We traveled to Argentina over Christmas Vacation in 2016 with our twins who were 6 ½ at the time. Here is what we did in Buenos Aires with kids.
What To Do – Buenos Aires with kids
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes
Our travel agent arranged for a child friendly tour guide to lead us through the museum. Natalia immediately captivated Nina and Alex by using an adorable puppet as her assistant. (She had explorer outfits for them too, but they refused😂.) She presented them with small notebooks and challenged them to a scavenger hunt. To keep them engaged, Natalia tried to find ways for my children to relate to the Argentinian masters and their work. We especially liked the work of Antonio Berni, who sometimes created art using rubbish. Natalia was amazing from start to finish. I highly recommend getting in touch with her if you are traveling to Buenos Aires with kids (nataliaimbrosciano@hotmail.com).
Floralis Genérica
The mechanical flower (pictured above) is so cool to see! It is solar powered so it opens in the morning and closes at sundown. You can find Floralis Generic in the Plaza de los Naciones Unidas.
Plaza de Mayo
Here, we saw the Casa Rosada (The Pink House: Argentina’s version of the U.S’s White House), where Evita Perone stood on the balcony to address her people. We also learned about some of the political demonstrations that have taken place here. The most prominent of which is the “Mothers (and Grandmothers) of the Plaza”. Donning white kerchiefs, these women peacefully visit the square every week to demand information about their children, who are some of the 30,000 people that disappeared during Argentina’s “Dirty War”(1976-1983)
La Boca Barrio
Boca is the vibrant, working class district that gave birth to the Tango! The original settlers here were artists. They used corrugated metals to build their homes and studios. They didn’t have enough paint to complete a building in a single color, thus a rainbow of a neighborhood was formed. We visited during the day when it was relatively quiet. We heard that at night, the bars and restaurants here fill up quickly, and the streets are alive with dancers and musicians.
Recoleta Cemetery
Like a mini-city, this cemetery’s streets are crowded with intricate and beautiful above-ground coffins and crypts. We, like all good tourists, visited Eva Peron’s mausoleum which is located here.
El Ateneo
OMG How perfect…a theater turned bookstore! For me, this place was incredible…not so much for my husband and children who were bored to tears.
San Telmo Bario
San Telmo is the oldest neighborhood in Buenos Aires. It began as an area for the wealthy, but the huge mansions were later renovated into tenaments for immigrants. Today, tourists and locals flock to San Telmo Market (an indoor shopping area) and the Sunday Feria (an open air marketplace known for its crafts and antiques). We happened to be there on a rainy Christmas Day, so it was a bit desserted, but I read that it’s an amazing experience to visit here on a regular day.
What we ate – Buenos Aires with kids
Jauja Helados
We had an ice cream tasting party here. The owner brought us 6 (!) all-natural flavors to try including Dulce de leche with raspberry, lemon and flowers (my fave), dark chocolate, banana chocolate chip, elderberry and raspberry…DELICIOUS!
Todo Mondo
It’s not easy finding a place to eat on a rainy Christmas Day in a Catholic country. We were happy when we were seated at this gritty, dirty, old school tourist trap. So basically we just sat…and sat…and sat and then (HURRAH!) out on the stage appeared a couple that began to TANGO! It was so awesome! But then the dance set ended and we sat and sat and sat some more before the (pretty disgusting) food arrived. It was really fun, though!
El Sanjuanio
We grabbed delicious empanadas here!
Where we stayed – Buenos Aires with kids
We stayed at a boutique hotel, Casa Sur Bellini, in the fun and funky neighborhood of Palermo, Buenos Aires.