We were flying out of Buenos Aires on the way back from our Patagonia trip, and three days was just the right amount of time for this city. Unfortunately, I caught some sort of stomach bug so I really had two days to fit it all in, but we did it for the most part. Here are my top things to do in Buenos Aires:

Eat!

With only three days (and my stomach bug), we didn’t get to do nearly enough of this. Buenos Aires has an amazing cafe culture, gelato that rivals Italy and of course, great pasta and meat. We did our best to take in as much of this as possible, and really enjoyed the food.

Check out the neighbourhoods

We were staying in Palermo Hollywood and really loved just exploring the neighborhood. It had a great residential feel to it, and the tree lined streets were dotted with cafes and bars. It was fun to walk around, check out the market, cafes and shops.

Palacio Barolo

Palacio Barolo is a landmark office building located near Plaza de Mayo and was once the tallest building in South America. The Italian architect Mario Palanti was commissioned to build the structure and did it based on Dante’s Divine Comedy. There are 22 floors, divided into three “sections”. The bottom represents hell, floors 1-14 are purgatory, and 15-22 represent heaven. There is also a lighthouse at the top of teh building that can be seen all the way to Uruguay, and given how bright it is, it’s only allowed to be on from 10-10:07pm nightly.

You can visit this building by booking a tour during the day, or as in our case, we did the evening sitting for cocktails at Salon 1923. You can book drinks and bites at either 5pm, 7pm or 9pm and you get an amazing view over the city – I would recommend doing this for sunset.

La Boca

La Boca was in the mid-19th century the home of Spanish and Italian immigrants. Legend has it that the fisherman used leftover paint from their boats hence the houses being so colorful. Walking around the area is a great opportunity to see colorful houses, tango dancers performing and loads of street stalls and restaurants.

Recoleta Cemetery

Recoleta Cemetary is organized like a city, with blocks of ornate mausoleums. Each one is a unique building, made by marble, brass and stone, some with statues and sculptures and others with ivy. It’s listed as one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the world. Additionally, it houses a number of famous graves, including Evita.

San Telmo Market

San Telmo market has several stalls selling items, as well as a number of small restaurants. If you have been to Barcelona’s marketing or London’s Borough market, it is similar and a great spot to have lunch, just as we did. If you go on Sundays, there is also an open air antique market.

El Ateneo Bookstore

This bookstore used to be a theatre originally, and then rebuilt into a cinema. It’s listed as one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world, and today the theatre stage is a cafe, and a few of the boxes of seats are designed to sit and read books. It has a beautiful dome ceiling and is worth a quick drive by if you happen to be in the area.

A Walking Tour of the City

There are so many different historical buildings that a walking tour allows you to see them and better understand the history. Sign up for a tour and you’ll get to see many of the sites, such as The Obelisk, Casa Rosada and The Congress.

Los Bosques De Palermo

This park is like the Central Park of Buenos Aires, and is a nice escape from the concrete. It houses ponds and a Japonese garden as well. It’s a pretty but be aware, there are viscious mosquitos even in the day time. Come armed with some serious bug spray or you won’t last here (I didn’t have any spray on me and was eaten alive in minutes, so it was a very quick visit!)

Tango

I’ve done this on a previous visit, but unfortunately due to limited time and my stomach bug, we didn’t fit this in. May be a nice thing to book for one of your evenings though!