Safety in Buenos Aires

[Alberta Quilter]

Good Morning! My sister and I are planning to cruise from BA in early 2025.  We plan to arrive at least one day prior to our cruise, probably two days.  I'm wondering if we should bite the bullet and pay for a pre cruise hotel/tour with the cruise line.  I did this before when my mother and I went fourteen years ago but it does add significantly to the cost (hotel and tour info are not yet posted on the cruise line website).  My sister has never been so I'm sure she will want to do some touring.  Any idea how safe it is for two women on their own (who don't speak Spanish)?  We do know not to be flashing any bling but I'm sure we'll still stand out as tourists.

 

Thank you for your help!

[Torquer]

We just got back from a tour we took on disembarkation day with a private guide, so we didn't stay overnight by ourselves.  The city seemed very safe to us, and we would not hesitate to stay there by ourselves in the future.  It seemed and felt just like a major European city.  So if you have done that in the past where you don't speak the language, you should be fine in BA.

[GeorgeCharlie]

May be best to hire a local guide to show you around, while at the same time offering an increased level of security. When we were in BA in the fall of 2022 we used a small independent operator and found him to be an excellent guide - along with having very competitive rates.

 

His name is Tomás Hughes and his website is http://www.bonaventuratrips.com/

 

[Mercruiser]

We recently spent 3 nights in B.A. post-cruise plus another 2 days at Iguazu Falls. We had a great time and its a very enjoyable city.

 

If your time is flexible, I'd suggest having two full days in B.A, followed by your cruise embarkation.

Here are a few suggestions:

• We stayed at the Park Tower (which is in the same building as the Sheraton). I'd recommend either one of these. The location is good and the service level is really high.
• We took a half-day Viator city tour to get familiar with the top sites, then toured on our own afterwards using Uber to get around. Uber prices are about 1/4 of what they would be in a North American or European city. We used Uber multiple times per day.
• We spent 6 weeks in South America on this trip. We don't speak Spanish. It was never had a problem that could not be solved using Google Translate.
• Pay for everything with a credit card. See my post on that:

[cccole]

We really enjoyed Buenos Aires.  Our ship overnighted at the end of the cruise and on the day we docked we had a private guide who tailor made a tour for us.  It was a a great day. I will be happy to provide his contact info if you would like.  He is originally from New York and has lived in BA for 17 years. 

 

After our trip to Iguazzu we stayed one night at the Buenos Aires Hotel and Convention Center.  That night we walked a few blocks to dinner and enjoyed the area with the park.  We felt very safe.

 

Others have said that they did not get Argentine pesos but on the first day we exchanged U.S. $ for pesos with someone our guide knew.  It was really nice not to have to use a card when making small purchases or even buying dinner.  We did use our Mastercard travel card a few times but small convenience stores really did not want U.S. $.  We paid our tour guide in U.S. $.  Also, since BA is at the beginning of your cruise you will probably have the opportunity to use the pesos at other ports.  We stopped at Ushuia and Puerto Madryn.  

 

BA is a beautiful city.  Cherie

Edited March 25 by cccole

[cccole]

Also, if I were staying more than 1 night I would consider the hotels suggested in DaMom's thread in the Recoleta and Palermo districts.  Cherie

[soccermom4]

We spent 3 days in BA before a cruise last spring.  What a great city!  I have an Argentinian friend so went with her recommendations.  Recoleta - bigger, fancier hotels.  Palermo - small boutique hotels with more "character".  We stayed in Palermo and took taxis or walked everywhere.  Never felt unsafe.  Just never put your phone on a restaurant table - or it may be snatched (happened to someone on our cruise).  We plan to return next Spring and are looking forward to it.

[newmexone]

On 3/24/2024 at 9:50 AM, Alberta Quilter said:

Good Morning! My sister and I are planning to cruise from BA in early 2025.  We plan to arrive at least one day prior to our cruise, probably two days.  I'm wondering if we should bite the bullet and pay for a pre cruise hotel/tour with the cruise line.  I did this before when my mother and I went fourteen years ago but it does add significantly to the cost (hotel and tour info are not yet posted on the cruise line website).  My sister has never been so I'm sure she will want to do some touring.  Any idea how safe it is for two women on their own (who don't speak Spanish)?  We do know not to be flashing any bling but I'm sure we'll still stand out as tourists.

 

Thank you for your help!

We (2 women) were in Buenos Aires last month before our cruise.  We had no problem and we did a lot of walking from our hotel, Wyndham Tango and sites like the San Telmo Market ( about 1 1/2 miles).  We used Uber to get to the cruise port which worked well.  We did arrange an airport pick up with David.transfertaxi@gmail.com. He was top rated on TripAdvisor.  He also does tours should you decide to consider that option.  

[00649]

We also stayed at the Wyndham Tango in Jan. pre cruise for 7 days. Loved the hotel, the staff were super helpfull and location was great.