Tour guides Argentina > Buenos Aires

5 ideas for guided tours in Buenos Aires

• La Boca

  

  Tucked in the city’s southeast, Barrio de la Boca grew from the footsteps of Genoese immigrants who landed here in the late 1800s. It still holds their imprint.

  Crowds head straight to Vuelta de Rocha—a triangle-shaped square. From there, the walk flows into La Caminito. Not so much a street anymore, more like a patchwork of color, steel balconies, and murals. Most of it, echoes of Benito Quinquela Martín’s brush from the ’50s.

  Art spills into everything here. Painters. Dancers. Café tables pulled to the edge of the sidewalk. You’ll hear tango before you see it. And just down the way, the famed La Bombonera stadium, where Diego Maradona first carved out his legend.

• Plaza de Mayo

  

  This square—right in Monserrat—is where Argentina’s independence lit its first spark. Two spaces once stood here: Plaza del Fuerte and Plaza de la Victoria. They merged and became Plaza de Mayo, backdrop to the May Revolution of 1810.

  At its core stands the Pyramid of May. A quiet but bold reminder. Around it, buildings with stories to tell:

  – Casa Rosada, built in 1898. That dusty pink facade holds the country’s presidential offices. You can step inside on weekends.

  – The Metropolitan Cathedral, its neoclassical columns sheltering centuries of Spanish influence.

  – Museo Nacional del Cabildo, once colonial government, now home to aged maps, declarations, portraits—relics of revolution.

• Avenida 9 de Julio

  

  Right through the middle of the capital runs Avenida 9 de Julio—massive, loud, 140 meters wide. Less of a boulevard, more of a grand divide between past and present. It cuts from Plaza de la Constitución to Avenida Libertador.

  Named for July 9, 1816—Independence Day—it’s dotted with places that ask you to stop:

  – The French Embassy, all Belle Époque elegance.

  – Constitución station, built in 1917. Still on lists of the most beautiful terminals.

  – That tall spike in the sky, the Obelisk. Sixty-eight meters of white concrete marking Plaza de la República since 1936.

  – Colón Theater, a cathedral of opera and dance. Over a century old, still dazzling.

• San Telmo

  

  Close to the docks, San Telmo clings to its roots. Named after San Pedro González Telmo, a 17th-century monk and sailors’ patron, the barrio feels like a time pocket.

  Streets paved in stone. Faded facades. Murals that stretch across walls. On weekends, the market spills out—antiques, vinyl, handwoven rugs.

  Don’t miss the National Historical Museum tucked inside Parque Lezama. Or the Pasaje Defensa, an old mansion-turned-labyrinth of antique dealers. Sundays, calle Defensa turns car-free, and a fair rolls in with crafts and sounds and colors.

  In Plaza Dorrego, someone’s always playing guitar. Dancers slide between tables. You might stop. You might not. But the rhythm follows you.

• Avenida Florida

  

  Always moving, Avenida Florida cuts through the center like a pulse. Shops, noise, a mix of locals and tourists on the hunt for something.

  You’ll pass the Galeria Güemes, a throwback with a stained-glass dome. The Galeria Pacifico, from 1889—now upscale retail. Then, the towering Kavanagh Building, all angles and ambition, 29 floors of Art Deco.

  It became pedestrian during daylight back in 1913. By 1971, no cars at all. After a slump in the early 2000s, it bounced back—fast.

  Start near Calle Rivadavia and head toward Plaza San Martín. Along the way: cafés, stalls, violinists, dancers. Voices blur. The street doesn’t pause. Not even at night.