Buenos Aires

[phillyrunner]

My husband and I are about to book 5 nights in Buenos Aires for this August. I would love recommendations on things to do. Also, did you do any side trips from there that aren't further than an hour or two away? I was thinking maybe Colonia, since it is only an hour or so boat ride away. Thanks!

[anna7602]

I looooove BA. I don't know what the weather will be like in August, though, isn't it winter there? One of my favorite things is just walking around the city, especially up and down Avenida Santa Fe and around the Caminito neighborhood, and going to the big public gardens/park. Not sure if those things would be as pleasant in winter. The ice cream everywhere is delicious and again, not sure if you'll be in an ice cream mood in winter.

Recoleta Cemetery is a must and I absolutely love the flea market at San Telmo.

If you read in Spanish, check out the Ateneo book shop on Avenida Santa Fe. It's an old theater turned into a book store. Swoon! The kids' selection on the lower level is amazing and their fiction stock is top-rate as well.

[scout8]

I love Buenos Aires! You will have a wonderful time. I think we were there about the same amount of time and did a day trip to Colonia. It made a nice day trip. We also spent a couple of days in San Antonio de Areco, but it could probably be done as a day trip too. We happened to be there during a Gaucho fest and it was so fun.

The food in BA is so good! We had a great time walking all over the place. We needed to walk to burn off all the calories we were eating!

[anna7602]

May 31, 2012 18:03:56 GMT -5 @sfgal530 said:

Not sure if you'd have the budget for it, but you could do a quick one-night getaway to Iguazu Falls (fly there/fly back). You don't need much more than 1 night / day there, but if you want to go to the Brazilian side make sure you get a visa beforehand ($100/person).

Oh, yes, I forgot about your side-trip question. A quick trip to Iguazu is a good idea. I happened to see both sides because I already had a Brazilian visa, but I'm not sure it's worth an extra $100 just to see the other side.

I didn't make it to Colonia, but took a boat ride up to El Tigre. I also went to a ranch out in El Pilar, but did that with friends who have a house there. It was a very nice rural getaway, but I'm not sure what else is out that way.

[phillyrunner]

Thank you so much! I'm going to look into all of your suggestions! I do realize it will be winter time there but that isn't a problem...I'm not much of a hot weather person anyway!

[emilyinchile]

Buenos Aires is a really fun city. With only 5 days, I wouldn't go to Iguazu - I'd rather just do a day trip from BsAs which could be Colonia or Tigre (I liked Colonia better).

If you're into soccer and want to go to a Boca game, definitely take a tour. It's pretty expensive, so I wouldn't do it unless you're serious fans, but it's going to be really hard to get tickets on your own - not to mention more stressful in terms of personal safety.

Here's what I did on my last trip to Buenos Aires. The walking tour is a great way to start your trip since it will give you an overview of the city. And another vote for El Ateneo - going next month!

Closed door restaurants are really popular right now - they're multi-course dinners in "private" homes (not really private because they're known chefs, but the feel is more like a dinner party). Some popular ones are Casa Mun, Cocina Sunae and Colectivo Felix. Make reservations in advance. Café San Juan in San Telmo is also SO good.

For hotels, Moreno in San Telmo has amazing advance purchase deals. On my next trip I'm staying at Fierro and am really looking forward to it. Mine and Home are other boutique hotels in Palermo that get great reviews.

[TravelGuest]

May 31, 2012 18:35:18 GMT -5 anna7602 said:

May 31, 2012 18:03:56 GMT -5 @sfgal530 said:

Not sure if you'd have the budget for it, but you could do a quick one-night getaway to Iguazu Falls (fly there/fly back). You don't need much more than 1 night / day there, but if you want to go to the Brazilian side make sure you get a visa beforehand ($100/person).

Oh, yes, I forgot about your side-trip question. A quick trip to Iguazu is a good idea. I happened to see both sides because I already had a Brazilian visa, but I'm not sure it's worth an extra $100 just to see the other side.

I didn't make it to Colonia, but took a boat ride up to El Tigre. I also went to a ranch out in El Pilar, but did that with friends who have a house there. It was a very nice rural getaway, but I'm not sure what else is out that way.

Personally, if you're only in BA for 5 days, I would NOT go to Iguazu. The flights can get expensive and your time in Argentina will be rushed (and trust me, I'm one of those people who don't mind always being 'on the go') Plus, like someone mentioned, the weather might not be enjoyable that time of year for Iguazu.

BA is fabulous. I suggest the steakhouses mentioned above (especially La Cabrera) You will most definitely have a long wait, but I thought it was worth it.

BA also has some great boutique hotels in the Palermo Soho (and Palermo Hollywood) area and tons of cool restaurants and shops.

Some touristy things we did were see a Cabarnet-Tango show at Rojo Tango. It was expensive, but very nice. It was not one of the shows that people on the street try to sell you. We went to some of the art museums as well as the Evita mueseum (nice little cafe attached as well for a mid day snack/drink)

Also went to La Boca to see El Caminito. Very touristy, but I would still recommend going. Chances are you will take a cab there and back so make sure going back you ask the price so you don't get ripped off.

[emilyinchile]

Oh yeah, my first trip there we saw the tango show at Café Tortoni, which is the oldest café in BsAs. Very touristy but also fun.

[bunnysmom]

I thought I'd comment since I'm from Buenos Aires and I'm currently living here too!

Regarding weather, yes it's the winter here but it's a bizarre winter. It's not cold at all, we had 68 degrees this week, but it's very foggy and humid. You should keep that in mind if you're planning to take a domestic flight, I knok that this week some flight were delayed because of the reduced visibility.

I second other pp suggestions and for searching good places to eat I'd suggest cheking out "guia oleo" (www.guiaoleo.com.ar).

Going to colonia seems a great idea, since you can go and be back during the day!

Another thing that you should keep in mind is that we're currently having a lot of problems for changing currency, due to government restrictions. For locals is virtually imposible to exchange dollars, so we have "official currency" which is I think 1 usd=4.5 pesos and a black market in which you get 1 dollar for almost 6 pesos. Having this in mind you should know that even if changing your dollars at a higher rate seems attractive, that is illegal and you could get in trouble. I believe that on tripadvisor, in the Buenos Aires forum, they were discussing this and there is a legal way to change your money at this higher rate, but you should check it out. Also, because is so difficult for us to get dollars (and is really important to get them because we save in dollars, the argentine peso is really unstable) you should probably be wary that some hotels, restaurants or taxi drivers may take advantage of your situation and try to charge you in dollars or overcharge you.

Regarding prices you also should know that we're having a high rate of inflation, so prices may really vary from one week to another.

Last but not least please remember to be safe. It's not about being paranoid, but remembering that you are in a city with high levels of poverty and you should be extra careful with your belongings. Thieves here are very smart and they're always finding new ways to take your things without you even noticing it. Even miself as a local, that happened to me a few months ago. Try specially not to look like a tourist (they pay a lot of attention to that).

I didn't want to scare you, just to remind you of a few things that probably as a local I'm more aware of. I'm sorry if I did that!

Please if you have other questions, feel free to ask!

I hope you have a wonderful time here!

[GilliC]

May 31, 2012 17:50:14 GMT -5 anna7602 said:

If you read in Spanish, check out the Ateneo book shop on Avenida Santa Fe. It's an old theater turned into a book store. Swoon! The kids' selection on the lower level is amazing and their fiction stock is top-rate as well.

If you're in the neighborhood, it's worth stopping in for a look around even if you don't read Spanish! It's gorgeous and unique.

[wanderlustfoodie]

BsAs is an awesome city. I would just stick to the city if you only have 5 days. We also did 2 nights at the falls and 3 in Uruguay (which I recommend to anyone because it was amazing) but anyhow, in BsAs here's what we did, where we ate. Granted the food recs are from several years ago so I am sure there are new awesome restaurants, too:

sights
Florida St
Plaza de Mayo (Metropolitan Cathedral, Blocks of Enlightenment, Basilica de San Francisco, Casa Rosada)
Recoleta cemetery
Bocas soccer game - we saw them play estudiantes - we are huge soccer fans and try to see a soccer game everywhere we go if there is one but agree with previous posters that the neighborhood and crowd is a bit dicey
shop in palermo neighborhood
evita museum
malba museum - a very good modern art space

food
Cafe Tortoni for coffee
la cabrera (absolutely recommend)
el trapiche
tango show at faena hotel
volta for gelato

[phillyrunner]

Thanks everyone! We actually decided not to go to Buenos Aires and instead we are doing Kauai this time around. We only have 7 days/6 nights and I think when we do go I would like to add in at least Uruguay for a couple of nights and maybe another stop or two and make it a much longer trip. I am definitely going to keep all of your suggestions saved and hopefully we will make it there next year! (still debating on Argentina/Uruguay or Peru for next year!)