Things to do at Plaza de Mayo

Plaza de Mayo is Argentina's political square, not a photo stop: the Casa Rosada presidential palace, the colonial Cabildo and the Metropolitan Cathedral all face onto it, and it is where national protests gather and where the Madres de Plaza de Mayo still walk their Thursday march, at 15:30, as they have done since 1977.

A full circuit of the square and its three buildings takes 30 to 60 minutes on foot; the cathedral and the Cabildo are free to enter, while the Casa Rosada is visited on separate guided tours, usually on weekends, that need booking ahead rather than a walk-in. It sits at the edge of the wider Microcentro, so treat it as a short, focused stop rather than a full morning out.

Expect a working government square, with visible police presence around protests and events, not a sanitised tourist plaza.