Where to find street art in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires has so much street art, it can be hard to know where to start looking for the good stuff. So I’ve picked out just two of Buenos Aires’s most popular barrios to give you a taste of what kind of art you’ll find in each.

Palermo

Undoubtedly Buenos Aires’s hippest neighbourhood, Palermo is also the largest barrio in the city and has recently undergone a lot of gentrification. It’s where you’ll find cool, organic vegetarian restaurants, quirky cafes full of twenty-somethings in skinny jeans, and the most-talked-about bars and clubs.

It’s also a great place to spot some quality street art, much of which is of a high standard and well cared for, more like commissioned murals than what you might typically think of as street art.

San Telmo

The oldest part of Argentina’s capital, with narrow, cobbled streets and decaying colonial architecture, San Telmo is a popular tourist attraction in itself, and a good place to visit for tango. Historically a working-class barrio, San Telmo is not as clean and well-kept as Palermo, but has some fascinating street art to offer.

The works are perhaps more traditionally what would be considered street art, and are unfortunately sometimes defaced with ugly tagging, but there are still some gems to be found.

All in all, Buenos Aires is a wonderful city to spot great street art. Walking around Palermo and San Telmo, you’ll find many, many excellent examples, but this is just the tip of the iceberg; with 48 barrios Buenos Aires is a treasure-trove of street art.

Try also La Boca, Montserrat, Belgrano and Caballito for more street art in less touristed areas of the city.

[box]Want to see some more Buenos Aires street art? Take a look here.[/box]