Exploring Buenos Aires

Post written by Laura

My final trip of 2024 began in Buenos Aires, the colourful capital of Argentina! My friend Bridget and I had arrived in the city a day early before joining our ‘Patagonia Hiking‘ G Adventures tour.

This was my second visit to Buenos Aires, a city where Chris and I had spent 3 nights back in 2016 towards the end of our year long global adventures.

This time Bridget and I had 2 nights in Buenos Aires at the beginning of our Patagonia trip and 2 nights at the end and both short visits are covered in this post.

This was the overall trip itinerary:

• 2 nights in Buenos Aires
• 3 nights in El Chalten
• 3 nights in El Calafate
• 2 nights in Buenos Aires

Covering different districts of Buenos Aires, across the total of 4 days as well as exploring on foot our main activities included:

• City bike tour
• Self guided street art tour
• Tango show

Buenos Aires Bike Tour

We began our first full day with a city bike tour, a great way of seeing some of the diverse neighbourhoods with a local guide leading the way.

As we had planned to arrive a day early we had pre-booked this as an optional extra with G Adventures.

We shared an Uber with new friends Fred and Katarina, who were on the same G Adventures tour and who we had met briefly the night before and the 4 of us arrived at the BA Bike tours office.

Camilla and the bike team sorted bikes and helmets for everyone and gave us a short briefing.

Led by Camilla we then set off in a line down a quiet back street along a dedicated cycle path. Throughout the tour we had frequent stops with Camilla explaining important points together with the history as we went.

It was spring time in Buenos Aires and the city was awash with beautiful Jacaranda trees. This tree originates from the north-west of Argentina and its lilac flowers are often associated with prosperity and good fortune.

Above is the Juana Azurduy monunent which is located outside the Libertad Palace. Camilla explained that Juana Azurduy was a guerrilla military leader who is commemorated for her efforts against the Spanish forces between 1809-1825.

Between 1928 and 2002, the Libertad Palace was a post office, however following refurbishment, it opened in 2015 as a cultural centre with a concert hall and 5 other auditoriums.

Next up was San Telmo and with its historic cobbled streets a low gear was  needed to cycle over them. San Telmo is the oldest barrio (neighbourhood) of Buenos Aires offering Bohemian cafes, markets and old historic nostalgia.

This was the district where Chris and I had based ourselves for 3 nights back in December 2016.

Our group stopped for a break in San Telmo and watched a short open air tango display.

We left San Telmo and set off towards Parque Lezama.

We stopped in the park at the Don Pedro de Mendoza statue. Don Pedro was a Spanish soldier and explorer who was born in 1487. He was the founder of Buenos Aires.

As well as providing information about Pedro de Mendoza, Camilla also explained there are many different species of tree growing in this park.

We also saw parrots freely flying around in the trees above.

After more cycling the next stop included a 30 minute lunch break in La Boca a colourful and diverse neighbourhood and birthplace of tango. La Boca means ‘mouth’ as this neighbourhood is located at a river mouth.

We parked our bikes and they were looked after by Camilla and the back marker (another member of the bike staff but unfortunately I can’t remember his name).

Camilla rang the bell next to a hole in a wall and an ’empanadas’ sign and a face appeared! She ordered a batch of empanadas which were prepared and cooked while we left our bikes and had free time to wander around La Boca on foot.

La Boca was lively and noisy and some of the restaurants had tango displays to entice people in.

We all returned to a box of hot freshly cooked empanadas and enjoyed eating them while Camilla gave us some of the history of La Boca.

Empanadas are a tasty savoury snack found across South America and are similar to what we call in the UK ‘Cornish pasties’. They come with a range of fillings, e.g. cheese, vegetables, chicken etc.

We next cycled through a small slum area under bridges until we reached Puerto Madero, the main finance district, which reminded me of London’s Canary Wharf.

And the dock area reminded me of the Albert Dock in Liverpool!

The bike tour ended in Plaza de Mayo, where Bridget and I had visited briefly during our first afternoon in the city, the previous day. Plaza de Mayo is home to Casa Rosada, the pink presidential palace.

It was then a short ride back to the bike tour office. I enjoyed every minute of this 4 – 5 hour fascinating bike tour and would highly recommend. It was run by BA Bike Tours who are located at Carlos Pellegrini 1233 and I would say are worth 10 out of 10!

Camilla recommended Rapanui for ice cream and this seemed the perfect end to the bike tour on this warm sunny 26 degree day. Rapanui was busy however the ice cream tasted delicious so it was worth the short queue. Camila also recommended a money exchange place but more on this later…

Following money exchange and ice cream Bridget and I walked back towards the hotel along Plaza de la Republica, the main city square of Buenos Aires.

We walked up to the ‘Cartel BA Verde’ (the BA ‘hedge’) and the obelisk where I had stood with Chris 8 years previously. The BA Verde is an environmentally focussed landmark which demonstrates Buenos Aires’ commitment to green initiatives.

The 67 m high Obelisk was unveiled in 1936 and is made from white stone from Cordoba. This is a popular meeting place in the heart of the city.

We continued back to our hotel to get ready for the G Adventures welcome meeting.

The 6 pm welcome meeting was held on the 11th floor roof terrace of the hotel Up America Plaza where our group was staying. Here we met Flor (short for Florence), our guide for the Patagonia part of the trip, and other G Adventurers and details of Patagonia will be published in the next few posts.

Street Art

With lax laws and an arty culture, street art is common throughout the city and particularly in the Palermo district. You can pay to participate in a street art tour but instead, during our second visit at the end of the trip, Bridget and I got an uber to Palermo to seek out the street art for ourselves.

We went in search of a well known mural of Amy Winehouse but the building seems to have recently been taken over by Tassy Burger and Amy has been covered over with bland royal blue paint.

But undeterred, we continued our street art search. We didn’t have to look too far and below is a sample of some of the street art we found.

Street art of Frida Kahlo, the famous iconic Mexican artist who had a tragically short life.

While street art hunting in Palermo we had a drink and I had a vegan empanada (made with tofu and vegetables) in the lovely Casa Munay vegetarian cafe which we highly recommend for its quirky environment, friendly staff and tasty food.

Also in Palermo we found Mercado de las Pulgas a large flea market selling all manner of antiques and retro items from across South America and the world. 

We didn’t spend too long in there and didn’t buy anything but it is an interesting place to visit.

Evenings in Buenos Aires

Following the welcome meeting, Fred and Katarina from Calgary, Bart from Belgium, Bridget and myself went to Rivire Brasas Bravas restaurant which had been recommended by Flor, our G Adventures guide. This was located very close to the obelisk and even so, we all enjoyed a tasty dinner in there for a reasonable price.

The restaurant was in a busy area however by the time we had finished the meal it was mayhem outside!  An important Argentinian football match had taken place and the locals were out to celebrate.

The 5 of us walked back towards our hotel along Avenue Corrientes which was jam packed with families, football fans, street entertainers and the like. There was a great atmosphere where people were happy and not fighting and we felt safe as we walked through this crowded street late in the evening. Well… late-ish… we had an early start the following day with our flight to Patagonia…

Tango Show

One week later, on our return to the city, Bridget and I shared another great evening, this time with our new G Adventures friends Cheryl and Tom from Vancouver.

We had pre-booked tickets to a tango show which included a 3 course meal and wine. The 4 of us were picked up by mini bus and taken to the San Telmo district for the show.

We began by choosing our food from a widely varied menu. I had pumpkin soup followed by grilled deep sea fish with vegetables and lemon rings and then creme caramel with dulce de leche and cream for dessert, all of which was delicious. The food was piping hot, all served at the same time and with generous portions.

The bottles of Malbec placed on the table were unlimited, together with glass bottles of still or sparkling water throughout the evening.

Following the meal the show ‘Tango through the Ages’ began. The live band played continually and the show had singing and amazing tango dancing with various costume changes throughout.

The tango show was a great experience and for £64 each with the excellent food, wine, show and efficient transport there and back it was well worth doing.

We spent our final evening of the entire trip again with Cheryl and Tom, this time in Restaurant Chiquilin a 5 minute walk from the hotel.

I had the best ever Seafood Fettucine which seemed to have more seafood than pasta! Together with a decent bottle of Malbec shared with Cheryl and Tom this was a lovely way to spend our last evening.

Cheryl and Tom had spent 2 weeks in Antarctica before joining our group for Patagonia Hiking so it was very interesting to learn about their trip and see some of their wonderful pictures.

Walkabout

Slotted between the bike tour and our street art self guided tour, Bridget and I spent the rest of our time exploring the city centre on foot.

The entrance to the Galerias Pacifico Mall can be found near the top of Florida Street. Inside was a huge sparkly Christmas tree which was similar to, if not the same tree that Chris and I saw in there 8 years ago, almost to the day!

Money matters

With high inflation of the Argentine Peso, currency and exchange are complicated. As an example, in November 2016, 100 pesos was worth around £5.30 which brought Chris and I a vineyard tour each including wine tasting. Today, 100 pesos is worth £0.07. The 10, 5 and 2 peso notes I had left from that trip are now worth under 1 pence combined and I was advised to bin them or put them in a museum!

Having read a number of conflicting pieces of online advice, I asked a local, that local being Camilla, the bike tour lead.

Use of ATMs is not advised as they tend to charge a high fixed withdrawal rate and offer a low amount that you can take out.

The G Adventures pre-trip notes advised to bring USD in cash so Bridget and I both had a rather large sum each. Camilla advised to change it in the Howard Johnson Plaza, again at the top end of Florida Street, close to the entrance of the mall.

We received a good overall exchange rate and my $100 US ‘blue’ dollar bill got an even better one.

In summary, we found it was easy to pay by card in Buenos Aires and with a good currency exchange rate. Cash was preferred in Patagonia and generally either US dollars and/or Argentine pesos were accepted. Cash is often a good idea when part of a group as it keeps things simple!

Airport transfers

There are several options and Uber is widely available however after some research I pre-booked return transfer from the international airport (EZE) to our city centre hotel for around £18, which is around 23 USD (or 23,000 Argentine pesos). I had booked this with Booking.com and we had a great service.

Please be sure to allow plenty of time… this journey should take around 40 minutes but there had been an accident on our first journey from the airport to the city and this transfer took 1.5 hours.

Pertutti

One last shout out for Pertutti! This was actually our first meal during our first stop in Buenos Aires when we had casually wandered over to Plaza Mayo which I remembered was a pleasant square to visit and wasn’t too far from our hotel.

After our long flight, lack of sleep and lack of meal routine we both found ourselves feeling a bit hungry just upon leaving Plaza de Mayo.

We went into the first place we came across expecting high prices and mediocre quality. However we had a great experience.

I began with a caiprinia which is the national cocktail of Brazil. This one was strong, with a zesty twang and tasted wonderful! And for less than £6.50.

There was a fairly good choice of food and again my meal was fabulous.

I finished off with a margarita and on my M-scale I gave this an 8 out of 10. It was strong, tasted great and a good price at £6.50 however needed a tad more ice to be slightly cooler.

Getting to Buenos Aires

We flew with British Airways from London Heathrow to Buenos Aires International EZE airport. This included a touch down in Rio de Janeiro where we spent a couple of hours on the tarmac still inside the plane while some people got off and then others got on again. I was pleased to get another glimpse of the Sugarloaf Mountain from the plane 🙂

Summary

I had a wonderful second visit to Buenos Aires and unlike in December 2016, this time I was fortunate to have sampled some of the fabulous food available throughout the city as well as have a more in-depth experience of the diverse culture and neighbourhoods.

This post has covered all things Buenos Aires and next up and by total contrast, Bridget and I move from this hectic bustling city to the remote and sparcely populated wilderness of Patagonia…