¡Bailá! Your Guide to Nightlife in BA
Exhaustive, exhausting — seem like the right adjectives to use here! Firstly, as an open declaration, exhaustive is exactly what this list is not. And secondly, we warned you: Buenos Aires bursts with nightlife options that’ll have you up from dusk ’til dawn in a crazy cycle of fun and fiesta, which, when you get home at 8 in the morning, you’ll agree is nothing short of exhausting! Find out below how, when and where to party in BA!
Hit the town
Where do you start looking for a place to go out in a city of 13 million people? How about some of these places?
Pachá
If you’re one of those lucky mega-metropolis-born citizens of the world, then the name Pachá might not be that strange to you. With clubs in London, NYC, Munich, Madrid, Ibiza and multiple locations in Brazil, this mega club is Buenos Aires’ window to the big bad world of international dance music, drawing renowned DJs and a healthy mix of locals and foreigners each night to the corner of Av. Costanera Rafael Obligado and La Pampa.
Club Atletico Fernández Fierro
El CAFF, as it’s known locally, is one of a smorgasbord of BA live music venues to which one can safely apply the blink (slowly) and you’d miss it rule. Hidden behind a rolling garage door at Sánchez de Bustamante 764 in Palermo, it’s an intimate playground for some of the city’s best independent and emerging artists.
Niceto Club
While the name has somewhat of a ring to it, Niceto Club was quite unoriginally branded after the street its on (Niceto Vega 5510 in Palermo). But what it’s lacking in a name, it sure does make up for in the quality and diversity of its line-up. Local and international performers galore, you’ll find yourself going back for more, of that we’re sure — and that, friends, was a completely unintentional rhyme!
Pagana
The website will scare the dancing pants off you, while your coolest local friends will probably either laugh or roll your eyes at you for wanting to go, but believe us Pagana at Vicente López 2134 (in front of the Recoleta cemetery) is about as Argentine as you can get in the way of a nightclub. Playing cumbia, reggaeton and international top 40, grab a Fernet Branca and enjoy yourself.
LGBTI options
If you’re lucky enough to be in the capital for its massive Pride Parade on the last Saturday of November, then parties won’t be hard to stumble across. For the rest of the year, consider Sitges, located at Córdoba 4116 in Villa Crespo, with one of the best drag shows in the city (starting at midnight), and to dance, check out Human, a world-class dance party at Av. Costanera 1426 which is run by the city’s main gay event company Rheo, and Fiesta Jolie, much the same, at Scalabrini Ortiz 1398.
La Confitería Ideal
For a quick jab at the obvious, let’s just say this place is ideal in name and nature. By day an eatery, by the afternoon and into the evening a milonga where you can dance Tango, La Confitería Ideal was once one of BA’s premier aristocratic water holes. For no other reason (aside from perhaps being a tad nervous about your Tango skills), the exceptionally beautiful building on Suipacha 384 in the center of town is a must-see destination.
After-8 advice
As the sun sets on Argentina’s capital, you’ll soon realize that BA is like any other party city when it comes to safety. But given that you’ve probably never lived in this metropolis before, consider the following:
- Get in the habit of taking the right about of money out with you and leave valuables at home!
- Watch your drinks — just like you would at home!
- Try to get the number of a trusty taxi driver who works when you’re out and about, or ask around for a cab company’s hotline!
- Rest up! Porteños are late to everything, including bars and nightclubs. Some clubs won’t kick off until around 2 or 3am, so get a siesta in where you can!
Hunt for your own stomping ground!
Looking for something more? Been there, done all of this? For more ideas on where to go out in Buenos Aires, take a look at these superb online resources:
- Pick up the fork is a hugely popular foodies blog run by a US expat who’s lived in BA for 7 years. Her bar guide is a simple list of hotspots which, given the reputation of this blogger, are a sure-fire way to enjoy nocturnal BA.
- A Gringo in BA is run by expat contributors generous enough to share their best advice on food, drinking and fun in BA.
- BA’s very own Time Out is nothing short of the high quality expected of this great-living brand. Alas, their bars and clubs page is gold in the way of good advice.
Originally published on Ailola by Jayson McNamara on July 28, 2016.