Buenos Aries which neighbourhood to stay?

[happy_travellers]

We have booked a 2022 cruise starting in Buenos Aries. Wondering which neighbourhood would be best to stay in hotel for 3-4 nights. Looking for safety, ease to take tours and restaurants. We are in our early 60's, love photography and enjoy travelling in general.   Any don't miss is sights also appreciated. Thanks for any and all help.

[happy_travellers]

I have narrowed it down to the Palermo area, Centro or Puerto Madero.  Since we will be taking tours just wondering which area would be most convenient. Thanks

 

[vakamalua]

We stayed in Recoleta for several days and highly recommend it.  A lovely neighborhood.  Always felt safe walking around including in the evening after dinner.   A number of good restaurants and close to the Recoleta Cemetery--a don't miss in Buenos Aires worth a few hours of wandering.

 

We stayed at the Melia Recoleta Plaza--was one of the former homes of Fist Lady Eva Peron.  In a great location with a convenience store and currency exchange across the street.  Their breakfast was good with good selections.  They have a small but very good restaurant in the lobby and a great Jazz club operates some nights in the lower level.  The staff is good--they arranged VIP Tango show/lesson for us and a private car to the cruise port.  We took two wonderful private tours that picked up at the hotel--one of the city and a day at an Estancia (PM me if you want contact info on the tours).

 

Enjoy BA--it's a lovely historical city.

[happy_travellers]

Thank you for the reply. I will look it up. In other debarkation or embarkation ports there seems to be a clear cut area to stay but in BA I do not get that feeling. So many neighbourhoods with different pros and cons. The idea of private tours with hotel pick up is a great idea.

Thanks again.

Edited October 25, 2020 by happy_travellers

[TeeRick]

We used Defrantur Tours in Buenos Aires as we got many positive recommendations for them here on CC.  They are excellent.  We used them to pick us up at the cruise port and drop us off at the airport and for private tours in between.  Excellent, inexpensive and highly reliable.  I do hope they are still in business!

[Traveling Library]

We've stayed at the Hilton in Puerto Madero. The HoHo stops right outside the hotel but you need to buy the tickets online before hand. From here you can easily walk to the Casa Rosada (sometimes open to the public on weekends) and the other sights in downtown BA. We also walked to La Boca (and took a taxi back) and the next day walked to Ricoleta (and took a taxi back). Also a tour of Teatro Colon is very interesting. They offer English language tours. Depending on how long you'll be in BA you may want to take the BuqueBus (a fast ferry) to Uruguay to see Colonia for a day trip.

We've used Tours by Locals, tour guide Andres M. (M is for Miguel).  He has taken us on a boat ride in the Tigre River Delta with a stop for lunch (extra) in the Delta. He also took us to the Memory Park which is very moving and while in the Delta you'll pass Sarmiento's Glass House.  A very lovely and relaxing trip. Both times he picked us up at the port and dropped us off at the airport.

What ever you do, have fun and enjoy some of the best beef in the world!

 

[happy_travellers]

Thank you for the replies. The hint of walking to the different neighbourhoods and taking taxi's back is very useful. We are planning on a DIY to Colonia, glad to hear you enjoyed it. I will look up the tour guides you both recommended. Wondering how you felt in Puerto Madero in the evening, enough to do, safe? TeeRick where did you stay, would you recommend?    Traveling Library I get from your posts that the neighbourhoods are fairly close together, from reading tour books I did not get that feeling so that is encouraging. Cheers.

[Heartfelttraveler]

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Puerto Madero in March 2020.  The Hotel was clean and in an excellent location.  We walked to shopping, restaurants, and sightseeing.  We have planned an Antarctica trip in 2022 (twice postponed thanks to Covid) and plan to stay there again.  We felt very safe, although a lot can change in two years.

 

Since you will be in BA for three or four nights you might want to consider a trip to Iguazu Falls.  We spent three nights there at the Gran Melia right in the park on the Argentina side.  We took a day trip to the Brazil side.  It was one of the highlights of our South America trip and we would love to go back again.

[happy_travellers]

On 11/4/2020 at 9:58 AM, Heartfelttraveler said:

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Puerto Madero in March 2020.  The Hotel was clean and in an excellent location.  We walked to shopping, restaurants, and sightseeing.  We have planned an Antarctica trip in 2022 (twice postponed thanks to Covid) and plan to stay there again.  We felt very safe, although a lot can change in two years.

 

Since you will be in BA for three or four nights you might want to consider a trip to Iguazu Falls.  We spent three nights there at the Gran Melia right in the park on the Argentina side.  We took a day trip to the Brazil side.  It was one of the highlights of our South America trip and we would love to go back again.

Thank you for the advice. I have seen that Hotel on line, good to know it was convenient.  Iguazo Falls does look amazing just not sure if we have the time. I was born and raised 12 miles from Niagara Falls Ontario and it is still my favourite place in the world, just the power of the water gets me everytime. Did you happen to take the ferry to Equador for the day?  Again ,thank you.

[Heartfelttraveler]

happy_travellers - Iguazu Falls is spectacular.  Niagra is a drip in comparison.  (Although we were supposed to go to Niagra for New Years.  Thanks to COVID, Canada's travel ban made this trip impossible.)

 

Buesos Aires is a fun city to explore.  And very inexpensive.  If you end up staying in Puerto Madero and like leather goods, go to the Galerias Pacifico Mall.  El Boyero had great prices on hand made leather goods.  When we go back, I am bringing an empty duffle just for that store.

 

Also, when you get a cab from the airport to the hotel or port, you will go to a kiosk and enter all your information.  It will then give you a price which you accept or decline and a ticket is produced.  Then you get in line for the taxi.  There is an attendant there that will show your ticket to the taxi driver and he will transfer you for that amount.  From the hotel, I would have the hotel arrange your transportation with a set amount paid to the hotel.  Transit was very inexpensive.

 

Are you ending up in Valparaiso or San Antonio?  Will you spend any time in San Antonio?

[happy_travellers]

Thank you. You can always stay on the US side in Niagara Falls, they have added some new viewing areas over the last few years. They also now have the Maid of the Mist on the US side. Yes covid has made it difficult to travel especially since we probably took travelling across our border for granted. We will be stopping in San Antonio for a port stop, any suggestions. We have 6 more stops after San Antonio before departing in Florida. The taxi advise is fantastic. Thanks again.

[Heartfelttraveler]

On 11/16/2020 at 7:04 PM, happy_travellers said:

Thank you. You can always stay on the US side in Niagara Falls, they have added some new viewing areas over the last few years. They also now have the Maid of the Mist on the US side. Yes covid has made it difficult to travel especially since we probably took travelling across our border for granted. We will be stopping in San Antonio for a port stop, any suggestions. We have 6 more stops after San Antonio before departing in Florida. The taxi advise is fantastic. Thanks again.

We stayed in Santiago for three nights prior to our cruise.  It is about 90 minutes from the port of San Antonio.  One of the things we loved in Santiago was the Cable Car up and Funicular down the mountain.  At the top is a chapel (lots of stairs to the top) some restaurants and food carts.  At the bottom of the Cable Car is a park, and at the bottom of the Funicular is a gift shop, some outdoor gift stalls and restaurants.  (See attached map)

Valparaiso (90 minute drive) is the other port town.  It is much more charming and artsy than San Antonio.

[happy_travellers]

On 11/18/2020 at 10:29 PM, Heartfelttraveler said:

We stayed in Santiago for three nights prior to our cruise.  It is about 90 minutes from the port of San Antonio.  One of the things we loved in Santiago was the Cable Car up and Funicular down the mountain.  At the top is a chapel (lots of stairs to the top) some restaurants and food carts.  At the bottom of the Cable Car is a park, and at the bottom of the Funicular is a gift shop, some outdoor gift stalls and restaurants.  (See attached map)

Valparaiso (90 minute drive) is the other port town.  It is much more charming and artsy than San Antonio.

Thank you!  I hope you get to do your next  booked cruises. We did a 26 day South Pacific cruise in April/May 2019 after spending time in Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand. It was wonderful, Rangiroa and Bora Bora were our favourites.

[snichols23]

December 2019 we stayed at a Hilton property in San Telmo. Wonderful old part of town. Great restaurants and very close to open air markets. Several cruisers stayed there. Right across from square with nightly tango dancers. 

[happy_travellers]

Anselmo?  Did you find it safe in the evenings? Thank you for the suggestion.

 

[kathynorth]

We also stayed at the BA Hilton in Puerto Madero and enjoyed the location as a home base. We planned out our day and walked to whatever we wanted to see, then took a cab back to the hotel. Cab rates were very reasonable ($3-10 depending on distance), but be sure you have lots of Argentine pesos available to pay the drivers as they don't take USD or credit cards. BA felt about as safe as any city is at night. There were lots of people milling about at all hrs, but we did notice that many people walked around with backpacks on their fronts instead of their backs. The hotel front desk attendant told us that is to prevent people from snatching them away. We had a wonderful meal at Cabana las Lilas, which is about 2 blocks from the Hilton. 

[clo]

We've stayed twice in Recoleta twice, once in a hotel and once in an airbnb. It's a great walkable nabe with the cemetary of course being a great attraction. And, oh, the food is so good. As I believe I remember BA was founded by Italians and, boy, can you tell it! Fantastic. Around the corner from our apt was a shop that sold house made pastas and sauces. And an Italian deli about a block down. And on an on. And, at least a year ago, it was so inexpensive. Two entrees, dessert and a bottle of wine for US$30. And enough there for a second meal. We will be going back. Some day. (Dang, I'm tired of writing that.)