Private Transfer IN OUT APT/HTL/APT

Buenos Aires
Reception and transfer from Ezeiza International Airport to Hotel in Buenos Aires.

Historical Walking tour through Retiro and Recoleta: A walk around Paris & Historical Walking tour through the neighborhood of Palermo Chico: An aristocratic area
Breakfast at the Hotel. We begin this fascinating walk along the most elegant neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires. In order to do so we will have to travel back in time to the first decades of the 20th century, when the State and the aristocracy dreamt of turning this city in the Paris of Latin America and showed their wealth by constructing lavish and sumptuous palaces and buildings.

Since the beginning of the 19th century new ideas in architecture and design began to arrive at the country, in keeping with the political project of the moment that was trying to keep distance from the Spanish heritage and looked up to France as a role model.

Soon many French architects and engineers arrived at Buenos Aires, and were later in charge of the design and construction of bridges, roads, streets and public buildings that the city needed in order to reflect its power and its booming.

We begin our walk by visiting the splendid San Martín Square that was built in an inclined terrain, on a small hill next to the River Plate. This beautifully designed square abounds with the most antique tree samples of different species such as jacaranda, rosewood, magnolia and rubber plant. Around, there are a series of distinguished buildings and palaces built in the first decades of the past century.

The Paz Palace, today seat of the Military Circle, stands out in the west side. This spectacular palace was built by José C. Paz, the founder of La Prensa newspaper. He built it with the dream of becoming President and using it as the President’s residence, but he did not see the dream come true: he died two years before it was finished. In 1938 the Palace was bought by the Army and used from then on as a place for entertaining and strengthening the bonds within it. Opposite the Paz Palace we find the magnificent San Martín Palace, built between 1905 and 1909 by Alejandro Christophersen.

This palace belonged to the Anchorena family until 1936, when the government bought it in order to turn it into seat of the State Department. Inside it houses works of art from different Argentine and Latin American artists. We will also see the Plaza Hotel in the north side of the square, founded in 1909 by Ernesto Tornquist. The hotel stands out due to the elegance of its construction and its tradition and prestige as the great hotel of Buenos Aires. On the south side stands the amazing Kavannagh building, the tallest in South America at the moment of its construction. In the square we will see the Monument to the Fallen in Malvinas. Last we head for Recoleta.

We will walk, first, along Alvear Avenue and the Pellegrini Square, where many embassies and fashion boutiques stand, until the Embassy of France, known as the Ortiz Basualdo Palace, an emblematic example of French aristocratic architecture. Later, we will visit the legendary Cemetery, that is characterized for its important tombs and mausoleums, in which lie the most important figures of Argentine history, literature and politics. We will be surprised on visiting Eva Peron’s tomb, whose presence here is paradoxical as she was hated by the upper class and loved by all the workers.

The cemetery has six hectares of land and houses more that 6,400 tombs and mausoleums, many of which have been declared historical and cultural heritage. Next to the cemetery we find the church Our Lady of Pilar, the second oldest in Buenos Aires. This church is a treasure of colonial architecture and sacred art. We will then walk along Alvear Avenue, and the Pellegrini Square, where many embassies and fashion boutiques stand, until the Embassy of France, known as the Ortiz Basualdo Palace, an emblematic example of French aristocratic architecture.

Historical Walking tour through the neighborhood of Palermo Chico: An aristocratic area
We begin an exciting walk in the most elegant zones of Buenos Aires. In order to do so, we will have to go back in time until the first decades of the 20th century, when the Government and the upper classes dreamt of turning Buenos Aires into Latin America’s Paris, and showed their wealth with the construction of elegant and lavish French palaces and buildings.

Our walk starts in Palermo’s woods, where we will admire the leafy parks and lakes designed by famous French landscape artist Charles Thays due to the centenary of May Revolution. His original plan was to create a neighbourhood very different to the typical square layout we see in all the Capital.

He also used the local flora to decorate the beautiful parks that are full of yellow-flowered hardwood trees, jacarandas, rosewoods, and ceibos. We will also see Palermo’s famous Rose Garden, inaugurated in 1875, a charming park that shows dozens of rose species.

A few steps away we will see the luxurious palaces where the upper classes lived in the first decades of the 20th century. We will visit the buildings of the Spanish and Portuguese Embassies.

We head towards Grand Bourg Square, a unique place in town. This square, also designed by Charles Thays, is surrounded by the most elegant residencies of Palermo Chico. We take a few steps more and arrive to the National Museum of Decorative Arts that stands in the former mansion of the Erráruriz Alvear family.

This gorgeous palace in Neoclassical style was built in 1911 and houses the Museum’s permanent collection, made up by furniture, sculptures, china, glasses, paintings and European and Eastern tapestry from the 14th to the 20th century. It also has a charming little restaurant and tea-room where the best French cuisine can be tasted. Our final destination is the National Library and its surroundings, known as “The Island” because it only comprehends two or three blocks of elegant and exclusive buildings.

The National Library houses the most important bibliographic collection in Latin America. Created in 1810, its magnificent building shows a modern architectural style. It is made of three huge underground warehouses and an elevated body held by four strong columns. Both the project and its construction were in charge of famous architect Mario Roberto Álvarez. Among the famous directors of the Library we find Paul Groussac and Jorge Luis Borges.

City Tour by Bicycle around the City of Buenos Aires
Breakfast at the Hotel. Tour by bicycle. Leaving from Plaza San Martín, passing through Puerto Madero, Costanera Sur, La Boca, Boca Juniors Stadium, Lezama Park, San Telmo and Plaza de Mayo returning to Plaza San Martín.

In the second part of the journey we’ll go for a ride around Palermo-Recoleta, enjoying several places such as the National University of Law, The National Library, the Zoo, the Palermo Woods, the Recoleta and then we’ll return to Plaza San Martín.

Historical Walking tour through Montserrat and San Telmo- Colonial Times & Historical Walking tour through The May Avenue: An axis of political power.
Breakfast at the Hotel. We begin a fascinating walk around Montserrat and San Telmo, where we will be able to discover an old Buenos Aires, that breathes in each block her rich past and her hidden stories, since the colonial times to the beginnings of the 20th century. Our visit starts in the May Square, the location chosen by Juan de Garay to found Buenos Aires in 1580.

As time went by, the most important buildings concerning the political, religious and economic life were located here: first the Cabildo, a city hall, seat of the Spanish colonial government, and later the Pink House and the Metropolitan Cathedral. The first owes its name to the pink shade with which it is painted. From its mythical balcony spoke the most important figures of Argentine politics, like Eva Perón. In the center of the square we find May Pyramid, built in 1811.

The great Argentine artist Prilidiano Pueyrredón restored it in 1856, leaving the original pyramid inside. The figure in the apex represents Liberty, and was sculptured by Dobourdieu. The Metropolitan Cathedral, a true work of religious art, is richly decorated inside and houses General San Martín´s mausoleum, liberator of Argentina and other Latin American countries. We leave the Cathedral in order to walk along the streets of Montserrat, very close to the square.

There we will visit the “Manzana de las Luces”, or Block of Enlightment, so called because it used to be the city’s intellectual center. All the constructions located there are part of the city’s historical and cultural heritage. We will also visit the Altos de Elorriaga, one of the few houses in a corner that doesn’t have chamfer, and the first two-story building in the city. We continue towards San Telmo, where the upper classes lived until 1871, when a terrible yellow fever epidemic compelled them to move north. Soon floods of immigrants began to arrive and rapidly moved into the abandoned buildings of colonial times and turned them into tenements.

Today San Telmo is a bohemian and intellectual district, which stands out because of its artistic and avant-garde spirit. In Plaza Dorrego, located in the heart of this neighbourhood, there is an important antique fair on Sundays. We will also find lots of antique shops and artist’s ateliers where the works are on display. Also in San Telmo, we will visit the Santo Domingo’s basilic, symbol of the local resistance during the English Invasions. Inside lie the mortal remains of Manuel Belgrano, an important patriot and intellectual, who created the National Flag.

We will also see the smallest house of Buenos Aires, called Casa Mínima, or Minimum House, because its facade is only 2, 5 metres wide. Lots of myths grew around it, for example, that it belonged to a freed slave. Some of the tour’s highlights: Cabildo – Metropolitan Cathedral – Pink House - Pyramid of May - Manzana de las Luces (Block of Enlightment) - Altos de Elorriaga – Basilica of Santo Domingo – Minimum House.

Historical Walking tour through The May Avenue: An axis of political power.
We begin this exciting walk along May Avenue that is the main axis of political power. In this elegant avenue we find many buildings of distinguished architecture, influenced by the European styles that reached this country in the first decades of the 20th century. It has been described as an avenue inspired in Paris, built by Italians, and inhabited by Spaniards. In order to discover its secrets, we will visit it and describe its layout and the most important buildings that stand there.

The May Avenue built in 1884, when Argentina shaped as one of the richest countries of the world and Buenos Aires was beginning to turn into a booming city. This avenue joins the May Square with the Congress, as a symbol of Republican power. Along its blocks solid Art Nouveau and Art Decó buildings were erected, as well as cafés, like the famous Tortoni, hotels, theatres and tearooms.

The avenue soon acquired its intellectual identity; along its sidewalks many important writers and artists used to stroll, like Borges and Arlt. The famous Spanish poet Federico García Lorca lived in one of its hotels, and many editorial offices of the main newspapers settled there in the first decades of the 20th century. We will see first a French Academicist Petit Hotel built by architects Paquin and Dunant for Lady Ortiz Basualdo in 1895. We will pass by famous Café Tortoni, whose facade was designed by Christophersen in 1898.

We will also see the former Siemens building, from 1935, that is the first example of German Rationalism in Buenos Aires. In the next block we will see the Astoria Hotel, also by Christophersen, and the Gran Hotel España, of 1897. In the opposite block stand the Novel Hotel and the Alcázar Hotel. We will observe the House of Culture, a French Academicist building that dates from 1896, former seat of La Prensa newspaper.

On top of the building there is a copper statue 55 meters high that holds a torch and a written page, symbols of freedom of speech. In the last blocks the Castelar Hotel and the Barolo Palace stand out. The latter is the work of Italian architect Mario Palanti. It was inaugurated in 1923 and has a very particular style that mixes elements from the Italian, Gothic and the Romanic.

In the last stretch of the avenue we find a colossal building called “La Inmobiliaria”, that houses offices and apartments built in 1910 by architect Broggi. This enormous building fuses Eclectic, Art Nouveau, Italian and Neoclassical styles.

City Tour by bicycle around Tigre & San Isidro: Northern area of Buenos Aires
Breakfast at the Hotel. City Tour by bicycle. Leaving from Plaza San Martín, we’ll step into the train up to Tigre station, we’ll go over the historic part and then we’ll step into the Coast Train up to Martinez were we’ll take the train again to return to Plaza San Martín.

Buenos Aires
Breakfast at the Hotel. Transfer to Ezeiza International Airport in Buenos Aires.