We have all had those
days when our daily budget is no longer large enough for both food and
sightseeing.. Maybe it is the end of your trip and traveling expenses wOpcionesere more
than you had calculated, or maybe you were a little too free about how many
wine and liquor tastings you could treat yourself to each day. Regardless, there are great
places and interesting events everyday in the city that cost no more than the
transportation to get there!
(This list is intended
for those who have already visited the highlighted tourist sections of Buenos
Aires, still have time in the city but not so much money.)
MONDAY
On the East cost of the province
of Buenos Aires it would appear to be touching the ocean but in fact this is
actually a fresh water bay flowing from the River of Uruguay. Due to upstream
factory pollution the river water is anything but fresh and so swimming is not
recommended. However, on a nice day, it is a fun walk to visit the coast
through the ecological reserve ¨Costanera Sur.¨
This waterside city nature
reserve has lagoons, marshland and diverse flora. It is located west of
puerto madero or you can just tell your google maps to take you to: 1420 Av.
Doctor Tristan Achaval Roriguez. Once inside the reserve there are signed paths
of varying lengths that will take you to the coast. Make sure to bring your
camera to take pictures of the funky flowers with skyscrapers in the background
and definitely a hat to protect you from the sun, as there is little
shade.
TUESDAY
If it is a nice day, a fun
walk is to start at the Museum of Fine Arts (Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes) in
the neighbourhood of Recoleta and walk to the National Museum of Decorative
Arts. (Granted you have already seen the Recoleta Cementary, a must see at no
charge!) The Museum of Fine Arts is located on 1473 Av. del Libertador and free
of charge. It is nationally recognized and a large museum, so it can easily
take up your morning! When you are ready for some fresh air again, taking a
right on the Avenue toward the (very large) University of Law. You will find
the Floralis Generica metalic flower. This is a great place to a take a picture
of the flower and in the summer the avenue is filled with Jacaranda trees with
their particular lavender color. Continuing along Av. del Libertador you will
pass various plazas in the park and after about five blocks across the street
is the National Museum of Decorative Arts. This museum is in a beautiful
neo-classic French style mansion finished in 1916 and it houses 16th to 19th
century European art. The museum opens every day from 2 pm to 7 pm, for a
minimal cost of 20 pesos and free on Tuesdays. Outside the mansion is a small
cafe, perfect for a mid afternoon refreshing drink or coffee.
WEDNESDAY
Are you a museum lover? Wednesday is a great day to spend museum hopping as many of the museums are free on Wednesdays! Some of these museums include:
Artes Plásticas Eduardo Sívori
(Fine Arts)
Arte Hispanoamericano
(Spanish American Art)
Casa Carlos Gardel (House
of Famous Tango Singer and Songwriter)
Bellas Artes (Fine Arts)
Museo de la Ciudad (Museum
of the city)
Museo Histórico Nacional
(National Historic Museum)
Museo Nacional Ferroviario
Raúl Scalabrini Ortiz (Nacional Museum of Rails)
Museo Islas Malvinas
(Folkland Islands Museum)
Museo de la Deuda Externa (Museum of Foreign Debt)
THURSDAY
For those interested in
space, there is a quirky little planetarium. The Galileo Galilei Planetarium is
known as El Planetario, and is located in the park Parque Tres de Febrero in
the Palermo district of Buenos Aires. Every day they have multiple shows
educating the audience in a entertaining fashion about our universe. In
the 20m semispherical dome they project movies and
representations of the stars of both hemispheres. Everyday they have two or
three different shows (in Spanish) for as a little as 50 pesos and on Thursdays
at 7 pm they have a free show. On clear nights, after the 7 o’clock
Thursday show they take out their telescopes for everyone to use.
FRIDAY
A less publicized fair is
the flea market in the neighborhood of Colegiales or El Mercado de las Pulgas.
If the weather on Friday is nice this is a perfect niche to check out for free
and great for hipster photographs. The flea market is in a large warehouse
located at 1650 Av. Dorrego. It holds around 150 different booths of antiques
and collectables and is absolutely filled with stuff! Just to give you an idea,
the slogan of this market is ¨Whatever you are looking for, we have it here!.¨ Make
sure to bring your camera and give yourself plenty of time to check out all the
booths and when you are done walking around there is a little café decked out
in artsy decorations with tasty pastries and coffee. Luckily, this flea market
is walking distance from Palermo Hollywood, so come afternoon and you have
finished looking around just take a left out of the flea market and walk two
blocks along Dorrego Av. Take a right on any of the cross streets (Gorriti,
Honduras, Costa Rica…) and you will find yourself in a picturesque neighborhood
with alternative restaurants, cute cafes, and craft breweries. Almost all of the
craft breweries have a happy hour from 6pm to 8pm, including the German ¨Baum
Brewery¨ at 5720 Honduras who serves their beer with addictive Japanese peanuts!
SATURDAY
El Hipodromo Argentino de
Palermo is a huge horse racing venue, hotel and casino. The impressive
structure is an example of neoclassical French architecture which was popular
in Buenos Aires during it's very prosperous end of the 19th century. The hippodrome
is a nice place to visit any day, even if you don´t see a horse race it is nice
to walk around! If you are lucky, some Friday and Saturday evenings there are
festival events in the hippodrome plaza, anything from Beer Festivals to Food
Truck Festivals. And if nothing is going on that night then you are just blocks
away from a prime area for restaurants and bars that will be open all night.
Walk left from the hippodrome along Av. del Libertador until you can cross the
avenue at the street Andres Arguibel. Take the second right on a street called
Báez and you will immediately find cafes, bars and picturesque streets of
Palermo to wander!
SUNDAY
For Argentines, Sunday's
are a day to be spent with family and friends and the locals of Buenos Aires
are no exception. It is very common for the family to get together to eat asado
(Argentine Barbecue) or for friends to go to a park or plaza to drink mate
(pronounced maté) and play futbol (Soccer). A great park to experience this is
Parque tres de febrero located in Palermo centered at the intersection of
Sarmiento and Libertador. The park includes duck ponds with paddle boats, a
rose garden and tons of weaving paths to wonder along any time of day. Bring a
blanket to sit on and find a comfortable corner to relax and people watch or
enjoy a picnic. Closer to the paddle boats and rose garden there are vendors
selling popcorn, choripan (sausage in a baguette), cold beer and ice cream!
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