Buenos Aires' largest and most subdivided neighbourhood — Soho, Hollywood, Chico, and the parks in between
Palermo is less a neighbourhood than a cluster of them. Palermo Soho (boutiques, concept stores, third-wave coffee), Palermo Hollywood (restaurants, bars, television studios), Palermo Chico (diplomatic mansions, museums), and the Bosques de Palermo (1,000 hectares of parkland with a Japanese garden, rose garden, and lake). The zoning is loose — a corner you think is Soho turns out to be Hollywood after two blocks — and the rhythms vary with it. What holds together is the built environment: low-rise, tree-lined, heavily French-influenced architecture on the main avenues, crumbling-but-charming side streets where the bougainvillea swallows buildings. Stay here if you want Buenos Aires at its most walkable and food-obsessed.
The parrilla Buenos Aires chefs recommend when pressed. Strict no-bookings policy; queue starts at 18:30 and the Malbec they pour while you wait is included. The ojo de bife (ribeye) is the benchmark against which other parrillas are measured.
1,000-hectare park network including the Jardín Japonés, Rosedal, and the planetarium. On Sundays half of Buenos Aires turns up with maté thermos and picnic blankets.
The café that defined Palermo Soho's brunch era. Outdoor seating on Calle Nicaragua, third-wave coffee, sourdough toasts, and a dulce-de-leche croissant that's worth the walk from anywhere in the city.
Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires — the Costantini collection of 20th-century Latin American painting in a Foster-designed concrete gallery. Frida Kahlo's 'Self-Portrait with Monkey and Parrot' is the signature piece.
Cocktail bar hidden in the basement of a flower shop on Calle Arroyo. Perennially in Asia's 50 Best Bars. Argentine botanicals, Mediterranean influence, and a cellar that runs much later than you'd expect.
Plaza Serrano and its surrounding blocks turn into an open-air market of vintage clothes, handmade jewellery, leather, and local designers. Sunday 11:00–20:00. The adjacent cafés make a full afternoon of it.
Home Hotel Buenos Aires (a converted Palermo Hollywood house by two architects) and Faena Hotel (further east in Puerto Madero, but the grand Buenos Aires hotel play) are the design-forward picks. Four Seasons Buenos Aires is in Recoleta but ten minutes from Palermo. Budget travellers do well at the Sofitel and the Alvear Palace; for something authentic, the many small boutique hotels on Calle Gurruchaga and Honduras run from around $100.
Palermo is walkable within its sub-neighbourhoods but huge overall — Soho to Chico is 25 minutes on foot or $3 in a taxi. The Subte D line (Plaza Italia, Scalabrini Ortiz stations) connects you to the centre in 15 minutes. Uber and Cabify both work reliably. Cycling is pleasant along the park network; the EcoBici bike-share is free for tourists.
Soho (south of the Pacifico railway) is the shopping / boutiques / Sunday market side. Hollywood (north of the railway) is restaurants / bars / television studios. Both are walkable within themselves. Most travellers cross between them without noticing.
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