Argentina has never been an inexpensive destination. The value proposition varies, depending on the relative exchange rate. As pointed above, now is a very good time to come down, as the values can be very good to excellent.... but, Argentina is not a budget destination. The world is large and there are plenty of "cheap" places to visit..... Argentina isn't one of them.

Sadly, I do have to agree with Hiddy in his comments above about Service. Argentina is still very much "in diapers" when it comes to treating tourists. A lot of folks that work with and are in the tourism industry still see visitors as walking ATMs, and this is the worst possible approach. Visitors that come, have a good time and are treated fairly will provide invaluable word-of-mouth and encourage their friends/acquaintances to visit.... that kind of publicity cannot be bought, no matter how high your marketing budget is.

Thanks to all the regular visitors to these forums that help potential visitors to Argentina gather information... I couldn't do it all by myself !!!

Cheers from EZE,
Alex / Gaucho100K

This was my impression also. Certain things, especially transportation, were fiendishly expensive. If we hadn't been extremely careful to use Blue dollars wherever we could, the whole trip would have been ruinous, but with Blue dollars it was fair value. I loved it all but hated dealing with Blue dollars. There are many places in the world where you can get better value without the hassle and Argentina only loses by doing business in this way.

lhrsfo , Please let us know what transport you found expensive.

With the exception of car hire most other transport seems reasonable to me

Yes not everyone feels comfortable dealing in Blue dollars. I know someone who was worried they would have to knock on a door up some dark back alley with the chance of being mugged or arrested.
It gives out the wrong message and does the country no favours.

Why is that? Every Argentine I know deals with Blue? Many people have agents come to their home via a mobile service. I go to a Cuerva In a very nice neighborhood, with bulletproof glass windows just like a bank come and a police man outside most of the days. It�s a very vibrant location and most are either changing pesos into dollars for savings, or withdrawing dollars for spending money. I feel very comfortable.

We're taking about foreign visitors especially first time ones to the country, not Argentines....the locals are the ones who got us into this mess in the first place.

I agree 100% with malagajohn on this.... perhaps domestic airfares for non residents is also an area where relative pricing is not very attractive in Argentina. Aside from the noted Car Rental Costs, all other forms of transportation are good to very good value - especially for visitors.

Exacto. For many / most international travelers, the concepts of (1) traveling with and relying on cash, and (2) having to go through a non-official route to get it, are the issues. Also, the wads of cash that one must walk around with are a bit "unreasonable" again ... Until the new Nestor, Hugo and Fidel notes are printed (and who knows how much they'll be worth once coming into circulation).

I actually disagree, most flyers whom travel internationally are somewhat savvy these days. Especially Flyertalkers! Isn�t that what Flyertalk is all about. There are Cuevas in every neighborhood, even the posh ones. For me I know several and it�s not that hard to dip in there and just cash a $100 dollar bill or several at a time. Wasn�t there a post a while back that people were stating that blue makes sense once again. When the margins are low I totally understand, but it�s something to look into.

Oh, Blue makes sense, and I further sense it will be another 4 years or so before I visit another ATM in La Patria. save some urgent situation, but being savvy and being chronically inconvenienced by currency matters are different things. Compound this with the fact that the US$ gets you more, so our � and � and other friends first need to buy their $ to then bring to La Arg to change into AR$ for "maximum value."

My recent visit to BA beg Feb 2020.
Easy and safe exchange at Florida at 73 pesos per USD.
Then a huge bife de lomo at London Steak House at Florida 800 pesos.
Then a bottle of Malbec there at 390 pesos.
Then a taxi from there to Plaza Dorrego (San Telmo) for 215 pesos (the driver received 250 pesos and thanked profoudly).
Who says it's not a bargain (for the time being, at least)? :-)

My previous visit, 2 years ago: the exchange rate at Florida was 17 pesos/$ and the prices in pesos were half of those quoted above.

Please allow me to Congratulate you on your positive "attitude" with your review and how you seem to have enjoyed your trip. Its all too often that I have to read about folks that come down and spend a very relevant (if not all) amount of their time and energy trying to squeeze out each and every last peso out of their hard currency, are constantly crunching numbers and benchmarking what costs more here or there..... its hard to understand how these folks can have a good time while on "vacation". I think your approach to relax, look more at the positives rather than the negatives is the guaranteed way to have a GREAT trip and create memorable moments that will last a life-time.

Please let me know next time you are in EZE, I would be most happy to treat you to a bottle of a nice small production Malbec.

Cheers,
Alex / Gaucho100K

I have been lagging in thanking you for your kind offer of Malbec. Sorry about that but you know the reason.
I hoped the corona vaccination cards would give a way to return to normalcy but apparently it's NOT going to happen soon.
Nth wave of pandemia in Europe and airtickets skyrocketing...
Will I ever be able to be in the beloved Buenos again?

Borders are re-opening on November 1st for fully vaccinated tourists from (most) destinations. Please check the other threads for more information.