Psyduck1

Hello everyone,

I'm doing my best to read through the sticky forums but still have a few questions for my upcoming solo trip.

I arrive on August 20th and leave on August 28th, and I'll be staying at the Park Tower. I chose Park Tower because of a good deal with Delta/SPG and my corporate discount. I'm second guessing the location, it seems like Palermo and Recoleta are mentioned more frequently.

Anyways, with 8 nights I'd like to plan 2-3 day trips. Maybe Colonia, Tigre, or an Estancia. Will the August weather make any of these trips more or less enjoyable and would you recommend doing one, two or all three? Any other options are welcome!

It seems like food prices have gone up and Buenos Aires is not a cheap destination anymore. Most food pricing I can find is from before the official and blue rates converged. How much should I expect to spend per day on food? I'd like to go very cheap on breakfast unless there are some local gems worth trying, and hopefully keep lunch costs low as well. I was looking at ilatina for dinner at 1880 pesos including wine. This seems pretty expensive, is it what I should expect to pay for most nice dinners?

Also, will my hotel location require me to take a lot of taxis? Any guesses on the cost to taxi from Park Tower to Palermo?

Thanks for any help. I'll be looking through all of the forums to see what questions are already answered.

Psyduck1

Sorry for the long winded post!

Panam Clipper

For inexpensive breakfasts walk a couple of blocks on Florida and just past the Plaza Hotel you'll find plenty of cafes; ask for a couple of media lunas. Taxis are not expensive but you can catch the Subte to go most places around the city. There's a station on Plaza San Martin near the Plaza Hotel and an even closer one to the Park Tower in Retiro just across the square past the clock tower.

Flying Machine

Psyduck1 Welcome to FT! Food in general would not be that expensive. When walking around (BsAs) is a great city in which to do the same.. You will run into all types of places. Mostly in residential neighborhoods you can find a few steals.. Inexpensive steak lunches, empanadas for snacks.. Along with many other tasty options as well. Take your feet to the ground and your head out of the guidebook and you will be pleasantly surprised. I like the Palermo Viejo neighborhood for many of these options (also look for the Clubs) each neighborhood has a Club. They tend to be sports minded and serve great food at very reasonable prices. The one in Palermo is really good for a Milanesa. Have fun.. Great town..

MSPeconomist

Colonia is a good place to spend a day. The hydrofoils leave from a terminal very close to your hotel, a very easy walk. If possible, buy tickets in advance for some cheaper days and times--weekends are likely to be popular with BsAs families. I had a good meal there with wine from Uruguay.

IME 1880 for dinner for one person with wine would be considered extremely expensive here. I would expect something like two-star Michelin quality and ambience for this price.

Flying Machine

Take a look at SeaCat if considering Colonia or MVD (and if booking use the Uruguay site) way less expensive than Buquebus. Same Treminal and sometimes same hydrofoil. You can do an inexpensive overnight in MVD with some of their packages as well.

Psyduck1

Thanks for all of the tips!

Gaucho100K

AR$1880 pesos for a high-end multi-course menu with premium wines is a reasonable price. It is true that for local standards this would be an expensive meal, but for a visitor that is not the right comparison benchmark.

I'm now in the middle of the high-season for my foreign clients and am regularly doing multi-course dinners/lunches with parallel wine tastings, and 99% of my clients are amazed at the value of the high-end dining options in Buenos Aires.

I think that the low and mid-end food offerings offer the least value in Buenos Aires, but its specifically on the high-end of the spectrum that you can really see the pricing differences with any large US or European City.

Psyduck1

Very good point that I hadn't considered. For a true high end chef's tasting menu with wine pairing, I would pay closer to $4000 pesos in my US city. Probably much more in bigger cities like DC or NYC.

MSPeconomist

BTW, you should check out the COW DO threads in Community Buzz for recent years. This is an informal gathering in Buesnos Aires over Labor Day weekend centered around Argentinian wine and food, mostly steak, so you're just missing it, but the lists of restaurants, descriptions, and comments on the experience could be very useful to you.