I wrote a Buenos Aires guide with recommendations and tips for a group of friends I was traveling with in December 2021, and I figured it might be useful to other people too. I adore Buenos Aires and spend about a month each year there, so I'm always thrilled to hear when friends are going to spend time in the city, and I love sharing what I know about the place with newcomers.

Buenos Aires is an underrated city. My friends are often surprised to hear that it's similar to Barcelona, and that several neighborhoods could have come straight out of Paris, if it weren't for the Spanish signs on the shops. Its pasta, pizza, and gelato rival that of any Italian city — people don't realize that over 60% of Argentines have some Italian ancestry, and they kept Italian food traditions alive when they came over to the New World. (Personally, I think Argentinian gelato is even better than Italian gelato...)

Buenos Aires is also very cheap. Of all the places I've been, BsAs has the highest ratio of quality of life to cost of living. A 10-minute taxi ride will cost you 50¢, and a spacious AirBNB in the nicest neighborhoods in the city can cost as little as $20 USD per night. The most expensive meal I've ever had in Argentina came out to $40 USD, and that was at one of the fanciest restaurants in the entire country.

I could gush about Argentina endlessly, but I'll stop there and just point you to the guide I wrote:


The guide is focused on practical details like COVID tests, how to exchange money, restaurants, and that sort of thing. There are so many interesting things to share about Argentina's culture, monetary system, urban planning, history, and beyond, but those will come in separate posts in the future. In the meantime, you might find some of these tidbits interesting.

I hope you have an amazing time while you're in Argentina!