Good masculinity can be hard to find.

Which, in part, is what led entrepreneur Jed Rothenberg to create the Man Tour – a guided look at four hand-picked and carefully researched sites that take in some of the time honoured facets of Argentine male existence.

For some, the words “Man Tour” might suggest crude masculine glory. Factor in the element of travel and, in a city like Buenos Aires, this could quickly generate toxic levels of machismo and platonic sentimentality.

Intended for small groups, this particular tour is tailored for travellers seeking a day of activities that will replenish their cheer and offer opportunities to interact with locals in a friendly environment.

While the exact whereabouts of the tour must be kept under wraps, the afternoon begins with a lesson in the customs of preparing and serving mate, Argentina’s traditional tea. After Rothenberg sets the tone with some architectural and political history, this first-stop serves as a great icebreaker for what essentially becomes an afternoon of conversation and camaraderie.

The next stop on the tour is a generations old, family-owned hat shop. Here, tour members get a demonstration of the antique machinery used to fashion hats from rabbit fur, before being offered a measuring service for their own custom-made gaucho or classic top hat.

From here, the tour heads off in the vintage cars of the A-line subte towards the neighbourhood of Caballito for one of the highlights of the day. A local barbershop that doubles as a bar serves tour members Cinzano (vermouth) and soda together with chips, and, one by one, each man receives a classic, straight razor shave. It’s recommended not to shave the day before as this is the closest shave you’ll get, and quite an enjoyable moment of relaxation.

Finally, feeling smooth and refreshed, the group moves on to a cigar bar where a private session has been arranged in the bar’s VIP lounge. Tour members are offered a choice cigars, wines, and liquors to mix and match, all of them top quality and tasty. With a window view of the evening, the tour concludes with casual conversation over cheese, crackers, coffee, and chocolates.

Make no mistake, the luxury here implies a matching price tag. The cost for a single person is US$190, discounted to US$145 per head for groups of two or more. For a male-female couple—and yes, though designed for men, the Man Tour can be a pleasant afternoon for women as well—the cost is US$260. The prices do however, include all refreshments, transportation throughout the tour, the shaving service, and the items consumed at the cigar bar.

While the cost may out-price some of the younger men passing through the city, the Man Tour is ideally suited for business travellers and father-son pairs together on vacation in Buenos Aires.

Some of the best aspects involve sharing in activities that lift spirits and bring people closer together in more intimate, relaxed environments and, ultimately, the tour succeeds in conveying a reminder that being a man is not all about flexing muscle. The history and scenes of the tour recall a time when the strength of men was measured as much by attention to the fine details of grooming and sociability as being a raucous winner.

For those willing to treat themselves to a memorable afternoon, the Man Tour is an excellent way to rediscover the gentleman inside, or show a son the subtler sides of manhood.

In a tiny barber shop in Villa Crespo exists the domain of one particularly unique, larger than life hairdresser, philosopher and matchmaker extraordinaire. Meet Julio Pan, hairdresser to the footballers.

The front of Julio’s eponymous emporium is plastered with signed photos of footballers whose hair he has carefully coiffed. There is literally not a bare piece of wall anywhere in the shop; anything not covered in football memorabilia is daubed with graffiti from satisfied customers, professing their love and commitment to this unlikely local legend.

On entering you are immediately confronted with Julio himself. A huge man in every sense of the word, he sports a slicked back, bleached blonde mullet haircut: perhaps not the style you want to see when just arriving to a barber’s, but impressive none the less. A quick trim can last an entire afternoon when Julio is holding court, as he gives you his musings on life, love and football, alternating between wielding his scissors and puffing on a cigarette.

Julio has owned the same barber’s for 20 years. In a previous life he was a professional footballer, playing for second tier club Defensores de Belgrano. He maintains that the football link occurred purely by accident. “I had a friend who travelled all over Europe for work; one time he brought me back a Liverpool scarf. I started displaying it here and it just grew”, he says while meticulously cropping my hair. Later, when his reputation was released and footballers started turning up, the collection started spiralling out of control as they gifted signed shirts as thanks; on the day of my haircut the most recent gift was the very day before. “I have never bought one of the shirts that hang up here” Julio proudly states.

A wash and cut will cost $35 for men, $30 for women, with colours and tints a little more. For this you will get a hairdresser who will entertain and take meticulous care of your locks. As someone with short hair I’m used to someone buzzing it over with a razor and then showing me the door, but Julio took the time to go over almost every follicle until he was happy.

As well as a haircut he will also give you advice and counsel, whether you like it or not; he was fairly insistent that me and the photographer I travelled with would make a lovely couple, despite our dual protestations. Ask about his first love, struggling Villa Crespo team Atlanta, and you are sure to receive a poetic account of how he loves and suffers for the club; Atlanta players are regular visitors to Julio Pan, and given pride of place in this temple of Argentine football.

There are more upmarket, stylish salons in which you can get your hair styled in the city of Buenos Aires, and there are also places which are cheaper. But if you want to get it cut surrounded by football shirts and photos, in a lime green painted shrine to the beautiful game, being lectured and taught by an irrepressible embodiment of the alpha porteño male, there’s only one Julio Pan.

Julio Pan is located on Julian Alvarez and Luis Maria Drago, Villa Crespo. Opening times vary according to Julio’s schedule, but the barber’s is usually open until 8:30pm Monday to Friday.