The Plaza de Mayo, foundational site of the city of Buenos Aires, is located in the so-called Buenos Aires downtown. In its surroundings there are several of the main monuments and points of interest: the historic Cabildo, the Casa Rosada (where the Executive Power of the Nation resides), the Metropolitan Cathedral.

Temporary art galleries, night bars and street murals give old San Telmo a bohemian atmosphere. Packed with antique shops and rustic meat restaurants, Defense Street crosses Dorrego Square, which houses a flea market and street performers that attract tourists every Sunday. In Lezama Park, the trails wind around high jacaranda trees and the Italian National Historical Museum. The neighborhood has many establishments that offer dinner with tango shows.

La Boca is an area of the working class with various attractions near the Riachuelo. Several restaurants specializing in meats and street performers surround Caminito, a narrow alley flanked by brightly painted zinc houses that evoke the first days of the district's immigrants. Here is also La Bombonera, which vibrates on game days. It is home to the Boca Juniors soccer team.

Puerto Madero is a renovated area near the pier. Its converted red-brick buildings contain upscale steakhouses popular with tourists and business lunches alike. Sleek skyscrapers house multinational corporations and high-value apartments. The trails wind through several lakes in the rich Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve, which attracts families and runners. The Puente de la Mujer is an elegant suspension bridge that crosses the pier.

Retiro is a neighborhood with great diversity and quiet streets. Art galleries and chic cafes lead to the iconic and busy Retiro station, British in style and lined with fast food stalls. The art deco tower of the Kavanagh building offers views of Plaza San Martin, a steep park where office workers rest in the shelter of jacaranda and patriotic monuments.

It is an area of wide historical and architectural interest, called the Paris of Argentina because of the great French immigration since 1840, the main forum to visit especially for the historic Recoleta Cemetery located there, and the Recoleta Cultural Center an important tourist and cultural center Inside the city. It is a traditional neighborhood of well-off sectors, whose properties are listed among the most expensive in the city.

The Ateneo Grand Splendid tops several records: it is the largest bookstore in South America, was chosen by the British newspaper The Guardian as the second best bookstore in the world and the American magazine National Geographic highlighted it as the most beautiful. The bookstore was opened on 4 December 2000 but the building retains the ancient splendour and elegance of the Grand Splendid Theatre of the early 20th century

It is made of stainless steel and aluminum and weighs 18 tons. It is the first sculpture in motion controlled by a hydraulic system and photoelectric cells. The petals open by day and close by night. The work opened in 2002 and its name, Generic Floralis, is a tribute to all flowers.