People living in Buenos Aires refer to themselves as "Porteños," recognizing thus the port vital role in the city’s life. Among the several neighbourhoods on Buenos Aires waterfront, La Boca is the most distinctive and colourful. The name means "The Mouth" and refers to it being the meeting point between the Riachuelo (a small stream of waste delimiting the city to the south) and the mighty Rio de la Plata.

The port is not longer the main attraction but it still shapes the neighbourhood. La Boca’s wood and zinc shanty houses were built by the Italian immigrants who worked in the port and are coloured in a myriad of bright patches. The place looks as if a rainbow crashed on it. It is hard to imagine poor people living in a poor city of a poor continent spending so much on paints; actually, they got the colours free from ship repairs leftovers.

Nowadays, La Boca is known mainly for three other things. Boca Juniors is one of the best soccer teams in Buenos Aires, and its stadium is here. Its blue and yellow logo is ubiquitous in the neighbourhood. The colourful quarter and derelict port created the perfect background for restaurants, souvenir shops and cafeterias catering for the many tourists reaching the area. Unluckily, these two activities attract huge crowds on a regular and predictable schedule. Combined with the area’s poverty, this created a heaven for thieves. Visiting La Boca is dangerous at all times, but especially at night. Precautions and care should be taken everywhere, but especially so around the Caminito and the Boca Juniors Stadium.

While the main sights are available everyday, it is recommended visiting the neighbourhood on Sundays, just after a visit to the San Telmo Flea Market. Both places are close to each other and slightly off-center, hence such a tactic pays-off.

Main Sights:

Caminito Street. The most colourful street in the city is a daily artists’ outdoor exhibition open from 10am to 6pm.

Historic Wax Museum: Del Valle Iberlucea 1261. Mondays to Fridays from 10am to 6pm; weekends from 11am to 8pm. Admission 5ARP. This is the South American version of Madam Tussoud.

Vuelta de Rocha: Pedro de Mendoza Av. Corner Palos. The Vuelta de Rocha hosts the steamship La Carrera, a museum ship with a tourists’ information center and a handicrafts stalls base.

Benito Quinquela Martin Fine Arts Museum: Pedro de Mendoza Av. 1835 Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 6pm. The museum is named after a painter that lived here and shows his works and studio.

Proa Museum: Pedro de Mendoza Av. 1929 Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 7pm. A typical Italian house transformed into a beautiful contemporary art centre.

Necochea Street. The old port canteens were replaced here by restaurants offering seafood and local shows.

Boca Juniors Stadium: Brandsen 805 a must for every soccer fan, the place is known as "La Bombonera" due to its candy box shape.

One of the city icons. Very bohemian, at La Boca, where the port is. That is the place where Tango was born. When you walk around the Caminito with all the colorful houses, and the Tango houses, you understand better the porteño culture. It is a very passionate place, with the locals playing truco at the bars. Truco is a card game, very typical. At night they play live Tango, and tell you the story that when it first started it was the dance of the men that worked at the ships, and the prostitutes that hung around the port. That is the reason why the clothes are so provocative, and the lyrics so spicy. At Caminito there is also a little wax museum, with local celebrities. That is a place that personifies the Argentinian culture in its deepest roots. Not only for the multicolor houses, but for all the local and bars.

For something completely different, take a taxi to LaBoca on a Sunday afternoon for a walking tour. This artist colony is famous for the local houses and shops which are painted all sorts of wild colors. There is a flea market with many individual stalls of unique artistic items. Enjoy one of the local cafes or bars and take in the sights.

The neighbourhood was once the tango centre and all-Italian centre of the city near the Rio de la Plata. It is very colourful and has great photo opportunities. By all means, drop into La Perla Bar-Cafe for a "cortado"(espresso with a bit of steamed milk), the oldest in the city. This is the soul of the city and a reminder of its culture and immigrant roots. During the day it is quite safe to go alone on the #50 bus from Callao.

Home of a large Italian population, the La Boca neighborhood has an urban blue-collar attitude that is also credited as one of the birthplaces of the tango. The locals even have their own soccer team to root for, the blue and yellow side of Boca Juniors once led by World Cup star Diego Armando Maradona. The club’s stadium is the anchor of the neighborhood and features its own soccer museum and souvenir shop. A storefront across the way displays an adorable life-size wooden mannequin of Maradona.

The tourist-friendly Caminito is definitely the most colorful area of La Boca. The cheap corrugated metal constructions of the Caminito are elevated to artistic prominence by boldly painted surfaces. The simple shacks feature a patchwork of cool tropical colors; it is almost hard to believe that people actually live in these modules. In this "outdoor museum", artists showcase their wares for sale, while performers entertain families in a small open amphitheater. There are plenty of souvenir stores to spend your pesos in as well. At a nearby corner across from the Parque Lezama, there is an amusing fake-façade sculpture that parodies the metal shacks of the Caminito, with cartoonish people sticking their heads out of imaginary windows.

The Caminito is about a two-mile hike from the closest Subte station. It is very close to the mouth (or Boca) of the sludgy Rio de la Plata, part of which is paralleled by a wide promenade. Locals cross the river via the rustic Puente Avellaneda (one has to take an elevator up one side, walk across the top pathway, and then head down the other side). They can also cross the river via little boats for a small fee.