Cultural Tours In Buenos Aires, The Paris Of South America
Buenos Aires is strongly influenced by European culture, with its history of European settlers going back to the 16th century. Today the city has a vast range of museums, preserved homes of noted figures, bookstores, public libraries and cultural associations, as well as the largest concentration of active theaters in Latin America. We list 10 local tours to cover the best experiences within Buenos Aires.
These featured tours focus on the rich mix of Argentinian culture. From food and wine, art and architecture to the nightlife of the city. The walking tours will take visitors to the large number of landscaped parks and squares, as well the best areas to view its renown street art, with major murals to be found everywhere throughout the city.
Buenos Tours – Recoleta Walking Tour
This Walking Tour covers the traditional upmarket neighborhoods of Buenos Aires Recoleta, Retiro and the world famous Recoleta Cemetery. The tour guide will help you to navigate through the tombs, highlighting important mausoleums, works of art, historical figures and tell local ghost stories. This tour is a great way to experience the grandest and oldest areas in the city.
Buenos Aires Concierge
This is a unique concierge service which provides private and personalised city tours. Depending on your interests, the guide will track the local event calendar showing the main tourist attractions and also provide advise on the best restaurants, tango shows and milongas. Through this service Buenos Aires Concierge can introduce you to lesser-known places and can even arrange for you to share a meal in a typical porteño home. There is no minimum or maximum time for these tours (the shortest tour has been 2 hours and the longest 11 hours). Tours can be organised for individuals and groups (the largest has been 42 people).
Graffitimundo
Graffitimundo celebrates graffiti and street art in Buenos Aires, supporting local artists. A non-profit organisation, it runs tours in close collaboration with local street artists sharing their knowledge of the urban art scene. The tour covers the cultural and historical origins of this art form, and also the different styles and techniques on display. Picking out the city’s hidden graffiti hotspots and street art galleries, Graffitimundo tours also stop by studios to give you the opportunity to meet the artists in person.
Southern Beats Tour
This is a unique tour dedicated to showcasing the vibrant nightlight of Buenos Aires from a cultural point of view. Starting at 9 p.m., it starts off with local guides telling stories and interesting facts about their culture. The first stop is a visit to Folklore, a music venue and a cultural center. This place hosts shows every evening, and you get to experience a traditional meal at a table near the stage. The second stop is at the Tango Corner to attend a typical milonga. It consists of a big hall visited by the most famous milongueros (tango dancers) as well as amateur locals. This tour will to bring travelers closer to places, people and traditions that they might not have found by themselves.
Anuva Wines
Argentina is renowned for its excellent selection of wine. Anuva Wines holds intimate wine tastings offering boutique, hand-crafted Argentine wines, not often found on most restaurant wine lists or on the shelves of Buenos Aires supermarkets. The tasting includes five different boutique wines paired with five traditional Argentine foods. Visitors will learn about the entire wine making process, from grape harvesting to the scientific properties of wine’s chemical compounds, and from bottling to ageing and exporting. They also offer private tastings to people who only want to taste reds. This wine experience takes place in Palermo Soho.
Fuudis Themed Dinners
Fuudis organizes pop-up restaurants and art spaces open in secret places in six different neighborhoods in Buenos Aires. This program is organized in collaboration with a wide range of artists who combine gourmet dining, room design and artistic interactions to create an original culinary experience. The location and menu is unknown until the day of the event.
Foto Ruta
Foto Ruta is a photography-based tour and a creative way to see the city of Buenos Aires. Through a series of clues and tips about the area and in photo-taking, participants are encouraged to capture their experience on camera. The whole group will get the chance to view each other’s images at the end of the tour, a great way to meet fellow travelers.
The Argentine Experience
The idea of The Argentine Experience is to break away from traditional restaurant dining and to provide a unique blend of food and wine, local culture and social integration. Guides teach five classic Argentine activities including how to make your own traditional empanada, alfajores (Argentina’s national sweet) and the national drink known as ‘mate’. The highlight is the steak as they prepare it in a very different way that takes 24 hours of preparation.
Parrilla Tour Buenos Aires
Parrilla Tour Buenos Aires provide walking tours to the most authentic restaurants in the city where the locals eat out. You will learn about the culture and cuisine of Argentina and hear stories from Porteño chefs. The tour visits three different authentic local parrillas and restaurants, allowing guests to taste traditional foods at each stop and Argentine wine. You will also be taken to one of the best artisanal ‘heladerias’ (ice cream shops) in the city.
El Otro Porteno
‘El Otro Porteno’ are local walking tours that take place every day of the week in different areas of the city. The local guide will show you through the city’s neighborhoods and invite you to taste the food on offer from recommended restaurants and markets. The tours are open to anyone to walk the streets of the city as another Porteno.
By Eleanor Cunningham