City Guide: Buenos Aires
A design lover’s guide to Argentina’s electric capital
My love affair with Buenos Aires began back in 2011, when I spent a charmed summer interning at the US Embassy in Palermo and cavorting around town with my fellow interns.
By the end of the summer, I had an impressive Google Doc filled with hyperspecific recommendations: where to order the freshest salad in a city of steak lovers (Cabaña las Lilas), where to buy high-quality leather handbags at reasonable prices (Florentina Muraña, which I cannot find any record of online), and where to find the best empanadas (a tiny no-name shop on Armenia between Guatemala and Paraguay that you could smell from a block away).
When I finally returned to Buenos Aires in 2025, I couldn’t wait to revisit my old stomping grounds and, importantly, update my cherished Google Doc. That’s what I’m pleased to share with you today: the recommendations that I share with family, friends and the occasional innocent bystander.
I’ve personally vetted every last experience on this list, with the same obsessiveness that I bring to solving auction house mysteries and dismantling flea market chandeliers with tweezers.
Where to stay
Buenos Aires is a city of barrios - 48 neighborhoods to be exact, each with their own character. For design lovers, my favorites are Palermo or Recoleta.
For a California-cool oasis in the heart of Palermo Hollywood:
📍Home Hotel, Honduras 5860
Come for the mid-century architecture and impeccable service, stay for the verdant courtyard and its Hockney-esque pool. It’s an easy walk to Palermo Soho’s fashionable boutiques and restaurants, renowned jazz venue Thelonious Club, and - most importantly - Mercado de las Pulgas.
For Paris-of-the-South energy in old money Recoleta:
📍Casa Lucia Melia Collection, Arroyo 841
Thoughtful details abound at this historic Art Deco tower-turned-posh boutique hotel in one of the city’s most exclusive enclaves: a glass of champagne at check-in, suites outfitted with photographs by Ricardo Piñeiro and light fixtures by Cristián Mohaded, and a gorgeous breakfast buffet stocked with local favorites like medialunas con dulce de leche.
Where to eat & drink
For ultra-chic coffee or cocktails: head to the lush terrace at Casa Cavia, a multi-use concept space set in a restored Belle Epoque-style mansion. The people-watching and fashion-spotting alone are worth the visit.
For an elegant afternoon tea service: make your way to the Alvear Palace Hotel for high tea in the sunny L’Orangerie. A favorite splurge from my student days.
For the quintessential Argentine steakhouse experience: La Cabrera, home to the meal my highly-opinionated Aunt Mary deemed “the best Christmas dinner we’ve ever had.”
For a wine-forward menu: WINO, where executive chef and head sommelier Matías Iwao designs his menus around Argentina’s finest bottles - and where Jacinto, his plucky French bulldog, may or may not join your after hours tasting. My favorite meal of 2025.
For wine tasting (and wine buying): Lo de Joaquin Alberdi, a family-owned wine shop in Palermo; my friends and I quickly became regulars at the Thursday night tastings during summer 2011. Fair warning: it’s impossible to leave empty-handed.
Where to sightsee
For a tour de force of Latin American art: MALBA, where the permanent collection represents a who’s who of Latin American legends: Frida Kahlo, Tarsila do Amaral, Leonora Carrington, Ana Mendieta and - my personal favorite - Remedios Varo. The museum gift shop is tiny, but equally spectacular.
For an inside look at one of Argentina’s most prestigious private art collections: Colección AMALITA, home to more than 200 masterpieces collected by industrial mogul María Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat - and including a portrait of Lacroze herself by Andy Warhol. This museum somehow manages to fly under the tourist radar - head here when you need a break from the masses.
For an homage to Eva Perón, Argentina’s most enduring icon: Museo Evita, a small museum housed in a 1920s Spanish Colonial-style mansion-turned-refuge for women in need. Seeing her personal effects was quite moving: her national ID (the first ever granted to an Argentine woman), Dior gowns tailor made for her tiny frame, and love letters from her husband all paid tribute to the woman behind the legend.
For lavish Beaux-Arts interiors and pitch-perfect acoustics: Teatro Colón, the crown jewel of Buenos Aires’ performing arts scene and consistently rated one of the world’s best opera houses. I have fond memories of crouching in the standing room-only nosebleeds for Il Trittico - my student budget unfortunately wouldn’t stretch to accommodate an actual seat. Interiors enthusiasts will also enjoy the guided tour.
Where to spend your evenings
For a theatrical introduction to tango: During my student days, we brought visitors to the tango show at Café Tortoni, tucked into a dimly lit salon behind the bustling café floor; it was more economical compared to the city’s more extravagant tango salons (looking at you, Rojo Tango, at the inimitable Faena Hotel). Though I didn’t personally attend, my family also raved about the performance at El Querandí, a San Telmo staple known for its 1920s period interiors and whirlwind tour of the history of tango.
For live jazz and stiff cocktails: Thelonious Club, an intimate jazz venue in Palermo Hollywood that plays host to more than 300 live shows a year. It’s perfect for solo travelers: I spent a lovely early evening nursing a Campari spritz to the dulcet tones of Miles Davis covers and still managed to be home and in bed by 10pm. Be sure to book tickets in advance.
For pulsing percussion to liven up your Monday: La Bomba de Tiempo - a cross between a drumline and a Monday night rave - has been a fixture of the Buenos Aires cultural scene for more than a decade. The energy is infectious, the beers are enormous, and the crowd skews more local than tourist.
Where to shop
For the classic Sunday street market experience: Yes, Feria San Telmo is ultra-touristy (my “Buenos Aires Querido” drawing from my student days is proof), but that’s part of the fun. Antique dealers cluster around Plaza Dorrego; expect to see jewel-toned seltzer siphons, plenty of European porcelain, and, if you’re lucky, vintage furs. Contemporary artisans selling everything from mate gourds to one-of-a-kind artworks set up shop along Calle Defensa. Arrive by 10am to browse before the crowds descend - by noon, it’s a shoulder-to-shoulder zoo.
For curated antique clothing and homewares: Gil Antigüedades manages to feel both effortlessly curated and a little bit junky all at once: racks hung tightly with vintage dresses in mint condition, tables piled high with delicate ceramics, and paintings, plates and other treasures hung across every inch of the two-story space. It’s the kind of place where your most glamorous friend finds her perfect vintage wedding dress.
For new and used books: Centro Rosa Luxemburgo, a tiny, one-room bookshop in San Telmo that specializes in texts on the social sciences and Latin American discourse. Though most titles are in Spanish, it’s worth a browse even for non-Spanish speakers.
For serious treasure hunting, without the San Telmo crowds: Mercado de las Pulgas is a collector’s paradise: this train station-turned-flea market is home to more than 150 antique and vintage stalls, selling everything from imported French commodes to midcentury ephemera to my beloved Spanish Colonial-style églomisé mirror. Plan to spend several hours combing through the stalls; there are bathrooms and a cafe onsite when you need to refuel.
For your contemporary Argentine fashion fix: Spend an afternoon browsing the boutiques around Plaza Serrano in Palermo Soho: I loved Las Pepas for silhouettes that feel vaguely 90s inspired yet manage to strike a balance between trendy and timeless; Rapsodia for boho-glam designs (think well-cut bejeweled sweatshirts and gauzy printed wrap dresses); Jazmín Chebar for chic matching sets (I’m still dreaming about the jacquard matching set that I tried on in December); and Nimes for luxe leather bags and accessories.
For high-design homewares: Tucked behind a lush tree-lined passageway off Gorriti in Palermo Soho, you’ll find Paul French Gallery: a concept store channeling the energy of your effortlessly chic friend who exclusively wears neutral linen caftans and somehow manages to keep their custom cream-colored couch in pristine condition. Fans of Jayson Home (IYKYK) will feel right at home.