Buenos Aires - Prepare

Pack as little as possible. Not only will you find plenty of clothes and gorgeous household items to take home at Buenos Aires' excellent-value designer stores, you will even be able to get the leather luggage to take it all back in.

Catch a movie at April's enthusiastically attended International Festival of Independent Cinema and invest in Argentine art at arteBA in May. Watch gauchos (cowboys) on horseback and parading cattle during July’s International Rural Exhibition. See the masters at work during August's Tango Festival. And thrill to the beauty of polo at the Polo Open Tournament in Palermo in December.

New Year's Day (1 Jan), National Memorial Day for Truth and Justice (24 Mar), Malvinas Day – tribute to war veterans of the 1982 Falklands War (Apr), Maundy Thursday before Easter (Mar/Apr), Good Friday (Mar/Apr), Labour Day (1 May), Day of the May Revolution (25 May), Day of the Flag (Jun), Independence Day (9 Jul), Day of San Martín – commemorates the death of one of the liberators of Argentina (Aug), Columbus Day (Oct), Immaculate Conception (8 Dec), Christmas Day (25 Dec), New Year's Eve (31 Dec).

The best time to visit the city is in spring, when the jacarandas and jasmine are in blossom, or autumn, when temperatures are warm but comfortable. The humid summer (Dec-Feb, 28°C) can be sticky – locals cool off at cafés and bars alongside the river. While winter (Jun-Aug, 5°C) can be rainy, the sun is never far away.

220V AC, 50 Hz, twin round pins (older) or triple flat pins (newer, differently wired to those in Australasia) are standard.

+54 (Argentina), 11 + eight-figure number (Buenos Aires).

Pesos (AR$) are standard. US dollars are occasionally accepted, less since devaluation. Note that prices marked $ refer to pesos. Dollars are always written as US$.

GMT -3 (-2 in the summer).

Buenos Aires Tourism website

Sassy and smart is the style of Buenos Aires. Fashions tend to echo those of Europe, albeit a year or so behind, with youth-culture trends more 1980s rock than hip-hop. Take some killer heels if you plan to tango.