Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is often called the Paris of South America, and its grand avenues, ornate architecture, and café culture explain why. Yet the city has a passion entirely its own, most visible in the tango that fills the milongas and the dramatic streetside performances of San Telmo. It is a place that stays up late and lives out loud.

Each barrio has a distinct flavor. Leafy Palermo brims with restaurants, boutiques, and nightlife, Recoleta brings elegant mansions and its famous cemetery, and the working-class La Boca splashes its streets in bright colors around the Caminito. Argentine beef and Malbec are the stuff of legend, best enjoyed at a traditional parrilla over a long, unhurried dinner that starts late by most standards.

Seasons are reversed from the Northern Hemisphere. The most comfortable weather comes in spring, from about September to November, and in fall, from March to May, when the jacarandas bloom or the leaves turn. Summers can be hot and humid, and winters stay mild.