Obelisco de Buenos Aires

Raised in 1936 to mark 400 years since the first founding of Buenos Aires, the 67-metre Obelisco stands where Avenida Corrientes crosses Avenida 9 de Julio, one of the widest avenues in the world. It is where the city gathers to celebrate football victories.

Avenida Corrientes, which runs past it, is the city's theatre street, lined with bookshops and old-fashioned pizzerias. A few blocks away, the Teatro Colón, one of the world's great opera houses, offers guided tours of its gilded, horseshoe-shaped auditorium.

Combine the Obelisco with Plaza de Mayo and the pink Casa Rosada presidential palace, the elegant Recoleta district and its cemetery, and an evening among the waterfront restaurants of Puerto Madero. A guided city tour covers all of these in a comfortable half day.