Buenos Aires Tips & articles

3 August 2009 3:21pm

Buenos Aires with children

Steak, soccer, tango and…toddlers? Surprisingly, Buenos Aires is a great city for kids - it’s safe, and there are activities galore, child-friendly eateries and lots of parks to explore. Best of all, porteños adore children, and with these natural ice-breakers in tow, you’ll probably meet more locals than you would otherwise. Here are a few tips to make traveling with los niños enjoyable.

Sights

• On weekends, Palermo’s parks bustle with families taking walks, picnicking and playing sports. Rent bikes, boats and in-line skates at Parque 3 de Febrero, which is partially closed to traffic on weekends. The park is also home to Planetario Galileo Galilei, where you can catch an astronomy show.
• Also in Palermo is the zoo, with over 350 species including white tigers and elephants plus a petting zoo, and the Jardín Japonés, where kids can feed the koi.
• Museums for kids include the aptly named Museo de los Niños, the puppet museum (Museo Argentino del Títere) and the Museo Participativo de Ciencias, an interactive science museum.
• Older kids, especially those with a macabre streak, will love wandering among the ornate mausoleums at the Cementerio de la Recoleta.

Sleeping

The following hotels all have multi-room suites or apartments with kitchenettes, which make them great choices for families:

• Art Suites
• Aspen Suites
• Bohemia Buenos Aires Hotel
• Fiamingo Apart Hotel
• Hotel Lyon

Eating

• Whether or not a children’s menu is offered, most cafés and restaurants welcome children and offer freshly squeezed juices, hot chocolate, and simple, kid-friendly foods like pizza and spaghetti.
• All-you-can-eat restaurants offer lots of choices; try Grants or Siga La Vaca.
• For pasta, try Broccolino; for Armenian and Arabic food, there’s Garbis.
• Cumaná is great for empanadas and pizzas, or try California Burrito Company.
• La Payuca - this grill restaurant has a babysitter-manned playroom
• Save room for a helado - BA’s ice-cream rivals Rome’s. Freddo and Persicco both have multiple branches.

Tips

• BA’s crowded and uneven sidewalks are difficult to manage with a stroller - consider a baby carrier instead.
• Always carry toilet paper and wet wipes - public bathrooms are often poorly maintained.

More information

Still feeling a bit unsure about taking on the world with kids in tow? Worry no more! The latest edition of our popular Travel with Children guide will ease your worries and restore your wanderlust. For more Beunos Aires-specific tips, check out what travellers have to say on our Thorn Tree forum.

Want more? Check out our Travel with children resource page, which features links to all our family-travel tips and tricks.

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