I won a one week trip to Buenos Aires in early April from my company. We are staying at the Alvear Palace and was curious if anyone had any must do's, also curious about the weather at that time of year. I believe it is pretty close to the Roceleta cemetery which we plan on visiting and have a gaucho day trip planned. Outside of that plan are pretty much up in the air. Thanks in advance!

Eat steak. A lot. It's been a decade, but Cabana Las Lilas in Puerto Madero was the best. A nice Calatrava walking bridge there, too. A third the cost of sort-of-comparable in USA.

Go to a soccer game if in season. Boca Juniors or River Plate. They hate each other something fierce.

Gaucho trip is solid idea. Go to an asado. Drink lots of wine. Buy nice clothes (way cheaper there).

Extend your trip and fly south to Patagonia or North to the falls or west to wine country (Mendoza).

Argentina is amazing.

Agree with above. Eat, drink, take in the local faves. The cemetery is interesting, most stray cats you will ever see in your life. Great museums there to. Leather products are super cheap, and they are renowned for their shoemaking.

And get used to eating dinner late. Most restaurants do not even open until 8pm and even at 9 you may be the only ones there.

Second Patagonia, or a ferry ride to Uruguay or to the falls.

I've heard to avoid credit cards and to bring cash and search out third party currency exchange vs going to an official bank. Wife would prefer a beach but I am pretty excited to soak in the culture/history and of course a lot of Malbec.

And take a "remis" (car service) everywhere you can't walk instead of a taxi. Manuel Tienda Leon was the service recommended to me. And they were great. (Look for for the lion logo.)

Alvear Palace Hotel is a very nice hotel. You're right in the middle of a very well off, very old and historic part of town (Retiro & Recoleta neighborhoods)...I love the architecture around there. Recoleta cemetary is probably the most famous landmark in Buenos Aires and you'll be a couple of blocks from there.

Early in your trip, sign up for one (or several) of the free walking tours and they'll give you a good run down of the history and highlights of each neighborhood. From there you can decide where you want to spend your time.

San Telmo is a cool old neighborhood, they do a street festival/flea market one day of the week that's kinda cool. Seeing a Boca Juniors game at La Bombonera, which is a famous old stadium known around the world, was probably the highlight of my trip. Before the game, you can see the block color houses and a Tango dance/show that the Boca neighborhood is known for.

From a history/govt standpoint, it's an easy walk from their Congress building to the Pink House (their version of the White House) and over to the Plaza San Martin. Learn some of their history and unlock the mystery of all their street/highway names ;-)

Someone signed us up for the Carlos Gardel Tango dinner show in the Almagro area. I wasn't looking forward to it but had to admit it was pretty good.

And finally, if you want to venture off the beaten path a little...We went to a venue/club called the Ciudad Cultural Konex one night and saw this drum core called La Bomba de Tiempo and it was a helluva good time. Got drunk, danced till we couldn't dance anymore, then walked home hitting a pizza place for a midnight snack on the way. Good times...

Uber for transportation is the very cheap and very easy. For the airports, definitely recommend a remis service or TaxiEZE - you can order when you land. It's about $40-$50 for EZE transport, traffic in the city is fun. The reciprocity fee going into Argentina was waived a year or two ago so that is really nice.

The blue market for cash is not so relevant anymore as they changed their policies on the dollar. Recommend exchanging at the airport (B of A would not let me order in advance as they said the currency was too volatile) or Galerias Pacificos (Av. Crdoba 550) at Retiro/San Telmo border

We were only in BA for a few days but I'd recommend the following:
- Dinner at La Carniceria in Palermo - MUST HAVE RESERVATIONS! only takes them via phone (and I had luck on facebook). If you're going to be there for a week I would seriously consider going twice. It was good!
- If you're looking for very fancy, Aramburu was great. We heard bad things from someone else about Tegui (another fancy place). Another slightly less expensive place but great food was Roux in Recoleta
- We did a 1/2 day tour with Joy of Buenos Aires. Highly recommend!! If we had to do it over again we'd do either a full day or 2 half day tours
http://www.joyofbuenosaires.com/home
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g312741-d9705823-Reviews-Joy_of_Buenos_Aires-Buenos_Aires_Capital_Federal_District.html
- CoRE Italian Street Food (Maipu 819) was a fun quick casual place for lunch at Retiro/San Telmo border
- Floreria Atlantico was fun for a drink (it was packed!)
- Tour El Zanjon (Defensa 755), this was super informative
http://www.elzanjon.com.ar/en
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g312741-d1528105-Reviews-El_Zanjon_de_Granados-Buenos_Aires_Capital_Federal_District.html
- Palacio Barolo tour was not fabulous but the views are incredible!
https://www.palaciobarolotours.com/site/en
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g312741-d646346-Reviews-or10-Palacio_Barolo-Buenos_Aires_Capital_Federal_District.html
- Pain et Vin in Palermo (Gorriti 5132) wine tasting or glass of wine
https://www.pain-et-vin.com/home
- Le Pain Quotidien right by your hotel in Recoleta and Farinelli in Retiro are two super cute cafe / bakeries
- Buenos Free Walks does a bunch of tours, we did the 'paid' Recoleta Cemetery one and would recommend http://www.buenosairesfreewalks.com/recoleta-cemetery-tour/
- Parque 3 de Febrero is the rose garden but will probably be past-prime in April. Overall the parks in that area are a nice place to walk around
- Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes is their general art museum. We spent a really nice 1.5 walking around (it's a nice size) with all different types of art. Not a huge collection but nicely done http://www.bellasartes.gob.ar/en
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g312741-d311757-Reviews-Museo_Nacional_de_Bellas_Artes-Buenos_Aires_Capital_Federal_District.html

There were other art and buildings we had our list that we didn't make it to. If you can go someone else in Argentina, I'd highly recommend El Calafate. Glaciars, dinosaur bones, birds, etc. You probably could not go wrong doing other locations but that would be my #1.

i've been living in argentina for a little over a year. in BA nearly every weekend. it's a great place.

lots of good recommendations here. this is something i typed up for some friends:

• For restaurant recs I like the blog pickupthefork.com. I've followed her for a few years and loved just about everything in her list. You can search her recommendations by neighborhood. Some of my favorites around the city are:
• La Alacena
• Hierbabuena (if you go stop in the bakery next door for dessert)
• Caf San Juan La Cantina (there is also a second Caf San Juan, just as good but smaller menu)
• Bao Kitchen
• La Aguada (great empanadas, regional cuisine)
• Malvon (for weekend brunch)
• Artemesia Cocina Natural
• San Paolo Pizzeria (get tiramisu for dessert)
• Nola (good beer, pub food)
• Full City Coffee House
• Don Julio and La Cabrera are two fantastic parrillas (steakhouses). I prefer Don Julio, less touristy. If you want to go fancy check out Cabana Las Lilas in Puerto Madero but Don Julio is just as good and half the price. Don't leave Argentina without going to a parrilla.
• To get around town i suggest uber, it's widely available. Or walk and explore on foot. You may be able to get a subway card as well, it's an easy cheap way to get around as well. I suggest avoiding the local taxis, they are everywhere but they are known for trying to scam tourists. And their cars are generally beat up to hell, ubers are nicer. Plus you don't need cash in them.
• Don't exchange money with people on the streets. Seems obviousbut just don't. Lots of scams out there. You'll hear the guys saying "cambio, cambio" (change change) especially in touristy areas. You will be limited as to how much you can get out of ATMs here (I think 2000pesos max at a time with a 100peso fee). But your credit cards will work most places, and you can either buy pesos at a formal exchange place (like in a mall) or ask your hotel where one is. Sometimes hotels can exchange for you too. It's a good idea to always have cash on you as a backup, there are plenty of smaller places that have cash only or give you a discount for paying in pesos, or credit card machines sometimes don't work. Some places will accept USD too but I wouldn't plan to do that everywhere.
• Most areas are generally safe, especially during the day, just don't be the dumb tourist walking around with cameras around your neck. At night be a little more observant (like, don't walk around with your phone out) but most areas are fine. If you are in or near the Retiro or Constitution bus stations however at any time of day be very careful with your bags and stuff. Carry your backpacks on your front, phone/wallet in front pockets, stuff like that if you are there. Pickpockets know how to pick out tourists around there. Be cautious in the subways as well but it seems to be less of an issue there in my experience.

So, we are thinking about going down to Argentina in late January or February. Jist startin to look, and found this thread. How is the weathe then? And any updated suggestions? What about Uruguay? Too much to do both in 2 weeks?

There is a steakhouse behind the Alvear called Fervor that I have been to a few times. Always had a great dinner there.

Go once for drinks to the Park Hyatt Hotel. The old palace section is fantastic. It's just a quick walk from the Alvear. Also a nice place for munch if the weather is nice in the gardens

Palermo is a cool neighborhood to explore - actually found a really good taco spot there. And don't leave BA without eating Italian food

Get out of BA if you can. We went to Bariloche, El Calafate, and Iguassu falls.

+1 for Don Julio and La Cabrera. We ate at both and DJ was definitely our fave. Better atmosphere IMO and the steaks were to die for.

How did you get over to Igauzu Falls? If I can only get there for 20-24 hours is it worth the trip?

You can take a flight out of BA to Iguazu. We stayed two nights. Toured both sides of the falls (need a Brazilian visa for that). Totally worth it.

Fly down to el calafate to hike the Perito Moreno Glacier. Then from El Calafate bus up to El Chalten and do the FitzRoy hike. They're the jewels of Argentine Patagonia. Seriously, some of the most beautiful landscapes I've ever seen.

Fancy K, including flight time would it be a minimum of 3 days to do those two hikes and return to BA?

If you travel like me (go-go-go) you can do it in a minimum of 3 days.

What I would do based on that...

Day 1: Fly into El Calafate and bus to El Chalten

Day 2: Do FitzRoy hike in the AM (20km hike) and take the ~6pm bus back to El Calafate. Entrance to Los Glaciares National Park is free. It's right outside of El Chalten and you can walk to the entrance from the middle of town.

Day 3: Do Perito Moreno Glacier and take flight back to BA that evening.

Bus scheduler: https://www.busbud.com/en/terminal-de-omnibus-de-el-calafate/s/11062

If y'all do hostels I recommend America del Sur in El Calafate and Rancho Grande in El Chalten.

Thanks KF, other then the hostels, I may try to pull that off.

90 bull said:

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So, we are thinking about going down to Argentina in late January or February. Jist startin to look, and found this thread. How is the weathe then? And any updated suggestions? What about Uruguay? Too much to do both in 2 weeks?

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BA resident here.

the weather is warm now, it's basically summertime. although it hasn't been terrible just yet (around 30C)

if you'll be here two weeks, you would have plenty of time to say, explore BA for a week and go check out uruguay for a few days too. keep in mind, being summer, uruguay is a pretty popular summer vacation spot so the nice places like punta del este may be pretty crowded. but, you can take a ferry (buquebus) to montevideo which is pretty nice.

or, take a flight to mendoza and check out the wineries.

Schall 02 said:

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Eat steak. A lot. It's been a decade, but Cabana Las Lilas in Puerto Madero was the best.

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Yes. My last trip there was also 2008 and we ate there. I at a .98 kg steak along with some sides. I did not regret it.