubers instead. They are so cheap in Buenos Aires! Just choose the highlights you’d like to see (browse my Argentina guides to help you pick some), and then just take Ubers. |
| Thinking the only way to experience an Argentine soccer (futbol) game is to go to a national team game. | See one of the local clubs play soccer: Boca Juniors (at La Bombonera) and River Plate (at Estadio Monumental). Attending one of their games is a way to feel like local, and have some typical snacks such as empanadas or choripan. |