How to Party in Buenos Aires

It’s 8pm in Buenos Aires, and you’re ready to go out to party.  But there’s no-one outside.  Why? People in Buenos Aires adhere to a set ritual: dinner at 9.30pm finishing around 11pm and sit around the table for about an hour having coffee, and then head to a bar by midnight.  Only after a couple of drinks at their favorite place they’ll start thinking which nightclub to go to.  Clubbing continues until 6.30am.

The great thing about this city is that it embraces every music style you can imagine.  From reggae, tango, folklore, classical, rock, to electronic music, every area holds its own style and offers the best out of it.

If you are looking for something more chilled –cafes, bars- go to Palermo Soho or Palermo Hollywood.  If you want to go to open air parties they are mostly located in the north of Buenos Aires (in Spanish called: “Zona Norte”) your area of choice will be San Isidro or Acassuso both along the river side.

For classical music concerts you have the national theatre “Teatro Colón” in the heart of the city – near the Obelisco.  On the other hand if you are more interested in rock music clubs choose Palermo (Palermo’s huge – in fact it’s the biggest urban area in the capital of Buenos Aires).

Thanks to Argentinean tango dancers performing all over the world, San Telmo is getting known as being the host – and hottest - area for this type of music.   From “open milongas” (open tango clubs where you are taught how to dance) to tango demonstrations to standard concerts, San Telmo is doing a great job to keep this running smoothly for travelers.

If you feel there are so many places to go to in town and that it’s too hard to decide where to hit, I recommend that you go to a bar, meet Argentinean people and ask them! They are so friendly and always willing to meet people from abroad that you’ll probably find yourself in their car going to a private party or dancing with them in no time.

Joaquin Recommends:

• Electronic Music agenda;
• Best backpacker tango club (with lessons) for backpackers: La Viruta Tango club: Armenia 1366, Palermo. Tel. 4774-6357; and
• Rock night club: M.O.D. Club. Araoz 2424, Palermo

Thumbnail image care of: Tiago Zaniratti’s images on Flickr