The old port at the river's mouth: tin houses painted every colour, a painter's museum and the most famous football stadium in Argentina.
La Boca grew up where the Riachuelo meets the River Plate, a barrio of dockworkers, many of them Genoese immigrants, living in houses of wood and corrugated iron.
Its bright colours are said to come from leftover ship paint. In the 1950s, the painter Benito Quinquela Martín helped turn a short lane, Caminito, into an open-air museum of painted façades, murals and sculpture.
Today Caminito and the streets around it are lively with craft stalls, cafés and tango for tourists. The Museo Benito Quinquela Martín shows his port scenes, and Fundación Proa holds major contemporary art shows, with a rooftop café.
A few blocks inland stands La Bombonera, the steep-sided stadium of Boca Juniors, opened in 1940. Its museum and tour take you into the stands even when there's no match.
A half-day in La Boca.
Arrive by taxi at the bend of the Riachuelo where Caminito begins, with old boats and cranes along the bank.
Walk the short lane and the streets around it, looking into the old tenement courtyards now full of shops.
See the painter's port scenes in his former home and school, with river views from the terraces.
Check what's on at Fundación Proa, and have a coffee on its terrace over the river.
Walk the few blocks to La Bombonera for the museum and stadium tour, then take a taxi out.
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Take a taxi or ride app straight to Caminito, and back from there or the stadium; there's no Subte, and walking from San Telmo isn't advised.
The Bombonera museum and tour run most days except match days; check the club's site for hours.
Tango dancers on the street expect a tip if you photograph them; ask first.
Buenos Aires practical notes →Photographs from Wikimedia Commons and Pexels under their licences.
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