Buenos Aires, Argentina

Buenos Aires is one of the world's great cities — elegant, passionate, faded and intense, often called the 'Paris of South America' for its grand belle-époque boulevards, leafy plazas and European architecture, yet utterly Argentine in its tango, its café culture and its devotion to steak and football. The city is best understood through its barrios, each a destination in itself. The Microcentro and Monserrat hold the historic and political heart: the Plaza de Mayo, ringed by the pink presidential palace (the Casa Rosada, from whose balcony Evita addressed the crowds), the cathedral and the colonial Cabildo, and nearby the towering Obelisco rising from Avenida 9 de Julio, said to be the world's widest avenue. Aristocratic Recoleta is the city's most elegant quarter, home to grand mansions, museums and the extraordinary Recoleta Cemetery, a city of ornate marble mausoleums where Eva Perón is buried. Bohemian San Telmo, the oldest barrio, is all cobblestones, antique shops, atmospheric bars and a famous Sunday street market, the cradle of tango. Working-class La Boca splashes the brightly painted houses of the Caminito with colour and is home to Boca Juniors and the cauldron of La Bombonera stadium. And vast, green Palermo — Soho and Hollywood — is the modern heart of dining, nightlife, design, street art and the city's great parks. Buenos Aires is a city to be consumed: the asado and steakhouses (parrillas), the historic cafés like the Tortoni, the Italian-Argentine food, dulce de leche and alfajores, the late-night dinners and even later nightlife, the milongas where locals dance tango, the theatres of Corrientes, the magnificent Teatro Colón opera house, and bookshops like the breathtaking El Ateneo Grand Splendid. Stylish, melancholic, exuberant and endlessly engaging, 'BA' rewards a long, unhurried stay. The climate is temperate — warm, humid summers (December to February) and mild winters; spring and autumn are the loveliest seasons.