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Buenos Aires Neighborhoods - Recoleta

Welcome to Recoleta!

Approximate boundaries: Avenida Santa Fe — Avenida Figueroa Alcorta & Avenida 9 de Julio — Austria

Many porteños and many more tourists are in denial about the more unfavorable sides of their precious city. For those that don't like the idea of military dictatorship, economic crisis, people living below the line of poverty, and other such unsavory things: fear not. There is a place in the city to escape ugly thoughts and live like you are strolling along the Champs Elyseé in Paris or buying Prada in Milan and that place is Recoleta. All you have to do is cross Avenida Santa Fe from Microcentro and suddenly the grass is greener, the streets are cleaner, the houses have been painted in the last 50 years, the fountains tranquilly trickle, and people actually pick up after their purse puppies. Life is a little more stylish in Recoleta. This is where any porteño who is anyone — or who is in serious denial of the country's recent rollercoaster history — lays their head, and where tourists with credit cards go to see them in action.

Those that don't have the luck or fortune that it takes to possess a Recoleta zip code won't let it stop them from visiting. This barrio is a wealth of some of the city's greatest sights and the streets are always buzzing with activity. Couples stroll hand in hand, gawking at window displays and gorgeous, centuries-old buildings. The parks and plazas are also beautiful and well maintained making Recoleta a great destination for families and friends looking for fun in the sun. On the weekends, tourists flock to the Cementario de la Recoleta — proof that Argentines who lived big, can also do so in death — and the bustling weekend feria outside. Just beyond the sprawling plazas that lie to the north between Avenida del Libertador and Avenida Presidente Figueroa Alcorta, lies the can't miss Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes and a short stroll will find you at the ancient-modern fusion of nature and technology at the incomparable Floralis Genérica. From there you can visit MALBA (Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires) and get up close and personal with Frida Kahlo, Xul Solaar, and other greats. There is so much to see and do from the greatest museums to a wealth of artisans and street performance in the parks and plazas. The barrio might make you green with envy but will still merit an afternoon or two of your time.

As day melts into evening, Recoleta is home to some of the city's finest (and priciest) cuisine as well as five star hotels and spas. This is the place to stay in style. You can find those not suited for the hotel treadmill or rooftop swimming pool getting their cardiovascular workout trolling the three levels of shopping paradise at Patio Bullrich, Buenos Aires' most exclusive and expensive shopping mall. Three bulging floors of perfume sample and Versace designs await along with some seriously sassy staff members. Nearby Avenida Alvear is a wealth of designer boutiques where you have to be careful or they will charge you for breathing hard in the windows.

Such is the dreamy life of barrio Recoleta where, miraculously, you can't even smell the offensive odors of the city, unless you decide to cross to the dark side of the tracks.