San Isidro

San Isidro is the most attractive of the northern suburbs of Buenos Aires, built on a low bluff above the river where families kept country houses in Spanish times and later the British community settled, leaving behind rugby and rowing clubs, tea rooms and large gardens. Its centre is the Plaza Mitre, faced by the neo-Gothic cathedral completed in 1898, whose brick spire is visible for miles, with a weekend craft fair on the square and cobbled streets running downhill toward the water past nineteenth-century houses. The Quinta Pueyrredón, a Spanish-era estate turned museum, sits among old trees nearby, and a riverside walk with parks and boat clubs runs along the coast toward Tigre.

History

In 2007 San Isidro celebrated 300 years of existence with festivities at the hippodrome and elsewhere; the settlement was first organised in 1784 as the Alcaldía de la Hermandad, and the province made it a municipality in 1850 (Wikipedia, San Isidro, Buenos Aires).

Highlights

• The neo-Gothic cathedral - the brick spire above Plaza Mitre.
• The Spanish-era streets - cobbles and old houses running down to the river.
• Quinta Pueyrredón - the historic estate house and its grounds.
• The riverside walk - parks, clubs and views over the Plata.

When to go

Year-round; spring and autumn are ideal, and the weekend craft fair on the plaza is when the centre is liveliest. Summer afternoons are hot but the riverside is breezy. Museums close on some Mondays.

What to expect

This is a wealthy residential suburb rather than a sight-heavy destination, and the pleasure is walking rather than visiting. Restaurant prices are high. Most travellers combine it with Tigre rather than making a separate trip.

Nearby

Tigre and its delta lie north; central Buenos Aires is south along the coast.

Key facts