The city that turns me into Carrie Bradshaw

It's actually embarrassing. I must look like I'm auditioning for Sex and the City when I'm in Buenos Aires, running around the trendy suburb of Palermo with armfuls of shopping bags. And then writing stories about it.

Of all the things there are to do in BA, from the art galleries to the football games to the tango shows and the steak restaurants, it's the little clothing stores on the quiet streets of Palermo that I look forward to the most.

If you haven't been there, you're probably wondering what's so cool about Buenos Aires. For me, the answer is everything.

It might not be to everyone's tastes. You might prefer to do your shopping in Paris, or London, or Milan, or even Brisbane. You might think Tokyo has the edge, or that New York leaves it far behind. But for me Buenos Aires is perfect. The whole city has this easy sense of style to it - it's casual but smart, refined but not expensive.

So, in the hypothetical instance of finding yourself spending the day with me in Buenos Aires, this is what we're going to do.

(Of course, you should definitely leave time for the tango and the steak and the football, but today we're going shopping.)

First priority is to get up late. It's imperative that you enjoy most of your morning in bed - because after all, everyone else does. Nothing much seems to happen in BA until around lunchtime. Everyone's presumably sleeping off the excesses of the night before, which would typically have gone on into the morning.

We could choose to do our shopping today in quaint San Telmo, or busy Recoleta, or the touristy Microcentro.

But my place of joy is Palermo, the trendy, artsy, leafy suburb with the wonderfully quiet streets and the cool shops.

The day will begin, as any BA day should, with a cafe cortado - an espresso with a dash of milk - and a couple of little croissants at a sidewalk cafe, maybe somewhere around Plaza Serrano.

Then it's time to get your shop on. Start with clothes. Just around the corner from Plaza Serrano we'll find Bensimon, which is not a bad place to begin the day's spending. But it will get better from there.

We'll then head a few streets over to Original Penguin, the crusty old American brand which, in the inevitably cyclical world of fashion, has become cool again. We'll spend a fair bit of time there, before heading down Jorge Luis Borges Street to stop in at the little family-run bakery that makes probably the best empanadas in the world. You'll tell me you agree with that statement, even if only to keep me happy.

The rest of the afternoon will be spent exploring Palermo's streets and alleys, looking through the antiques stores, browsing in the bookshops, picking up presents from the little kitsch shops that seem to pop up on every block.

Later on, we'll head across the train tracks to Palermo Hollywood for an evening of fun, for pre-dinner drinks at the rowdy corner bars, and then huge steaks washed down with huge glasses of red wine at a restaurant called Miranda.

But first, there's a stop that I'll need to make: Felix. Don't think you're getting out of it. I need someone to help carry the bags.

Do you have a favourite city for shopping? Are you someone who enjoys shopping while on holiday? Post your comments below.

Join Ben Groundwater in Buenos Aires - on your way to the world's biggest party - with Fairfax Media's Rio Carnival trip in 2014. smhshop.com.au/travel/adventureholidays.