One of the world's main tourism destinations, Buenos Aires is known for its European atmosphere in the heart of South America. As you explore its neighborhoods, you'll come to understand a little of this mixture of styles that give Buenos Aires its special charm.
You'll find fashionable stores, cashmere clothing and leather goods along the promenades downtown, in the area around Calle Florida. These are traditional products of Argentina. You'll also find galleries and large stores there, as well as some of the city's oldest hotels. You can find luxury goods nearby, in the elegant Recoleta neighborhood. As you stroll along its streets you'll be able to see the house where the author Jorge Luis Borges lived and the cemetery where Evita is buried, as well as admire the aristocratic architecture of Buenos Aires.
In the Palermo neighborhood – the largest in Buenos Aires – you'll find nature and art, with parks and the city zoo. But this neighborhood is best known for being up-to-date and contemporary. It's home to shops owned by young artists and designers, restaurants run by well-known chefs and bars where you can sit back and enjoy life. If you like art, a visit to Malba – the Buenos Aires Museum of Latin American Art – will be worth your while. It's home to an extremely rich collection of artworks by the leading 20th-century Latin American artists, such as Tarsila do Amaral, Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Candido Portinari and Joaquín Torres García. Another artistic neighborhood is San Telmo, which is well-known for its antique fair. It's also now the place independent artists choose to set up their booths at public markets to show and sell their works.
In the area around the port there are two things you definitely won't want to miss. One is Caminito, with its simple and colorful houses, which bring the joy of artists onto the street. A little farther toward downtown, in Puerto Madero – a neighborhood that's been rebuilt using the port's old warehouses – a restaurant district has sprung up in recent years. This is where you'll find Argentina's best meat.