Buenos Aires Southern Palermo

South from Av. Sante Fe, narrow cobblestone streets and low-slung townhouses comprise the residential sub-neighborhoods of Palermo Viejo, once popular among the city’s immigrant communities and home to both Borges and Che Guevara. Nowadays, though Palermo Soho, Palermo Hollywood, and Villa Freud boast few sights, they are the city’s most popular entertainment areas, rife with places to shop, eat, drink, and dance.

The region of Palermo Viejo bounded by Av. Sante Fe to the north, Av. Córdoba to the south, Av. B. Justo to the west, and Av. Scalabrini Ortiz to the east is affectionately known as Palermo Soho for the high concentration of alternative boutiques, bars, cafes, and restaurants that line its streets. Centering on Plaza Cortázar (usually called Plaza Serrano ), the beautifully crumbling houses and shops definitely have a bohemian flair, though the neighborhood has become exceptionally popular among the city’s upper-middle-class youth and is by no means down-and-out.

Plaza Serrano. Surrounded by numerous cafes, restaurants, bars, and boutiques, Plaza Serrano is Palermo Soho’s shopping and nightlife hub, as well as its geographical center. While the Plaza itself is nondescript, it usually hosts lines of craft stalls that sell a variety of colorful, often kitschy, souvenirs, T-shirts, photos, jewelry, and knick-knacks. On summer weekend days, the number of vendors increases and some of the Plaza’s bars host temporary “boutiques,” where budding designers show off their (usually inexpensive) wares. Though almost never used, the Plaza’s official title is Plaza Cortázar, after the important Argentine author Julio Cortázar , who set his most famous novel, Rayuela (Hopscotch), in Palermo Soho. Grab a copy and plop down on a bench. (S Plaza Italia.)

Casa Borges. Flanked by two high-rises, this small, well-kept brick building rests on the former site of a small two-story villa, complete with mill, where Jorge Luis Borges lived from 1901-1914. Borges described his home as “two patios, a garden with a tall windmill pump and, on the other side of the garden, an empty lot.” You’ll have to take his word for it. (Jorge Luis Borges 2135.)

If You’Re In The Neighborhood. The two plaques outside of 2366 Fray Justo Santamaria de Oro don’t merit a detour, but are worth checking out if you’re in the area. Installed in the pavement, they commemorate two of the desaparecidos that “vanished” during the Dirty War .

Palermo Hollywood

In the 1990s, many TV and radio producers moved their operations to the area of Palermo Viejo just west of Palermo Soho, and the area consequently became known as Palermo Hollywood. Full of businesspeople in suits at lunchtime, a much younger—though almost as wealthy—crowd packs the area on weekend nights and spills out of its countless bars, clubs, and restaurants.

Villa Freud And Surroundings

Parque Las Heras. For a rolling green park popular among massive numbers of happy lovers, sunbathers, dog owners, and families, Parque Las Heras has a sad past. Until 1962, these few square blocks were actually the site of one of the city’s most important jails, infamous as the location where members of a failed rebellion against the military government of the 1950s were executed. If you search hard enough, you might be able to find the plaque marking the spot where the rebellion’s leader, Juan José Valle, was shot. History aside, the park is yet another great place to sit down and relax in Palermo. (S Bulnes.)