Buenos Aires Plaza de Mayo | Self-Guided Audio Walking Tour
1 hour and 30 minutes
About this experience
The Plaza de Mayo is where Argentina comes to say who it is, and every time it has changed the place to do it. The 1811 pyramid is still sealed inside the 1856 one. The Cabildo where the city voted out the Spanish viceroy lost six of its eleven arches, to a boulevard in 1889 and a diagonal avenue in 1931. In 1955 the country's own planes bombed the square. The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo began circling the pyramid in 1977, and their white headscarves are painted on the paving. Ten stops in a line: the Casa Rosada, the May Pyramid, the Metropolitan Cathedral and San Martin's tomb, the Cabildo, the La Prensa building, Cafe Tortoni, the Avenida 9 de Julio and its Evita portrait, Palacio Barolo, Kilometro Cero and the National Congress. Self-guided, so the walk is yours. 10 stops, 2 km, about 90 minutes at an easy pace, narrated with a live GPS map. No group, no guide, no set arrival time. Pause as long as you like.
- Experience type
- Day tour or activity
- Duration
- 1 hour and 30 minutes
- Audio guide
- Spanish, English
- Guide
- Spanish, English
- Categories
- Walking tour · Cultural and theme tours · City tours
What's included
Self-guided audio tour, narrated stops Audio guide in English and Spanish 10 stops, 2.1 km, 1.5 hours Stops at Casa Rosada, May Pyramid, Cathedral Walking directions between all tour stops Interactive GPS map, live position, route Phone browser access, no app needed Lifetime access to repeat the tour, flexible start, self-paced, no group
What's not included
Live guide, and there is no group Entry or admission fees, optional and paid on site Smartphone and earphones, bring your own charged Mobile data, or the tour downloaded before you set off Food and drinks Transport Tip or gratuity Food and drinks Entry or admission fee
Please note
To start the tour, enter the ticket code from your confirmation on the Roamer redemption page linked there. Do this before you set off, while you still have signal. The tour then opens in your phone browser, with no app to download. Best time: Weekday mornings from about nine are calmest on the square and the avenue, and the light falls on the Casa Rosada's facade in the afternoon. The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo walk round the pyramid on Thursdays at 15:30; stand back and watch respectfully, or walk with them, which they welcome. Avoid Wednesday afternoons at the Congress end, when pensioners' marches have brought fences and road closures (checked 22 September 2026). Autumn and spring, March to May and September to November, are the most comfortable walking months. The Evita portraits' lighting was switched off in 2024, and the government has discussed removing them; check before you go if they matter to you. The Cabildo's museum, the Museo Historico Nacional del Cabildo y de la Revolucion de Mayo, is free and open Wednesday to Sunday, 10:30 to 18:00. Checked 22 September 2026. The Museo Casa Rosada, behind the palace on Paseo Colon, is free and open Wednesday to Sunday, 11:00 to 18:00, and is built into the excavated remains of the old fort and customs house. Guided visits inside the Casa Rosada itself run at weekends, free, by advance booking at visitas.casarosada.gob.ar; bring your passport. Checked 22 September 2026. The Metropolitan Cathedral is free. The grenadier guard at San Martin's tomb changes every two hours during the day. To see the 1955 bomb marks up close, cross Hipolito Yrigoyen Street and then Balcarce at the marked crossings from stop 1, and walk along the front of the Palacio de Hacienda toward Paseo Colon to the plaque about the bombing; the marks are in that stone. Palacio Barolo can only be visited on a guided tour, run by licensed operators listed on palaciobarolo.com.ar. Book ahead if you want to climb to the lighthouse. Checked 22 September 2026. Free guided tours of the National Congress run through the Senate (senado.gob.ar) and the Chamber of Deputies (hcdn.gob.ar), with online registration in advance. Checked 22 September 2026. Cafe Tortoni is open daily from 08:00 to 21:00, and a queue often forms at midday and at weekends, so come early or in the late afternoon. Checked 22 September 2026. To get back to the start, take Line A of the underground from Congreso to Peru or Plaza de Mayo. You need a SUBE card, sold at kiosks and stations. The Plaza de Mayo and the Congress gardens are the city's main protest grounds. Marches are frequent and usually peaceful, but the police sometimes fence off the east half of the Plaza de Mayo, and the area around the Congress, often on Wednesday afternoons. If a march is under way, keep to the edges, follow police directions, and leave if things turn tense. Crossing the Avenida Nueve de Julio takes several sets of lights. Cross only on the green signal and wait on the central islands between phases. Phone snatching is common on the avenue, sometimes from a passing motorbike. Keep your phone in your hand only when you need it, and never leave it on a cafe table. The painted headscarves around the pyramid are a memorial to the disappeared. Treat them with respect, and do not photograph the Mothers at close range without asking. The cathedral is a working church. Dress modestly, keep your voice low, and stay out of the chapel during a service. Summer sun from December to February is strong on the open square and the avenue. Carry water and wear a hat. Public transportation nearby
Itinerary
- 1Day 0
Casa Rosada: The Balcony and the Bombs
Plaza de Mayo, corner of Balcarce and Hipolito Yrigoyen, Buenos Aires
The pink presidential palace whose balconies staged Argentina's twentieth century, and the ministry across the street that still carries the scars of the day in 1955 when the country's own planes bombed this square.
- 2Day 0
May Pyramid: The Mothers' Circle
Piramide de Mayo, Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires
The oldest patriotic monument in the city, with its first version still sealed inside, and the white headscarves of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo painted on the paving around it.
- 3Day 0
Metropolitan Cathedral: The General's Tilted Tomb
Plaza de Mayo, opposite the Catedral Metropolitana (San Martin 27), Buenos Aires
A cathedral with the front of a parliament, where the independence hero Jose de San Martin lies under guard in a side chapel, and where the future Pope Francis was archbishop.
- 4Day 0
Cabildo: The Building the Revolution Cut Down
Plaza de Mayo, opposite the Cabildo (Bolivar 65), Buenos Aires
The colonial town hall where the city voted out the Spanish viceroy in 1810, cut down twice since, for a boulevard in 1889 and a diagonal avenue in 1931.
- 5Day 0
La Prensa: The Goddess Taken Off the Roof
Avenida de Mayo 580, opposite the Casa de la Cultura (Av de Mayo 575), Buenos Aires
The palace a newspaper built for itself on the new avenue, whose bronze Athena was taken down when Peron seized the paper in 1951 and put back five years later.
- 6Day 0
Cafe Tortoni: The Back Door That Became the Front
Avenida de Mayo 825, Cafe Tortoni, Buenos Aires
The city's most famous old cafe, which was already standing when the Avenida de Mayo was cut through the back of its block, and turned round to face it.
- 7Day 0
Avenida Nueve de Julio: Evita Over the Avenue
Avenida de Mayo and Bernardo de Irigoyen, at Avenida 9 de Julio, Buenos Aires
The corner of the city's widest avenue, looking down to the lone ministry tower where a 1951 rally asked Eva Peron to run for vice-president, and where her steel portrait was later hung.
- 8Day 0
Palacio Barolo: A Tower Built on Dante
Avenida de Mayo 1301, opposite the Palacio Barolo (Av de Mayo 1370), Buenos Aires
An office tower designed around Dante's Divine Comedy, with hell at street level and a lighthouse for paradise, once the tallest building in Buenos Aires.
- 9Day 0
Kilometro Cero: Where the Country Is Measured From
Kilometro Cero, Plaza Mariano Moreno, Virrey Cevallos and Rivadavia, Buenos Aires
The stone marker from which Argentina's national road distances are measured, which was nearly the May Pyramid, and a cast of Rodin's Thinker, said to have been meant for the Congress steps.
- 10Day 0
National Congress: The Other End of the Axis
Plaza del Congreso, Avenida Rivadavia and Entre Rios, Buenos Aires
The domed National Congress at the far end of the Avenida de Mayo, begun by an architect who was murdered before it opened, and the Monument to the Two Congresses in front of it.
Meeting point
Casa Rosada, Buenos Aires Plaza de Mayo, corner of Balcarce and Hipolito Yrigoyen, Buenos Aires, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, AR
Pick up
Pickup is not provided.
Cancellation policy · Buenos Aires Plaza de Mayo | Self-Guided Audio Walking Tour
Standard Viator policy
- Cancellation 0–24 hours before departure: 100% cancellation fee.
- Cancellation 24–24000 hours before departure: 0% cancellation fee.
Good to know
Operated by Roamer and sold by AGORA. Your voucher and booking reference arrive by email straight after payment.