Many clients choose to Buenos Aires Stay and sightsee in downtown (central city) Buenos Aires. This central Buenos Aires area makes for a fun packed vacation, with many important buildings, monuments and attractions that tourists sightsee only a short walk, a bus or subte ride away.
Centro has excellent communication systems offering easy access to Buenos Aires city’s Belgrano, Palermo, Recoleta, San Telmo and La Boca. In addition, you have easy access to the north and south of Buenos Aires Province via the city’s main train and bus stations at Retiro.
El Centro or the downtown neighborhood is the city center of Buenos Aires. To make it easier for you to grasp the geography think of downtown as the area around iconic El Obelisco (Obelisk), the best known and photographed of Buenos Aires monuments. The Obelisk, dedicated in 1936 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the settlement of Rio del la Plata is probably the best known of Buenos Aires’ many landmarks.
BA Stay group together parts of various barrios in the central area of the city, or more to the point, in the central business district of Buenos Aires, to form a neighborhood we refer to as Centro or Downtown. We do this for simplicity. The reality for most tourists is that they want safe and central locations and therefore our grouping is both logical and helpful for tourists.
If you look at the map below, Buenos Aires Stay’s downtown Buenos Aires includes parts of Retiro, San Nicholas and a few apartments that fall into the Balvanera district, within these Buenos Aires barrios to the east is another neighborhood called Microcentro that adjoins Puerto Madero. Monserrat is fast becoming of interest to tourists and some apartments we list for vacation rental are in Monserrat. Because of the great interest and historical importance of Monserrat it warrants its own section on our websites. Monserrat is a barrio where quite a lot of clients are choosing to invest in Buenos Aires property.
Retiro is where the main train and bus terminals operate and Recoleta, our favorite residential barrio close to the city center is the barrio most favored by the Argentine upper classes. We also have another important neighborhood that warrants its own category on our websites – Plaza San Martin.
Centro or downtown is a busy business and financial center with shops, restaurants, cinemas, government buildings, parks, squares, and many of Buenos Aires most important sights and monuments.
Although busy, Centro’s residential streets provide comfortable apartment blocks and most of the district is peaceful after office hours. If you want to be in the tourist hub or you are in Buenos Aires for business, then the downtown neighborhood will not disappoint.
Two of the biggest avenues in the world cut through Buenos Aires’ historic city center, 9 de Julio Avenue, which is one of the widest in the world and Rivadavia Avenue, which is one of longest in the world.
Buenos Aires and indeed, Argentina’s rich history were born downtown, mainly in the barrio of Monserrat, one of the oldest of Buenos Aires’ barrios and probably the most interesting for tourists because of its historical and architectural importance. Just in case you so not want to wait for our Monserrat sightseeing and San Nicolas sightseeing guides, we list the main attractions for your convenience:
• San Martín Square: Designed by the architect Carlos Thays, it has a great historical importance and it is the battlefield on which Buenos Aires residents defended themselves against the English invasion of 1807. You can find more information about this area on our website entitled ‘Plaza San Martin.’
• Corrientes Avenue: This Avenue has the most important theaters and is where today’s hit musicals are bill boarded.
• “El Obelisco”, with its 67.5 meters of height is considered to be a key symbol of Buenos Aires. It was built in 1936. Inside of it there are 200 steps that lead to the small window. It is situated on the corner of 9 de Julio and Corrientes avenues.
• Colon Opera House and Theatre: This theatre displays a French style, designed by the architect Julio Dormal, who finished in 1907. It has a capacity for 2400 guests, who are blown away by its world ranking acoustics. Its dome has a Parisian stained glass window through which lights cast great colour. It has its own museum that holds some of South America’s greatest examples of indigenous ancient musical instruments, as well as workshops. It is located on the block formed by Cerrito, Viamonte, Libertad and Tucumán Streets.
• Café Tortoni: One of the oldest and best preserves cafes in Buenos Aires. It was founded in 1858 and frequently visited by famous characters such as Carlos Gardel and Benito Quinquela Martín among others. Nowadays, jazz and tango shows are a favorite. It is situated at 826 Avenida de Mayo.
• Casa Rosada: The seat of the national government since the First Council. The pink palace owes its color to Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, who painted it with pink to symbolize the reunification of the country after the civil war between Federals whose battle color was red, and Unitarians, whose battle color was white. It is located at 50 Balcarce Street, Capital Federal, Buenos Aires.
• Cabildo: This building was the starting place of the May Revolution, if you read our history of the Argentine, you will realize that 25 May 1810 was no revolution at all! . Its work was stopped in1821 when the Law of Suppression of Cabildos was dictated. Today it operates as the National History Museum of Buenos Aires.
• Galerias Pacífico shopping center: Right on Florida Street, this shopping mall is one of the best and most expensive in Buenos Aires. You can find imported brands, as well as restaurants and cafeterias. It is located on the corner of Florida Street and Córdoba Avenue.
There is far too much information to impart about the central downtown Buenos Aires barrios for tourists, so we intend to write about both Monserrat and San Nicolas over the next few days, below, you can find our links to the next Buenos Aires sightseeing blogs in this series, so bookmark this page. Reserve you Buenos Aires City Tour!!!
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