THE NEW YORK TIMES Travel: 36hrs in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, Argentina’s capital, can feel overwhelming. Main thoroughfares like Avenida Santa Fe are noisy and jammed with zooming taxis and groaning buses. The streets can get grimy. But elegance is everywhere and accessible to visitors. Beaux-Arts buildings along Avenida de Mayo recall the grandeur of old Europe. You can find affordable, handcrafted goods at artisan fairs that abound on weekends in neighborhoods like San Telmo, Recoleta and Mataderos. The afterglow of Argentina’s 2022 World Cup victory remains — a spiritual salve for many still suffering from the country’s yearslong inflation crisis. Visitors will find a city where people press on. It is that perseverance that keeps Buenos Aires vibrant and thrilling.
Text by Maria Cramer
Sun sets above Tribunales in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Wednesday, May 10, 2023. Photographer: Sarah Pabst for The New York Times
Waiters prepare food and coffee at Quotidiano in Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Wednesday, May 10, 2023. Photographer: Sarah Pabst for The New York Times
The lake with koi fish at Parque Centenario in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Sunday, May 7, 2023. Photographer: Sarah Pabst for The New York Times
Shoes at display at Jessica Kessel in Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Wednesday, May 10, 2023. Photographer: Sarah Pabst for The New York Times
Pedestrians walk in front of the Water Palace in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Wednesday, May 10, 2023. Photographer: Sarah Pabst for The New York Times
Antique taps in the Water and Sanitary Museum in the Water Palace in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Wednesday, May 10, 2023. Photographer: Sarah Pabst for The New York Times
A plate of fusilli al bronzo is displayed at La Alacena Pastifico y Salumeria, Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Sunday, May 7, 2023. Photographer: Sarah Pabst for The New York Times
An assistant waits for customers in one of the many restaurants inside of Mercat Villa Crespo in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Sunday, May 7, 2023. Photographer: Sarah Pabst for The New York Times
People gather around the lake with koi fish while doves fly at Parque Centenario in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Sunday, May 7, 2023. Photographer: Sarah Pabst for The New York Times
Visitors take photographs of the remaining giraffes in Ecoparque in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Sunday, May 7, 2023. Photographer: Sarah Pabst for The New York Times
Maras eat grass in Ecoparque in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Sunday, May 7, 2023. Photographer: Sarah Pabst for The New York Times
Visitors walk through Ecoparque in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Sunday, May 7, 2023. Photographer: Sarah Pabst for The New York Times
Sweetbread is displayed on a plate at Roux restaurant in the Recoleta neighborhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Saturday, May 6, 2023. Photographer: Sarah Pabst for The New York Times
People gather in Presidente bar in the Recoleta neighborhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Saturday, May 6, 2023. Photographer: Sarah Pabst for The New York Times
Sun sets above the obelisk and 9 de Julio avenue in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Wednesday, May 10, 2023. Photographer: Sarah Pabst for The New York Times