Visiting Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires, an attractive city because of its tourism and culture, finds in these times a new recognition by producers, film directors and publicists. They find in Buenos Aires a great diversity in landscapes and architectural styles in which they film documentaries, films and video clips. This diversity of landscapes together with a large number of professionals with whom our country counts with and the difference in cost, make our country a place that offers benefits. 

This is way foreing producers chose Buenos Aires to develop their products.

 The most chosen places for this job are the center of the city, “Diagonal Norte and Syr”, “Pasaje Los Tres Sargentos”, and the area of the south of the city. Downtown area is the most used during weekends. Among neighborhoods the most chosen are Belgrano and Palermo. Green areas like “Parque Ters de Febrero”, “El Rosedal”, “Parque Thays” and “Costanera Sur” are also used. 

The government of the city records only in 2007, 50 glances of Buenos Aires´s streets that were shown to the world between fiction films and documentaries. Some of them were displayed in other decades, or even disguised as other cities like New York or Paris. It added further 70 short films and 14 video clips. But it was the advertising cinema, with nearly 500 advertising, who gave a lof of work to the city.

The famous  director Francis Ford Coppola, installed his producer business in Buenos Aires to film “Tetro”, an autobioghaphical film in which many Argentine actresses.

Let us support these proposals to bring investment to our city, being cordial and attentive host, thus Argentina continues to position itself in the first place as a tourist destination and productive investment.

This Saturday prepare your self to go 200 years back and to re-live part of the Argentine history. The English invasions, the “Cabildo” opened in 1810, and other important facts that gave origin to Argentina, will be able to see them trough the performance of characterized artist with the military and civil suits of that time. The spectacle is free and forms part of the set of “La Gran Vía de Mayo”. A good occasion for tourists to learn more about Argentinean history and culture.

The spectacle will be done this Saturday 26th in “Plaza the Mayo” (May Square), from 5 p.m., and on Sunday in “Plaza Alberdi” (Alberdi Square) Villa Urquiza´s neighborhood, Nuñez St 4500.

Do not forget to bring your camera.

“La Gran Vía de Mayo” is the new program stimulated by the area of tourism of the Government of the City of Buenos Aires that has a purpose of revitalize the former “Avenida de Mayo”, which history and culture are related so narrowly with the origin and development of Buenos Aires and of its more important events.

To say “Avenida de Mayo” (May Avenue) is to think about its European architecture, which we will see along the road, approximately 1600 mts, from “Plaza de Mayo” (May Square) up to the National Congress. It is undoubtedly the avenue that marks steps for Buenos Aires, like for example, the first subway inaugurated in Latin America, one of the first ones in the world (1913´s), it also possess the highest skycrafts in Latin America for those years, around 1923, the Palace Barolo of 100 meters of height built by the Italian Architect Palanti that can be visited in May Avenue 1370.

“La Gran Vía de Mayo” begins on April 12th and continues until May 18th, with a series of artistic activities with outdoors stages, bars and other designated buildings. There will be approximately 200 free spectacles, with varied subjects, from music, theatre, dance, shows of tango and different guided tours. In the weekends the traffic is cut and the street is transformed in pedestrian crossing.

We recommend everybody to visit “La Gran Vía de Mayo”. It is an important events in Buenos Aires, in the frame of one of the nicest avenues in terms of architecture and so rich in traditions and histories.

You can find the monthly and weekly schedule in this link.

In your visit to Palermo you cannot allowed to miss one of the most beautiful botanical gardens of the world, the botanical Garden of Buenos Aires, Carlos Thays.

We suggest to cross it in all its extension this way you can appreciated all its passages, gardens and paths; 7 hectares that the land occupies give sample of the immense collection of plants that since its foundation in 1898 have been giving form to this wonderful habitat of trees, flowers, shrubs of the whole world. Among them, are species corresponding to Oceania, Africa, Europe, American and a special sector dedicated to the Argentine flora.

It possesses approximately 5500 different kinds. To mention some examples, Ginkgo Biloba of the Asia; Eucalyptus, Acacias, and Casuarinas of Oceania with hazelnuts, elms and Europe’s oaks; with ferns, palms, and gum trees of the Africa, and Sequoias of North America between others.

Its gardens correspond to styles according to their origin, such as the Frenchman, the Roman, and the Japanese. And one recently created named “Garden of the Senses”, with aromatic species from a program dedicated to persons not clairvoyants and handicapped children.

The name and design is owed to the architect and landscape painter Carlos Thays, a Frenchman that was living in our country, who has devoted himself specially to the promotion of the botany and the landscape painting in our country. Among his more recognized works there is located the design of the Centenary Park, Plaza Lezama, Patricio´s Park, and Belgrano’s Hills.

Because of its story (link it directly with Thays) and its remarkable value it was declared Historic Monument in 1997.

The Botanical Garden counts in addition with valuable architectural works, like the principal building, English style, built in 1881 by the engineer Jordán Wysocky, and a “art nouveau” green-house of iron and glass brought it from France in the year 1900, this building measures 35 meters long per 8 meters width, which shelters approximately 2500 subtropical and tropical species.

Also it is of emphasizing the valuable collection of sculptures and monuments that are located in the different gardens and paths, as for example ” The Spring ” of Lucio Correa Morales, the ” First Vigors ” of Blay and Fábregas, “Saturnalia” of Ernesto Biondi, “L’acquaiolo” of Vincenzo Gemito, “Flora Argentina” of Emilio Ardia, “Mercury” of Ricardo Cerma and Ed Loreda and Alfredo Bigatti’s “Purity”, among other important works.

In the endless number of activities that develops the botanical garden in order to generate interest brings, over of the plant world and the ecosystem, a program of guided visits with free entry, of 90 minutes of duration approximately.

The guided visits in English take place every Friday at 12:00hs and you must register before that date. Telephone 4831-4614 or 4831-4527 or consult via email: buenosairesjardin@buenosaires.gov.ar

In Spanish: Every Saturday, Sunday and Holidays at 10:30. Without previous inscription

Night Tours: Every last Friday of the month at 21:00hs. Previous inscription is required

Botanical Garden Carlos Thays
Santa Fe 3951, Palermo, City of Buenos Aires
Tel: 4831-4527