hola chicos! a 6 day buenos aires city break

Puerto Madero

Puerto Madero

Buenos Aires is the perfect mix between European and South American culture. Here, in this city humor, design, tango and passion wait for you on every corner, in every street, all of the time.

So let yourself be courted by the passion of Latin America. Enjoy the warmth and spirit of the beautiful Buenos Aires people. Become a chico or a chica and smile every day away.

Accommodation:
Palermo Viejo Bed & Breakfast – Former factory turned into a B&B with a small courtyard, lounge area & tastefully designed rooms & suites in the middle of buzzing Palermo.

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Calma Chicha design store

Calma Chicha design store in Palermo

Day 1 – Airport to Palermo

Just make your way from the airport to Buenos Aires and be sure to agree up front on the price with the cabdriver including Toll fees. Other than this, take it easy once you’re in the city, go get a drink, take a bite and get rid of your jetlag a.s.a.p. Make sure you have enough US Dollars to pay with (always ask for the price in Pesos and in Dollars) or exchange for Pesos in the black market. This will make the Argentina part of your trip about 25% cheaper.

Day 2 – Checking out your hood

All you have to do today is stroll around your new neighborhood. Palermo is truly the place to be in Buenos Aires for people who love contemporary (Latin American) design.

Go check out the Calma Chicha store on Honduras 4909 for instance or Sopa de Principe on Thames 1719. Other than these stores, you find plenty of inspiring places for food, fashion and fun in this fantastic neighborhood.

Day 3 – History, art & food

Recoleta cemetery

Recoleta cemetery

History is sort of the middle name of Buenos Aires. It is in the houses, the streets, the faces of the elderly, in stories, graves and…underground. When you hop on subway line A (Plaza de Mayo to Carabobo) you’ll feel like stepping into a time machine made of wood, copper and chandeliers. Before going underground though, check if you can visit the pink palace at Plaza de Mayo as well as look down on the square to see history at your feet. Don’t ride to far, it is a busy day.

Next is San Telmo, the antique cobbled stoned neighborhood from where you walk into a totally opposite neighborhood, the old harbor Puerto Madero that has been transformed into a hip upscale hangout. Here you can choose to either rent and ride a bike in the close by Parque Natural Reserva Ecologica Costanera or rent and ride a bike towards some more – buried – history at the Cementerio de La Recoleta where you’ll stand eye to eye with skulls and bones, as well as the shiny tomb of Evita Perron.

After you leave the dead behind, go get some culture and visit the National Fine Art Museum next to the amazing metal flower sculpture on Ave. Pte. Figueroa Alcorta and the nearby postmodern architecture of the National Library. Peddle on to the electrifying museum of modern art, the Malba after which you park your bike at the Japanese garden, bring out your chopsticks and have lunch (if you are very fast) or dinner (if you have taken it easy) at one of the best Japanese restaurants in Buenos Aires.

Back in Palermo you once again let the city embrace you before going to sleep.

Day 4 – Maradona & opera

Waiving at the hand of God

Waiving at the hand of God

Today you should visit the colorful neighborhood of Boca and see if you can catch a game at La Bombonera to wave at Maradona. To see, feel and hear Argentina is attending a Boca Junior game in Estadio La Bombonera. In this mausoleum of memories you can look into the soul of the Argentinean. And it is all just one question away: ‘Can you arrange tickets to a Bocas game?’

Though the social and economical situation in Argentina seems to change by the day, visiting the magic Bocas kingdom is something to prepare for. The safest way is to arrange not only the tickets, but arrange transportation at the same time. ‘Soccer is war’ can be very true in Argentina. When you are lucky, the Hand of God is in the house, something you’ll notice soon enough. Cause when the crowd slowly starts chanting Maradona, Maradona, his highness is sitting in his skybox only to come out when the sound has evolved into a deafening roar: MARADONA, MARADONA!!!. That is the moment a hand goes up into the air. That is the moment you are waiving at The Hand of God.

In the evening you can enjoy the National Opera (Teatro Colon) now that is finally restored after what feels like decades.

Day 5 – Jesus and horses

jesus tierra santa buenos aires argentina @ journeylism.nlBe amazed by a peculiar amusement park dedicated to Christ Almighty: Tierra Santa. God moves in mysterious ways, but those of human kind are a bit wackier. Right next to Jorge Newberry Aeropuerto’s tarmac, you see red hills, sand colored buildings and lots of people. It turns out to be God’s kingdom on earth: Tierra Santa. The Holy Land. A divine theme park in the middle of Buenos Aires.

For all who want to wander off the path of the righteous onto the ‘off the beaten track’; Tierra Santa is the place to be. Here you find a giant Jesus rising from a mountain accompanied by bombastic music. You can enter paradise and meet Adam and Eve amidst fog and laser beams. Real-life gladiator fights take you back 2000 years in time after which you climb Mount Golgotha, stand at a life-sized cross carrying Jesus’ burden and be amazed together with hundreds of enthusiastic Argentinean school kids…

If you are more into sports than amusement parks, a good alternative is the Hipodromo de Palermo. Check the sports agenda and visit a game of women’s hockey, polo or horse action.

Day 6 – Uruguay

Colonia del Sacramento

Colonia del Sacramento

About an hour from Buenos Aires by futuristic Buquebus fast ferry lays Uruguay. It is quite a contrast, leaving the buzz of Buenos Aires avenues for the cobble-stoned alleys of Colonia del Sacramento. After the quick, but due to the extreme exchange rate of the Argentinean Peso now very expensive Buquebus trip, you arrive in Uruguay. When you take the first ferry from Buenos Aires (leaving 8:45 from Puerto Madero), you have the streets of Colonia almost to yourself.

Besides the residents and their unavoidable mate, the streets are dominated by another interesting phenomenon: old-timers. Everywhere you go, each corner you turn, you’ll be looking at the history of mobility. The past is what you see and feel when you discover Colonia. Clocks have stopped running and time seems a different dimension here. Until it’s 13:00 and the 2010’s take over with the arrival of the sign of our time: mass tourism.

Back in Buenos Aires you stroll to Puerto Madero where plenty of terraces on the old, revived harbour front await you serving the best of Argentina’s wines and plenty of choice in food and atmosphere.