San Telmo Market & La Boca

January 21st 2026

Today we got to sleep in and enjoy the morning. The hotel had a nice breakfast that is included in the stay.

We decided to take the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus to explore the city today. It was a bit of debacle. Even though the website and signage at the bus stops all state you can purchase tickets on the bus, the bus driver did not allow us to, we had to find a kiosk to get tickets. Once we got there the person manning the booth just left and we had to wait to for her to return. Eventually we got our tickets and caught the next bus.

View of obelisk from the top of the bus.

We got seats on the top level. They had ear phones to listen to a guided tour as the bus drove around the city. We got off at the San Telmo Market. This market is the oldest market in the city. It opened in 1897 as a market for the new European immigrants. It has evolved over the years, but is still a market but has food stalls, coffee shops, antiques and more.

Wine Window

We got a glass of wine from the wine window in the market. you simply ring the bell, order a wine and it is handed to you through the window. You get to keep the glass and walk about the market with your wine.

We tried to hop back on the bus, but they limited the number of people allowed on and there was a long line to get back on. We decided to catch a cab as we wanted to get to La Boca next.

LaBoca is a small artsy area known for its colorful corrugated metal houses. The area was inhabited by Italian immigrants that built their houses using wood and sheets of metal recovered from the ships. They only had leftover marine paint to use, never enough to cover an entire house, so all the homes are a hodge podge of multiple colors.

La Boca

As we walked into the main streets of LaBoca, we met som e volunteer Fire Fighteres. They provided safety information on where to walk and not walk in t his area. La Boca is basically one square block. Outside that area, it can be not safe. We had heard this from many sources before we came and it was confirmed by the fire fighters. They were also looking for donations, so I gave him a few bucks.

Local Fire Fighter.

The Tango is deeply rooted here and there are murals painted along Caminito street as well as tango dancers.

Street Tango dancers

There are also plenty of art shops here as well. I will definitely be coming back to pick up some art after the cruise!

La Perla Bar and Restaurant

It was a warm day, so we stopped at a street cafe to watch the tango dancers and have a small lunch of pizza.

We returned to our hotel to meet up with our friend Amy, who flew in today to join us on the cruise. She had taken the Recolata Cemetery tour near our hotel and stopped by for a quick visit. We had cocktails on the Roof Top bar of the hotel.

Roof Top Bar at Alvear Palace Hotel

Sandy had made a reservation at Fervor, a local Michelin steakhouse close to our hotel. We had the best steaks I have ever had here! Sandy had the NY Strip and I had the Ribeye. Both were outstanding. they had a variety of sauces to put on the steaks as well. they did not need them, but it did enhance the flavors!

For desert, we had the Dulce de Leche Lava Cake. As expected, it was wonderful.

After dinner, we headed out to Presedente Bar. We had heard about a drink they make with Van Goghs Starry Night painted on the egg white foam of a drink. We ordered the Starry night drink and the Pantegonia Fix. Bo the were delicious. The painting on the drink was amazing. You could see all the details of the buildings from the painting in the drink. See photo below.

Van Gogh’s Starry Night on egg white of a cocktail.