La Boca is one of Buenos Aires oldest Barrio's. It is one of the hottest tourist spots in the whole city! Tourist head to a street that is called Caminito. It is a row of houses that were put together using different colored steel pieces to construct housing due to the fact that this was all that they could afford back in the early part of the 1900's. After a period of time, the colored houses became the most recognized part of La Boca.
La Boca is also known as one of the roughest barrios in Bs As (Buenos Aires). I would suggest only going to La Boca when the sun is up. I have had a couple of locals tell me that they would never go there at night, and if they wouldn't go there then I surely wouldn't go there.
When you arrive in Caminito you will immediately see that the locals are ready to earn your business. There are always one or two tango dancing couples that will allow you to pose with them in a picture if you give them a tip. Then there is also another couple dancing tango right by the main (picture from allaboutar) restaurants so that people can eat and watch them dance. There are also artist who have drawn different views of the barrio on different canvases. These different works of art are beautiful, but they are also selling them for about 125-300 pesos ($50-100 US Dollars). It is not very practical for a backpacker to carry a $100 painting while traveling. La Boca also has different tourist shops, museum's and places to get drinks too.
La Boca is also home to the world famous Boca Juniors (CABJ). This stadium could possibly have the craziest atmosphere in all of sports throughout the world! The fans go crazy during games. So if you are lucky enough (or crazy enough) to go to a game please be careful.
You are able to take a tour of the stadium known as "La Bombonera" for about 14 pesos ($4 US Dollars). The tours are available from 11am-5pm. All tours are in Spanish, but if you call ahead you can see if there is an English tour available (11-4309-4700). The tour takes you through all of the trophy's that Boca has won in its history, a 3D interactive video, and then you are able to go through the stadium. You are first allowed to take pictures of the field from the stands, and then you can actually go down on the field and walk along one side of the end of the playing field. That is probably the coolest part of the tour. Tour's are not available on game days.
When I visited La Boca I was probably there for about 1 hour in Caminito and about an hour doing the stadium tour. Two to three hours would give you plenty of time to see everything. I was able to walk down a couple of streets, and check out a couple of the shops that sell tourist things like postcards, magnets, and shirts. I went to La Boca with a couple of my friends: Eugenia, Laura, and Reed. We sat down on one of the main streets off Caminito and ate a bocadilla (sandwich) and shared a Quilmes while watching tango dancers perform. It was a fun afternoon. While I mentioned that this is a rougher barrio, I never felt unsafe or in any danger. La Boca is definitely a place you have to check out during your stay in Buenos Aires!