Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires's most iconic neighbourhood — a pedestrian alley of brightly painted corrugated-iron houses in yellow, red, green and blue, where tango dancers perform in the street and the working-class Genoese immigrant history of the city is most visceral.

One of the world's most extraordinary cemeteries — a city of elaborate marble mausoleums where Argentina's elite are entombed above ground, including Evita Perón (María Eva Duarte de Perón) in the Duarte family vault.

Consistently ranked among the top five opera houses in the world — a 2,478-seat Italian baroque theatre completed in 1908, with acoustics that Arturo Toscanini described as perfect. The backstage guided tour reveals the costume workshops still making garments by hand.

Buenos Aires's oldest neighbourhood and its most atmospheric market — every Sunday, the Plaza Dorrego fills with antique dealers selling silverware, vinyl records, Art Deco jewellery and colonial-era furniture, while tango couples dance between the stalls.

Consistently named among the 50 Best Restaurants in Latin America — a traditional Buenos Aires parrilla (steakhouse) in Palermo where the Argentine beef is aged 28 days and grilled over quebracho hardwood charcoal in an open kitchen.

A legendary La Boca worker's restaurant open since 1954 — formica tables, football pennants on the walls, and a menu of classic Argentine dishes: milanesa napolitana, stewed tripe, and the best empanadas near the port.

The best choripán (grilled chorizo sausage sandwich) in Buenos Aires — a modern version of Argentina's iconic street food using artisanal chorizo, chimichurri, and crusty bread in a lively Palermo corner spot.

The most scenic dining area in Buenos Aires — the renovated Puerto Madero waterfront has a string of upscale parrillas and fish restaurants in converted red-brick warehouses along the dock, with views of the Río de la Plata.

A magnificent 1897 iron-and-glass covered market in San Telmo with a dozen food stalls selling empanadas, craft beer, grilled meats, and artisanal ice cream — the best value lunch option in Buenos Aires at the heart of the historic neighbourhood.

Buenos Aires's most intimate tango venue — a small San Telmo bar where professional tango couples dance between the tables while you drink Malbec and eat empanadas. This is where authentic tango survives rather than the tourist milonga shows.

Argentina's highest-ranked cocktail bar (3rd in Latin America) — entered through a flower shop, descending into a prohibition-era speakeasy where Argentine-inspired cocktails use local botanicals, Fernet, Malbec spirits and Patagonian herbs.

The oldest and most famous café in Buenos Aires, open since 1858 — a grand Belle Époque room with marble tables, gilded mirrors and wood panelling where Jorge Luis Borges, Carlos Gardel and Federico García Lorca were all regulars.

Buenos Aires's most elegant tango dinner-show — in the gorgeous Galería Güemes arcade, the Piazzolla Tango venue combines a three-course Argentine dinner with a 90-minute professional tango performance by 10 dancers and a live orchestra.

A river delta 35km from Buenos Aires — the Tigre Delta consists of thousands of islands in the Paraná River, navigable only by boat, where weekend houses sit on stilts above the water and locals travel by motor launch.

Buenos Aires's most creative neighbourhood — Palermo Soho has the highest concentration of street art murals in South America, alongside concept boutiques, craft beer bars and the outdoor weekend artisan fair at Plaza Serrano.

The finest collection of 20th-century Latin American art in Argentina — Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Xul Solar and Fernando Botero in a dramatic contemporary building in Palermo, with a terrace overlooking the Río de la Plata.