When you visit Buenos Aires as part of your Argentina vacation, you want to live as the rich do, and you should make sure that you will be pampered on this holiday of a lifetime. Your travel should be first class, with at least business class air travel, and your hotels should be the very best. Why settle for less in this fabulous city?
Seek a vacation where you are the customer, not one of 49 others whose needs have also to be met. Have your own limousine, driven by your personal chauffeur or guide, and receive the personal attention that you deserve. That is the only proper way to explore and enjoy Buenos Aires, visit the pampas and try out some of Argentina’s finest wines.
Buenos Aires can be a boisterous city, but if you are fortunate enough to arrange a hotel in a quiet downtown neighborhood, such as Retiro that is close to the art galleries and antique shops, then you should be able to enjoy a peaceful night’s sleep while still enjoying all that the city has to offer. Argentina is famed for its beef in all its forms, so unless you are vegetarian you must visit one of Buenos Aires’ famous steak houses.
This city is one to be enjoyed as you marvel at the opulence of some of the aristocratic buildings, or the local flavor of La Boca and San Telmo cobbled streets that are the home of the tango. Visit El Viejo Almacen, said to be the birthplace of the tango, which was consider unrespectable until adopted by the high society of Paris in the 1920s. Enjoy a traditional meal as you learn of its history and watch the tango dancers trying to out-dance each other. You can almost hear that pulsating beat as you pack your bags ready to be whisked off to the airport in your private car.
Visit the high spots of the city and immerse yourself in its culture with your own private guide, learning how this great city, called the ‘Paris of South America’, was born from early Spanish settlers: in fact it was the home of most of the great Spanish explorers of the Americas. It’s name means ‘fair winds’ or ‘good air’, a reference to the winds that led the Spanish ships to its shores on the south side of the great Rio de la Plata, or River Plate, down which the Graf Spee sailed in 1939 prior to being scuttled just outside Montevideo harbor.
No Argentina vacation would be complete without a visit to the pampas. San Antonio de Areco is a typical gaucho town on the pampas, situated about 70 miles from Buenos Aires, and is where you can find out how these Argentinean ‘cowboys’ live their lives and produce the fabulous steaks that might grace your table this evening. Why not try some horse riding, or take it easier in a sulky. Head off for the Estancia La Bamba where you can enjoy a traditional barbecue over smoking embers along with some lovely Argentinean wine.
Speaking of wine, the Mendoza Province is where most of Argentina’s wine is grown. Argentina is the 5th largest wine producer in the world, and the first vine cuttings came here from Spain in 1557. Wine production has had its ups and downs over the years although is now firmly established. In spite of the Argentineans drinking around 90{363bd2a98d15c88227082edbeda0d5f103110265c93869472e5f1256b705561e} of their own wines, it is still the 13th largest wine exporter in the world.
Typical vineyards include that of Ruca Malen that can produce 300,000 bottles annually, and Argentina undisputedly produces the best Malbec in the world. Bodega Tapiz is a typical Malbec area as is the Alta Vista vineyard that also offers Malbec and a mixture with tempranillo: the Spanish influence again, tempranillo being the grape used for Rioja wines.
Apart from the fabulous wines, Mendoza itself is worth a visit during your vacation in Argentina. This is an old city that has been expanding lately with the influx of tourists to the wine-growing area. Sitting on the eastern side of the Andes, Mendoza also produces olive oil. It was rebuilt after an 1861 earthquake that killed over 5,000 people. French director Jean-Jacques Annaud filmed Seven Years in Tibet here, practically rebuilding that city here in Mendoza.
Argentina is a country redolent of the old Spanish colonial ways, and almost everything about its architecture is grand in style, similar to that of the great cities of Paris and Madrid. The music and the dances are pure Latin America, and an Argentine vacation will be something to remember forever. No vacation in Buenos Aires would be complete with watching the tango dancers compete with each other, or experiencing the fun of the carnivals, the fabulous food and the great wines. You will not be disappointed, particularly if you have the personal attention that makes a great vacation what it is.
