Explore La Boca Neighborhood

La Boca is one of the liveliest neighborhoods in Buenos Aires and natural one of the most touristic places in the city. It is the heart of tango, a magnet for artists and the home of maybe the most popular football club, Boca Juniors.

The neighborhood retains an intense italian flavour, since most of its early settlers originated from the city of Genoa in Italy. It is the harbour and as such all of its history is knit with the lives of sailor men and immigrants. Most of the buildings in the neighborhood are painted in different vivid colors (retained today mostly for touristic purposes) as the sailors and immigrants used to get the whatever paints were left from the shipyards in order to paint their houses.

At the epicenter of the modern life of Boca is the El Caminito pedestrian road. El Caminito (‘little walkway’) is now a street museum full of peddlers selling art, street music and tango dancers. It used to be an almost abandoned street, till the artist Benito Quinquela Martín and local residents started the effort to bring it back to life.

La Boca is generally very touristic. This in many parts of the neighborhood creates a rather unpleasant feeling (unless you are all in for the tourist traps), however its unique style and history are present throughout and you just need to wander to discover it. Some parts of the neighborhood may be a little bit dangerous to foreigners, so you are generally advised not to stroll too far away from the livelier areas.