Buenos Aires & How to plan it?

Hi all,

I plan to travel to Buenos Aires in late october/early november and was after advice from people who have been there or live there currently.

First of all i will be travelling from the UK which is quite a long flight, so does anyone have any recommendations regarding best airlines (including any stop-overs) best way to travel throughout Argentina (buses, trains etc) as i plan to see as much of BA as possible and then venture to Patagonia, Cordoba, Corrientes etc so i want to try and implement a realistic plan beforehand.

I've read that its generally quite safe out there provided you dont flash watches and camera's so i guess safety isnt in question, and im also thinking about trying some paragliding, maybe some cycling and similar things so if anyone knows good places to rent equipment and do these things, plus good routes to use then i'd love to hear any suggestions.

Thanks for reading!

John

Hi John,

Airlines: don't fly Iberia if you want comfort. They are cheap, though. I really enjoyed flying Lufthansa, probably BA is good too.

Domestic transportation: bus is the way to go. Plataforma 10 provides schedules and on-line purchase. It's not complete, but a good start. Detailed information about destinations can be obtained from carrier ticket counters, usually located at the bus terminal. On-line information from carrier websites is likely to be outdated and incomplete. Last-minute availability is unpredictable, but if you book 24-48 hours in advance you should be fine. Busses are extremely comfortable, leave at least daily on most routes, and are quite cheap. Argentina doesn't have any trains to speak of: there are some, but bus is always the better alternative.

Domestic flights: not recommended unless you're in a terrible hurry. Expensive, inefficient (all domestic flights go through BsAs), bad for the environment, plus you miss most of the scenery.

Corrientes: don't go there (the city at least). It's nice, but there is really no accommodation at all. Better stay in Resistencia. That said, Corrientes province is beautiful and Parque Provincial Esteros del Iberá is well worth your visit.

Safety: don't worry. You'll be fine

Cycling: you're up for a tough adventure in Patagonia because of the wind. The north-west, however, is very nice cycling territory, esp. the Quebrada desert. Cafayate provides best services for this type of activity.

Paragliding: I believe you have to be in the north-west for that as well, but I'm not sure.

Finally: have a look at the Buenos Aires and Argentina TG articles.

best,
Niels

[ Edit: Edited on 19-May-2009, at 03:55 by bentivogli ]

Thanks ever so much for the feedback guys, some very valid points in there and i now feel more confident in making plans to visit Argentina )

Hi John, Im from Leeds, currently in Peru but BA was my first stop. Im 19 and this is my first real travel experiance so thought id give you my 2p!

BA is immense, you dont have to plan much, its more about deciding then finding, especially if youre staying in hostels, they have all the info on popular activities and excursions.It has a good tourist info centre in the downtown area aswell, english is spoken at those sort of places generally. I flew with BA from Heathrow via Sao Paulo, booked it through STA, was fairly cheap, and it had good films and tv shows to watch on board so wasnt too bad a flight.
Safety is fine I found, a bit of common sense and there should be no problems, with the exception of La Boca at night or off the tourist strip. I was only there for a week, After which I visited Bariloche in Patagonia which was breath taking, but your weather wont be as good im afraid. Loved them both, hope this helps at all. Oh yeah and Bus it all the way. BA it self has a really cheap and easy subway, its like 30p to anywhere and the lines are dead easy to read to connect to.

lots of luck!

Oscar

Thanks a lot Oscar, i've been to Peru also twice so i know you'll be loving it there....just eat some pork chicarrones as they are the best food around!

All great advice that you gave and it confirms what i heard about the buses and public transport in general. I've been looking at flights generally and most seem to be around the same prices, although i think its a long flight whoever you choose as the shortest flight i saw was about 15 hours.

It all seems very charasmatic and friendly over there and it looks as though all cultures mix very well and as you say with some common sense regarding safety i dont think there would be any probs.

So thanks once again mate )

Just a last word of advice re flying to Sao Paulo: don't.

I made that mistake twice, and it turns out to be a costly one, both in terms of time and money. SP is a good 32 hours from BsAs by overland transport, and busses in Brazil are relatively expensive and not quite as good as in Argentina.

If you must, take the route via Iguazu rather than through Uruguay. That way, you at least have a very nice stop-over location. But it's worth your buck to fly directly into Ezeiza.