Buenos Aires rewards the thin wallet: the national art museum, the ex-zoo, the rose garden and the old central post office all charge nothing. Add counter-service pizza, neighbourhood produce markets and a subte flat fare, and days here cost less than lunch elsewhere.
350 hectares of reclaimed marshland behind Puerto Madero, with 8 km of flat gravel trails, lagoons and 300-plus bird species. Open Tuesday to Sunday 08:00–18:00 in winter and until 19:00 in summer; every gate is free.
Neoclassical cathedral on Plaza de Mayo behind a twelve-column Doric portico, and Pope Francis's former seat. Free entry daily 07:30–18:45; the marble mausoleum of General San Martín is guarded by grenadiers who change on the hour.
A 1919 theatre converted into a bookshop, with the frescoed cupola, crimson stage curtain and gilt boxes intact. Browsing and reading in the old stalls costs nothing. Monday to Saturday 09:00–22:00, Sunday from 12:00.
A 23-metre steel-and-aluminium flower standing in a reflecting pool opposite the law faculty. The six petals were engineered to open at dawn and close at dusk, and the surrounding lawns are unfenced open park, day and night.
An 1889 iron-framed neighbourhood market on Avenida Rivadavia that stayed a working produce hall instead of turning into a food court. Butchers, greengrocers and fiambrerías sell at local prices, Mon–Sat 08:00–13:30 and 17:00–20:30.
Open since 1932. Pay at the till first, then eat standing at the marble counter, where a slice costs roughly a third of the seated table price: fugazzeta rellena, muzzarella, and a disc of chickpea fainá balanced on top.
Four blocks around Arribeños and Mendoza behind a marble paifang arch. The supermarkets stack noodles, spices and dried fruit at half downtown prices, while street windows sell steamed bao and bubble tea. Busiest on Sundays.
A plain-tiled grill running since 1960, where vacío, entraña and provoleta arrive with bread and chimichurri included. Porteños queue from 20:00 onwards, so the 18:00–19:30 window usually walks straight in.
The 1914 rose garden inside Bosques de Palermo: 18.000 bushes, a white pergola, the Greek bridge and the Jardín de los Poetas, free and open Tuesday to Sunday 08:00–18:00. City EcoBici bikes circle the three lakes alongside.
The 1888 zoo, now a conservation park. The ornate elephant house, Byzantine aviary and Hindu temple-style enclosures still stand, with maras and condors among them. Entry is free, Tuesday to Sunday roughly 11:00–17:00.
Argentina's national collection inside a converted pump house on Avenida del Libertador: Rembrandt, El Greco, Goya and Rodin downstairs, Berni, Xul Solar and Quinquela Martín upstairs. Tuesday to Friday 11:00–20:00.
The 1928 central post office turned cultural centre: nine floors of free exhibitions, the Ballena Azul concert hall, and an upper terrace looking across the docks to the river. Wednesday to Sunday 14:00–20:00.