A Perfect Little Escape From Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is a great city, but even its appeal can wear thin after enough time. If you’d like a little getaway without having to go too far, Barrancas de Alvear is a great option. It’s a restaurant located on the Rio de la Plata about 25 minutes north of Buenos Aires.

The restaurant has a long front lawn, palm trees, a few benches and a wonderful view of the river. There is even enough free space to play Frisbee or toss around an American football. If you get there early in the morning, as I did today, you can sit there and listen uninterruptedly to birds chirping and waves crashing against the coastline. It’s a perfect antidote to the noise of downtown Buenos Aires. For an hour or so this morning, I actually felt as if I were on vacation. Off in the distance, you may even be able to see sailboats moving up and down the river. You can also see the Buenos Aires skyline, by day or night.

The restaurant, located at Alvear & El Rio, is open from 10am to 2am during the week and even later on the weekends. It is a parillia, pub and tea house all wrapped into one. You can sit inside or out, and you can do so for as long as you like. Want to have a nice lunch and while grabbing a little sun? This is a nice place to do it.

Not too far down the road is Peru Beach, where you can scale a climbing wall, rent a kayak, go windsurfing, play roller hockey, take a Pilates class or simply people-watch. Peru Beach offers classes in all these activities. It also offers outdoor food and drink, though the caliber of the comida is about what you’d expect from a kitchen located right next to a hockey arena. If you want to mingle with local singles, this is not a bad place to be. Just be sure to lay off the Philadelphia Cream Cheese and hit the gym before you go shirtless here.

You can get to either place by taking the train from Retiro to Martinez, and then by grabbing a taxi. Or, if you’re the sporty type, you can get there by walking, running or cycling straight from the Martinez train station (which is on Alvear) all the way down to the river. Alternatively, you can simply drive north on Libertador until you get to Alvear. There, turn right and head down the hill to the river. The Barrancas restaurant entry is just a few meters left from the corner of Alvear & El Rio. To get to Peru Beach, turn left (or north) on El Rio and keep going until you hit Peru.

Barrancas de Alvear
4792-4262
Alvear & El Rio
www.barrancasdealvear.com.ar (was not working when I tried it)

Peru Beach
4793-5986
4793-8762

http://www.peru-beach.com.ar/

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