Top 10 Buenos Aires

Plaza Independencia, Montevideo
! Montevideo
Nearly half of Uruguay’s 3.7
million citizens live in the capital
of Montevideo. Legendary for
their hospitality and civic pride,
they congregate at all hours in
Plaza Independencia (see p98)
and tuck into the local grill
specialty, chivito (a thin steak
sandwich). Ciudad Vieja mirrors
Buenos Aires’ San Telmo in its
reinvention as a nightlife and
dining neighborhood. Unlike its
massive River Plate neighbor,
Montevideo feels like a coastal
city with its municipal beaches
and paseos overlooking the deep
blue waters. d Map B4
Colonia del Sacramento
@ Fifty minutes from Puerto
Madero on Buquebus’ fastest
vessels (see p25), Colonia is an
18th-century town on a strategic
outcrop of Uruguayan soil. Some
choose to spend the night in one
of its charming posadas or to
rent scooters to explore
surrounding beaches. What everyone
invariably does is soak up
the colonial atmosphere at a sidewalk
café (see pp24–5).
# Mar del Plata
A virtual 1:20 scale model of
Buenos Aires, Mar del Plata is
located 5 hours from la Capital.
Its cosmopolitan attractions and
coastal high-rises are about
excitement, not relaxation. Playa
Bristol, the principal beach,
teems with families under
umbrellas and vendors hawking
everything from popcorn to
massages. Seafood, brought in
by emblematic fleets of yellowhulled
fishing boats, features
prominently on menus. d Map B6
$ Tandil
With the horizon-flat Pampa
commencing just beyond Buenos
Aires and extending for hundreds
of miles, Tandil’s rugged 1,640 ft
(500 m) hills prove irresistible for
porteños without time or pesos
for Patagonia. El Centinela, a
23-ft (7-m) high rock balancing
atop a hill, can be reached by a
ski chairlift. In the town, plazaside
bars and delicatessens
stocking locally produced jams,
cheeses, and dry sausages
provide ample reward for the
returning day hikers. d Map A5
Beyond Buenos Aires 95