Argentina

Argentina 2022

Buenos Aires: 

My Google maps link has a bunch of locations saved.  Some highlights are below:

Where to stay: most of the tourists/DNs stay in Palermo Hollywood.  I did, and would again.  I also loved the area around Almagro, but I did see some sketchiness in the evening.

Restaurants:

• Everyone has to do the Don Julio rite of passage, if you can get a reservation.  It was a bit underwhelming, but fun to see the scene.
• Nino Gordo is the hotspot (as of 2022) - Asian fusion, hard to get a res
• Parilla El Pobre Luis was my favorite parilla, near the Chinatown section.  Calden del Soho was also good but a stiff vibe. 
• Pizzería Güerrín for mozzerella pizza, Argentina style
• La Mezzetta for fuggazetta pizza, a must
• Cerveceria Lopez - classique BA bodegon, must go for the fried provolone
• El Banderin - another OG bodegon
• La Esquina - sandwiches to die for
• El Hipopótamo for old school Argentina cafe culture (Bourdain went here)
• Cacho Rotiseria - retro vibe tapas place 
• Gran Paraiso in La Boca 
• El Preferido de Palermo - sceney joint
• Los Galgos Bar - local vibe, traditional dishes, bar/cafe scene
• Chui - modern restaurant in a beautiful garden 
• There are a ton of random ridiculously good Italian restaurants, a couple I forgot to tag.  Albamonte's food was fine, but the people watching (older BA groups having the time of their life) was worth going for
• Cafe Rivas - classic BA cafe near San Telmo
• Cafe Registrado - solid neighborhood cafe
• Guarda la Vieja - good vibe bar and restaurant
• La Perla - old school restaurant/bar in La Boca
• Hong Kong style - famous Chinese restaurant favored by chefs
• Cafe de Garcia - didn't get to go, but on my list for next time
• El Cuartito - football memorabilia explosion classic pizza place

Bars: a lot of the restaurants had a bar vibe, so many of the above also...

• Cafe San Bernardo - pool and ping pong hall with a bar, must do
• Chinoteria - dope little bar near the train tracks in Chinatown.  There are a lot of little bars and food stalls in this area.
• Soria Bar - lush bar

• El Banderin

• Le Troquet Henry
• C Complejo Art Media - rooftop bar/warehouse/live music
• Bar Seddon near San Telmo
• Festival - cozy jungle vibe
• El Samovar de Rasputin - grunge bar in La Boca with live music and weird decor

To do:

• Monday night drum show at Konex (must do)
• Street fairs and markets:
• San Telmo Fair for antiques and literally anything else, massive.  There is also the indoor Mercado with food and clothing stalls - eat at the Juan Batista stall there and get some insanely good potato thing
• Plaza Serrano street fair/restaurants around it
• Parque Centenario street fair
• Mercado de Pulgas furniture/vintage/antiques
• Parque Lezama - a ton of old clothes, not necessary a good selection but if you're in the area check it out
• Drink fernet and coke
• La Boca neighborhood - colorful streets, live music, outdoor drinking, football games (just watch for pickpockets)
• Tango (dancing) at La Catedral - modern take on tango in a warehouse (must do)
• Tango (live music) at El Boliche de Roberto (must do)
• Day trip to Tigre for some antique shopping on the river
• Live (usually punk) music at Otra Historia
• Recoleta Cemetary - worth a visit
• El Ateno bookstore - in an old theater, gorgeous!  As a side note, BA has the most bookstores per capita, another reason why I love it so much :) 
• Ask strangers for a subway swipe - you cannot get new SUBE cards, so you have to dangle some dinero and ask for a swipe from their card, many times they give you a free one
• Juan Perez vintage store (and nearby vintage mini-malls)

Patagonia:

El Calafate recs: 

• La Zorra brewery (in both Chalten and Calafate)
• Half day (or less) walk around Reserva Laguna Nimez to see flamingos
• Hike around the Perito Moreno glacier
• Kayak under the glacier.  I used some tour group that I found along the main strip in Calafate, forget the name.  There's not many reservations available so book early, it is a must do.

El Chalten recs: 

• Laguna De Los Tres Hike
• A lot of other hikes too :) 
• The town is small but cute, and has a very interesting alpinism history.  There cell service and wifi is basically non-existent, so I couldn't spend as much time as there as I wanted because I had to work.  I did a day trip from Calafate on a bus at the crack of dawn.

On another trip I was also in Ushuaia - message me for more on that :)