What to do at Christmas?

[mmc378]

Hi! My family is coming for Christmas and apparently everything will be closed...? Has anyone been here during the Christmas season before and knows what there is to do? Or where is open to eat etc? Any guidance would be much appreciated!

 

[TomAtAlki]

Christmas in BsAs really is VERY quite. It's a family holiday and a lot of the local restaurants are closed for xmas day and eve. I'm sure all the hotel restaurants and the ones that cater to tourists are open. And everything is open before and after. We are here and love it because it is so quite.
Nancy

 

[TomAtAlki]

The Chinese restaurants are always open xmas and crowded.
N

 

[GMXam]

Taxis will be hard to come by on Christmas Eve. When we are in town, we typically host a pot luck with white elephant and invite people over, keeping in mind that the hardest time to find taxis is between 9pm and 2am. Buses and subte also stop running, but check those times on the city website. I’d recommend doing something similar over attempting to go out, especially if you don’t live near restaurants that will be open.

The morning of Christmas Eve, you’ll find confiterias, carnicerias, panaderias, rotiserias, and other specialty food shops open for limited hours as many will be buying their food for the family evening. The big chain grocery stores will also be open. The evening is typically a nice spread of Argentine appetizers, salads, entrees, desserts, and candy (turron seems a popular one); wines/drinks, exchange of gifts, fireworks (or watching them if not participating in the crazy off-the-terrace fun)...and spans several hours.It’s actually quite similar to my family’s festivities in the US, minus fireworks and swap food choices.

If you don’t cook, many of the specialty shops have good choices for finger foods and prepared foods (A’Manger is a good choice for olives, specialty meets, cheeses, and desserts, and they have a menu of items you can buy prepared to reheat later...everything is good there).

Load up on drinks and delicious foods Christmas Eve, and walk the silent streets Christmas morning for a coffee shop or confiteria that might be open. It’s quite amazing to see the contrast on Christmas Day and appreciate how busy this city usually is almost everyday of the year (minus paros).

 

[mmc378]

Christmas in BsAs really is VERY quite. It's a family holiday and a lot of the local restaurants are closed for xmas day and eve. I'm sure all the hotel restaurants and the ones that cater to tourists are open. And everything is open before and after. We are here and love it because it is so quite.
Nancy

So things are only closed the 24th and the 25th? The rest is operations as normal? Great to hear!

 

[mmc378]

Taxis will be hard to come by on Christmas Eve. When we are in town, we typically host a pot luck with white elephant and invite people over, keeping in mind that the hardest time to find taxis is between 9pm and 2am. Buses and subte also stop running, but check those times on the city website. I’d recommend doing something similar over attempting to go out, especially if you don’t live near restaurants that will be open.

The morning of Christmas Eve, you’ll find confiterias, carnicerias, panaderias, rotiserias, and other specialty food shops open for limited hours as many will be buying their food for the family evening. The big chain grocery stores will also be open. The evening is typically a nice spread of Argentine appetizers, salads, entrees, desserts, and candy (turron seems a popular one); wines/drinks, exchange of gifts, fireworks (or watching them if not participating in the crazy off-the-terrace fun)...and spans several hours.It’s actually quite similar to my family’s festivities in the US, minus fireworks and swap food choices.

If you don’t cook, many of the specialty shops have good choices for finger foods and prepared foods (A’Manger is a good choice for olives, specialty meets, cheeses, and desserts, and they have a menu of items you can buy prepared to reheat later...everything is good there).

Load up on drinks and delicious foods Christmas Eve, and walk the silent streets Christmas morning for a coffee shop or confiteria that might be open. It’s quite amazing to see the contrast on Christmas Day and appreciate how busy this city usually is almost everyday of the year (minus paros).

Thank you so much! This was very helpful

 

[elhombresinnombre]

+1 to everything that's been said above. If you are from the UK or Australia or Canada or probably from the USA too, you will find the rhythm of the holiday very different from back home and if you go with the flow and have the Argentine experience, all the right things will be open at all the right times and your neighbours will all be making a lot of noise at the same time as you. You've already started off on the right foot: families come from far and wide to be together, just as yours is doing. They feast together Christmas Eve right up to and through midnight. You'll find out when it's midnight and Christmas Day has begun: just make sure at that time you are somewhere with a great view over the city! People tend to sleep in on Christmas Day morning and emerge from lunchtime onwards. It's a quieter, more recovery oriented day like our Boxing Day. There is no Boxing Day in Argentina and things are pretty-well back to normal on the 26th