Palermo: Buenos Aires' Biggest, Greenest and Most Lively Neighborhood
By Harris
Palermo is one of the best neighborhoods in Buenos Aires if you want to be surrounded by great restaurants, bars, cafés, shopping and plenty of green space. It's a huge neighborhood, but the areas most visitors gravitate toward are Palermo Soho and Palermo Hollywood. Soho is the more walkable, boutique-filled side, with tree-lined streets, outdoor cafés, independent shops and colorful street art centered around Plaza Serrano and Plaza Armenia. Palermo Hollywood, just across Avenida Juan B. Justo, has a slightly more polished restaurant-and-nightlife scene and is particularly good once the sun goes down.
One of the reasons I like Palermo is that you really don't need an itinerary to enjoy it. Start around Plaza Armenia, wander through Palermo Soho, stop for coffee or lunch, browse the shops and simply see where the afternoon takes you. Palermo is also one of Buenos Aires' best neighborhoods for street art. If you want some context behind the murals instead of just photographing them, Viator offers a Buenos Aires Graffiti Art Tour that travels through Palermo and neighboring Colegiales, Chacarita and Villa Crespo while explaining the artists and stories behind the work.
Book it: Small-group Buenos Aires Graffiti Art Tour
Palermo isn't all restaurants and nightlife. Head toward Bosques de Palermo (Parque Tres de Febrero) and you'll find one of the largest and prettiest green spaces in the city. Spend some time walking around the lakes and El Rosedal, the beautiful rose garden, and combine it with the nearby Jardín Japonés and MALBA if you want to make a day of it. The contrast is part of Palermo's appeal: you can spend the morning surrounded by parks and gardens, the afternoon shopping and exploring Soho, and the evening eating and drinking your way through the neighborhood without ever feeling like you've run out of things to do.
Food and nightlife are where Palermo really shines. This is a neighborhood where you can find everything from traditional parrillas and empanadas to modern Argentine restaurants, cocktail bars and some of the city's most ambitious tasting menus. For something organized, Viator offers a Palermo Malbec wine-tasting walk through Palermo Hollywood, combining Argentine wines, a traditional picada and fernet, as well as a traditional Argentine food tour in Palermo Soho focused on classic Argentine food.
Book it: Palermo Malbec wine-tasting walk
Book it: Traditional Argentine food tour in Palermo Soho
Palermo is particularly easy to recommend for first-time visitors who want to stay somewhere walkable, leafy and packed with restaurants and nightlife. You won't be surrounded by the grand architecture of Recoleta or the historic atmosphere of San Telmo, but for actually living, eating and going out in Buenos Aires for a few days, Palermo is hard to beat.
Book it: Hotels in Palermo Soho