Top 10 Buenos Aires
Top 10 Buenos Aires Top 10 Buenos Aires
Around Town – Barrio Norte, Recoleta, and Around 66 Shalom Buenos Aires Buenos Aires is home to Latin America’s biggest Jewish community, and its hub is the barrio of Once. This bustling, colorful, traffic-choked district is lined with Jewish businesses, delicatessens, kosher restaurants, and temples. At its heart is the AMIA building, the site of one of two Jewish-targeted terrorist attacks in the 1990s (see p33). % Avenida Corrientes The center of the city’s theater district, this legendary thoroughfare was called “the avenue that never sleeps” in the 1940s, when it overflowed with theaters and movie theaters. Today, it is a tad bedraggled though the theaters remain. It is also lined with cafés and bookstores, including excellent second-hand stores (see p69). d Map P6 Centro Cultural Recoleta ^ A vibrant contemporary art space, this cultural center occupies the old Recoleta monastery, built in 1732. Twenty separate galleries host temporary exhibitions. Exhibits are edgy, provocative, and rich in social, political, and religious comment. There is also a micromovie theater, an auditorium housed in the monastery chapel, several multifunctional spaces, Centro Cultural Recoleta Exhibits at Museo de la Ciudad and a roof-top terrace where performances take place in summer. d Map N3 • Junín 1930 • 4803-1040 • Open 2–9pm Mon–Fri, 10am–9pm Sat–Sun • www.centrocultural recoleta.org Museo de la Ciudad & Housed in a private residence dating from 1894, this museum includes recreations of Art Nouveau and Art Deco bedrooms, a typical 1900s office, and a dining room from the 1950s. Other displays feature antique children’s toys, architectural antiques, and period furniture and paintings. The Farmacia de la Estrella in the same block is a functioning pharmacy open since 1834. It includes ceiling frescoes and an antique counter and weighing scales. d Map F2 • Defensa 219, Montserrat • 4331-9855 • Open 11am–7pm daily • Adm * Teatro Colón Inaugurated in 1908, the Teatro Colón is one of the world’s great opera houses. Opera, ballet, and classical music concerts take place in its auditorium and past performers have included Pavarotti, Nureyev, and María Callas. You can take a guided tour of its majestic interior, auditorium, salons, and labyrinth of workshops and rehearsal rooms (see pp12–13).
( Manzana de las Luces The city’s historical heart, Manzana de las Luces (The Block of Enlightenment), is a complex of Jesuit and government buildings dating from the mid- 17th century. Highlights include the city’s oldest church – Iglesia San Ignacio – built in 1668, the old Jesuits’ headquarters, the Sala de Representantes, and the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires. Running beneath the block are tunnels built in the 1690s to link this site with the Plaza de Mayo. d Map F2 • Perú 272, Montserrat • 4342-6973 • www. manzanadelasluces.gov.ar ) Museo Casa Carlos Gardel This museum is set within the house Gardel (see p28) shared with his mother in the years prior to his death in 1933. A typical casa chorizo, from early 20th-century Buenos Aires, the house displays Gardel’s eventful life through the family photos, vinyl records, and movie posters on display. A micro-movie-theater shows Gardel’s old movies and a section of the house has been restored to show how he lived. d Map M5 • Jean Jaurés 735, Abasto • 4964-2015 • Open 11am–6pm Mon, Wed–Fri; 10am–7pm Sat–Sun • Adm • www.museos.buenosaires.gov.ar Museo Casa Carlos Gardel A Day of Monuments Morning Have breakfast at La Americana (see p57) before walking east down Avenida de Mayo, admiring this avenue’s fabulous architecture, in particular the Art Nouveau Hotel Chile (see p14) and the Neo-Gothic Palacio Barolo (see p14). At the avenue’s intersection with Perú, turn right after two blocks for Manzana de las Luces and take a thrilling journey back in time to 17th-century Buenos Aires. Continue this historical thread by exploring Manzana’s jumble of adjoining streets, popping into the Museo de la Ciudad. Return to Avenida de Mayo for coffee and croissants at Café Tortoni (see p15). Walk west to Avenida 9 de Julio (see p65), where you can take a tour of the beautiful Teatro Colón. Afternoon Head to Recoleta, and take lunch at La Biela (see p70). Post-meal, wander the streets and alleys of the Cementerio de la Recoleta (see p65), which is directly opposite. Then browse contemporary art at the Centro Cultural Recoleta. Head up to the roof terrace here for lovely views. From the Centro Cultural cross Plaza Francia (see p37) to the Avenida Alvear. Walk three blocks east along Alvear to the Alvear Palace Hotel (see p112), where you can stop for high tea. Heading east again, explore highfashion boutiques before turning right at the intersection with Libertad to end your day with wine and dinner at Gran Bar Danzón (see p70). After visiting the Museo Casa Carlos Gardel, stroll the adjacent Zelaya street, a colorful side-street decorated with tango murals. Around Town – Barrio Norte, Recoleta, and Around 67
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( Manzana de las Luces<br />
The city’s historical heart,<br />
Manzana de las Luces (The Block<br />
of Enlightenment), is a complex<br />
of Jesuit and government<br />
buildings dating from the mid-<br />
17th century. Highlights include<br />
the city’s oldest church – Iglesia<br />
San Ignacio – built in 1668, the<br />
old Jesuits’ headquarters, the<br />
Sala de Representantes, and the<br />
Colegio Nacional de <strong>Buenos</strong><br />
<strong>Aires</strong>. Running beneath the block<br />
are tunnels built in the 1690s to<br />
link this site with the Plaza de<br />
Mayo. d Map F2 • Perú 272,<br />
Montserrat • 4342-6973 • www.<br />
manzanadelasluces.gov.ar<br />
) Museo Casa Carlos Gardel<br />
This museum is set within<br />
the house Gardel (see p28)<br />
shared with his mother in the<br />
years prior to his death in 1933.<br />
A typical casa chorizo, from early<br />
20th-century <strong>Buenos</strong> <strong>Aires</strong>, the<br />
house displays Gardel’s eventful<br />
life through the family photos,<br />
vinyl records, and movie posters<br />
on display. A micro-movie-theater<br />
shows Gardel’s old movies and a<br />
section of the house has been<br />
restored to show how he lived.<br />
d Map M5 • Jean Jaurés 735, Abasto<br />
• 4964-2015 • Open 11am–6pm Mon,<br />
Wed–Fri; <strong>10</strong>am–7pm Sat–Sun • Adm<br />
• www.museos.buenosaires.gov.ar<br />
Museo Casa Carlos Gardel<br />
A Day of Monuments<br />
Morning<br />
Have breakfast at La<br />
Americana (see p57)<br />
before walking east down<br />
Avenida de Mayo,<br />
admiring this avenue’s<br />
fabulous architecture, in<br />
particular the Art Nouveau<br />
Hotel Chile (see p14) and<br />
the Neo-Gothic Palacio<br />
Barolo (see p14). At the<br />
avenue’s intersection with<br />
Perú, turn right after two<br />
blocks for Manzana de las<br />
Luces and take a thrilling<br />
journey back in time to<br />
17th-century <strong>Buenos</strong> <strong>Aires</strong>.<br />
Continue this historical<br />
thread by exploring<br />
Manzana’s jumble of<br />
adjoining streets, popping<br />
into the Museo de la<br />
Ciudad. Return to<br />
Avenida de Mayo for<br />
coffee and croissants at<br />
Café Tortoni (see p15).<br />
Walk west to Avenida 9<br />
de Julio (see p65), where<br />
you can take a tour of the<br />
beautiful Teatro Colón.<br />
Afternoon<br />
Head to Recoleta, and<br />
take lunch at La Biela (see<br />
p70). Post-meal, wander<br />
the streets and alleys of<br />
the Cementerio de la<br />
Recoleta (see p65), which<br />
is directly opposite. Then<br />
browse contemporary art<br />
at the Centro Cultural<br />
Recoleta. Head up to the<br />
roof terrace here for lovely<br />
views. From the Centro<br />
Cultural cross Plaza<br />
Francia (see p37) to the<br />
Avenida Alvear. Walk three<br />
blocks east along Alvear to<br />
the Alvear Palace Hotel<br />
(see p112), where you can<br />
stop for high tea. Heading<br />
east again, explore highfashion<br />
boutiques before<br />
turning right at the intersection<br />
with Libertad to<br />
end your day with wine<br />
and dinner at Gran Bar<br />
Danzón (see p70).<br />
After visiting the Museo Casa Carlos Gardel, stroll the adjacent<br />
Zelaya street, a colorful side-street decorated with tango murals.<br />
Around Town – Barrio Norte, Recoleta, and Around 67