The cliché is that Buenos Aires, South America's premier tourist city, is the "Paris of the South." That's not totally false - its broad boulevards, grand Francophile architecture, and high culture performing arts certainly contribute to the stereotype. In reality, though, it's also a New World mosaic of ethnic communities who helped create a new country that exported the tango to European salons. Today, in the aftermath of 2002's economic meltdown, it offers international amenities in accommodations, dining, and entertainment at a fraction of European or North American prices.
It's even arguable that the best things in Buenos Aires are free, or nearly so. Sights like Recoleta Cemetery - graveyard to the rich and famous, including Evita - and the famous street fair at San Telmo's Plaza Dorrego cost nothing to visit. Milongas, as participatory tango gatherings are known, carry only a token admission charge - unlike the elaborate, expensive floor shows that many tourists frequent. The new Museum of Latin American Art (MALBA), one of the best in the Americas, costs only a few dollars admission and is even free one day per week. Paris and New York may be beyond your budget, but Buenos Aires is not.
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- Wayne Bernhardson for AAA Destination Discovery
The cliché is that Buenos Aires, South America's premier tourist city, is the "Paris of the South." That's not totally false - its broad boulevards, grand Francophile architecture, and high culture performing arts certainly contribute to the stereotype. In reality, though, it's also a New World mosaic of ethnic communities who helped create a new country that exported the tango to European salons. Today, in the aftermath of 2002's economic meltdown, it offers international amenities in accommodations, dining, and entertainment at a fraction of European or North American prices.
It's even arguable that the best things in Buenos Aires are free, or nearly so. Sights like Recoleta Cemetery - graveyard to the rich and famous, including Evita - and the famous street fair at San Telmo's Plaza Dorrego cost nothing to visit. Milongas, as participatory tango gatherings are known, carry only a token admission charge - unlike the elaborate, expensive floor shows that many tourists frequent. The new Museum of Latin American Art (MALBA), one of the best in the Americas, costs only a few dollars admission and is even free one day per week. Paris and New York may be beyond your budget, but Buenos Aires is not.
- Wayne Bernhardson for AAA Destination Discovery
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Must See
- #1 Plaza de Mayo
- #2 Café Tortoni
- #3 Recoleta Cemetery
- #4 San Telmo (Plaza Dorrego)
- #5 MALBA
Skip It 'til Next Time 
- #1
Tango floor shows
- #2 Professional soccer
