La Plata
The capital of Buenos Aires province is La Plata, a modern university city with a lively student population, and consequently good nightlife, with lots of restaurants and bars. There's no particular reason to visit as a tourist, but if you're passing through or on a day trip from Buenos Aires (only 60 minutes by bus), you'll appreciate the broad avenues, leafy plazas and elaborate public buildings. It's a young and vibrant place, where football and rugby are major passions. At the east of the city there's a beautiful park, Paseo del Bosque, popular at weekends with families forasados, with its famous science museum, the magnificent but slightly run-down Museo de Ciencias Naturales.
Getting there
La Plata is 56 km southeast of Buenos Aires, 45 minutes by car. There are frequent trains, taking one hour 10 minutes. Buses from Buenos Aires leave every 30 minutes and take about 1½ hours. They leave the Retiro bus terminal day and night, and from Plaza Constitución (less recommended), daytime only. If you arrive on an overnight bus, the confitería opposite the bus terminal is safe and will be open. Long-distance buses arrive here from all major cities. The terminal is at Calle 4 and Diagonal 74, and a taxi into the central area.
Getting around
The city is easy to get around, but note that the streets have numbers, rather than names, and diagonal streets cross the entire city, which can be very confusing. When you approach one of these crossroads with six choices, make sure you remember the number of the street you're on. There's an efficient network of buses all over the city, and taxis are safe, cheap and plentiful.
Tourist information
The main tourist office is Dirección de Turismo www.cultura. laplata.gov.ar, www.laplata.gov.ar. The provincial tourism website is www.probairesturismo.gba.gov.ar (in English). A helpful office for exploring estancias, stables and for visiting craftsmen in the pampas is Camino del Gaucho www.caminodelgaucho.com.ar. The English-speaking staff are extremely informative and will help you arrange your own itinerary.
Sights
The major public buildings are centred around two parallel north-south streets, 51 and 53, which run north from the Plaza Moreno to the Plaza San Martín, and from there to the Paseo del Bosque at the north of the city centre. On the west side of Plaza Moreno is the enormous brick neo-Gothic cathedral built between 1885 and 1936, and inspired by Cologne and Amiens. It has a beautiful and inspiring inside, and is definitely worth a visit. Opposite is the large, white building of the Muncipalidad, in German Renaissance style, with a striking clock tower. Plaza San Martín, six blocks east, is bounded by the Legislature, with its huge neo-classical façade and, opposite, the Casa de Gobierno is a mixture of French and Flemish Renaissance styles. On the north side of the plaza is the lovely Pasaje Dardo Rocha, designed as the main railway station in Italian Renaissance style. It now houses the Centro Cultural www.cultura.laplata.gov.ar gallery of contemporary Latin American art, a café and two theatres. East of the Municipalidad, Teatro Argentino has its own orchestra and ballet company. Nearby on streets 6 and 7 are the imposing Universidad Nacional and the Banco Provincial. The main shopping streets are 8 and 12. A good market selling handicrafts and local artesania is in Plaza Italia at weekends.
If you do find yourself in La Plata at the weekend, or on a sunny evening, head straight for Paseo del Bosque, a pretty public park of woodlands and an artificial lake, where all the locals head for asados and picnics. There's also Zoological Gardens with giraffes, elephants and pumas amongst others, an astronomical observatory and the Hipodromo, dating from the 1930s and one of the most important racecourses in the country. The Museo de Ciencias Naturales is one of the most famous museums in Latin America. It houses an outstanding collection, particularly on anthropology and archaeology, with a huge collection of pre-Columbian artefacts including pre-Incan ceramics from Peru, and beautiful ceramics from the northwest of Argentina. It is slightly run-down with some exhibits needing replacing but the preserved animal and dinosaur sections are worth visiting.
Getting there
La Plata is 56 km southeast of Buenos Aires, 45 minutes by car. There are frequent trains, taking one hour 10 minutes. Buses from Buenos Aires leave every 30 minutes and take about 1½ hours. They leave the Retiro bus terminal day and night, and from Plaza Constitución (less recommended), daytime only. If you arrive on an overnight bus, the confitería opposite the bus terminal is safe and will be open. Long-distance buses arrive here from all major cities. The terminal is at Calle 4 and Diagonal 74, and a taxi into the central area.
Getting around
The city is easy to get around, but note that the streets have numbers, rather than names, and diagonal streets cross the entire city, which can be very confusing. When you approach one of these crossroads with six choices, make sure you remember the number of the street you're on. There's an efficient network of buses all over the city, and taxis are safe, cheap and plentiful.
Tourist information
The main tourist office is Dirección de Turismo www.cultura. laplata.gov.ar, www.laplata.gov.ar. The provincial tourism website is www.probairesturismo.gba.gov.ar (in English). A helpful office for exploring estancias, stables and for visiting craftsmen in the pampas is Camino del Gaucho www.caminodelgaucho.com.ar. The English-speaking staff are extremely informative and will help you arrange your own itinerary.
Sights
The major public buildings are centred around two parallel north-south streets, 51 and 53, which run north from the Plaza Moreno to the Plaza San Martín, and from there to the Paseo del Bosque at the north of the city centre. On the west side of Plaza Moreno is the enormous brick neo-Gothic cathedral built between 1885 and 1936, and inspired by Cologne and Amiens. It has a beautiful and inspiring inside, and is definitely worth a visit. Opposite is the large, white building of the Muncipalidad, in German Renaissance style, with a striking clock tower. Plaza San Martín, six blocks east, is bounded by the Legislature, with its huge neo-classical façade and, opposite, the Casa de Gobierno is a mixture of French and Flemish Renaissance styles. On the north side of the plaza is the lovely Pasaje Dardo Rocha, designed as the main railway station in Italian Renaissance style. It now houses the Centro Cultural www.cultura.laplata.gov.ar gallery of contemporary Latin American art, a café and two theatres. East of the Municipalidad, Teatro Argentino has its own orchestra and ballet company. Nearby on streets 6 and 7 are the imposing Universidad Nacional and the Banco Provincial. The main shopping streets are 8 and 12. A good market selling handicrafts and local artesania is in Plaza Italia at weekends.
If you do find yourself in La Plata at the weekend, or on a sunny evening, head straight for Paseo del Bosque, a pretty public park of woodlands and an artificial lake, where all the locals head for asados and picnics. There's also Zoological Gardens with giraffes, elephants and pumas amongst others, an astronomical observatory and the Hipodromo, dating from the 1930s and one of the most important racecourses in the country. The Museo de Ciencias Naturales is one of the most famous museums in Latin America. It houses an outstanding collection, particularly on anthropology and archaeology, with a huge collection of pre-Columbian artefacts including pre-Incan ceramics from Peru, and beautiful ceramics from the northwest of Argentina. It is slightly run-down with some exhibits needing replacing but the preserved animal and dinosaur sections are worth visiting.
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This is edited copy from Footprint Handbooks. For comprehensive details (incl address, tel no, directions, opening times and prices) please refer to book or individual chapter PDF
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