Palermo is Buenos Aires’ largest and most cosmopolitan neighborhood. It stretches down from the Rio de la Plata coastline and covers the hundreds of acres of parks, flower gardens, and lakes unofficially known as the Bosques de Palermo, as well as enough bars, cafes, and restaurants to keep even the most determined urban explorer busy every day of the week. 

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Because of its size, Palermo is unofficially divided into several smaller areas: Palermo Soho is known for its shops and bars, especially around Plaza Serrano while neighboring Palermo Hollywood has a fantastic culinary scene and many of the city’s most popular nightclubs, like Niceto Club. Meanwhile, Palermo Chico and Palermo Botanico are quieter and more residential. 

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Palermo is a mecca for young and entrepreneurial travelers, with more than enough digital nomads and Argentine startups to keep the neighborhood’s many coworking options full. If you’re staying a while, La Maquinita and Deck-co offer monthly memberships at their offices in Palermo Soho and Palermo Hollywood. For shorter stays, AreaTres and Manawa sell day passes. If you’d rather work in a café, Cocu and Café Registrado are both popular spots with great food and coffee, but you’ll find dozens of other places to work all over the neighborhood. 

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On weekends, people often get together with friends in the parks to play sports or drink mate. This hot drink is typical in Argentina and is usually shared among a group. When you need a break from work, you can stroll through the rose gardens at the rosedal or check out one of Frida Kahlo’s most famous self-portraits at the Museum of Latin American Art of Buenos Aires (MALBA). Palermo has restaurants for every mood and craving: grab a quick bite at Burger Joint, or sit down for juicy cuts of Argentine steak at Don Julio or La Cabrera. Veggie lovers can try Artemisia, an airy, plant-filled restaurant in Palermo Hollywood. 

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Near the edge of Palermo along the river, you’ll also find Latin America’s “first religious theme park,” Tierra Santa—where you can see an animatronic rendition of the seven days of creation or watch a 60-feet Jesus statue with an LED heart rise out of the mountain. It’s a surreal and slightly baffling experience worth doing at least once.

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Villa Crespo is a central neighborhood directly south of Palermo. It’s a great spot for shopping—Calle Aguirre is lined with outlet stores, and on Calle Murillo you’ll find all kinds of leather goods including jackets, purses, and shoes.  It's less touristy and overall more laid-back than its neighbor, while still being charming and relatively safe. Villa Crespo is historically a Jewish neighborhood—Jews from mainly Ukraine, Russia, and Poland emigrated here in the late 19th and early 20th centuries—and it houses one of the city’s rare traditional Jewish delis: La Crespo. 

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If you want to grab a bite and coffee while you work, try Malvon or Bilbo Cafe. For lunch or dinner, Sarkis is a neighborhood classic and a family-owned Armenian restaurant that first opened in 1982. Relative newcomer Chuí is a great vegetarian spot with a beautiful outdoor space. If you don’t eat meat, check out Sampa, which describes itself as “99% vegetarian”.  On the weekends, make sure to hit Club Cultural Matienzo which is part music venue, part cultural space, and part nightclub. There are also several art galleries in the area, including Ruth Benzacar and Selvanegra. 

San Telmo is the oldest neighborhood in Buenos Aires, and for a while, in the 1850s it was on its way to becoming one of the wealthiest, too—until an outbreak of yellow fever chased all of the rich residents to higher grounds in Recoleta. But once the neighborhood emptied out, artists, immigrants, and tango dancers poured in, and it quickly became the bohemian epicenter of the city. Although it’s become pretty gentrified in recent years, San Telmo has maintained the same creative atmosphere. 

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One of the neighborhood’s main attractions is the Sunday Feria, a craft market that runs all the way down Defensa street to Plaza Dorrego, where you can browse antique stalls. San Telmo also has several “bares notables,” bars, and cafés that have a special cultural or historical significance for the city. La Poesia was a favorite haunt for poets and writers in the 1960s (and is still a great spot to work from today), and Bar El Federal has old-school porteño vibes, with historic decor and an extensive menu. 

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Meanwhile, the Mercado de San Telmo is an exciting mix of old and new, with coffee shops, restaurants, vegetable sellers, and vintage bookstores. Further south, Parque Lezama is a great place to take a stroll when the weather is nice. Urban Station is a flexible coworking space with an office in a beautiful building near Plaza Dorrego and there are also several other coworking options around the city, such as Habito Café. Although it’s slightly outside the official San Telmo neighborhood, it’s still a close-enough choice if you’re staying nearby.