Argentina travel guide covering Buenos Aires, Mendoza and Iguazú
By: Simba Sagwete
Tags: Travel, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Argentina travel guide covering Buenos Aires, Mendoza and Iguazú

The basics

Walk everywhere. Taxis are fairly well-regulated which means that if you’re coming from the UK, they’re also super-cheap. They’re definitely the most convenient airport transfer though make sure you book from inside the airport. The ‘Subte’ or Metro/Subway/Underground is cheaper but it’s coverage is quite limited in Buenos Aires. We barely used it. Buses are even cheaper if you can make sense of them. We tried once and failed. Take all the cash you’ll spend with you because Argentina loves cash but ATMs cost as much as £10 for each withdrawal. We took all our money in USD which you can spend in the more touristy places. You can also get away with Euros or GBP but you can only change these into Argentine (not Argentinian!!) pesos (ARS$) at Banco Nacional at the airport. They don’t accept money with any markings on it e.g. written on in ink. There’ll be a queue but it’s worth waiting. You can also use the street “cambios” but convenience aside, there’s no real reason to do this. When we did, they gave us a worse rate than the bank and you have no safeguards against things like fake currency which seems to be quite a big problem. Starling or Monzo give good rates on card payments if you don’t want to use cash. Cards are accepted in many places but you can’t rely on that. Mobile roaming doesn’t seem to be a thing. I’m on Three which you can use your UK plan on pretty much the entire planet but not in Argentina. Pretty much every bar/restaurant has wi fi though. If you don’t speak Spanish, get on Duo Lingo pronto. The basics will take you a very long way! In restaurants and bars, always tip exactly 10%. In taxis, round up to the nearest ARS$100. Carry your passport everywhere. I got asked for it daily e.g. when paying via card

Buenos Aires Suburbs

We explored quite a lot of the central bit of Buenos Aires but we stayed away from the outskirts because they look super-ropey. The bits I’ll talk about were lovely though.

Belgrano

Quite a way from the centre but worth a visit. It’s home to the bizarre but brilliant ‘Holy Land’, and also, to China town which is mostly supermarkets and shops but it also has a couple of nice spots we went to with some BA locals:

Puerta Uno — very nice ‘speakeasy’ with reasonably-priced drinks and semi-outdoor space Parrilla EL Pobre Luis — Uruguayian Parrilla (Argentine word for ‘grill’) which does a mean asado (Argentine word for ‘barbecue’). Not super-cheap but very good 👍

Palermo and Palermo Hollywood

Very nice, ‘hipster’ neighbourhood which is closer to the center than Belgrano. If you haven’t already booked accommodation, this wouldn’t be a bad shout. It’s nice during the day but it really comes alive at night, especially on weekends. Plenty of great restaurants and bars on Gurruchugha, between Plaza Italia and Plazoletto Julio Cortázar — the former Plaza has easy access to the zoo (closed on Mondays), Gallileo Galilei observatory (ugly but worth a look) and Japanese gardens; the latter has lots of markets and terrace bars (good for drinks but I wouldn't recommend it for food).

Palermo is also home to what’s arguably Buenos Aires’ most famous restaurant, Dom Julio’s. It’s an experience but it’s very expensive/overpriced (£100 for dinner + drinks) and we had to wait for 2 hours to get a table. You can reserve online in advance but on the day walk-ins have to reserve in person. You can put your name down and find a bar around the corner though if you don’t fancy waiting outside and drinking the complimentary glasses of fizz for those in the queue. Other good places include:

Clara — craft beer (or birra artesanal bar — oddly, they use the Italian ‘birra’ rather than the more spanish ‘cerveza’) — and it’s a very nice bar which also does a bit of food. I recommend the pork burger. Temple — very similar to Clara but they have outdoor heaters if you go there in the evening and it’s cold outside Sans — lovely little restaurant which local families use as a bit of a Sunday spot. La Panera Rosa — breakfast/brunch place. It’s a chain but it’s great 💯

The walk from Plaza Italia to Retiro is a long one (about 3 miles) but it’s a nice one.

Recoletta & Retiro

Like London’s Mayfair with embassies, galleries, fashion boutiques like Luis Vuitton, posh hotels and townhouses. Not many young people.

This is where you’ll find Recoletta cemetery which is a bit of a must-see as one of the few bona fide tourist attractions in BA. It’s worth at least a 30-minute walk around. It also has a ‘Freddo’ nearby which is a famous chain of Gelattaria’s in BA.

Plaza General St Martin is impressive and it’s also where the Retiro subway station is. Don’t go behind the station though. It’s home to BA’s slums (like the favelas of Rio de Janeiro) so it’s not safe.

Other stuff to see in this area include:

The Avenida 9 de Julio super-wide street which is famous for being… wide. And it’s also the street with the impressive — but ugly — obelisco. The beautiful teatro Colon and Plaza Lavalle (pronouced la-va-zhey — look up ‘yeismo’) Casa Rosada which is the president’s official residence and is on Plaza de Mayo (pronouced ma-zho — look up ‘yeismo’). The Plaza de Mayo is famous for being the venue of a lot of protests. Argentinians love a protest. It’d be a surprise if you spent a week there but managed not to see one

For food and drink:

The Four Seasons hotel is probably my top recommendation for food in BA. Feels very European so don’t go there if you’re looking for the local experience. I had my best steak of the whole trip at their Elena restaurant. Terrazas is a shopping mall which sounds dull but it has a few outdoor bars. Great for evening drinks if the weather is nice but have your food elsewhere. Food options aren’t great. Posadas has quite a few nice restaurants/bars including Sorrento Recova which has a nice little outdoor space

Puerto Madero

Newest part of BA with a lot of “after-work” bars and restaurants around the marina. It’s also BA’s central business district with quite a few tall buildings housing the likes of HSBC. It’s a bit like BA’s Canary Wharf.

Take some time to walk around the ecological reserve built on reclaimed land. It’ll take about 3–4 hours to walk around. If you’re a birdwatcher, bring your telephoto lens! Otherwise, there are also many nice spots for an outdoor picnic.

The Avenida Hernan M. Giralt runs alongside it and is also worth a look. It has a parade of statues featuring Argentina’s most famous sports stars (look out for Messi).

Montserrat and La Boca

The heart of BA where a lot of people work. Things get a bit ropey as you go further south ‘downtown’ but it’s worth doing if you want to see the Plaza del Congresso (another protest hot spot), the oudoor amphitheatre and the Museu d’art contemporani de Buenos Aires — museum of modern arts. You can also walk all the way past Plaza Constitucion to La Bombonera and El Caminito in La Boca.

La Bombonera is where the Boca Juniors play their home games. Their fans are nuts and the stadium itself is quite something to behold. It’s pretty much impossible to get tickets for a home game but if you can, it’s supposed to be incredible. Don’t buy them off touts though; you’re almost certain to be scammed.

El Caminito is the super-colourful street pretty much built for tourists. Tonnes of markets for souvenirs and also, lots of lovely restaurants which typically do tango shows as you eat. We went to La Barrica.

If you don’t fancy walking all the way back, get a taxi to Constitucion and jump on the Subte.

Outside Buenos Aires

Uruguay

Buequebus runs high-speed catamaran ferries to the historic Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay which makes it ideal for a day trip. It costs about £50 and takes about an hour. You can either leave at 8am or 12pm, returning at 4pm or 9pm — the later one lets you watch the sunset from one of the seafront restaurants (though technically, it’s an estuary rather than the ocean). Don’t bother with Montevideo the Uruguayian capital; you can also get there from BA but it’s about 3x the price and involves over 6 hours of ferries in one day.

Tigre

If you don’t mind a train journey, Tigre is worth a visit. It’s small little town with a lot of waterways because it’s built around the river delta. Everyone gets around on water taxis which are probably a better way of getting to know the place than the official tours. For food, Gato Blanco restaurant is basic but good.

Mendoza

Probably the most enjoyable part of my trip was visiting Mendoza. We flew from the Aeroparque (different airport to the one where we arrived — Ezeiza).

Tours are relatively expensive so we only stayed here for about 3 days because there isn’t a huge amount else to do/see. It’s more a city where people live than visit I think.

We booked all of our tours through a travel agent in the Sheraton hotel and we found out from someone who joined us that it was half the price of buying online. If you haven’t booked your accom, this in itself is a good reason to stay in a hotel rather than an Airbnb. Tours run everday but weekends have the most options. We did the bike vineyard tour which was awesome and a day trip to The Andes which was a bit of a long day but worthwhile. It gets cold so pack more than shorts & flip flops.

Avenida Aristides Villanova is pretty much the only you want to go to for food/drink. Super-busy at the weekend; a tonne of options though my absolute favourite was La Lucia which has a nice outside seating area. Not the cheapest but incredible food.

There’s another La Lucia on Plaza Independencia. The square itself is impressive and it’s worth a look as the defacto centre of town. Other recommendations from a local were Chachinga and Beerlin.

Iguazú

Most people only visit Iguazú for one or two days. It’s super-touristy and there’s nothing much there beyond the waterfalls but my god, they’re breathtaking.

The Argentine side does take about 6–8 hours to see so get there early. The Brazillian side takes 2–4 hours and you don’t need a visa. Another reason to get there early when you go and see the Argentine side is so you can get tickets for the boat tour. It’s about US$100 (on top of the US$35 it costs just to get into the park) but definitely worthwhile. If you have a poncho and a dry bag, take them. The boat literally goes underneath a waterfall and you will get drenched.

Take a packed lunch if you can be bothered — food options aren’t great — but we survived on Empanadas. Beware the quati though. Not only are they known to bite/scratch but they will also happily nab your food if you don’t keep a close eye on it.

There’s a regular shuttle bus from the centre of town to the falls (cataratas) and there’s also a regular shuttle bus from the airport to any hotel. They cost about ARS$250 but we just got taxis everywhere because there were two of us and taxis are ARS$600–700 to pretty much everywhere.

I’ve heard Salta, Rosario, Cordoba and Patagonia are also worth a look but couldn’t cram them into our 2 week visit but that’s my guide to Argentina. Enjoy your trip!

This map has the places I’ve mentioned and also look at this blog by my pal Helen.