The Most Popular Neighborhoods
When you hear mention of Barrio Norte, it’s in reference to a somewhat amorphous area comprising parts of Recoleta, Palermo, Balvanera and Retiro. Barrio Norte, as the name suggests, is located in the northern reach of the city, and centers around Santa Fe Avenue. In and of itself it’s not an actual barrio, but rather a catchall term for the more affluent, middle class part of the city spanning from Palermo to Plaza San Martin.
Recoleta
Buenos Aires is often called the Paris of Latin America and it is in the well-heeled, jacaranda-lined neighborhood of Recoleta that this cliché rings most true. Recoleta’s streets present a striking scene with belle époque apartment buildings housing ritzy boutiques, cafes and art galleries. It is in this neighborhood where you’ll find Evita Peron interred amongst the Art Deco and Modernist styled mausoleums at the Cementerio de la Recoleta. Recoleta is also home to the ultra-chic Alvear Palace Hotel and the Four Seasons. Comparisons to New York’s Fifth Avenue are apt. Recoleta is nothing if not polished, elegant and exclusive; of course, it is one of the more expensive places to live in the city. Points of interest include the beautifully fin de siècle French ice palace or the Palais de Glace, the Buenos Aires Design Center snug alongside Recoleta’s cultural center, La Biela Bar, a classic Porteno bar, the National Library, and the Museum of Fine Arts.
Palermo
Palermo, a rambling and leafy neighborhood, with large parks and narrow running tracks, is often touted as being a hothouse of all that is trendy and cool. As the largest neighborhood in Buenos Aires, it has been subdivided into several distinctive enclaves: Palermo Chico, Palermo Soho, Palermo Hollywood, Palermo Viejo, and Palermo Freud.
Palermo Freud, (aka Palermo Sensible or Guadalupe, or simply Alto), is so named for the high concentration of psychoanalysts and psychiatrists in the area. This part of Palermo incorporates the trendy shopping mall Alto Palermo, and runs along Avenida Santa Fe, a main transportation route and commercial center. Plaza Guemes on Boulevard Charcas, a pedestrian street lined with cafes, is at the heart of Palermo Freud.
Palermo Viejo runs from Avenida Santa Fe south to Avenida Cordoba and continues east to Colonel Diaz. Many of the buildings have been recycled, their Spanish style facades renewed with more modern touches. The area has a large Armenian population; communities from Poland, Lebanon and Ukraine are also present. An Armenian cultural center hosts dinners each Friday, and you can find a string of falafel joints and Arab confiterias on Scalabrini Ortiz.
Palermo Chico is elegant, but also seriously upmarket. Skirting avenida Figueroa Alcorta and San Martin de Tours, this terrain is home to the famous and the wealthy—e.g. mayor Mauricio Macri and TV personality Susana Gimenez. Palermo Chico is also where you’ll find a slew of embassies, all housed in meticulously kept mansions.
Palermo Soho is the area surrounding Plaza Serrano aka Plazoleta Cortazar, in the neighborhood’s southwestern corner. It’s a recently gentrified district, with glamorous and eclectic boutiques, émigré bars, designer shoes, an ecstatic nightlife, and a hip, boho edge. While the moniker and the glitz might give you the impression that Palermo Soho is very commodified, the breezy, warm-hearted élan of the residents, the presence of cracked facades and old world style homes sitting in dilapidated repose lend Soho its charm.
North of the railroad tracks at Juan B. Justo and skirting Cordoba and Dorrego, Palermo Hollywood, so called for its numerous production studios, is best known for its happening night life. The zone is filled with trendy clubs, ethnic restaurants, cafes and discos.
