In spite of the geographical hugeness of Buenos Aires (it encompasses an entire state, known as Capital Federal), two of the city’s neighborhoods remain disproportionately popular among backpackers in the midst of budget travel in Argentina: Palermo and San Telmo.
The former home to foreign expats and the city’s nouveau riche and the latter a decidely more local locale, each district offers up its own set of potential benefits and challenges to tourists stopping over in the Argentine capital.
Location of Palermo and San Telmo
San Telmo is just steps from Buenos Aires' grand Avenida 9 de Julio, the widest road in the world.
A compact node just to the east of the Independencia station serving Lines C and E of the Buenos Aires Subte, San Telmo is just 15 minutes by subway from the Buenos Aires’ Retiro bus terminal, where the vast majority of backpackers begin their travel in Buenos Aires. Exiting the metro brings you directly to the de-facto entrance of the neighborhood.
Walk westward on Avenida Independencia, away from the heart of San Telmo, then hang a right on 9 de Julio and behold the expanding grandeur of the city as you head northward, a veritable mushroom cloud of European architecture I like to call “Paris on Steroids.”
Walking the other way on Independencia, through the center of San Telmo, takes you to Porto Madero, an upscale, waterside commercial district. San Telmo is also less than 10 minutes by taxi from Buenos Aires’ historical center, located approximately 20 blocks west via Avenida Estados Unidos.
Although posh and upscale, Palermo isn't without its grit.
Palermo, on the other hand, is huge. Subdivided into sections nicknamed for well-known areas of the United States — “Palermo Hollywood” and “Palermo SoHo” are two examples — Palermo spans 16 square kilometers in the northwestern part of the city.
Palermo is comparatively further away from the Retiro bus terminal than San Telmo, the nearest of the five Line D Subte stops serving the area six stops away from the 9 de Julio. Once you exit the subway, the district’s large size can become problematic, necessitating long walks to get to your final destinations.
If you’re arriving by plane from a destination within Argentina or a neighboring country, however, Palermo is probably the best place to book a Buenos Aires hostel, as it’s situated immediately to the south of the Aeroparque Jorge Newbery domestic airport.
Character
Both San Telmo's businesses and the people you find there are of the more local sort.
As you walk into San Telmo, you’ll notice little deviation from the buildings the exist along the bordering 9 de Julio: The majority of constructions in the area are weathered, European-looking row houses.
Making your way further into San Telmo reveals greater diversity in the colors of building facades, as well as in the elaborateness of political graffiti, a common decoration accent throughout the city. San Telmo is by and large a local district, with convenience stores, lavanderias and supermarkets visibly outnumbering the tourist ridden Parilla restaurants and travel agencies that dot certain corners.
Although it’s purported to be dangerous at night, San Telmo is generally well-lit — and there are enough people roaming main road after nightfall that you’d need to deliberately wander into an alley or sidestreet in order to come across trouble.
Cobblestone streets and pastel storefronts dominate Palermo.
Home to the Plaza Italia designer shopping mall and literally dozens of streets of high-street retailers, trendy hair salons and bougie eateries, Palermo is the last place in Buenos Aires you should be concerned about your safety, particularly if you hang out in the district’s trendy interior sections, away from main roads and subway stations.
Palermo boasts a diverse mixture of architecture, with skyscrapers dominating “Palermo Chico” and small storefronts and houses characterizing much of the rest of the district. As you make your way down Palermo’s trash-free sidewalks, you’ll encounter a healthy mix of foreigners and locals, with much of the crowd fitting a markedly young, hip mold.
Dining, Nightlife and Shopping in Palermo and San Telmo
Enjoy a prime cut of famous Argentina beef at any "parilla" steakhouse in San Telmo.
As alluded to earlier in this article, San Telmo is home to its fair share of establishments aimed at travelers in Argentina, most of which are restaurants rather than shops. Kitschy steakhouses with plastic bulls in front of them and gourmet ice creameries sit sandwiched between pharamacies, butcher shops and Internet cafes meant for locals.
San Telmo’s aforementioned proximity to Porto Madero opens up easy opportunities for shopping excursions and bar crawls, a trend which continues if you head north on Chacabuco, a street which takes the name Maipú north of the broad boulevard Diagonal Norte.
AcaBar in Palermo distributes colorful notecards instead of traditional menus.
If boozing, dancing and buying shit are high on your agenda, however, you should save yourself the trouble and just book a hostel in Palermo. Clothing and shoe shops, drinking establishments and restaurants are literally impossible to avoid as you traipse through almost any part of Palermo.
It’s not just about quantity, either: Palermo restaurants offer up food from around the world — and many of its bars, which run the gamut from dive to dress code, serve food early in the evening. To enjoy a combination of brews, games and grub amid a colorful, eclectic backdrop, try AcaBar, whose name is a Spanish-language double entendre which means both “here, bar” and “to have an orgasm.”
Prices of Hostels in Palermo and San Telmo
America del Sur Hostel's breakfast area.
Although San Telmo’s maybe-uncoolness limits your choices for going out at night or buying cool clothes, its effect on prices is uniformly positive.
If your hostel has a kitchen (as does the brand-new America del Sur Hostel, a five-story, elevator equipped facility located in the center of San Telmo near the intersection of Chacabuco and Independencia), stop in at one of San Telmo’s many supermarkets to stock up on cheap, high-quality ingredients you can whip in to something delicious. Wash all your nasty clothes for just 15 pesos, which was less than $4 US as of April 2011.
Not surprisingly, Palermo is among the most expensive neighborhoods in Buenos Aires. You’ll find an extra few pesos tagged onto to each of your food and beverage items when dining or drinking in any of Palermo’s restaurants or bars. If you plan to hang out in Palermo a lot, do yourself a favor and get a hostel in Palermo, as the area’s relative geographical isolation from the rest of the city makes taxis to Palermo expensive.
No matter where you end up staying, head on over to the BootsNAll Travel Network and read Zoë Smith’s article on how to avoid looking like a gringo in Buenos Aires, no matter which type of year you plan to travel in Argentina.
About The Author
Robert Schrader is the author of 255 posts on Leave Your Daily Hell.
Robert founded Leave Your Daily Hell in 2010 so that other travelers would have an entertaining, reliable source of information, advice and inspiration at their fingertips. Robert has traveled to more than 36 countries since he got his first passport stamp in 2005. Want to travel more often? Subscribe to email updates today!
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