City tour around San Antonio de Areco

A one-hundred-kilometer tour, which is the distance that separates this city from Buenos Aires, is enough to understand with all your senses that we are in a place where time stands still. For several years, among its people and in the surrounding areas, San Antonio de Areco has been able to hold in its urban layout different activities that lure visitors.


The Historical Shell

Its low houses, many of which used to be old farmhouses, attract the eyes of those entering the town. The cobbled-stone streets, which represent a majority in town, reach the main square and that represents the logical starting point for any city tour.

The church, the bank, the coffee shop on the corner are a must visit. Also, there are museums and workshops that devote themselves to typically rural handicrafts made of silver and leather or woven in the loom.

However, if visitors want to see the real routine of rural people, there are many places to entertain the sight with just a look of what lies inside: Los Principios General Store, located on Moreno and Mitre Streets, or the old fodder store named “Maggio”. The famous bar called Bessonart, located on the intersection of Don Segundo Sombra and Zapiola Streets, tempts visitors to have a grappa, eau-de-vie or just a beer.


A Day in the Countryside

Driving away from the urban area is enough to see how the countryside takes hold of everyone.

Visitors may enjoy a traditional day in the countryside, a picnic with typical cheese and salami or the well-famous asado campestre (countryside barbecue) served in restaurants and old pulperías (local stores). After supper, visitors can take pleasure in riding on traditional carriages or on horseback tours which depart from the estancia and allow visitors to see the old streets in town.

Either on horseback or by bike, they can cross the Old Bridge from one side to the next to take the waterfront road on the banks of the Areco River up to the local Fishermen’s Club. It is ideal to make a stop there and have a rest on the riverbank.

If you are fond of golf, remember to take your clubs since the Country Club in San Antonio de Areco has an excellent 9-hole golf course. There are also some polo and pato fields in the estancias located in San Antonio de Areco.



Areco and its Rural Towns

The Criollo Park and the Ricardo Güiraldes Guacho Museum are mandatory for tourists. Everything related to the life and work of this remarkable writer is on display there. Visitors may learn about the life, customs and routine of the countryside people from their origins until today.

In addition to the various rooms, there is a typical local store and a little chapel where the patron saint of the place is worshipped and where images of the Virgin of Carmen and the Virgin of Mercy can be found. The museum is surrounded by fields, where typical horses, gauchos, barbecues and bonfires stand out for those visiting the area.

After leaving this place, tourists may visit small rural spots that also show the daily work of countryside people. Among them is Vagues, only 5 kilometers from San Antonio de Areco. It does not have chamfered corners but it does have gauchos, local stores and excellent fields, just like the small town of Duggan, which lies only 18 kilometers from San Antonio de Areco, or Villa Lía, which stands 25 kilometers away. They allow tourists to enjoy the same landscape: the Argentinian countryside.