Beginner's Guide to Buenos Aires from Beginners

Buenos Aires is known as the “Paris of South America.” I’ve never been to Paris, but BA is certainly a mix of European and South American style (from my limited experiences with both).

We only spent 3 days in Buenos Aires, so we are certainly no experts. But, we are not exactly city people, and we would love to return to this city. Maybe it was the ease of public transportation, or the long walks, or the streets lined with Sycamore trees, or the beautiful city parks, or the most gorgeous cemetery I’ve ever experienced. Maybe it was because it was our first introduction to South America and the vibe was laid-back (sometimes too much so…"is anyone even working at this restaurant and are they open?”) and I could find vegan pizza. Maybe it was the gorgeous garden at our B&B and the friendly Venezuelan staff. Maybe it was all of those things and just knowing that there is so much more of Buenos Aires that we didn’t get to experience.

Here we cover the basics of lodging, food, things to do, transport, & safety.

Lodging

Ah, yes. Our garden view room at Greenwich B&B

There are endless lodging options in BA ranging from the ultra pricey to low budget. We had recommendations from Argentineans to stay in a few different areas of BA. We chose Palermo, which is a trendier neighborhood with diverse local & international restaurant options, breweries, and close location to a subte station. While Palermo seems to flirt with being too hipster-y, it is generally safe with usual precautions, quiet-ish (minus a club nearby that blares music on weekends starting around midnight), and an overall good location. Recoleta has big shopping malls, no cracks in the sidewalk, and a lot of tourists. San Telmo is another popular area to stay, but it seems far busier/touristy and probably less safe. By the way, I’m pretty sure any area has some late-night noise on the weekends so make sure to bring earplugs or download some white noise on your phone.

We stayed at the quaint & unassuming Greenwich B&B on a side street in Palermo with private outdoor space in a garden and fruit cups for breakfast. The staff were mostly 20-somethings and a few were from Venezuela. They were incredibly friendly & one was willing to talk a little bit about her perspective on everything going on in her home country. The staff also gave us plenty of BA advice, so in that case it was helpful to have English-speaking staff. All in all, this was such a friendly and gracious introduction to Buenos Aires & South America. Also, a very chill place to just “hang out” after wandering around the city for hours.

Food

It is true. If you are an 80-year old disguised as a 30-something and you prefer to eat dinner at 5:30 pm, good luck. People are eating lunch in mid-afternoon and dinner doesn’t start until 8 or 9. I want to go to bed at 9! I knew this going in, but I still expected a city the size of BA to actually open earlier for dinner.

You can always just drink wine and eat grapes too.

Basically, there are a million options. You could plot out all of them via a guidebook or Trip Advisor, but some of our best finds (anywhere) are places that you just happen to stumble upon. It also seems that in Palermo take-out is very common & will be delivered to you via bicycle. Here is a quick rundown, and mind you we didn’t get too creative with food in BA since we were exhausted by 9 pm:

There are a refreshing abundance of Vegan/vegetarian options around BA and Palermo in particular, as well as cuisine from around the world. While most restaurants open late, you can usually find a delightful storefront or mini-mart selling a variety of empanadas, the stuffed pastry famous around South America, which are a great snack, appetizer, or meal unto themselves. And of course, Argentina has sprawling cattle ranches, so if you eat beef, there are great steaks and barbecue options.

If drink is more your thing, we never had a bad wine in Argentina, the standard house red tends to be the national wine, Malbec, which is a crisp dry red wine, though other varieties are produced here as well and in a supermarket sell for as little as $1 USD for a bottle! Also thanks to a couple waves of German immigration in the mid 1800s there is a really robust craft beer scene.

There are even more food/brewery options in Recoleta although nothing very notable comes to mind and the prices are a bit higher.

Things to Do

There are so many things to do that Buenos Aires has its own Lonely Planet guidebook (we skimmed a library copy before leaving). I am well aware that most of the places we went/things we did fall under the realm of usual-tourist things…but here is our take.

1. Recoleta Cemetery

Cost: Free

It is worth the hype. But, I love cemeteries. The official English language website tag for the cemetery is “lose yourself for hours in this labyrinthine city of the dead!” I found Recoleta to be hauntingly beautiful with magnificent photography opportunities. Recoleta is also respectfully quiet, and besides the Eva Peron (Evita) family plot (under the name Duarte), not busy. In fact, most of our photographs have a deserted quality. We were fortunate to miss the tour buses, but I don’t think they stay long.

If you think going to a cemetery on your holiday is weird or distasteful, then skip it!

*Pro-tip: You can download the Recoleta Cemetery app on wi-fi before you go for a free walking tour based on “love stories,” “tragic tales,” and “national heroes” to name a few. Personally, I would choose tragedy.

2. City Parks

Cost: Free

Buenos Aires has gorgeous city parks, especially in Palermo. People utilize the parks for walking, running, bicycling, picnics, music, you name it. What better way to people watch then to just find a spot in the grass? When we are in a city, we always find the parks and they are often our favorite.

My one crummy photo of the market before it got packed.

3. San Telmo market (Sundays)

Cost: Free to wander around, vendor prices vary but bring some pesos!

BTW: We were sort of confused in finding the location of the San Telmo market. It is basically across the street from Plaza de Mayo (although we didn’t see it from there). Just follow the crowds.

I was a bit paranoid about getting pick pocketed here, and also overwhelmed with all of the people, vendors, options, music, etc. I do understand the appeal of these large-scale city markets and there are some fabulous local, artisan options here. I bought a dorky plastic coffee mug with a colorful, city scene handmade sleeve. Ryan bought a cute little notebook with a “Spirit of Adventure” (think Up) logo. We could have purchased a “Buenos Fucking Aires” T-shirt but maybe we’ll make our own “Expletive Bozeman” t-shirt instead. Anyway, even if you aren’t buying anything, the experience is worthwhile.

We sort of got “sucked in” to a random restaurant which advertised traditional Argentinean food. It was mediocre, but a nice respite from the crowds.

There was a protest occurring due to the city government and a union (not representing the majority of the artisans) trying to evict the workers and replace the San Telmo market with food trucks. Ugh! San Telmo would be any-other-hipster-city-market with only food trucks & without the artisans, so we fully supported their protest.

4. Plaza de Mayo

Cost: Free to wander around

Plaza de Mayo is spacious, manicured, and pink (Casa Rosada) with a rich history. The famous Evita spoke to the crowds from the balcony of Casa Rosada. I’ll let you read a brief and superficial overview of the history, but we were warned to avoid the area if there was a protest. The plaza is also home to the national Catedral, which is where Pope Francis was a bishop before he was a pope and the final resting place of National Hero Jose de San Martin. Ryan almost got run over by the changing of the honor guard while gawking at the fantastic main chamber.

There is a false-sense of security here, but my Argentinean Spanish teacher warned that her cell phone had been stolen three times around this area without her knowing. So, you know, be careful once again with your cell phone.

5. La Boca

Cost: Free to wander around, prices for items are quite inflated here.

How to get there: The taxis circling Plaza de Mayo advertised La Boca and there seemed to be a pretty flat (low) rate to get there. It might look close enough from the Plaza to walk to La Boca, but everything we read advised this is completely unsafe to do so. So, don’t. You can also travel by bus, which we did on the way back to Plaza de Mayo. Some might feel safer & have the benefit of learning more history with an organized tour by a local guide.

La Boca is a working class barrio with a rich history and known best for its soccer (er, futbol) team, colorful houses, and tango. While it is completely worth the trip it is also quite the tourist trap and traveling off the beaten path is not advised due to safety concerns. There are also some relatively pushy restaurant hosts and mini-malls full of plastic trinkets. Fair enough, folks are just trying to make a living. But, we didn’t stay long.

6. El Ateneo Grand Splendid

Cost: Free to wander around, books cost $

No, this is not the fabulous name to a musical or a Vegas hotel. It is a 1919 theater, turned cinema, turned bookstore. You can read books in an opera box or drink coffee at the cafe on the stage. If you love being surrounded by books, this is a must-see. Unfortunately, our cameras did not cooperate in the lighting.

And the nitty-gritty…

Transport

The best tip we got for getting around (anywhere in the world): You can download google maps for an area (i.e. Buenos Aires), so that you can still access the maps without wi-fi and if you don’t have a SIM card, but still see your location on the map with the built in GPS on your phone. We downloaded maps when we had wi-fi and this saved us in so many situations!

Taxis: We had never been in South America, spoke crappy Spanish, and knew we would be exhausted after a whatever-hour flight spent watching the RBG (Ruth Bader Ginsburg) documentary instead of sleeping (totally worthwhile by the way). We had our B&B arrange a remis (private taxi service) driver to meet us at the airport. This was an incredibly easy & safe option. Plus, we had a pre-arranged cost/confirmed with B&B so we knew we weren’t getting scammed. Apparently the remis type cabs are more reliable and trustworthy than a regular cab (locals highly recommended this option). I would never recommend anyone to go with a random cabbie at the airport targeting tourists anyway.

We used the same remis driver again to get to the airport for a domestic flight & communicated through What’s App to arrange transport and cost.

*Pro-tip: Many drivers, hotels, companies, etc. use What’s App so it is worthwhile to download to your phone for use. Even if you or the receiver doesn’t speak English/Spanish, you can easily cut & paste to Google translate. Also it works through Wi-fi for calls and text if you don’t end up getting a SIM card.

Subte (subway): We used this option a lot. You have to purchase a SUBE card and charge $ (you can purchase at any kiosko) to the card. You only need one SUBE card, and you can just hand the card back to another person to get through the turnstiles at the stations. The subte on the weekends was not so busy, but it was literally jam-packed & sweaty on a weekday. We found this mode of transportation rather straightforward as long as you are on the correct platform and know which way you are going, although I would not recommend it if you had large luggage or many belongings. It’s also super cheap, costing less than $0.50 USD per fare regardless of destination.

*Pro-tip: There are folks who may drop an item for sale on your lap and if you don’t want to buy it, they will come back around to collect the items. I fortunately read about this in a guide book, so I wasn’t totally shocked when I looked down and saw a bunch of sparkly hair ties on my lap. There is also a lot of music—this guy brought on an entire electric piano and started belting out tunes, so have some small pesos/change in your pocket if you like the entertainment. Maybe this happens on subways in the U.S. too, but the last subway I was on was when I was 11 in DC so I have little for comparison.

Any guide book (and common sense) will tell you to be careful with your belongings like on any busy public mode of transportation.

Public buses: The city buses also use the SUBE cards. We found the buses to be more confusing, especially if you aren’t familiar with the city. We only took one public bus (from La Boca to Plaza de Mayo) because we took a taxi the first way and confirmed the bus route with a woman at an information desk. This is probably a better option if you have some idea of where you are going/know the city/confirm the route with a local.

Walking: Yep. We walked a lot in Buenos Aires. Many of the sidewalks have huge cracks in them, so just be cautious. I had to be very conscious of not breaking my ankle if I wore sandals. Plus, there is a lot of dog crap…people in BA are Bozeman-level crazy about their dogs (and don’t seem to pick up after them). Ryan saw one guy cross himself…and cross his tiny dog as they passed by a church. Don’t mess with the dog-walkers either.

Biking: Buenos Aires seems to be quite bike-friendly. The nice, paved paths in the parks are generally for the bicycles (not the walkers/runners) and the crosswalks in blue are also for bikes. We figured this out pretty quick as walkers after nearly being rammed into by an annoyed cyclist when I walked in the blue lane. Oops.

Staying Connected

You can buy prepaid SIM cards in various shops for quite cheap, although the one we got seemed to require an Argentine ID number. You can try to use your passport, but there can be a delay of a day or so in activating it. Perhaps some other prepaid cards are easier to use, but we had better luck with SIM cards in Chile. But that’s ok, since we were able to download Google maps for areas ahead of time, and also because free Wi-Fi is pretty much ubiquitous in restaurants, bars, cafes, even the Subte stations. On top of that, the city has free wi-fi hotspots all over and you can download an app ahead of time to see where they all are.

Safety

We mostly read about a lot of pickpocketing happening in BA, not so much violent crime although BA is a city of 3 million so this does occur like anywhere else.

We were very cautious with our belongings, especially to and from the airport when we had US cash, passports, and credit cards. We used a money belt for these items (under your clothing, not on top!), but this is generally a good idea in any city for safety. Our B&B had a safe, so we put our valuables there.

We were prudent about our cell phones since cell phone theft is incredibly common. I left my cell phone in the safe for some of our outings, which was a bit disappointing since it does take better photos than our point and shoot camera. But, we completed our trip without any casualties (minus one Hydroflask coffee mug, which was entirely our own fault). We didn’t wear anything expensive looking, tried not to flash our phones (although we agreed it was better to refer to a phone than an actual map if we were lost and/or go into a coffee shop instead of doing this on the street), and just tried not to stand out so much (until we opened our mouths).

This has nothing to do with safety, but here is a statue of the pope in a shopping mall.

We saw a few people (96% positive they were tourists) with cell phones in their back pockets, purses carried behind their person and/or opened, or just general lack of awareness of their belongings. I guess you could say that we were hyper-aware. I use this shoulder cross-bag purse that I’ve had for 15 years and wear more to the front than the side or behind. A lot of the local folks seem to wear purses/backpacks on their front as well, so it doesn’t seem unusual for safety.

Luggage locks can also be useful. My Osprey travel backpack zips up and clips in such a way that it would be very difficult to steal anything if on my person. Safety pins are a nice trick as well, as this makes it difficult to casually open up pockets or backpack/purse zippers. Remember that theft is a predatory behavior so just don’t be the most vulnerable looking prey!

There are quite a few articles on-line and in the Lonely Planet guidebook about safety in BA. We also discussed locations with the staff at our B&B (of course, compared to Venezuela, Palermo in Buenos Aires is luxuriously safe). We were especially cautious in La Boca (you’ll know to stay in the tourist area) and San Telmo market, and we avoided Retiro subte station per all advice (not that we planned to go there anyway). Local folks have more insight on this than we do…but these are just some tips we learned. In general, do some research, talk with locals, and use common sense!

Buenos Aires has so much to offer and we only experienced a tiny fraction!