Buenos Aires

Our plans for this trip started, as always, almost 1 year before. I’m all for the spirit of adventure but, really, if you want to save money, you have to plan ahead. There is no way around it. Every time you sit in front of your notebook or computer, when you invest the time and effort in doing research and planning, you will be saving tons of money. 

Our southamerican trip started as an excuse to get married and have a nice celebration between friends and family.

As we currently live in Australia and the distances from here are quite considerable, I knew we had to do a big trip and maximise our time in Southamerica as much as possible.

So we set our budget for approximately one month and 3 countries; Argentina, Brazil and Chile.

Buenos Aires -updated to April 2025-

So many things to do and see!

Buenos Aires

Day 1:

As we were coming from our connection in Chile, we arrived to the domestic airport Aeroparque Jorge Newbery. I deliberately chose this option when buying the tickets as it’s way closer than the international airport in Ezeiza called Ministro Pistarini.

We arrived super tired, cranky and hungry! We didn’t take cash out of the ATM or exchange our dollars and we were expecting to pay a taxi with a credit card like in any other country in the world. My information that Uber wasn’t an option was a bit outdated as Uber service is widely available in Argentina, specially in Baires. 

We headed to the taxi rank and asked how much was a trip to the city center which is not far at all from the domestic airport and we were informed of a 28.000 pesos fee. I was trying to understand why was this so expensive if we were 15 mins from the city centre, which lead to a discussion between me, my mom and th taxi driver about Asado prices -as always, taxi drivers trying to distract from the fact that they are trying to scam you-. After considering that I had no idea about prices in my country of origin, I agreed, but when the taxi in line was called, he asked if it was a payment with  transfer, to which I had no clue what he meant! I clarify it was payment with debit card and he said that it was going to be 20% more for not paying in cash. That was my limit to all the circus. In 29 years living in Buenos Aires I only took a taxi 2 twice -in one occasion  the taxi driver had a gun stashed near the steering wheel and in the other one I wasn’t able to find the seat belts-, so my tolerance to taxi drivers bullshit is very short. We walked out of the rank and headed inside the airport looking for an ATM. We took 60k pesos and headed out again, looking for another taxi rank and were quoted 24k, we said ok and off we went.

I forgot how bad portenos drive! No indicators, people crossing lanes last minute, no seat belts, drivers texting while driving!

Finally we made it to our Airbnb. Rang the bell and were met by Juan, the building manager, who seems to have a little side guide hosting guests to a few Airbnb’s owned by landlords in said building. 

He welcomed us but mentioned he wasn’t told what time we were arriving which I thought was strange as I informed the host we will be there at that time. Anyways, he allocated us to our apartment on the Ground floor and we were more than impressed. The flat looked amazing and it had more rooms than what I saw on the pics! So much so that straightaway I told one of my friends to cancel her Hostel and come to stay with us. We even had our own garden!

I took a shower and did a quick google search on a Western Union, as I was under the impression that I was able to exchange dollars. This wasn’t the case but  I was lucky enough that the owner of the shop had enough pesos to change and was happy to take USD.

When I returned to the flat, Juan was waiting for me to tell me that we were in the wrong apartment and that the host had been trying to call me -but I didn’t have my phone on me-.

The actual guests belonging to that apartment were waiting outside! What an absolute shamble!

We quickly packed and cleaned the coffee mugs we used and got out of the apartment and were moved to the second floor.

The apartment was still beautiful but more according to what we paid for.

By this point we were hungry and dying for a drink. We went for a stroll to the famous Pizzeria Guerrin on Avenida Corrientes.

If you want to try the typical Argentinian Pizza, I recommend you to check any of the ones below:

1. Banchero
2. Pizzeria Guerrin
3. El cuartito
4. Los inmortales
5. Pizzeria Las cuartetas
6. El Imperio de la Pizza (a bit far from the city centre but probably the best Pizza in BA)
7. Kentucky Pizzeria
8. La Continental
9. El Fortin (not even close to downtown BA, but it has to be on the list).
10. Pizzeria La Mezzetta

Remember that pizza in Buenos Aires is very, very cheesy and deep dish style. If you want a Neapolitan Pizza do your research as “pizza a la piedra” o “pizza napolitana”. Also the toppings are very limited and  we don’t play around with beef or chicken on the pizza, for that, go and eat Asado. My favourite and a must try is: fugazzetta rellena -similar to a cheese pie topped with crispy onion-, muzzarella -with u- and the “acelga y salsa blanca” -pizza topped with silver beet and bechamel sauce. And for the ultimate Porteña experience, add a slice of Faina. Faina is only found in the pizza shops in Buenos Aires city and it can be described as a chickpea cake. This tradition was brought to Buenos Aires by Italian immigrants which is typically called Farinata. The way to eat it in B.A, though, is putting a slice of pizza and a slice of Faina on top of eachother.

Don’t forget to compliment your pizza portena experience with a cold “chop” of local beer such as Quilmes or Imperial, or the best soft drink in the world, “Paso de los Toros Pomelo”.

As you may have notice, the word porteño or porteña will appear a lot. This is the demonym for someone or something that belongs to the city of Buenos Aires -because is a port city!-.

Buenos Aires

Day 2:

A slow morning tryig to find a place to buy a SUBE card.

One of our friends that came to the wedding from Europe was waiting for us in Recoleta. The heat was extreme still and we were trying to figure out about where to get a SUBE.

We went to several stores asking in Kioscos, lottery stores and metro stations and we got nothing but confusing information.

The lady at the lottery shop said we could get a Sube at the Kiosco 25hr -only- so we went back and ask there, he said they don’t have them, probably we will have to go to a SUBE centre -and there is only 1 in the whole city!!-, other kiosco told us to try in the subway, but in the subways they only do top ups, not card sells. Already disappointed and super late to meet our friend I tried on one more kiosco and finally was able to buy 2 but not to top up, OMG Buenos Aires, wtf! So we walked further up to another lottery shop and we top up.

Our friend Matt was waiting for us at “El Ateneo” store, a beautiful looking bookshop with a painted dome like the Sistine Chapel. Make sure you go for a look if your are in barrio de Recoleta!

We catch a bus as to go to «jardin japones» as public transport in Buenos Aires is quite good and from Recoleta to Palermo there are many bus lines. The Japanese Garden is a lovely place to visit, take pics, learn to make origami and event get married!

The entrance ticket for residents is $4.500 and you need ID, and for non residents is $13.500.

There is a beautiful coffee shop and restaurant inside and a gift shop where you can purchase Argentinean and Japanese souvenirs and mini cards to write wishes.

It was another extra hot day, but we still manage to walk around the gardens and take nice pics. From the Japanese gardens we went all the way to Palermo Hollywood, passing through the Palermo Lakes and Rose Garden.

Lagos de Palermo and Rosedal are 2 iconic places to meet friends, go for a kick, run, use roller skates, bikes and enjoy a picnic. You can also rent peddle boats and row boats to go around the lakes. And if you are into Roses you can explore the amazing variety they have in the Rosedal.

This is the place chosen by many porteños and bonaerenses to spend the weekends, specially on sunny days and to celebrate El dia de La Primavera, which is the first day of Spring and also the National Student day.

There are many places to explore around this area: Hipodromo de Palermo, Zoo, Rosedal, Lagos de Palermo, Jardin Botanico, Jardin Japones, La Rural, El Planetario.

There are also many monuments to see while walking from one point to another. My favourite one is located right outside of the Japanese Gardens, in Plaza Republic Of Iran and it’s a Persian column with two bulls facing opposite sides. This column is a copy of a the columns located in Persepolis and was donated by the Sha of Iran. You can find it in the intersection of Av. Figueroa Alcorta and Sarmiento. By the way there is another «monumental» monument in the roundabout of Av. Sarmiento and Av. Del Libertador, is the monument to the Magna Carta and the Four Regions, which by the way is not know for this at all!! As we call it Monumento a los Españoles