With kids · Buenos Aires · Argentina
Buenos Aires with kids
Family-tested sights, a calm base and the practical details that make travelling with children easier.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Photo: Dan DeLuca, CC BY 2.0
Quick answer
Buenos Aires is easy with children: Argentines go out late with kids, restaurants welcome families, and the Palermo parks, the planetarium and boat rides in Tigre break up city sightseeing. Pavements are uneven and kerbs high, so a sturdy stroller helps. Top picks: Bosques de Palermo, Galileo Galilei Planetarium and Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve. Families usually base themselves in Recoleta.
Key facts
- Family picks
- 5
- Best area for families
- Recoleta
- Rainy-day options
- 1
Best things to do with kids
Park · Palermo
1.Bosques de Palermo
Parque Tres de Febrero is the city's great green space: lakes with pedal boats, running and cycling paths, the Rosedal rose garden with thousands of rose bushes and, nearby, the paid Japanese Garden. Porteños come at weekends to picnic, skate and share mate on the grass.
Rent a bike or a pedal boat at the lakes and finish at the Rosedal in the late-afternoon light.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Kids
- Outdoors
- Couples
- Nature
Museum · Palermo
2.Galileo Galilei Planetarium
The saucer-shaped 1966 planetarium in the Palermo parks runs dome shows on the stars and the solar system, and outside stands a metallic meteorite from the Campo del Cielo fall in northern Argentina. Children enjoy the building as much as the shows.
Check the show schedule online; many sessions are in Spanish, but the dome visuals work in any language.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Low cost
- Kids
- Rainy day
- Architecture
Nature · Puerto Madero
3.Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve
Built on demolition rubble dumped into the Río de la Plata, this 350-hectare reserve has grown into marsh, grassland and willow woods where hundreds of bird species have been recorded. Flat paths lead to the river shore, minutes from the towers of Puerto Madero but far from their noise.
Bring water and sun protection, as shade is limited, and go early in the day for the most birdlife.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Nature
- Outdoors
- Active
- Kids
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Waterfront · Puerto Madero
4.Puerto Madero and Puente de la Mujer
Red-brick warehouses along the old docks now hold restaurants and offices, and Santiago Calatrava's white Puente de la Mujer, a swing footbridge said to evoke a tango couple, crosses Dique 3. The Fragata Sarmiento, a 19th-century naval training ship moored nearby, is open as a museum ship.
Walk the docks at dusk, then cross to the Costanera Sur promenade for a choripán from a street cart.
- Time needed
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Architecture
- Couples
- After dark
- Kids
Landmark · La Boca
5.La Bombonera and the Boca Juniors museum
Boca Juniors' steep, box-shaped stadium is famous for an atmosphere that makes the stands seem to shake on match days. The club museum, the Museo de la Pasión Boquense, covers its history and Diego Maradona's years at the club, and stadium tours run on non-match days.
Match tickets are largely reserved for club members, so a reputable tour operator is the realistic way to see a game.
- Time needed
- 1.5 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- History
- Kids
- Iconic
Rainy-day ideas
- Galileo Galilei Planetarium — Check the show schedule online; many sessions are in Spanish, but the dome visuals work in any language.
Where families should stay
$$$$ · Best for first-timers, couples, luxury, culture and families
Recoleta
Recoleta is Buenos Aires at its most Parisian: Belle Époque mansions on Avenida Alvear, grand hotels, Recoleta Cemetery and the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, with the weekend craft fair of Plaza Francia outside the cemetery gates. It is elegant, calm and central, though its dining is more traditional than Palermo's.
- Good
- Walking distance to major museums; Calm, well-kept streets; Strong choice of upscale hotels
- Watch out
- Higher hotel prices; Some parts are a walk from the Subte
- Nearby
- Recoleta Cemetery, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Floralis Genérica, El Ateneo Grand Splendid
Family travel tips
- Children are welcome in restaurants late in the evening, but book an early table, around 8pm, for younger kids.
- The Temaikèn biopark, about 50 km north of the city, makes a full day out with young children.
- Every barrio has a plaza with a fenced playground; the Palermo parks have some of the largest.
- Ice-cream parlours are a reliable treat; ask for a small cone (cucurucho chico), as portions are generous.
- Public toilets are scarce, so plan breaks around cafés, museums and malls.
Day trips for families
- Tigre and the Paraná Delta (About 1 hour by train) — Tigre sits where the Paraná Delta's maze of channels and islands meets the northern suburbs.
- San Antonio de Areco (About 2 hours by bus or car) — The pampas town most associated with gaucho culture has a colonial centre, silversmiths' workshops and the Ricardo Güiraldes gaucho museum.
- La Plata (About 1–1.5 hours by train or bus) — The provincial capital was planned from scratch in the 1880s on a grid cut by diagonal avenues.
When to go with children
The best months overall are March–May and October–November. Weather by month.
Questions travellers ask
+Is Buenos Aires good for kids?
Buenos Aires is easy with children: Argentines go out late with kids, restaurants welcome families, and the Palermo parks, the planetarium and boat rides in Tigre break up city sightseeing. Pavements are uneven and kerbs high, so a sturdy stroller helps.
+What can kids do in Buenos Aires?
Bosques de Palermo, Galileo Galilei Planetarium, Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve, Puerto Madero and Puente de la Mujer and La Bombonera and the Boca Juniors museum.
+Where should families stay in Buenos Aires?
Recoleta: French-style mansions, museums and the famous cemetery.