Dog Friendly City Guide: Buenos Aires, Argentina

A sign at the Museo Evita's restaurant tells you your pet is welcome, and the dog that walks in past it can expect a biscuit on the patio before the menus arrive. Buenos Aires does this sort of thing well. A Palermo brunch house bakes cookies for dogs in the shape of bones, a 1927 corner bar in the Abasto sets down a bowl of water at the pavement tables, and the city has fenced off dog runs in its squares and parks in every one of its fifteen comunas. It is a city of long lunches and late dinners, and the dog is welcome at a surprising number of them.

Getting There With a Dog

Argentina's animal health service, SENASA, sets the rules on its page for bringing dogs and cats into the country. Your dog needs an International Veterinary Certificate, or an official pet passport carrying the same health information, issued or endorsed by the veterinary authority of the country you are leaving. The certificate must carry Spanish as one of its languages; a passport may be in Spanish or English. Either is valid for 60 days. A vet must examine the dog in the ten days before the certificate is issued, and treat it for internal and external parasites in the 15 days before. The rabies vaccine must be in date on the day you land, and a first ever vaccine must have been given at least 21 days before entry. A dog travelling with its owner needs no import permit and no advance notice, and there is no fee at the border.

From the United States, a USDA accredited vet fills in the certificate and USDA can endorse it digitally; you print it and the printed copy travels with the dog, as the USDA page for pet travel to Argentina explains. Coming home is simpler than from many South American countries, because Argentina is not on the CDC's list of high risk countries for dog rabies. A dog returning to the US from a low risk country needs the CDC Dog Import Form receipt, a microchip and to be at least six months old, as the CDC sets out for dogs arriving from rabies free and low risk countries. Travelling from Britain, start with the government's guide to bringing your pet to Great Britain.

Where to Stay

Both of our hotels are close to Plaza San Martín, and both make a big dog as welcome as a small one, with no weight limit at either.

At the Libertador Hotel, dogs stay free, with no fee and no deposit. Most rooms take dogs, and they are welcome in the bar, the restaurant, the terrace and the lounge. Food and water bowls are waiting, the hotel can arrange a dog walker, and a settled dog may stay in the room on its own while you go out. The staff will point you to walking routes, and Plaza San Martín is close by for the first walk of the day.

The Regente Palace Hotel charges $25 a day, with no deposit. Most rooms take dogs, the dog can join you in the bar, the restaurant and the lounge, and it may be left in the room on its own. There are food and water bowls, dog food to buy if you run short, and a dog walker the hotel can arrange, along with advice on where to walk. It stands just a block from two parks, Plaza Libertad and Plaza San Martín.

Eat and Drink

In Palermo Soho, Merope on Gurruchaga is a Colombian-inspired brunch house with a menu for dogs. Time Out Buenos Aires wrote in April 2026 that it bakes muffins and cookies for them in two recipes, chicken and carrot or oatmeal and apple, and that the cookies come in the shape of bones. The people choose from seven ways with eggs, and Time Out's tip is the Cali, a Colombian passion fruit dessert. It opens every day from nine until eight.

A block away, Hacienda Coffee Company on Armenia serves specialty coffee, pastry and brunch, and Time Out says you can sit with your dog inside or outside. Its tip is the tequeños, the fried cheese sticks. It opens from eight on weekdays and Saturdays and from nine on Sundays, and takes no reservations, so come early on a weekend.

For lunch or tea, cross Palermo to the Museo Evita Restaurant on Juan María Gutiérrez, at the museum dedicated to Eva Perón. Time Out describes a sign that reads "Your pet is welcome", a wide green patio that suits a dog, and a dog biscuit as a gift. It is open every day from nine until midnight, and tea time is the hour Time Out singles out.

In Las Cañitas, Surry Hills Coffee on Arévalo takes its name and its brunch from the Sydney neighbourhood, with specialty coffee and a bacon and egg sandwich. Time Out's verdict is short: bring your dog along, they are very welcome. The same company runs cafés in Palma and Miami.

For the evening, go to Roma, the corner bar on Anchorena in the Abasto, founded in 1927 and named one of the city's Bares Notables. The pizza is porteña style, made with agroecological flour, cold-fermented for 48 hours and baked in a wood-fired oven, the empanadas are big and baked to order, and the vermouth is La Fuerza on tap. Keep the dog on its lead at a pavement table, Time Out advises, and the waiters will bring it a bowl of water. It opens at nine on weekdays and at noon at weekends, and stays open until one in the morning.

Walks and Parks

The city keeps a list of its dog runs, or caniles, fenced spaces in the squares and parks set aside for dogs alone, and publishes it on its page for dog runs in the city's green spaces. Some have water fountains for dogs, agility equipment and benches shaped like bones, and they are built with railings all round and a draining floor that keeps them clean.

Start in Retiro at Plaza San Martín, the cliff-top park around the equestrian statue of San Martín, where the city lists a dog run at the corner of Florida and Dr. Ricardo Rojas. It is the morning walk from both hotels. A few blocks west, Plaza Libertad has a run at Libertad 980, a quieter square of paths and lawns.

In Recoleta, Parque Thays, named after the French landscape architect Carlos Thays, has a run where Avenida del Libertador meets Callao, a good stop on the way to Palermo. In Palermo Soho, Plaza Inmigrantes de Armenia, with its playground and weekend craft market, has a run on the Armenia side, a minute from Hacienda and Merope, which makes it the natural place to let the dog run before or after brunch. Across Palermo, Parque Las Heras has a run on Jerónimo Salguero among its sports fields and play areas.

In San Telmo, at the far end of Defensa, Parque Lezama has palms, old trees, stone urns along its paths and a dog run on the Defensa side. It is a fine finish to a walk down through the old quarter.

A Day Out

Walk the dog first thing in Plaza San Martín, then take a taxi to Palermo Soho for breakfast at Hacienda. Give the dog half an hour in the run at Plaza Inmigrantes de Armenia, wander the shops, and come back round to Merope for lunch and a bag of bone-shaped cookies. Spend the afternoon over tea in the Museo Evita patio, and end the day at a pavement table at Roma with a pizza, a vermouth and a bowl of water for the dog.

Keep another morning for the south: stroll down Defensa through San Telmo to Parque Lezama, let the dog run, and walk back through the old quarter.

Good to Know

Most of the welcome is outdoors, on patios and pavement tables, though Hacienda lets dogs sit inside too, so ask for an outside table when you book elsewhere. Hacienda takes no reservations. Keep the dog on its lead at the table, as Time Out advises at Roma, and save off-lead play for the fenced runs, which are the spaces the city sets aside for dogs. For anything about a park or a dog run, the city's citizen helpline is 147.