Buenos Aires — June 2026

Home Base

Park Hyatt — Palacio Duhau

Av. Alvear 1661 · Recoleta

Book Before Departure Reservas

Last thing to lock in:

🐈 Cat café — Wednesday ~2 pm. DM for a Wednesday afternoon slot: @petitchat_ar (Palermo, 3D latte art) or @cat.cafe.buenosaires (Abasto, the original)

✓ Booked: Minecraft Experience: Moonlight Trail · Tuesday 6/23 · 7:00 pm
✓ Booked: Mishiguene · Monday 6/22 · 8:00 pm
✓ Booked: Jewish Heritage Private Tour · Monday 6/22 · 9:45 am · meet at Pasteur 655 (AMIA building)
✓ Booked: Palacio Barolo guided tour · Wednesday 6/24 · 11:00 am · Av. de Mayo 1370
✓ Booked: 🧀 Cheese tasting at Duhau Restaurante · Tuesday 6/23 · 5:00 pm
✓ Booked: 🫖 High tea at Los Salones del Piano Nobile · Wednesday 6/24 · 4:30 pm
✓ Confirmed: 4 pm late checkout · Wednesday 6/24 (Globalist benefit)

Sunday

Domingo

June 21
Arrival day

Land, drop bags, hit the city's most famous Sunday market while the jet lag hasn't caught up yet.

8:00 am

Land at EZE

Through immigration, baggage. Uber or pre-booked car to the hotel — about 45 minutes, ~$30 USD. Avoid the airport ATM; use a card for the official rate or change USD via Western Union later.

10:30 am

Arrive Park Hyatt

Early check-in came through — straight to the room, shower, nap. Skipped the planned hotel breakfast in favor of more sleep.

1:00 pm

Lunch at Mercado de San Telmo

Uber to San Telmo (~15 min). Restored 1897 covered market hall — food stalls, fresh juice, sit-down spots mixed with old produce vendors. Atmospheric — a market inside the market. Ate before walking the market itself.

2:30 pm

San Telmo Sunday Market Sunday only

The market stretches ~13 blocks along Defensa Street: antiques, vintage, leather goods, mate gourds, art, street tango dancers, buskers. Walked north toward Plaza de Mayo.

4:30 pm

End at Plaza de Mayo + Casa Rosada

The historic heart — pink presidential palace, the Cabildo (colonial-era town hall, now a small museum), the cathedral where Pope Francis served.

5:15 pm

Conexión Berlín attempt — turned away

Ubered from Plaza de Mayo planning to drop in. Reservations required on Sundays — they were full and didn't have walk-in capacity. Worth knowing for future trips: book ahead via their Instagram if you want the board game café experience.

5:45 pm

Back to hotel — rest & recover

Shower, horizontal time, prep for dinner.

8:00 pm

Dinner at the hotel

Stayed in for the first night — easy walk to one of the Park Hyatt's restaurants and back to the room. Good call after a long arrival day.

Monday

Lunes

June 22
History & Books

South America's largest Jewish community in the morning, Argentina vs Austria in the afternoon, Mishiguene to close.

8:15 am

Hotel breakfast

Eat well — the morning is on foot. Bring passports for the AMIA security check (required to enter the building).

9:15 am

Uber to Pasteur 655 Meeting point

~15-20 min from the hotel depending on traffic. Pasteur 655 is the AMIA building itself — the guide meets you in front. Allow buffer time; you'll need to clear security to enter.

9:45 am

Jewish Heritage Private Tour Confirmed

A private guide for ~3-4 hours through the largest Jewish community in Latin America. Starting at AMIA, the standard route covers:

AMIA building — site of the 1994 bombing (85 killed), interior visit and memorial
Once / Balvanera — historic Jewish quarter, Yiddish theater past, kosher bakeries
Templo Libertad (1862) — oldest synagogue in BA, with the Jewish Museum inside
Pasteur-AMIA subway station — transformed into a memorial with 26 commissioned artworks
Israeli Embassy memorial — 1992 bombing site (29 killed)

1:00 pm

Lunch at Chiquilín ⚽

Sarmiento 1599, Tribunales — classic 1927 porteño bodegón, walking distance from where the tour wrapped. Pastas, milanesas, the works. The kind of old-school spot where porteños have eaten for generations. Caught the first half of Argentina vs Austria here — Group J Matchday 2 of the 2026 World Cup, 2 pm kickoff, on the TV at the bar with the porteño lunch crowd.

3:00 pm

Back to hotel — second half in the room

Dave watched the second half in the room (kid skipped it). Argentina 2-0 — a Messi brace. Two goals from the GOAT at his sixth World Cup, age 38, watched in Buenos Aires while it was happening.

4:00 pm

Rest in the room

Recovery window before the evening. Long day, big game, late dinner ahead.

6:00 pm

El Ateneo Grand Splendid 10 min from hotel

Av. Santa Fe 1860. A 1919 opera house converted into one of the world's most beautiful bookstores — original frescoed ceiling, painted theater boxes now used as reading nooks, the stage repurposed as a café. Open until 10 pm.

8:00 pm

Dinner at Mishiguene Confirmed

Chef Tomás Kalika's modern Jewish-Argentine restaurant — regularly on Latin America's 50 Best. Pastrami, gefilte fish reinterpretations, Sephardic plates, knishes, Iraqi influences. Perfect bookend to the day's theme.

11:00 pm

Helado at Rapanui

Arenales 2302, Recoleta. Uber back from Palermo. Argentine ice cream is among the world's best — late-night helado after a big dinner is a porteño tradition. Dulce de leche granizado was non-negotiable.

Tuesday

Martes

June 23
Shopping + Minecraft

Game store, Av. Corrientes lunch, food shopping, cheese tasting at the hotel, the main event under the moon.

9:00 am

Hotel breakfast — take your time

Tonight runs late and the trail is ~90 min of walking outdoors.

10:45 am

Uber to El Abismo de Helm Wargames

Galería Galecor, Av. Corrientes 5239, Local 38, Villa Crespo. ~15 min Uber. Opens at 11 am. Tabletop / TCG / RPG haven: D&D books and minis, Magic, Pokémon, Lorcana, board games, dice. The Galería has a few other hobby shops worth poking your head into.

12:30 pm

Lunch on Av. Corrientes

Choose one

La Americana

Empanadas · Av. Callao 83 · Casual

Iconic 1935 empanada and pizza joint at the corner of Callao and Corrientes. The classic Buenos Aires lunchtime experience — order at the counter, eat standing or at a table, watch the queue move fast.

Pizzería Güerrín

Argentine-style pizza · Av. Corrientes 1368 · Casual

The most famous Argentine-style pizzeria — thick-crust, cheese-heavy, fugazzeta rellena, served by the slice al molde with fainá. Open since 1932. Almost always a line.

Los Inmortales

Thin-crust pizza · Av. Corrientes 1369 · Casual

Right across from Güerrín — for those who prefer thin-crust over Güerrín's thick. Old-school tango decor on the walls.

Sudestada

Thai / Indochinese · Guatemala 5602 · Palermo

BA's best-known Southeast Asian restaurant — Thai curries, Vietnamese-influenced dishes, sharable plates. Detour off the Corrientes axis but worth it if you're craving Asian flavors.

★ El Cuartito

Pizza · Talcahuano 937 · Retiro · Starred

Vintage pizza joint since 1934, the Where Chefs Eat-starred classic. Fugazzeta rellena, cold Quilmes, football posters. The chef's-pick equivalent to Güerrín.

2:00 pm

El Gato Negro

Av. Corrientes 1669 — a spice, tea, and yerba mate shop since 1927, with original dark wood shelving, glass jars of bulk spices, and the smell of ground coffee and chocolate. One of BA's most photogenic historic shops. Pick up bulk yerba mate, dulce de leche, or specialty teas for home.

2:45 pm

Uber to Palermo — food shopping

~15 min. The afternoon food-shopping route in Palermo:

Celigourmet (Cabrera 5054) — 100% sin TACC bakery. Stock up on Havanna Super Dulce de Leche & Semilia, Cachafaz de Arroz, and house-made artisan alfajores for the celiac family member back home. Hermetically sealed packs travel well in carry-on
Disco supermercado (Soler 3650 or another Palermo branch) — the standard Argentine grocery experience. Stock up on Cruz de Malta / Rosamonte / Taragüi yerba mate, Sancor or La Serenísima dulce de leche, alfajores (Jorgito, Guaymallén), Argentine Malbec (Catena Zapata, Trapiche), Quilmes beer for the curious
Compañía de Chocolates — artisanal Argentine chocolates in beautiful boxes; gift-worthy

4:30 pm

Back to hotel

Uber back to Recoleta with bags of food shopping, drop in the room.

5:00 pm

🧀 Cheese tasting at Duhau Restaurante & Vinoteca Park Hyatt

The hotel's signature experience — over 50 artisanal Argentine cheeses, curated and paired. The cheese cave is the Duhau's calling card. Allow about 75–90 min. Confirm reservation with the concierge.

6:15 pm

Layer up & Uber to Ciudad Universitaria

Allow 25–30 min. Minecraft is ~90 min outdoors at night in winter — layers, comfortable shoes, gloves, beanie, charged phone.

7:00 pm

Minecraft Experience: Moonlight Trail The main event

The world premiere of Minecraft's first outdoor nighttime immersive experience. ~1km trail through 8 biomes — cherry blossom forests, glowing caves, waterfalls, ancient ruins — ending in a mob battle to relight the beacon. Every visitor gets an in-game cape code via email within 72 hours.

9:30 pm

Late dinner at Niño Gordo

Neon-lit Asian-Argentine fever dream in Palermo — yakitori-style skewers, ceviche, dumplings, sake. Lively, no reservations, expect a 20–30 min wait but it moves. Perfect post-adventure energy for a 15-year-old. Open until 1 am.

Plan B if the wait is too long: walk down the street to Anchoa for modern Italian pizza.

Wednesday

Miércoles

June 24
Barolo + tea + depart

Dante's lighthouse, lunch downtown, cat café, high tea at the Palacio Duhau, then home.

9:00 am

Hotel breakfast + pack

Eat well, pack what you can before leaving. With 4 pm Globalist late checkout, the room stays yours until then.

10:30 am

Uber to Palacio Barolo

Av. de Mayo 1370, Monserrat. ~20 min Uber. Arrive a few minutes early for security check-in.

11:00 am

Palacio Barolo guided tour Confirmed

22-story Dante-themed building from 1923 — Hell at ground level (9 entrance arches = 9 circles), Purgatory in the offices, Paradise at the top, lighthouse on the dome representing the empyrean. Guided 1.5-hr tour climbs through the building and out to the lighthouse balcony for 360° city views.

12:30 pm

Lunch at Café Tortoni

Av. de Mayo 825 — BA's most famous historic café, opened 1858. Marble tables, stained glass ceiling, Borges and Gardel's old hangout. ~7-min walk from Palacio Barolo down Av. de Mayo. Order the classic tostado mixto (ham and cheese on toast), medialunas, and submarino (hot milk + chocolate bar to melt in).

2:00 pm

🐈 Cat café

Choose one

Petit Chat

Carranza 1875 · Palermo Hollywood · Tue-Sun 9:30 am-8 pm

Chinese-Argentine owner Lucy makes 3D latte art (cats sculpted in foam) and Asian pastries — taro buns, pistachio cake, NY rolls. Rescued cats roam between tables. Reservation via Instagram @petitchat_ar.

Café con Gatos

Abasto · 1° Cat Café de Bs. As. · By appointment

The original — Buenos Aires' first cat café, opened October 2020 by three tour-guide friends in a converted apartment-with-garden. 11 rescued cats, one-hour "gatoterapia" sessions including coffee + alfajor. Quieter and more intimate than Petit Chat. Advance reservation via Instagram @cat.cafe.buenosaires.

3:30 pm

Back to hotel — pack & freshen up

Uber back to Recoleta (~10-15 min). Final pack, change for tea.

4:00 pm

Late checkout (4 pm Globalist)

Bell desk holds bags during high tea.

4:30 pm

🫖 High tea at Los Salones del Piano Nobile Park Hyatt

The grand salons of the 1934 Duhau mansion — full English-style afternoon tea with finger sandwiches, scones with dulce de leche, pastries, and a piano playing in the background. The most elegant possible BA send-off. Confirm reservation with the concierge.

6:00 pm

Uber to EZE

Allow 60–75 minutes — Wednesday evening traffic. With a 9 pm flight you'll have ~2 hr buffer; tight but workable since check-in usually moves fast at EZE.

9:00 pm

Departure

Hasta luego, BA.

Practical Notes Datos Prácticos

Money

Currency is ARS (Argentine peso). Inflation is high; rates change weekly.

Use a foreign Visa/Mastercard at restaurants and hotels — they're now charged at the official rate, which is close to the "blue" street rate. Best deal without effort.

For cash, bring crisp USD bills (twenties or hundreds, no folds or marks) and exchange via Western Union for the best rate. Skip the airport ATMs.

Language

Spanish, but porteño Spanish is distinctive:

· vos instead of tú (you)
· "ll" and "y" pronounced "sh" (calle = "ka-shay")
· "che" used like "hey"
· Italian-inflected rhythm and gestures

English is common in Recoleta, Palermo, and at the hotel. Spotty elsewhere — download Google Translate offline.

Weather

Late June is mid-winter. Expect 45–60°F (7–15°C) with cool nights and the occasional rainy day.

Pack: warm layers, waterproof shell, walking shoes, gloves and beanie for Minecraft night, a scarf for variability.

Sunset around 5:50 pm.

Getting Around

Uber is the default — cheap, plentiful, safer than street cabs. Cabify is the local equivalent.

Walk within Recoleta and to Palermo Soho. From the hotel: Recoleta Cemetery (7 min), El Ateneo (10 min), Galería Bond Street (10 min).

Subte (subway) is fine in daylight, crowded at rush hour, sketchier after 10 pm. Buy a SUBE card at any station (~ARS 1,000 + load). Closest stations to hotel: Callao (Line D) or Pueyrredón (Line D).

Subway-friendly trips on this itinerary (all daylight):
· San Telmo / Plaza de Mayo → Line D, then transfer
· Templo Libertad area → Line D Tribunales
· AMIA → Line B Pasteur-AMIA
· Galería Bond Street → walk or Line D Callao

Always Uber: La Boca (no good subway), Ciudad Universitaria (night, no good transit), EZE airport, Reserva Ecológica (poor connections), anything after dark with bags or valuables.

Eating Rhythms

Locals eat dinner at 9–10 pm. Restaurants don't fill until then; arriving at 7 pm feels eerie.

Lunch is 1–3 pm. Many places close 4–8 pm.

Tipping ~10% in cash is appreciated. Most places add a small cubierto (cover/bread) charge.

Safety

Recoleta and Palermo are very safe day and night. Use the same big-city awareness as anywhere — bag on the inside of your shoulder, phone not displayed, no flashy jewelry.

The most common issue is petty theft / phone snatching on busy streets like Florida. Park Hyatt has a doorman and arrivals are safe.

Starred Restaurants Restaurantes

From Where Chefs Eat — twelve picks worth noting. Three are already woven into the plan; the rest are alternatives, quick stops, or out-of-range references for next time.

In the Plan

★ Café San Juan — La Cantina

Tapas · San Telmo · Closed Mon · Affordable

Chile 474. Chef Lele Cristóbal's casual offshoot. Sun lunch backup.

★ Mishiguene

Israeli / Jewish · Palermo · Open 7 days · Affordable

Lafinur 3368. Tomás Kalika, on Latin America's 50 Best. Mon dinner.

Alternatives — Easy Swaps

★ La Mar

Peruvian seafood · Palermo · Open 7 days · Affordable

Arévalo 2024. Gastón Acurio's ceviche temple. Alt for Tue lunch (post-La-Boca) — dropped from Mon for the WC match.

★ Oviedo

Modern Spanish / seafood · Barrio Norte · Open 7 days · Expensive

Antonio Beruti 2602. Salt cod, squid ink risotto, ceviche — one of BA's most respected seafood houses. Alt for Tue lunch (close to hotel) or a fancier Mon/Tue dinner.

★ Gran Dabbang

Asian · Palermo · Closed Sun · Affordable

Raúl Scalabrini Ortiz 1543. Modern Indian-Southeast Asian by an Argentinian chef. Alt for Tue late dinner if Niño Gordo is too loud / too long a wait.

★ I Latina

Latin American · Villa Crespo · Closed Sun & Mon · Expensive

Murillo 725. High-end pan-Latin tasting — Colombian sisters' acclaimed project. Alt for Wed farewell lunch if you want fancier than Casa Cavia.

Quick Stops & Standalones

★ El Cuartito

Pizza · Retiro · Open 7 days · Affordable

Talcahuano 937. Vintage pizza joint since 1934 — fugazzeta rellena, cold Quilmes, soccer posters. Walk-up, late-night friendly. Near Teatro Colón.

★ La Mezzeta

Pizza · Villa Ortuzar · Closed Sun · Budget

Álvarez Thomas 1321. "Pizza passage" — no seats, stand and eat two portions with a beer. Far-north neighborhood, requires a detour.

★ La Alacena

Italian café · Palermo · Open 7 days · Budget

Gascón 1401. Julieta Oriolo's tiny breakfast/lunch spot. Skip if breakfasting at the hotel.

★ Cucina Paradiso

Italian · Belgrano · Closed Sun · Affordable

Castañeda 1873. Neighborhood Italian in Belgrano (north of Palermo, requires Uber).

★ Guido's Bar

Italian · Palermo · Closed Sun · Budget

República de la India 2843. Classic family-run Italian, owner Carlos Sosto in attendance.

★ Italpast

Italian · Campana · Closed Mon · Affordable

Campana is ~75 km northwest of BA — not feasible this trip. Save for next time.