Buenos Aires Guide
Introduction to Buenos Aires
Of all South America's capitals and major cities, Buenos Aires – aka Capital Federal, Baires, BsAs or simply BA – has by far the most going for it. Seductive and cultured, beguilingly eclectic and in constant flux, it never bores, seldom sleeps and invariably exerts a mesmerizing power over its visitors. Described as a hybrid of Paris, Madrid, Milan and London, with a dash of Manhattan, and yet with its own deeply entrenched traditions – such as drinking tea-like mate – and its hospitable, extravagant inhabitants, known as Porteños, it is in fact a city that is totally sui generis.
By Latin American standards Buenos Aires enjoys an incomparable lifestyle. You'll find restaurants, bars, cafés and nightclubs to suit every taste and pocket, plus a world-class opera house, myriad theatres, cinemas and galleries and splendid French-style palaces (the city's favourite nickname is the "Paris of the South") that underscore its attachment to the arts and its sense of style. Both these qualities are reflected in the tango – in its various forms of music, dance or song – often the main reason why people travel to Buenos Aires in the first place. A few of the city's many museums are undeniably world-class, presenting collections of European and Latin American art, old and modern, or the works of great home-grown artists, or furniture and artefacts imported from the Old World, or else the fascinating history of the city and the people who have made it. Another boon are the many parks and gardens around the city, some coming complete with cycle-paths, boating-lakes and even a planetarium – plus outstanding sports facilities. Porteños are great sports fanatics and any trip to the city should include a football match, a horse race or a polo game.
Buenos Aires owes much of its character to its proximity to nature. To the northeast of the city flows the caramel-hued Río de la Plata (River Plate), linked to Buenos Aires' history, development and personality ever since conquistador Pedro de Mendoza first sailed up it to found the city in 1536. The city's stores, markets and restaurants, meanwhile, are full of reminders of the closeness of the Pampas, a verdant plain lapping at its western edges.