Imagine a whole place decorated with acrylic flowery wallpaper in clashing colours, and you're halfway there. This massive bar, with rows upon rows of kitschly decorated tables, is hugely popular at weekends. You'll find an innocent, fun-loving and very social vibe here, plus a whole bookcase of oversized boardgames. Quirky touches include bathroom washbasins standing on old sewing machines and a menu presented on colourful cue cards. The food itself definitely needs some help, but you can't knock the atmosphere.

If you want to have an extremely authentic Buenos Aires experience, try whiling away an afternoon or evening having coffee, drinks, or a meal in one of the city’s famous “notable cafes and bars”. A few years ago, a city government commission drew up a fairly comprehensive list of 53 notable bars and cafes and awarded them this special status due to either their historical, cultural or architectural importance to the city of Buenos Aires. Many of these establishments have been in operation since the nineteenth century, and upon entering one of them you are quickly transported back to the city’s aristocratic roots.One picturesque member of this exclusive club of bars and cafes is Bar Seddon, a San Telmo hang-out spot that was converted into a bar from a nineteenth-century pharmacy.

"Arrive early" is the often-heard advice for this similarly popular watering hole in Palermo. However, it's quite possible you'll arrive through its hallowed doors to find the street-level bar practically empty. Don't be fooled: in summer, it's all about the rooftop terrace, which is consistently packed with style-conscious locals. When it's time to move on, either take the easy option (the Niceto nightclub, directly opposite), or get some recommendations from Carnal's fingers-on-the-pulse crowd. With so little room to manoeuvre on the terrace, intimacy is unavoidable and you're bound to have made friends.

It doesn't much get better than this: sipping a cocktail amid Casa's stylish, yet understated decor as you ponder the adventures that are to be had in Buenos Aires. This bar lies in the heart of Recoleta in a classic three-storey French Second Empire style house, which looks as if it has been taken brick by brick from Paris. A vast selection of spirits and beers, friendly staff and a cosmopolitan crowd all make Casa Bar a force to be reckoned with. See you there!

There's no need for something as frightfully tacky as a sign when you have a reputation like Congo's. Tucked away beside the railway tracks and in the shadows of a garish nightclub, this venue is distinguishable solely by the legions of devotees queuing outside its plain, brown door. However, in typical Buenos Aires style, the modest frontage leads to an expansive interior with enormous outside space. Retaining original features (including an old tree protruding through the roof), it is one of the best spots in town on a sticky summer's evening.

This old-fashioned joint in San Telmo is ideal for an afternoon cerveza and a picada (a plate of cheese and cold meats served on a wooden board). Inside, you'll find walls lined with dusty old bottles, an enviable antique coffee machine and old wooden tables with initials carved into the surface. It's been pulling in the punters since 1864 and is still going strong.

Contemporary New York meets South America in this welcoming bar/restaurant with a long bar, plush sofas and intimate lighting. Cocktail aficionados will not be disappointed here, nor will anyone else with the truly impressive choice of spirits on offer or the delectable sushi. This is where the city's sophisticates and movers n' shakers go to play.

Ingrata bar esta ubicado en le famoso Pasaje Lanin del barrio porteño de Barracas! es un espacio cultural y su especialidad son los vinos y las picadas!

There aren't many places that make you feel a long way from home and completely welcome at the same time, but this seems to strike the right balance. In the spirit of folk revival, patrons are encouraged to help themselves to a collection of instruments kept behind the bar and burst into song as they please. Naturally, the results are varying, with no night ending up the same. On some occasions the bar will be filled with understated little groups, strumming guitars quietly to themselves; at others times, a particularly talented performer might command the attention of the whole room. Either way, a campfire-style singalong in the middle of a busy metropolis is something you don't find every day.

Home to gentrified houses, designer boutiques and the grandest cemetery known to man, Recoleta is one of the city's most affluent areas. For a taste of the highlife, make a beeline for this romantic, converted mansion. There's little better than sweeping down its grand, marble staircase with a cocktail in hand. Although many of the city's bars only warm up in the early hours, this place manages to draw a select crowd throughout the afternoon and early evening, with happy hour running until 9pm.

If you want to enjoy BA nightlife to the full, your body clock will need to adapt - quickly. This is a city where people think nothing of dining just before midnight, where bars don't get going until the early hours and where clubs often run until 7am and beyond. If you can handle the pace, join the locals for sunrise (or a post-dawn nightcap) at Miloca. If you've come this far on your BA baptism of fire, then bypass the darkened interiors and head straight up the skinny spiral staircase to the fully exposed rooftop bar, where you can end your night in the full glare of the Argentinian sun.

Take a walk on the weird side in this oh-so-trendy bar/restaurant which is considered by many the best joint for cocktails in town. Dim reddish lighting and candles make for a flirtatious night's fun as you coyly glance over the top of yet another daiquiri to-die-for. Or watch a saucy 'b' movie over someone's shoulder in this eclectic American diner meets classic cocktail bar. A must.

Desayunos - Menu Ejecutivo los Mediodias - Cerveza - Tragos - Picadas

Away from the main drag of the ever-sprawling Palermo district and on the edge of up-and-coming Villa Crespo, this former speakeasy has recently gone above board. By night, burly doormen give the only indication of what lies behind the heavy wooden door, and yet even an out-of-towner can't fail to find it (Ocho7Ocho - ie 878 - is its street number). Inside, exposed bricks form part of a stylishly "unfinished" décor that is typical of many of the city's recent renovation projects. The main attraction, however, is the dazzling back-lit bar, offering an already legendary collection of whiskys.

Sullivan’s is the Irish pub in the heart of Soho with live music upstairs and a summer terrace. It’s everything you want in a pub – Guinness on draft, bartender banter and attitude, and a dim, cozy atmosphere. Plus it’s in Palermo Soho, full of gorgeous people who have no concept of stress or hostility and have never met the phrase “bad drunk.” As they say (in English) on a popular radio show here in Buenos Aires, “You’re a winner!”Why Sullivans? Because sometimes you need to go to a pub where you’re not the foreigner freak, where you understand the menu, and where everybody knows your name – or at least they aren’t surprised that it’s Frank, and not Francisco.

Set in the heart of Palermo Hollywood, Unico is the bar you can fall back on. It’s usually more crowded in front than inside and it always has a “hey baby” kind of vibe, but in a good way. You’ve heard the people in BA are friendly? At Unico the meet market is friendly but not overly intrusive. If you care to mingle, you can; if you care to stick with your click, that works too.Why opt for Unico? Unico is a bar that’s almost always crowded and when you can’t decide where to go and you’d like to be out, or when you want a teaser before the late night scene, Unico is a standard.