The New York of South America - Buenos Aires

After traveling the last two weeks in Northern Argentina enjoying the slow pace lifestyle with a warm climate, it was time to put on our winter hat and visit the biggest city in this country, Buenos Aires. It was a 19 hour bus ride for 1200 pesos ($70 USD) from Puerto Iguazu and as we arrived we had two friends, Paula and Peter meet us at the bus station! We spent a total of nine days in this city surrounded by the three millions residents and with all the different neighborhoods there was never a dull day. Luckily, with this city the public transportation is incredible so any tourist can easily get around. If you have the app called Moovit, it can take you anywhere you need to be and it incorporates all of the buses and metro/subway systems. We used it every single day and it never failed us once. All you have to make sure is to get the app going while you are on wifi and then works perfectly once you start walking around and lose signal.

One of the first things we experienced was the San Telmo Sunday Market on Carlos Calvo street where the whole area was blocked off from cars with endless amounts of street vendors selling everything and anything. We walked around for hours and ate random street food throughout the whole market since we weren't going to buy any souvenirs (Backpacking for one year with a stuffed bag really holds you back from buying any trinkets). Not only is San Telmo a great area to be in on Sundays but that was my favorite neighborhood in all of Buenos Aires for any day of the week. We stayed for two nights at a hostel in this location and you really get the city feeling here. We ate at two amazing restaurants that I would recommend there and the first one is called Saigon. In Seattle, Matt and I would go out to eat for pho at least twice a week so being deprived of it for four months we were eager to eat here and it definitely was delicious to the last bite. The owner was very humble about our compliments and he was a pretty new restaurant so I admire him bringing international cuisines to the city full of the same foods. If you are looking for a great burger, especially a great vegetarian burger with fries hit up The Red Bench where the service is fast and you will leave the restaurant full and satisfied!

If you don't know, soccer or futball is the people of Buenos Aires main religion. So if you want to see where the stadium is head over to the district of La Boca and if you can try and buy a ticket to the next game! That was one thing we wished we could have done there was to see a game just to see the crowds of fan and to be apart of that. Not sure on how to buy a ticket or if it is possible for a traveler to since I heard that you need to be apart of a club but maybe with some research or by knowing someone you can get invited to a game! There is much more than the La Bombonera Stadium in this district, if you walk around you will find your way to the very touristy but beautiful street called El Caminito. You will see tango dancers on the street, vendors and buskers playing music all around the brightly colored buildings. All the restaurants in this area are very overpriced but on the outskirts you will find bakeries to get your empanada or pizza for lunch at.

This might sound weird but I love visiting different cemeteries around the world and La Recoleta Cemetery is the most beautiful one I have ever seen. it hosts graves of some of the most notable people in Argentina's history. There are not just stoneheads here, there are stone mini houses where the coffins are in. Each one unique in their own way and some are more upkept than others. After walking around Recoleta get on the metro and head towards Palermo for the best nightlife in all of the city. With endless bars, cafes, restaurants and tango lessons you can easily spend a day or two walking around. We spent two nights in this neighborhood and fell in love with it. We took a tango class that was $11 USD and even though I was awful at it it was so fun to learn a new dance. Advice to anyone that wants to take a tango class here, don't wear trekking shoes like I did. Not the best footwear and my poor boyfriend got stepped on multiple times. I even danced with a stranger to get more practice and I stepped on his feet multiple times and he left me after a few minutes.


This city was an easy place to spend a week and if you think you will get sick of the constant traffic and people head to one of the many parks like Bosques De Palermo, Parque Lezama and Centenario Park. Everyday we probably walked over ten miles so get on your walking shoes and get ready to see why this is such a destination for travelers worldwide.