Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the financial, industrial, commercial, and cultural hub of Argentina. The busy city center is adorned with elegant buildings while well-dressed inhabitants strut about stylishly, chat into their cell phones and sip cofee in atmospheric cafes. Even farther north, Palermo is the middle classes romping grounds, featuring ethnic cuisine, extensive grassy parks and steady monuments. Down south is where the blue-collar class hangs: tango mecca San Telmo has charming cobled streets and colonial mansions, while rough-housing La Boca offers up colorful buildings and its world-famous football team.
Buenos Aires is readily accessible from the US and Canada, with major carriers flying to the capital city daily. They offer direct flights, usually with one stop en route at Lima, Rio or Miami. Aerolineas Argentinas is the national carrier of Argentina. It enjoys a fine reputation for good service both in the air and on the ground.The Teatro Colon, the refurbished world-class opera house in which Caruso sang, is a night stop, as are the many theaters and night clubs throughout the city. These run the gamut, and we'll leave it to you to find your niche. However no visit to Argentina would be complete without a visit to tango club. International flights land at Ezeiza International Airport, which is about 45 minutes from the heart of Buenos Aires. Looking like beetles scurrying through a grassy field, the small black and yellow cabs of Buenos Aires are readily available, except during morning and evening rush hours. Bus stops in central locations often have a map outlining the individual route of each bus that stops there.
Watching the changing of the guard throughout historical sites in Buenos Aires is part of the fun of visiting. Many tourists take particular delight in photographing these men in early-19th-century military clothing parading through Plaza de Mayo on their way to their next station.
Avenida Rivadavia: Although you will spend little time on it, Avenida Rivadavia is a key orientation street in this downtown grid. Chances are that you'll spend most of your time in the northern sector, where the hotels, restaurants and shops are located.
Plaza San Martin :Ten blocks north of the Plaza de Mayo is the splendid Plaza San Martin, on a hill originally marking the northern limit of the city. It has since designed by Argentina's famous landscape architect Charles Thays, and is filled with luxuriant mature palms and plane trees, and popular with runners in the early morning and office workers at lunchtimes. At the western corner is an equestrian statue of San Martin, 1862, and in the northern end of the plaza is Falklands / Malvinas memorial with an eternal flame to those who fell in the war, 1982.
Recoleta Cemetery : It is a veritable city of the dead and well revered by portenos, who tend to celebrate famous figures death anniversities rather than its birth days.
Feria de San Delmo : A definite can't miss sunday activity is this lively antiques fair in Plaza Dorrego, the heart of tangoland San Telmo. Dozens of booths display old seltzer bottles, ceramics, keys, coins, jewelry , watches pictures and many other antique knickknacks for your buying pleasure.
From Buenos Aires there are many possibilities for trips to nearby small
towns in the pampas, north along the river to the delta and its islands, or
east along the coast as far as the provincial capital, La Plata. Among the
attractive northern suburbs easily reached by train from Retiro or by bus
are Olivos (where the presidential residence is located), and San Isidro.
Olivas has a couple of yacht clubs and and a number of European style
residences, as well as outdoor tea rooms and fresh air. Fishing can be
done here, from a jetty managed by the local fishing club. To the north,
San Isidro has an important horse tracing track, belonging to the Jockey
Club.
Tigre:
Tigre is an old town situated at the mouth of the delta. Many tourists come here to fish, row, water ski, and cruise the winding channels that flow past hundreds of little islands.
Five Star Hotels Hilton Hotel Buenos Aires Macacha Guemes 351, Buenos Aires, Argentina C1106BKG Tel: 54-11-4891-0000 Fax: 54-11-4891-0001
Abasto Plaza Hotel Av. Corrientes 3190 - C1193AAQ - Capital Federal Tel.: 54-11 6311 4466 Fax: 54-11 6311 4465/4483
InterContinental Hotel MORENO 809, (1070) CAPITAL FEDERAL • BUENOS AIRES, C1091AAQ Front Desk: +54-11-43407100 • Fax: +54-11-43407199
Feirs Park Hotel Buenos Aires Esmeralda 1366 BUENOS AIRES - ARGENTINA Te: (05411) 4131-1900 Fax: (5411) 4131-1950
Caesar Park Hotel Posadas 1232 Capital Federal Buenos Aires, Argentina C.P. C1011ABF tel (54 11) 4819 1100 fax (54 11) 4819 1121
Continental Hotel Av.Roque Saenz Peña 725, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina