Things to do in Recoleta

Recoleta is Buenos Aires's grandest barrio, built on wide Haussmann-style avenues north of the centre: mansard roofs, embassies, pavement cafés and the Alvear corridor of five-star hotels. Most visitors come for the cemetery and stop there, which misses the point of the neighbourhood itself.

El Ateneo Grand Splendid, a 1919 theatre converted into a bookshop on Avenida Santa Fe, is free to enter and worth 20-30 minutes even without buying anything. The Feria de Recoleta, a craft and design market around Plaza Francia and the cultural centre, runs on weekends, roughly 11:00 to 20:00.

Reckon on half a day for the barrio outside the cemetery, more if you linger over coffee at around EUR 3-5 a cup. The cemetery itself, with Evita's grave, has its own dedicated page.