Argentina: Buenos Aires, a must!
Written: Jan 15 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: The city, the women, the atmosphere
Cons: transportation (only cause I didn't understand spanish)
The Bottom Line: So much to do and the city never sleeps....very beautiful!
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| mix-master's Full Review: Buenos Aires |
Where to start.....I have to start off by saying this was the best trip of my entire life so far. This trip to Buenos Aires was a last minute decision for me and I had to prepare the night before and the day of my flight. This consisted of doing my laundry and getting some supplies. So equipped with my spanish-english dictionary, Buenos Aires tourist guide, and my two bags of clothes; I hopped on the plane leaving from JFK in New York City and connecting in Washington-Dulles to Buenos Aires airport, Ezieza.
The Flight:
The flight was very nice. I flew United Airlines all the way there and all the way back. I managed to get business class for the 10 hour flight from Washington-Dulles to Ezeiza-Buenos Aires. The flight was from midnight until noon the next day because there is a two hour difference between the East Coast and Argentina. So I was able to sleep during the flight.
Getting to the City:
So once my plane landed in Buenos Aires and I got through all of the customs, I had no clue what to do or where to go. Since my spanish is extremely bad, I could not talk to anyone in spanish. There were taxi drivers all over the main terminal trying to get me to take a taxi to the city but common sense told me they are expensive. Once I located the information desk, I found someone who spoke english. She told me to find one of two buses that go to the center of the city. First there was the Manuel Leon Tienda which costs 18 pesos or the Public bus which is number 86 and costs only 1.35 pesos. I was on an extremely tight budget so I had to take the pubic bus. It only took 1 1/2 hours and I got to see a lot of the country side. Once I got to Avenida 9 de Julio (which has a statue that is a minature Washington Monument) I got off the bus and went to find my hostel.
Places to Stay:
Before I left to go to Buenos Aires, I checked out hostels and hotels that I could stay at online. I was mainly looking for a hostel because I needed a really cheap place to stay and I was going by myself and I wanted to meet people. Before I even left I had booked two different hostels to stay at for the 6 days that I was going to be there for. The website that I did all this through was hostelsouthamerica.com . I highly recommend this website, it tells you about how much you will pay at these places. When I actually went to these places, their prices were a fraction higher. The two places I stayed at was the Tango Backpackers which was 20 pesos a night and then Buenos Aires Hostel Inn which was also 20 pesos a night. You have the choice to pay more if you want your own room but I elected to stay in a room with other people, since I went to meet people. Out of the two hostels I liked Tango Backpackers much better mostly because of the location. It is located in the Northern part of the city where there is a lot of shopping and less traffic, there are also many parks up there. The hostel itself is actually a lot bigger. The other hostel seems like it isn't in that great a part of the city and it was smaller than the first one I stayed in, however it was still pretty big.
Things to See:
When you get to the city and your all settled in there are a few places I definitely recommend you go to see. The first thing that you will probably see in the Obelisk that is located on the main street of the city. This is on Avenida 9 de Julio and is very hard to miss. This street is a very wide avenue and has lots of shops and restaurants on it. Next I would definitely go to Recoleta. This area of the city is in the northern part. This is where they have the cemetary that Eva Perron is buried in. There is much more to do here than to visit the cemetary especially at night. In Recoleta there is an endless nightlife. The city never goes to sleep. There were many nights that I was there and I never went to sleep until 8am the next day. There are many parks and plazas all over the city that are definitely worth the walking or bus rides. One other place that is definitely worth the subway ride is the Plaza de Mayo. This is a very touristy spot but has a lot of history and places to see. If your into shopping there are many streets that stretch as far as the eye can see with stores and malls. Among them is the Avenida Cordoba (I think), this street is packed with people shopping. Just make sure you know where your wallet is. I never had trouble or felt unsafe with my visit. There are definitely too many places to list that you should visit so be the judge for yourself and don't be scared to go out on a limb.
Transportation:
This, in my opinion, was the worst part of my trip. I probably had the worst experience with all forms of transportation except for the subway. There are a few different ways to get around. These are bus, taxi, foot, subway and train. I had bad experiences with 3 out of the 5. First the buses are really handy if you know where they go and which ones to get on. They have a book you can buy, which I did not. These are a really cheap way to get around and aren't the most comfortable but they get you places and save you from walking. However you need to know what buses go which way. Each bus route has a different number, for example the bus to get from the airport is 86. In the city there are many buses labeled 86 but only about 1 out of 8 of them go back to the airport. You need to read the signs in the front window on where they go and then also by the time you do this it is too late to call the bus to the stop. The buses do not stop at the bus stop unless you wave your hand in the air, and this is hard while your trying to read the sign in the window. I can't tell you how many buses I missed that I should have gotten on because I could not read the signs. Next there is the taxis. These are not really expensive compared to places like New York City, but if you don't speak spanish and don't know where your going, neither will they. Once taxi I got into after a couple of drinks to get back to my hostel drove around in a complete circle. I noticed this and said something but he didn't understand me. So an Englishman and I ended up going to another bar until 7am. On the same note though, taxis can be lifesavers. They got me home from places that I had no clue how to get home and again they weren't too expensive. Next there is the train. I took this to get to the airport and apparently this just goes to the town of Ezeiza and not the airport. I would have known that if I spoke spanish but I had to catch a taxi from the town to the airport, which still wasn't too bad. The two modes of transportation that I had no problem with was walking and taking the subway. I must have walked clear across the city and loved every minute of it. I saw so much of the city by walking that I would not take back a minute of it. Next is the subway (subte) which is very cheap. It is only .70 pesos to ride on anywhere. This is probably the best way to get around the city but it does not go anywhere outside of the city. There are also other ways to get around like rent a car or a bicycle or even a motorcycle. I would only recommend getting a bike because the other two seem like it would be too hard to park or to get gas, since it is semi expensive (still cheaper than CT).
The Food::
There isn't too much to say about the food besides that it isn't too bad. I think every single place I went to had pizza, which is always a safe alternative no matter where you are in the world. Other than this they had steaks and empanadas which were both very good. I was not impressed with the food but it was definitely nothing to complain about. There just isn't much of a variety. As for drinking you do not want to drink the tap water. It might be safe to drink but I would not risk getting dysentary. Bottled water is cheap enough that it isn't a problem with just buying it. Other than the water there is Coca-Cola, wine and beer. The wines and beers are extremely cheap, cheaper than the soda and water and they aren't that bad at all. I was lucky enough to sneak in 8 bottles of their Argentinian wine called Malbec, which is pretty good.
A Few Other Things to Know:
First you should know that the exchange rate fluctuates a lot. I think last year it was a 1 peso to 1 US dollar. When I went it was 1 US dollar to about 3 pesos, so everything was an extremely good deal. Needless to say the prices to change with the inflation but things were still a good deal. A bottle of wine was a little over a dollar and a liter of beer was about a dollar also. Also beware that when you leave the airport you will have to pay an airport tax. I was unaware of this until I went to leave Argentina. I think it was 32 pesos and then an additional 18 US dollars. It was definitely something I wish I had known and the airports taxes that I payed was almost as expensive as my trip (I went from Argentina to Uruguay to Argentina to the US). With all the airports taxes I had to pay it came out to be about $90 and I spent a total of $200 for the 9 days that I traveled and the 8 nights I payed for in the hostels/hotels.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
Best Time to Travel Here: Dec - Feb
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mix-master
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Location: Connecticut
Reviews written: 34
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