Overview
** BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA **
Read travel tips for Buenos Aires, Argentina from our amazing community of BLACK AND BROWN TRAVELERS that will help you find some of the best places to visit Buenos Aires, Argentina. Our variety of travel tips will definitely help you plan your next trip. Our tips range from best places to visit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, affordability, nightlife, local food, where to stay and even what it is like Traveling While Black. Lastly, we are working diligently to create a comprehensive city guide for Buenos Aires, Argentina. Stay tuned! But in the meantime, scroll down to read tips below!
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I ended up going to Buenos Aires this past week with a friend.
Although the flight was very long, it was definitely nice to be in a warm climate for the middle of November! Most of our Uber drivers proved not to be Argentinian but rather Peruvian or Venezuelan. They were very very friendly and one even helped us get a hotel when the hotel that we booked wasn’t available to check in until late. Walking around, me being black, and my friend being white, I didn’t notice any particular looks. But my friend said she was keeping an eye out lol. When I was out and about by myself, I did see people looking at me, but that literally is because 99% of the population looks white. So I can understand they hardly ever see dark skinned person, which I talked to my Uber driver about because I was asked several times if I was Brazilian !
Yes the exchange rate is amazing – I got a four course meal with wine and apertif for $40 !! So the plane ticket as many others have said is expensive but the exchange rate definitely makes up for it. The hotel I had the last few days was bigger than my NYC studio apartment and cost $120 for two nights and spoke multiple languages, just not English, so be warned I speak enough Spanish, and generally get by, even when taking into account, the Argentinian accent not being familiar to my ear. If I had the chance to go back, I would go back with a romantic partner.
If you�re into tango, La Paila in Palermo (Costa Rica 4848) is a wonderful place with a great milonga! The events were Wednesdays nights and Saturday afternoons when I visited. It was BIPOC and LGBTQ+ friendly. Most people there speak Spanish, but I knew enough to get by. I had a great time dancing with my friends and meeting new people. The floor is so smooth it was easy to dance even in sandals when I forgot my shoes!
CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA!!
Argentina wasn’t our favorite and we did a 22-day South American trip. We found the people there to be a bit unfriendly, rude and unhelpful. We went in July so it was cold and rainy.
We did however like the tango lessons we did. That was probably the highlight of the trip.
There was also a protest and the streets were blocked so it took forever to get around.
Definitely see the Igazu Falls from the Argentina side and if you can stay at the Belmond Hotel overlooking the Falls.
One of my favorite cities in the world! There is so much history, so much to do, and the nightlife is second to none. I was told by a woman that I was dating down there however that Black people are really looked down on there. For instance, her being seen with a Black man is somewhat of a novelty and we got stares in public often because of it. There are not many people that have dark or even medium complexions and this is the cause of the stares. Historically, when Africans came to fight the Brazilians, they were all put on the front line and most were killed, leaving not many to intermix with the European population that was there.
While certainly sleepier than its neighbor to the north (Brazil), Argentina’s federal capital is a charming and expansive city. It took me a few days to warm up to it, but once I did I enjoyed what it had to offer.
As a result of the currency exchange and the depressed peso, Buenos Aires is very affordable for Americans. The flights are not cheap, but once you get here you will more than make up for that. I stayed at a hotel that I would consider 3.5 star for about $35 per night including breakfast. I also got an excellent haircut for the equivalent of $6 USD.
Tons of great, instgrammable street art abounds in BA, and you should definitely visit Palermo Soho. It’s my favorite neighborhood in the city and has incredible murals, restaurant and bars. Have lunch at Don Julio’s and then explore from there.
Through Airbnb experience, my friend found a dance class and evening called “Tango class, learn and feel” that I highly recommend. Your host Manuel welcomes you into his home studio where he and his partner teach small groups all about tango. The evening concludes with more tango, live music and great food at Bar Los Laureles. Locals and visitors alike rave about this restaurant and rightfully so. I had some of the best empanadas I have ever had here. They were so good I could dream about them. Manuel stays with you throughout the evening and makes the experience that much more enjoyable as he can easily help with your order and make recommendations. He and his partner did a beautiful tango with the band playing at around 10pm – it was a highlight of my trip.
It is true that you won’t see many people of the African diaspora here, but I did not find that to be any issue. Nor do I feel as though I was ever treated unfairly or rude. I would return to Buenos Aires if the opportunity arises.
Buenos Aires has a lot of good and unique and delicious food to offer and one of the good things about that is that it is pretty affordable (coming from Europe). When exploring the city be sure to keep an eye out for:
– the Parilla’s the place where you can eat Argentinian meat prepared on an iron cast barbecue. I could recommend Bife de Chorizo, Ojo de Bife and Asado de Tira. I had these at Parilla Cero5 in Retiro where I also had my AirBnB, it’s a safe and wealthy neighbourhood.
– Dulche de Leche, Argentina’s creamier version of caramel.
– Alfajores: cookies fillwd with dulche de leche.
– Maté: it’s the national drink of Argentina. If you like strong tea you’ll probably also like maté. It resembles the taste of tea but it’s quite stronger and more bitter.
Travelling while black. I never felt stared at or mistreated because of my appearance. However I can’t speak Spanish and some people were less patient, others saw I tried and were friendly and helpful.
If you‘re in Buenos Aires you should definitely go see La Boca its a district with lots of colorful buildings and a nice street market. If you like to go out I recommend to go bar hopping in Palermo or go to Presidente Bar in Retiro. Beside that I would recommend to take a trip from Buenos Aires to Iguazú to see the waterfall it’s one of the seven natural wonders. It’s a 1-2 hours flight but it’s worth it! You can fly there as a day trip or stay over night.
I went to Buenos Aires in February for my birthday. Interesting fact – Argentina’s population of European ethnicity constitutes 97% of the population. This disturbing figure proved apparent during my trip – I could count on both hands the amount of black people I saw during my stay in BA – a country so whitewashed. I was constantly stared at as if I do not belong. I thought deeply about why people stare and, I realized it’s just natural human behavior. Think of how Africans react when they see white people for the first time. Yes, some reactions by Argentines were racist and ignorant, but some were just human curiosity. However, there are good people and bad people everywhere and my positive experience was encountered by good Argentineans. Food was relatively cheap; eat great steak and drink a bottle of Great wine for about $60 in the local restaurants. I stayed at an Airbnb was also about $40/night.
EAT STEAK and drink wine. This has to be the biggest, most inexpensive, succulent steak I’ve ever eaten. Its amazing. Go to take pictures in La Boca, so cute village with all the colorful houses…they dance salsa everywhere in the streets..so learn that too ! The cemetery is also very cool to take a look at.. Recoleta is the name of a famous one.
I went to visit my oncle in Mar del PLata, on the Atlantic Coast of Agentina. I could’nt leave before visiting Buenos Aires.
Since it was a short stay (three days) before going back to Paris, I decided to book some activities with a local travelling agency (MagicTravel Buenos Aires /street Florida 681 Loja 26).
I have selected: the City Tour, a cruise on the Delta del Tigre rio and a Tango show with dinner (almost 120$in total). I had an amazing time and the people of the agency were really friendly. If you need advice you can also call them or just look at the catalogue it will give you some ideas to plan your trip.
As BA is the city of Design, I also went to visit the Metropolitan Design Center and the Museo National de Art Decorativo. There are several others museum in the area.
Travelling while black was fine I was alone and had no issue connecting with people on the street, restaurant, hotel ect…
There’s so much to do in Buenos Aires. One of the highlights of my trip was discovering the art and history of the tango! In addition to watching several incredible tango shows in the city I also had a private lesson with a local instructor. The tango dance lesson was excellent. I don’t know if I ever really learned the dance but I had so much fun trying. Travelers visiting Buenos Aires have numerous options for tango experiences, from live professional performances, to dance clubs with locals or lessons.
My travel experience to Argentina Buenos Aires was SPECTACULAR to say the least.
I must admit, I underestimated how much of a great experience it would be. I really didn’t think I was going to enjoy myself in this Country, but I did. I would recommend anyone to travel to this hidden gem of Buenos Aires.
There is something magical about this city, it’s a mixture of colonialists and settlers from Spain, Italy, France. The street are bustling with activity all day and late into the night. Something I found interesting is that dinner in the city starts at 9pm and clubs open at 1am so you can imagine that this is a city that never sleeps.
Buenos Aires is comprised of 47 neighbourhoods, each with it’s own identity which somehow links the city into one European explosion in South America. Here you will find all types of people, from the super rich to the poor yet somehow the city works in perfect harmony.
It was quite interesting to see that there are little to no black people encountered through our travels to this country, yet the locals were friendly and helpful towards us even though we couldn’t speak their language and they couldn’t speak English. I must admit though , my senses were heightened in terms of me being aware that I am black and not because I was made to feel that way, but because there weren’t too many people that looked like me. Don’t be discouraged by this though, the people in this country treat tourist well and provide outstanding service.
Things To Do:
1. Bicycle Tour Of The City: this was undoubtedly the best experience out of all the experiences we had in Buenos Aires. With this tour you are able to take in what the city has to offer without being rushed, you are able to visit places that a city bus tour cannot take you. The best part s riding a bike through the bustling city , through traffic, through 27 lanes all going in one direction . It really is an adrenaline rush.
2. City Bus Tour: not my favourite activity, but I would certainly recommend it so that you are able to see the entire city and later return to do a bicycle tour through the specific places you had more of an interest in.
3. Japanese Gardens: these gardens were a gift from the Japanese , they are perfectly manicured and maintained. There is a sense of peace and feeling like you are outside of the busy city. Entrance to the gardens was about $4 per person. There is also a Japanese restaurant that serves decent foods and good Sushi at a reasonable price, an average meal for two will cost you about $30.
Tips:
1. Language: I would advise that you learn a little bit of Spanish as it is the official language and many of the locals either struggle to speak English or cannot speak English at all. This makes getting around difficult. We google translate in many instances, but that also needs Wifi or fr you to have an international sim card or network service provider.
2. International Sim Card: this was extremely helpful because . we didn’t alway have strong Wifi in the hotel, the city does not offer Wifi either so this sim card came in handy for when we wanted to order an Uber or get directions back to the hotel.
3. Using Uber/Taxis: the transport system is this country is quiet advanced and easy to use. We however opted for Uber because it was as easy as requesting it from the comfort of your bed. I must warn though that Uber receives some challenges from other taxi operators so you need to be careful.
4. Do not drink the tap water, many of the locals do not drink tap water and I would advise that you stick t bottled water.
5. Pack comfortable shoes: your main means of commuting is walking so comfortable shoes are a must . The city is safe enough for you to walk everyone and finding your way around is as simple as finding the centre of the city.
If you are considering going to Argentina, stop considering and visit this little Paris of South America.
Eat lots of steak…. It’s offered for breakfast, lunch and dinner seriously!
The nightlife scene in Buenos Aires is insane-it doesn’t even get started until 4AM! I went to Buenos Aires with a group of friends while in Business school, some of whom had been to Buenos Aires before and knew the deal when it came to nightlife. You will finds that dinners start extremely late (9 or 10PM) and after having a steak so late you will probably need a nap. After taking a 2hr nap, we started getting ready to go out around 2AM and got to the club around 4PM with the goal of staying out until the sun came out (which we successfully did). After the let out around 7AM we got some food and went back to get a few hours of sleep before taking on the next day.
Buenos Aires is my second home, I studied abroad there for 7 months. Looking back, I miss so much about this city. Argentine empanadas are the best empanadas in the world. Dulce de leche, choripan, alfajores, parrilla…I could go on. I really recommend learning about the countries history and going slightly outside of the city to El Rio Tigre for a day. The market in Plaza Francia in Recoleta was my favorite to buy artesian souvenirs. Buenos Aires is such a vibrant city, I fully recommend spending a few days in the city and then exploring other parts of the country!