The first few days in a new country or city feel like a treasure hunt—master your shelter (where is the light and what floor am I, already?), find food, find your way around, decipher the local lingo, get used to different stores and brands, find out where people go and why, forget about what you did yesterday somewhere else and start fresh, excited and blissfully clueless.

I must warn you, though, that there’s no gold or jewels left in Argentina, everything has already been sold to pay for the country’s multi-billion-dollar debt to the International Monetary Fund. But there are still metaphorical treasures worth hunting for in Buenos Aires.

I spent my first day doing what the bad guys do in Hollywood movies—I got a new SIM card, a fat wad of cash, food and water. Phew, prepaid plans are still cheap. Claro gave me 5GB and unlimited calls for 4,500 pesos, so about $4.

I was afraid I would embrace Argentina the same way Argentinians embrace Brazil, speaking português very loud and very slowly, hoping the message would get through. Except, in my case, it won’t be because I’m drunk or didn’t realize Portuguese isn’t a Spanish dialect but excuse me, I’ve just “obrigada-ed” half of Brazil for the past three weeks so maybe it would take a few days to transition to Argentinian Spanish.

But in fact, it didn’t take me long to find my way around Buenos Aires…again. Just glancing at the kitchen table was a reminder that I was in Argentina. My Airbnb naturally provided a kettle and a toaster, two items I rarely see in Brazil. Argentinians don’t drink from a coconut, they sip mate all day so they need hot water. And they don’t eat pão de queijo with their coffee but toasted French bread with butter or dulce de leche.

So, Buenos Aires did get expensive but I found great things to do all week to reconnect with Argentina. Here are a few recommendations for embracing the city for free or for cheap!

Join a free walk through Buenos Aires

Free Walks Buenos Aires offers two different free, tip-based guided tours in Spanish and English. Last year, I joined the afternoon city centre tour. This year, I did the three-hour Recoleta and Retiro tour.

The groups are huge (and many tourists are not super friendly…) so don’t expect personalized attention but both times, the guides were engaging and I learned a lot about various corners of the city.

No, I was not paid so write this.

Check out the free museums and landmarks

Some attractions are ridiculously expensive in 2025 (La Recoleta Cemetery, Palacio Barolo) but many other landmarks are still free.

So far, I have explored:

• Museo Casa Rosada
• Museo Histórico Nacional del Cabildo y la Revolución de Mayo
• The Catedral Metropolitana de Buenos Aires
• Museo Histórico Nacional

Whether you want it or not, you will get very familiar with José de San Martín!

Sample facturas for a few cents, and get addicted to dulce de leche

If you don’t feel like eating an entire BBQ cow for lunch and if sipping mate makes you want to pee all day, go for the sweet side of Argentinian food—facturas. Facturas are bite-sized pastries sold in every bakery. They are around 700-1,000 pesos each, so 70 cents to US$1. Just grab a metal bowl and fill it up!

The medialunas are shaped like the French croissant but they are sweeter and stickier, especially if you get the version filled with cream or dulce de leche. For another medialuna experience, try the one “de grasa”, it’s more savoury.

Go to the Sunday San Telmo street fair

Everybody goes to the Sunday street fair in San Telmo—this is hardly an off-the-beaten path activity. Still, it’s fun.

There are hundreds of stalls along Calle Defensa and in the side streets, hundreds of tourists hesitating between a leather wallet or a giant knife designed for parillas (“Can I fly home with this?” “Probably not…”), hundreds of sellers relaxing, drinking mate and chatting with friends because it is a no-pressure street fair.

I bought a few things over the years in San Telmo, including most of my belts and a silver ring I’ve been wearing for ten years.

Relax at Puerto Madero

Puerto Madero, Buenos Aires’ revamped dockside, is one of my favourite walks when I need a break from the city’s busy streets. It’s modern, clean, never too crowded and quite picturesque.

The highlight is the pedestrian Puente de la Mujer, designed by architect Santiago Calatrava.

Watch the Mother of May who will never give up

The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo started demonstrating on Plaza de Mayo, in front of the Casa Rosada presidential palace, on 30 April 1977, asking the military dictatorship where their “disappeared” children were.

They were persecuted but they never gave up gathering, holding vigils, looking for the many people who had seemingly vanished without a trace. And they are still marching today, every Thursday at 3:30 p.m., to commemorate the long struggle of resistance to the dictatorship and hold the government accountable.

Hang out on 9 de Julio and Corrientes

You can never cross the widest avenue in the world without stopping at least once at the light.

And you can never take Avenida Corrientes without bumping into half of the city, who also showed up to grab a slice of pizza, watch a musical or a play or just hang out late at night in the city’s busiest spot.

Go see a show on Avenida Corrientes

The theatre scene is amazing in Buenos Aires with hundreds of shows and performances to choose from and a passionate audience.

I wanted to experience what seems to make locals so happy and willing to queue outside at midnight (yes, shows are late, Argentinian-style), so I went for stand-up comedy at the Paseo La Plaza. The ticket costs me 6,000 pesos (less than $5) for over an hour of laughing and a really cool experience in a small theatre.

I was wondering if my Spanish was good enough and if I’d get the humour—yes, and yes! I laughed wholeheartedly and I really enjoyed this late-night moment. I’d do it again!