An energetic city with a mix of Latin, European, and [some] African cultural influences. Cheap (for outsiders) and hipster vibes. A popular favorite city by those who like a high-energy fast-pace city…like New York or Paris.
You could probably experience most things within 5 days and move on to something else.
UPFRONT DISCLAIMER: I am not the biggest fan of Buenos Aires. It is far from my favorite big city and “Portenos” or “Portenas” (people from BA) are also not my favorite people. It may be better for you to read a guide from someone who fanatically loves BA.
Where to stay:
- If it’s your first time – you should only consider Palermo or Villa Crespo. Ideally, I liked the quieter streets between them 2 but as close as possible to Armenia Park, and Armenian or Malabia streets (but not literally on these streets), as that’s where the action is. I definitely would not stay anywhere else as they won’t be as pretty or fun.
- If you’re here for tango – you may find Balvanera (neighborhood) to be a closer location to milongas. Of course, La Viruta and Salon Canning are still in Palermo…but all other milongas tend to more to the east. Either way, you might use taxi all the time anyway so it doesn’t matter. Most visiting tango dancers still primarily choose Palermo or Villa Crespo since they’re nicer/safer neighborhoods to be in.
- When choosing AirBnB – avoid noisy construction blocks. Lots of neighborhoods are developing and it seems the locals here have a much higher tolerance for it than an foreigner would. I would also steer clear of old buildings with many floors and old elevators as those are so annoying to use during certain hours of the day. It’s not THAT bad but certainly feels like you’re losing 2-5 mins of your life every time you want to use the elevator.
Activities to do:
- Busy areas (day or night) – Palermo by Armenia Park. Lots of people walking around and enjoying the scene. I recommend exploring cute coffee shops and maybe art events. La Boca is another touristy area.
- Afternoon and evening walk – walk from the Pink House (Casa Rosada) over to the Puerto Madero area. Take some photos by the water, bridge, pink structures. Expensive restaurants (for fancy dates or old people) can be found here. This area honestly ain’t my vibe but some people may like it.
- Go to Bariloche – very pretty town that I didn’t go to but heard lots about. You can spend a nice 3-day detour here from BA. Look up the pretty photos and check it out.
- Go to Uruguay – only a 2-3 hour ferry ride away and also beautiful stop from Buenos Aires. You can check out Colonia and Montevideo. Make sure you not only have the documents for entering Uruguay, but also for exiting Argentina. Not knowing about the latter caused me to miss the ferry. (Although a ticket exchange for later time was easily done.)
- Downtown area – not my vibe at all. I found them boring and not fun. Also, can feel sketchy. In the right places though, there does exist fancy clubs and bars.
- Bars & Clubs – typical noisy club area with lots of youngsters all over the streets is Plaza Serrano. The classier stuff tend to be around Palermo or in specific places in other neighborhoods if you know exactly where. There are many good spots that I can’t recommend specific ones.
Dancing tango:
- Beginner tango tourist – there are 3 options you should check out…Salon Canning (nicest one), La Nacional (most traditional one), La Viruta (grimiest one). All 3 give you different slices of the tango scene here. FYI: tango dance clubs are called “milongas”.
- Viewing hours – Depending on the night you go, they will have a nice performance around 12-1:30am and lasts about 20 minutes. I recommend you go early like 11pm for nice seats/table, order drinks and light food, and leave after the performance. If you want to learn tango, you can look up the available classes at those places.
- REAL underground tango scene – go to Muy Lunes (monday), Lirondo (tuesday), Mandrilera (wednesday), Juernes (thursday), El Nacional (saturday). Different nights have different performers which attracts different crowds, so you might have to visit a place several times to see it in full action. This schedule also changes each year as different spots come in and out of popularity. Right now this list is accurate as of Spring 2022.
- Learning tango – the best for beginner tango tourists is La Viruta.
Miscellaneous tips:
- Exchanging money – never pay the “official” exchange rate. Instead, you should always pay the “blue market” exchange rate, which gets you double the official rate. Most of my friends will bring US dollars and then exchange it Argentina. Others who run out of cash will send themselves money via Western Union (which also gives the blue rate). Exchanging money here has 2 options: you can go to any exchange place or there are also services that will bring the money to you. The ones that come to you may charge 1-2% more and the convenience can be nice. This money exchange situation also means you should always try to do everything in cash (instead of using your card or ATM). I also recommend looking at the exchange rate trends before you come and that way you can gauge whether to exchange money when you arrive vs only as you need. The delivery guys I used are WA +54 9 11 6353-4620 and require minimum of $300 USD exchange for free delivery, or else you pay 300 pesos for delivery.
- Transportation efficiency – subway can be much faster during traffic hours. Bus and subway are very cheap. You can also use Uber or Cabify here. I personally prefer taxi since it’s easily found and cheap enough for me (as a foreigner) and I get to look at the city as we drive by. A local tip for the taxi is to put your hand out to the side but angled DOWN for taxi, and angled UP for the bus. This helps differentiate for bus/taxi drivers when you’re staying at a bus stop corner. I don’t care and just flail wildly at any taxi, though.
- Getting ripped off by taxi – if the meter jumps up way too fast, you can call it out right away or if it’s the end of the ride, tell him the number is not correct. And that you want his name and taxi ID, etc. This will scare him and you can then dictate your own price to pay. If the meter was too high, I suggest paying only 50-60% of that price and just get out.
- Safety – everyone warns me to be careful in Buenos Aires. And it’s always by other Latin Americans, like Mexicans or Colombians. Hahaha. I’ve never had issues but did hear many instances about people getting shot or stabbed for their valuables. It’s quite alarming as I’ve been to many other places that were considered more dangerous yet nobody warned me about them as much as BA.
- Racism – I have heard about many incidents of racism in BA to acquaintances and also friends. They tend to treat you better if you look white European, or are a foreigner speaking good English. If you’re from other countries in Latin America, or Asian/Black appearance…try to speak English or you may experience lesser treatment in stores, taxis, restaurants. Personally though, I’ve never encountered any racism here.
Things I don’t like about Buenos Aires
This is so you get a clean context of whether my guide would benefit you or not. I would hate to steer you off something you might have liked. I’m not here to be negative but explain honestly how I felt about certain places. I aim to be honest, whether good or bad. Regardless…don’t worry, you will have fun.
- Not pretty – the city isn’t pretty (appearance-wise). Aesthetically gray, dull, and boring compared to many other more colorful picturesque destinations in Latin America or Europe. There’s also not a lot of outdoor/adventure stuff to do or see in this city. If you’re here, it’s because you want to enjoy a chill/cheap metropolitan city. Because I doubt anyone would be here if it cost 2-3 times as much.
- Superficial – I find Portenos/Portenas (Argentineans from BA) to be a bit materialistic and superficial compared to others. Of course, nice people with great personalities are everywhere and you shouldn’t generalize a place based on a few instances. But over my 10+ years of knowing many Argentineans (I’m a tango dancer), I find them nowhere near as warm and authentically friendly as other Latin Americans (like Mexicans, which I grew up around). I also don’t like their arrogance about feeling they are better than all Latin Americans. With that said…they (as a whole) are simply not my vibe, BUT I do have some good Argentinean friends whom I have lots of fun around. And maybe if you’re the type of fast-paced metropolitan energy person (like a New York, Paris, Milan kinda person)…perhaps you too will like the Portenos.
- Food sucks – Argentineans argue with me all the time when I say this but I strongly feel Argentinean food (culture) is easily the weaker ones of countries I’ve been to. It’s not that I don’t like traditional Argentinean dishes. I meant their restaurant scene, and dining culture is heavily lacking. Food quality and waiter attention is usually bad. Their ethnic (non-Argentinean) food is bad, too; very weak flavors and inauthentic preparation. Tons of restaurants here with 4-5 star ratings that would be more like a 3-star place anywhere else. Come see for yourself. Yes there are great restaurants, but not as plentiful as I’ve found in other places. Whereas in every other country, I find great ones every day. When in doubt…pricey touristy restaurant easily beats cheap local restaurant. The cheap local restaurants are usually not good quality.
- Weak internet – this is the case for regular household internet or mobile carrier internet. When it’s not cutting out intermittently, it’s kinda slow. Not a big deal if you’re not on the internet all the time but definitely annoying if you got regular conference calls or heavy streaming. Of course…some neighborhoods have more updated lines and seem more reliable.