In The News: Things to do for Free in Buenos Aires

Although it has a reputation as the Paris of Latin America, Buenos Aires is reasonably priced and a surprisingly good-value destination. To top it all, some of the best things to do in Argentina's capital are free.

Recoleta Cemetery

Despite being the resting place of Argentinian dignitaries, housed in memorials of marble grandeur, it's Evita Peron's grave -- buried under her maiden name of Duarte -- that's turned the cemetery into the number one attraction in Buenos Aires. On your way there, you can stop to admire the statue of the sleeping boy angel that resonates with every visitor and ask around for the other notorious resident of Recoleta: Rufina Cambaceres. Legend has it that Rufina was buried alive after doctors misdiagnosed her and was heard screaming a few days later after she woke up inside her grave. By the time the gravediggers reached her she was dead -- this time for good.

San Telmo Flea Market
On Sundays between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., there's one event in Buenos Aires not to be missed -- the flea market at Plaza Dorrego in the barrio of San Telmo. Ever since 1970, it's operated as the principal open-air antique market in the Argentinian capital. Today a covered market nearby has absorbed the spillover from the bustling square and any deals must be haggled over in the surrounding shops. The main reason most visitors flock to San Telmo is to watch, admire and applaud the tango demonstration dancers.

The Casa Rosada
The Casa Rosada, the famed Pink Presidential Palace, is the focus of Buenos Aires's central Plaza 25 de Mayo. It's named after the date of the first successful revolution in South America that eventually led to independence. Most visitors are content to just take photos outside. But come on a Saturday or Sunday and you can visit the building for free. See the Gallery of Patriots, with portraits of Latin American political figures from Salvador Allende and Che Guevara to Evita Peron, a resident of the Casa Rosada herself. You're sure to find the small, neat chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary and a patio commemorating the Falklands/Malvinas War fascinating.

Reserva Ecologica
You may spend days in Buenos Aires without sight of the Rio de la Plata, the city's raison d'etre, and yet there are 360 hectares of wetlands in town. Possibly the world's most valuable protected area, right in the middle of expensive real estate, the Reserva Ecologica Costanera Sur is a boon for hikers, bikers and birdwatchers. Although the river's brownish sedimentary waters don't look tempting, the absence of tides and its shallow depth -- you can walk for 300 meters in and still not wet your knees -- making it a popular spot for local families.

Papal Tour
Pope Francis is a big source of pride among portenos (Buenos Aires natives). So it's little surprise that not just one but two papal tours, both free, are on offer in his hometown. An intimate one-and-a-half walking tour of his childhood haunts in the barrio of Flores starts at the Basilica of San Jose, where 17-year-old Jorge Bergoglio allegedly had an epiphany during confession.

A longer, three-hour bus tour takes you farther and starts from the Metropolitan Cathedral where he celebrated mass as archbishop of Buenos Aires. This tour takes in the seminary he attended in Balvanera and the Sanctuary of Mary, Untier of Knots, whose veneration he encouraged. The bus journey is more comfortable and you see more, but you stop and disembark in only a handful of places. 

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