Recreation in Buenos Aires

Several parks, gardens, zoos, and other recreational spaces make up key parts of the urban landscape of Buenos Aires.

( Parque Tres de Febrero )
The most famous and extensively used outdoor area is the complex of Palermo Parks, also known as the Parque Tres de Febrero. It consists of open spaces, artificial lakes, and a range of other outdoor attractions adjacent to the upscale urban neighborhoods of Recoleta and Retiro just northwest of the city center.

The park complex contains the city’s botanical gardens, Jardín Botánico Carlos Thays; the city’s zoo, Jardín Zoológico; a formal rose garden, the Rosedal; a planetarium, Plantetario Galileo Galilei; and adjacent to the park, a racetrack, the Hipódromo Argentino.

Other notable parks include the Parque Lezama, in the southeastern section of the city adjacent to the barrio of San Telmo; and the Reserva Ecológica Costanera Sur, on the Río de la Plata just east of the city center.

The Parque Almirante Guillermo Brown, one of the city’s largest single expanses of open space, is on the southern edge of Buenos Aires.

Small neighborhood plazas abound throughout the city and metropolitan area. Despite their small size of usually no more than a single city block, these plazas provide accessible open space and a venue for social interaction at the neighborhood level.

Spectator sports—especially soccer—are popular in Buenos Aires. Soccer stadiums often serve as key landmarks and focal points of the neighborhoods in which teams are based.

Horseracing is also a popular pastime, and a number of tracks are found in the city including the Hipódromo Argentino near Palermo Parks and the Hipódromo de San Isidro adjacent to the northern section of the Río de la Plata.