Café Tortoni

About Café Tortoni

Get the inside scoop on Café Tortoni from local experts, travel creators, and tastemakers. Browse genuine trip notes, Café Tortoni reviews, photos, travel guides, and itineraries from real travelers and plan your trip with confidence.

What people say

"This cafe is known to be Buenos Aires oldest cafe, and a 'bar notable.' Stepping inside feels like stepping back in time. It feels very elegant, old at the same time. It is a great place to grab a breakfast or a merienda. Just be aware that there is usually a line outside and you'll need to wait a few minutes before you can be seated inside. The walls are lined with history. The back room has a ton of old photographs of Cafe Tortoni in its heyday. There are also live tango shows in the back theatre in the evenings around 6pm. You should arrive early to make sure to get your spot. The cost is 6000 pesos (as of October 2022)."
"I love the historic setting of this cafe while enjoying medialunas or churros with a cortado. They're also famous for alfajores, delicious layered cookies with dulce de leche and chocolate. We made sure to go during off-peak hours. This place gets super busy, but with its popularity, sometimes the service is lacking. I also can't recommend their food since the one dinner we tried out was mediocre at best, They do have tango dinner shows in the evenings which could prove to be a good time. Regardless, check it out for the coffee and a treat."
Caroline Rose Travel
"As the oldest cafe in Buenos Aires, Cafe Tortoni is less of somewhere to just pop in for a coffee, and more of an experience. With the vintage designs still in tact, this feels like a step back in time to an upscale coffee break. Because of its popularity, it does become quite busy though, so you’ll either need to wait or call before. My recommendation is to make an afternoon of it and call ahead to reserve a ticket to their tango show hosted in their intimate auditorium where you enjoy coffee and churros as dancers perform on stage. "

Mentioned in these guides

I have been living in Argentina for the past year (plus 5 months in Buenos Aires back in 2005). This is one of my favorite cities in the entire world, and I want to share with you what makes it so great. This 10 day itinerary begins on a Friday morning, and is arranged according to market schedules, or other events in the city that fall on particular days. But you can certainly do the activities out of order, and fit them to your schedule as needed. I have planned this 10-day itinerary to allow you to maximize your days, and hours in this amazing city, but still allow you to enjoy the small moments without feeling overwhelmed, and get rest when needed. I have spent around 100 hours researching, writing descriptions to give detailed information of every place mentioned in this itinerary, visiting and testing out each day; they are all genuine recommendations. I have carefully planned out and timed each activity, including transportation and time moving between sites. I have also linked related articles and videos from my blog and YouTube channel. This itinerary will provide you not only with daily activities, but information on how to get the best exchange rate, how to stay safe, and information for transportation- how to get from spot to spot, so you can put as little time into planning as possible. Let me do that for you! :) This is not the ideal itinerary for those seeking the nightlife and parties. It is full of morning, daytime, and evening activities (with a few optional activities that go into the night) to help you get to know the culture of Buenos Aires and Argentina. It does not include nightclubs. This is a great itinerary if you are coming to Buenos Aires for the first time and you want to see all the important places, along with a few extra gems. This can also serve if you live in the city but have friends and family coming to visit. I've got it all planned out for you! I have included a lot of walking in this itinerary, though I have attempted to concentrate each day in one particular area of the city whenever possible. However, the city is full of transportation options if you prefer less steps due to accessability issues, or fatigue. I strongly suggest reading through the entire itinerary at the beginning of the week in case there are places where you need to make a reservation. If so, it will be listed at the top of each day.
Adventure • Architecture • Art • Budget • Foodie • History • Shopping • Nature • People & Culture • Wine • Coffee
$49.99
4.9
(7)
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