A sandy cove enclosed by a rock breakwater, with white apartment towers on the headland behind under a grey sky

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Mar del Plata

Playa Varese and the headland of Cabo Corrientes in Mar del Plata. (Dario Alpern / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0)

Argentina's largest seaside resort and one of its main fishing ports, on the Atlantic coast of Buenos Aires Province. Founded in 1874 and made fashionable by the railway from the capital, it grew from an elite bathing town into the country's great middle-class summer destination, packed in January and February and a working port city the rest of the year.

Neighbourhoods

  • Centro and Playa Bristol
    • First-time visitors
    • Beaches
    • Close to public transport

    The heart of the resort, where the casino and the Hotel Provincial face the central beaches across the Rambla. Behind them, the pedestrian Calle San Martín, the cathedral and the theatres keep the centre busy day and night in summer.

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  • La Perla
    • Beaches
    • Quiet and residential

    The beaches and apartment blocks just north of the centre, with rows of balnearios — beach clubs with tents and changing cabins — along the shore and a quieter, more residential feel than the central strip.

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  • Güemes and Playa Grande
    • Shopping
    • Nightlife
    • Best for food

    Calle Güemes is the city's smart shopping and restaurant street, a short walk inland from the Torreón del Monje and Playa Varese. To the south, Playa Grande has the fashionable beach clubs and many of the discotheques.

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  • The port
    • Best for food
    • Local life

    The fishing harbour south of the centre, built from 1916, with its fleet of small fishing boats, a sea-lion colony on the south breakwater and a cluster of seafood restaurants.

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Things to do

Famous landmarks

  • Casino Centrallandmark

    One of the largest casinos in the country, opened in 1939 in a building by Alejandro Bustillo facing the central beaches, with the sea-lion statues of José Fioravanti at its foot.

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  • Torreón del Monjelandmark

    A mock-medieval tower of 1904 on the coast, used over the years as a teahouse, a clubhouse and a naval office.

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  • Mar del Plata Cathedrallandmark

    The neo-Gothic cathedral of Saints Peter and Cecilia, in the city centre.

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  • Mar del Plata style chaletsneighborhood

    Houses built of local stone, brick and tile, the city's own architectural style, popular from the mid-1930s to 1950 and still common in the residential streets.

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Beaches and the coast

  • Playa Bristolbeach

    The central beach in front of the casino, named after a long-gone grand hotel and the most crowded stretch of sand in high summer.

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  • Playa Varese and Cabo Corrientesbeach

    A sheltered cove between breakwaters below the rocky point of Cabo Corrientes, where the coast turns south.

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  • Playa Grandebeach

    The broad beach south of Cabo Corrientes, lined with beach clubs and close to the nightlife of the area.

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The port

  • Port of Mar del Plataattraction

    The working fishing harbour, where the Banquina de Pescadores quay is lined with small fishing boats; a colony of male South American sea lions lives on a beach on the inner side of the south breakwater.

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Museums and sport

  • Museo MARmuseum

    The city's contemporary art museum, in a large modern building on the coast road north of the centre.

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  • Aquarium Mar del Plataattraction

    An oceanarium beside the Punta Mogotes lighthouse, south of the city centre.

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  • Estadio José María Minellaattraction

    The stadium built for the 1978 World Cup and later used for the 1995 Pan American Games.

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Short trips from the city

  • Laguna de los Padrespark

    A lake west of the city near the low Sierra de los Padres hills, with a reconstruction of an 18th-century Jesuit mission and a farmhouse museum.

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Seasonal events

  • Summer seasonJanuary and February

    The height of the resort year, when the beaches are full and the city's theatres stage a summer season.

  • Mar del Plata International Film FestivalNovember

    The only competitive feature film festival in Latin America recognised by the international producers' federation FIAPF, and the oldest of its category in the Americas.

  • Fiesta Nacional del MarDecember

    The national sea festival, with the crowning of a Sea Queen, held to open the summer season.

Eat and drink

Long-standing places and food districts in Mar del Plata. Hours, ratings and directions come from your maps app, always current.

Mar del Plata classics

  • Havannacafe

    The alfajor maker founded in the city in the late 1940s, whose dulce de leche biscuits are the classic Mar del Plata souvenir; its cafés are all over town.

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Food districts

  • Seafood restaurants at the portneighborhood

    The harbour's restaurants serve rabas, fried squid rings, alongside grilled fish and shellfish from the local fleet.

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  • Calle Güemesneighborhood

    The city's main street for restaurants, cafés and bars, busiest on summer evenings.

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Experience Mar del Plata

History

The coast here was known for its sea lions long before there was a town: early European navigators named the point now called Cabo Corrientes after them, and Juan de Garay explored the area by land in 1581. Jesuits founded a short-lived mission near Laguna de los Padres in 1746. In the 1850s the Portuguese entrepreneur José Coelho de Meirelles built a pier and a salting plant for beef near Cabo Corrientes, but the business failed. Patricio Peralta Ramos bought the abandoned works and the land around them and founded the town on 10 February 1874, and the Basque rancher Pedro Luro bought part of the land.

The railway from Buenos Aires arrived in 1886, the first grand hotels opened around the station, and Mar del Plata became the summer resort of the porteño elite, who built villas and promenaded at Playa Bristol. The main port opened in 1916 and brought Italian fishing families, and from the late 1930s the Rambla, the casino and the Hotel Provincial were built on a monumental scale.

From the mid-20th century paid holidays and cheaper travel opened the resort to the working and middle classes, and it became the country's mass summer destination. The city hosted matches of the 1978 World Cup and the 1995 Pan American Games, and it has grown into the fifth-largest city in Argentina.

Culture & Customs

Summer defines the city's culture. Each January and February the population swells with visitors from Buenos Aires and beyond, the beaches fill with tents and umbrellas, and the theatres stage a summer season of plays, comedies and revues. The composer Astor Piazzolla, who renewed tango in the mid-20th century, was born here, and the airport bears his name.

The Mar del Plata International Film Festival, held each November, is the only competitive feature film festival in Latin America recognised by FIAPF, and the oldest in its category in the Americas. The city also hosts a national sea festival in December and a fishermen's festival honouring the traditions of the port.

The city's architecture tells its social history: eclectic summer villas of the early elite, Bustillo's monumental casino and hotel, and the Mar del Plata style chalets of local stone, brick and tile built by the middle class from the mid-1930s to 1950. Sport is a passion too; the stadium built for the 1978 World Cup still stands, and the city has hosted international basketball and Davis Cup tennis.

Daily Life

Mar del Plata had about 680,000 people at the 2022 census, making it the second-largest city in Buenos Aires Province and the seat of the General Pueyrredón district. Off season it is a working city: one of Argentina's main fishing ports, with fish-processing plants and shipyards, along with textiles, construction, services and a large university population.

Tourism still sets the rhythm of the year. From December to March the city fills with visitors, prices rise and traffic jams form along the coast road; from April the crowds leave, many seasonal businesses close and the city returns to its own residents. Many porteños keep or rent apartments here for the summer, and some retire to the city.

Most residents live in apartment blocks near the coast or in the low residential neighbourhoods that spread inland. Like the rest of the country, Mar del Plata lives with inflation and the swings of the national economy, and the length and strength of each summer season matter greatly to local jobs.

Food

The port shapes the city's food. Rabas — rings of squid fried in batter — are the classic Mar del Plata dish, eaten with lemon at the harbour restaurants alongside grilled fish, shellfish and paellas. Fresh fish is sold on the quays, and the restaurants near the Banquina de Pescadores draw crowds on summer evenings.

The other great local product is the alfajor. Havanna, founded in the city in the late 1940s, made its round biscuits sandwiched with dulce de leche into a national brand, and a box of alfajores is the traditional thing to take home from the coast.

Away from the sea, the city eats as the rest of the country does: parrillas serving grilled beef and sausages, pizza and pasta in the Italian tradition, empanadas, and coffee with medialunas in the afternoon. Calle Güemes and the streets around the centre hold most of the restaurants and cafés, busiest on summer nights.

Planning tools

Budget

Outside summer Mar del Plata is cheaper than Buenos Aires. In January and February accommodation prices peak and the best-placed rooms and apartments go early; beach-club tents and umbrellas are an extra cost on the private balnearios, though public stretches of beach are free.

Daily Budget Midrange
USD 100–190 (hotel near the centre, seafood dinners, a beach-club day, taxis)
Daily Budget Shoestring
USD 40–65 (hostel or simple guesthouse, empanadas and set-menu lunches, city buses)

Book well ahead for January and February, and treat all peso prices as provisional.

Best Time to Visit

December to March is the beach season, with January and February the busiest and most expensive months. March and late spring are quieter and still mild. Winter is cool and windy, a working-city season with low prices, when the port and the city itself are the main draws rather than the beaches; the film festival is held in November.

Suggested Number of Days

Two or three days covers the centre, the coast and the port. Beach holidays naturally run longer, and four or five days allows time for the hills and lakes inland or other resorts along the coast.

First Visit
2–3 days
With Surroundings
4–5 days

Transportation

City buses (colectivos) cover the urban area and the coast, and taxis and remises — booked cars — are common. The coast road runs the length of the shore, and many visitors simply walk along the seafront or hire a bicycle.

Use a SUBE card on the city buses; in summer, traffic and parking along the coast are difficult, so leave the car behind where possible.

Airport & Station Connections

Mar del Plata is roughly 400 km south of Buenos Aires — about five hours by road on Route 2 and a common bus journey from Retiro. Long-distance trains run from Constitución station in Buenos Aires, and Astor Piazzolla International Airport has flights to Buenos Aires.

Walkability

The centre, the Rambla and the coast from La Perla to Playa Varese are easy to walk, and the seafront promenade is one of the pleasures of the city. The port and the southern beaches are further away and are usually reached by bus or taxi.

Safety

Argentina is relatively safe by regional standards, and violent crime against visitors is uncommon. In Mar del Plata the main problem is petty theft on the crowded central beaches and streets in summer, and in outlying neighbourhoods at night. The sea can be cold and rough, with strong currents.

Keep valuables out of sight on the beach, swim only where lifeguards are on duty, and use taxis or remises at night. Check current official travel advice before travelling.

Climate

An oceanic climate tempered by the Atlantic, with the southern hemisphere's seasons — summer is December to February. Summers are warm rather than hot, with cool sea breezes and cold water; winters are cool, damp and windy, with occasional frost.

Summer
warm, with highs around 26°C, some days of 30–35°C, cool nights and a cold sea
Winter
cool and windy — July averages about 7.5°C, and frost is possible between late May and early October

Local Customs

Beach life is organised around the balnearios, where families rent a tent or umbrella for the season. Meals run late, as across Argentina, and summer evenings are spent on the Rambla and in the streets of the centre. Friends greet with a single kiss on the cheek, and sharing mate on the beach is a ritual.

Tip about 10 per cent in restaurants. Swimwear belongs on the beach; cover up in the streets and in churches. Check that photographs of beach-goers, especially children, are welcome.

Common Payment Methods

The currency is the Argentine peso (ARS). Cards and phone payments are accepted in most hotels, restaurants and shops; beach vendors, kiosks and some small places prefer cash. ATMs are common in the centre but carry fees and limits, and many visitors also bring some US dollars in good condition.