Buenos Aires is Europe with a Latin heart — grand boulevards, late dinners, and tango drifting out of doorways. Porteños talk with their whole bodies; a little Spanish and you're in the conversation.
- La Boca & Caminito — the famously colourful street of corrugated-iron houses, tango dancers and painters. Touristy, yes, and gloriously photogenic. Stay on the main streets.
- Recoleta Cemetery — a city of marble mausoleums where Evita rests. Free, extraordinary, and strangely peaceful in the middle of the smart district.
- San Telmo on a Sunday — the antiques market fills Defensa street, with impromptu tango on Plaza Dorrego. Order a coffee and just watch the milonga.
- A tango show or milonga — see the polished version, then find a real neighbourhood milonga where locals dance till dawn. "¿Bailás?" (do you dance?) is the whole vocabulary you need.
- Teatro Colón — one of the world's great opera houses. Take the guided tour even if you don't catch a performance; the acoustics are legendary.
Argentine Spanish has its own music (that "sh" sound for "ll" and "y") and locals love teaching it. Meet a Spanish speaker below and tune your ear before you go.
