Buenos Aires

Travel Advice for Seniors: Buenos Aires

Ah…the Paris of South America! A truly beautiful European City. We were surprised that it did indeed look very much like Paris or London, with of course, very much an Argentinian flair. In Rio they have samba, in Buenos Aires they have the sensuous Tango.

We started our adventure by taking a cab to the Sunday San Telmo Market. This is predominantly a long road with a myriad of artistic shops on either side. A great place for inexpensive souvenir shopping. Watch your handbag and take a shopping bag! It’s crowded but lots of fun and bargaining is encouraged. The antiques flea market is a little further down the road at Plaza Dorrego, where you may also be able to catch some local Tango demonstrations. All this is near the main Market which houses numerous food places, including an outstanding empanada place called El Orno.

Arguably, you can’t go to Buenos Aires without doing two things: Paying your respects at Evita Peron’s gravesite while visiting the Recoleta cemetery and seeing a Tango Show. 

We heard varying stories about Evita Peron…some branded her with the same label as the Peron regime and some thought her a saint for strong-arming the wealthy to give to the poor. You can make your own determination. Regardless, the Recoleta Cemetery is truly something to see. It is chock full of crypts of all types of styles. It is easy to spend several hours just hearing the stories and viewing the beauty of the crypts.

Evita figures greatly into several monuments around the city and even to the Presidential Palace where Madonna starred in her role as Evita, not without local scandal. The gossip is that while she received “official” permission to use the Palace, she did not secure the people’s permission to emulate their much-adored patron.

We spent part of our day touring through the delightful La Boca area, full of colorful homes and interesting shops and characters. We also did a walking tour of the main governmental square, where the Presidential Palace is located.

A definite highlight of our visit was the La Ventana Tango show. I know it sounds sort of kitschy, but it was well done and had a very nice steak dinner to boot. No matter your take on Evita, when the artist skillfully sang Evita at the end of the evening with the Argentinian flag billowing behind her, there was hardly a dry eye in the house. 


Where we stayed: Casa Sur Palermo. Nice hotel, breakfast included. Centrally located.

How we got there: Flight from Salta area to Buenos Aires. This was part of an 18-day private tour through Brazil and Argentina.

General Accessibility Information: Buenos Aires is more accessible than other cities and areas, with major hotels, sights and some transportation accessible. Call in advance to verify and make specialty arrangements. See our sections on specialty apps and accessible travel for more on accessibility assistance.