Buenos Aires/Palermo & Recoleta

The northern part of Buenos Aires includes hip Palermo and affluent Recoleta.

Understand
Palermo is a hip residential neighborhood of tree-lined streets and intersections packed with restaurants, bars, and boutiques. Palermo covers a large swath of residential Buenos Aires, including Palermo Viejo, Palermo Alto, and Palermo Chico as well as Palermo Park. Palermo Viejo is a large area that can be further subdivided into Palermo Soho and Palermo Hollywood. Palermo Hollywood is home to the trendiest restaurants in Buenos Aires.

Recoleta is one of the finest and most expensive areas of the city. It boasts many French style buildings, large green spaces, and first class restaurants. The famous Recoleta Cemetery is well worth a visit.

By metro
The Green Line of the Subte stops at Scalabrini Ortiz or Plaza Italia for Palermo Viejo and the parks. Get off at Palermo for Palermo Hollywood and Ministro Carranza for Palermo Alto.

By Mitre
If you're coming from near Retiro station, Mitre may be cheaper and more convenient than Subte. Some Mitre trains leaving from Retiro stop at Tres de Febrero station in the middle of Palermo.

By bus
Take any bus to Plaza Italia and you'll be in the heart of Palermo.

See

 * Parque de la Memoria (English: Remembrance park) a public space that is situated in front of the Río de la Plata estuary in the northern end of the Belgrano section of Buenos Aires. It is a memorial to the victims of the 1976–83 military regime during the Dirty War which was part of Operation Condor...pack some sandwiches and perhaps something stronger to relax on the hillside behind the exhibition hall in contemplation (and watch the planes landing overhead at the airport nearby) after learning more about this tragic yet important part of Argentina´s history that is a must visit for any visitor. (Open everyday 10:00-18:00, Free)
 * Parque de la Memoria (English: Remembrance park) a public space that is situated in front of the Río de la Plata estuary in the northern end of the Belgrano section of Buenos Aires. It is a memorial to the victims of the 1976–83 military regime during the Dirty War which was part of Operation Condor...pack some sandwiches and perhaps something stronger to relax on the hillside behind the exhibition hall in contemplation (and watch the planes landing overhead at the airport nearby) after learning more about this tragic yet important part of Argentina´s history that is a must visit for any visitor. (Open everyday 10:00-18:00, Free)

Do

 * Behold the Floralis Generica, a giant mechanical sculpture of a metallic flower which closes when the lights of the day disappears.
 * Go to the zoo!
 * See an art film or art at Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA) Av Figueroa Alcorta 3415. If you are a true lover of modern art, this is a must-see.
 * See an art film or art at Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA) Av Figueroa Alcorta 3415. If you are a true lover of modern art, this is a must-see.


 * Walk along Avenida Alvear:. Right after seeing Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (MNBA), you can walk along Avenida Libertador until it splits in two. At this point, take the right path, which is the starting point of Avenida Alvear. Walk until it ends (around 7 blocks), where you'll find the French and Brazilian embassy. In between, there are also many beautiful buildings, like the Alvear Palace Hotel, Duhau Palace, the Ralph Lauren House, fine art shops, among others.

Buy
Books in Spanish from the book fairs in Palermo.

Arts and crafts, mate cups, jewelry and lots of leather goods (somewhat cheap) at many other fairs on Saturdays and Sundays throughout Palermo.
 * Santa Fe Avenue features many fashionable clothing stores. Recoleta also has many antique and interior decoration shops.
 * One great feature of this and other supermarkets in Buenos Aires is the availability of home delivery (envio a domicilio). It's a boon to anyone buying multiple jugs of water, beer, wine, etc. How it works: you'll shop in the store, and choose the checkout lines with "envio a domicilio" on the sign above. The clerk rings up your purchases, and when you pay, you give your address, telephone number and preferred delivery time. The groceries are then packed into plastic tubs. If the delivery will be made much later, or even the following date, the stores place the tubs containing your order into cold storage.
 * Time is a fluid concept in Buenos Aires, so give a time for which you can be home an hour before and an hour after. The delivery person will ring the bell for your apartment and come up in the elevator with a wheeled cart with your containers of food.
 * Tip: check the website for daily credit card discounts. Post-2001 crisis, the Argentine government, banks, and major retailers are partnering to give discounts for placing transactions on credit cards. Some of the discount comes from an instant reduction in the 21% VAT. This benefits the government by encouraging more transactions to come into the white economy.
 * One great feature of this and other supermarkets in Buenos Aires is the availability of home delivery (envio a domicilio). It's a boon to anyone buying multiple jugs of water, beer, wine, etc. How it works: you'll shop in the store, and choose the checkout lines with "envio a domicilio" on the sign above. The clerk rings up your purchases, and when you pay, you give your address, telephone number and preferred delivery time. The groceries are then packed into plastic tubs. If the delivery will be made much later, or even the following date, the stores place the tubs containing your order into cold storage.
 * Time is a fluid concept in Buenos Aires, so give a time for which you can be home an hour before and an hour after. The delivery person will ring the bell for your apartment and come up in the elevator with a wheeled cart with your containers of food.
 * Tip: check the website for daily credit card discounts. Post-2001 crisis, the Argentine government, banks, and major retailers are partnering to give discounts for placing transactions on credit cards. Some of the discount comes from an instant reduction in the 21% VAT. This benefits the government by encouraging more transactions to come into the white economy.
 * Time is a fluid concept in Buenos Aires, so give a time for which you can be home an hour before and an hour after. The delivery person will ring the bell for your apartment and come up in the elevator with a wheeled cart with your containers of food.
 * Tip: check the website for daily credit card discounts. Post-2001 crisis, the Argentine government, banks, and major retailers are partnering to give discounts for placing transactions on credit cards. Some of the discount comes from an instant reduction in the 21% VAT. This benefits the government by encouraging more transactions to come into the white economy.

Eat
Palermo is crawling with restaurants, cafés, and parrillas. Almost every intersection has a restaurant on at least one corner, and often three or four. Most cafés have outdoor seating and serve staples such as thinly cut steak sandwiches (lomitos), ham croissants (media luna) and malbec wine.



Drink
Stop at any cafe for an espresso, cafe con leche (milk) or cortado.



Sleep
The Palermo Soho/Viejo area is home to some of the trendiest small boutique hotels in Buenos Aires. These hotels offer the amenities of their larger international chain counterparts, plus a more personal style of service often at a fraction of the cost. In addition to hotels and hostels Buenos Aires is a place where furnished apartments can be a great luxury at a cheap price. Palermo is a popular area for many expats, and there are many stores that cater to just Americans in this part of Buenos Aires.

Splurge
The Splurges in this barrio are small, design conscious, boutique hotels and B&Bs.