The time to visit Buenos Aires is now. The trendy Faena Hotel + Universe features a Moroccan-themed spa, complete with hammam (an Arab-style steamroom), a yoga studio and a belle époque-style cabaret which hosts the city's sexiest—and priciest—tango show. The hotel's top suite, the Imperial, comes complete with service entrance, two terraces, two home theatres and a marble jacuzzi.

For more information: Faena Hotel + Universe

An elegant blend of locally bought antiques (including a set of Baccarat crystal lamps from the last of Russian royalty) and contemporary design furniture from around the world make this one of the city's chicest hotels. The wine and cheese room offers nightly tastings, which afford the opportunity to sample the country's finest wines by the glass.

For more information: Park Hyatt Palacio Duhau

With the city's top-end clothing boutiques, this is the place to shop in style. Patio Bullrich, on Calle Posadas, houses top-end menswear at Etiqueta Negra, as well as sublime leather goods at Casa Lopez. All the city's most important people (including Eva Peron and a host of ex-presients) are buried nearby at the Recoleta Cemetry.

This is where you'll find Argentina's hippest designer clothing and coolest cafes, and if you're looking for an intimate but luxurious hotel stay, there's HOME Hotel, with its unassuming façade and amazing interiors, featuring heirloom French wallpapers and precious 20th-century Scandinavian design furniture—as well as an outdoor pool and a spa.

For more information: HOME Hotel

For the Buenos Aires elite, springtime means only one thing: The Game of Kings comes to town, when the landed gentry bring their best steeds into town to compete at Palermo's polo field. La Dolfina is the team to watch. To join in, head to a polo clinic at Estancia El Rocio, where you'll be coached by professionals before dining and relaxing in style at this classy homestead.

For more information: Estancia El Rocio

Late August sees tango dancers from around the world converge on Buenos Aires, where the dance was born. The International Tango Championship event includes free classes, concerts and shows. Robert Duvall, a long-time fanatic of the dance, is a regular attendee. To catch local and foreign tangueros strutting their stuff, Niño Bien (Thursdays at Humberto Primo 1462) offers the real thing in a classy, old-world dance hall. For some of the best classes, head to La Escuela Argentina de Tango. BA Local offers customized tango tours, complete with private lessons, bookings at the city's best milongas (dance halls), and, of course, insider info on where to buy the fanciest footwear.

For more information: BA Local

Argentina is one of the great footballing nations of the world, and its soccer fans among the craziest. No visit to the city is complete without a match at La Bonbonera, home of the famed Boca Juniors, Diego Maradona's team. Spring sees the Argentine Championship take place. Tour organizers like Tangol can order top-class seats, hotel transfers and a multilingual guide to escort you through the foaming-at-the-mouth crowds.

For more information: Tangol

During the belle époque, the Argentine oligarchy was in the grip of europhilia—a condition the country still struggles to shake. As their wealth grew, they bought up European art objects, many of which are now for sale along Calle Defensa in San Telmo, where you can pick up anything from a fine vintage Rolex to colonial era religious statuary to an enormous chandelier. The Sunday markets are full of delightful bric-a-brac but for important purchases, try Hernani (Defensa 1047) or the Guevara Gallery (Defensa 982).

For the perfect daytrip out of the city, you can visit one of the many Argentine estancias, or cattle ranches, built by the oligarchy during the belle époque, when they were living high on the profits of the country's beef industry. One of the best is Villa Maria, just 50km from the city, with its gardens designed by the renowned landscaper Charles Thays, responsible for many of Buenos Aires' parks.

For more information: Estancia Villa Maria

Teatro Avenida, on the classy old Avenida de Mayo, offers a luxuriously elegant opera experience, with box seats draped in plush velvet and no shortage of women decked out in pearls and furs. Before heading off to see a modern dance show or a classic opera like Mozart’s Don Giovanni, playing this November, enjoy a coffee or hot chocolate down the road at the grand old Café Tortoni, where literary greats like Jorge Luis Borges and Federico Garcia Lorca used to meet.