Explore Buenos Aires and its surroundings by area

Buenos Aires spreads across five distinct areas that suit very different trip lengths and interests. The city itself holds the Microcentro and Plaza de Mayo, the cobbled streets of San Telmo, the colourful Caminito in La Boca, the grand cemetery and cafes of Recoleta, the nightlife and parks of Palermo split into Soho, Hollywood and the woods, the waterfront promenade of Puerto Madero next to the Costanera Sur ecological reserve, the transport hub of Retiro, the residential calm of Belgrano and Vicente Lopez, the tango birthplace of Abasto, the gaucho fair of Mataderos, the Teatro Colon opera house, and the two rival football stadiums, La Bombonera and El Monumental.

About thirty kilometres north, reached by the Mitre train or the Tren de la Costa in roughly an hour, Tigre and the Parana Delta offer wooden boat rides, the Puerto de Frutos craft market, and the riverside town of San Isidro. West and south of the city lie the pampas: San Antonio de Areco around a hundred and ten kilometres away preserves gaucho tradition in its old town and saddlery workshops, estancias in the surrounding countryside run day visits built around asado lunches, horses and doma displays, and closer in, Lujan draws visitors to its neo-Gothic basilica while La Plata, about sixty kilometres south, has a wide grid of avenues and its own cathedral.

Crossing the Rio de la Plata by ferry from Puerto Madero opens a different country altogether: Uruguay. Colonia del Sacramento, a UNESCO-listed colonial town, is about an hour away on the fast ferry, and Montevideo, Uruguay's capital, is roughly two hours and fifteen minutes away on a direct crossing; both require a passport. Further afield, the Iguazu Falls sit near the border with Brazil and Paraguay, reached by a two-hour flight rather than any road or river route, and they are a genuine multi-day trip rather than something to squeeze into a single day.

Deciding which of these five areas to prioritise, and how many days to allow for each, is the first real planning decision for a Buenos Aires trip, and it depends more on pace and interest than on any fixed itinerary.