Hello Jim, welcome to FT and thank you for visiting Argentina. We are happy you chose to come and hope you have a great stay.

Buenos Aires is rather European in its dress code. Sightseeing is entirely up to the tourist, with the exception of visits to some Churches and other official buildings, where very very casual clothing may be noted and could possibly inconvenience entrance.

In terms of dining out and evening shows, dress code rules is the same as in most Western Capitals, although like Ive said above the European influence means that Ladies will usually dress up to go and and attend shows/theater. No need to go full gown unless its a Gala function of sorts, but I would not use shorts & tank tops for anything after 6-7pm.

Hope this helps...

Cheers,
Gaucho

The Ibis was one of two hotels I stayed at in BA a couple weeks ago. One of these days when I have more time I'll do a more complete trip report of my first visit to the city (Wow!), but for the meantime...the Ibis specifically.....

Incredibly cheap. 81 pesos per night. Nice view of the plaza in front of the hotel. VERY comfortable bed. Like a futon. Small room, and not much storage space, but we made it work. Not much shelf space in the bathroom to store "products." Very helpful people at the front desk. Will make lunch and dinner reservations for you all over town.

(BTW, Thanks to whoever recommended Parilla 1880 on Defensa, San Telmo-ish. GREAT!)

What sucked about the Ibis was the very thin walls and connecting room doors. You will not be happy if you have folks next door to you who are loud. If you are loud, you'll piss off the neighbors VERY easily. Room temperature. When we were there it was very warm for early spring (so I thought) and the building apparently can only offer heat OR air conditioning. It was still on heat when we were there. Even with the window open (it doesn't open much) we sometimes broiled at night.

Finally, upon arrival, I left them with 5 shirts to send out for pressing. Only 4 came back. They were helpful in trying to find out what happened and made steps to try to recover my shirt, but didn't seem overly sympathetic. They knew I was extremely pissed off about losing that shirt.

While in Buenos Aires, should I bother with exchanging money? Or should I just bring US $$?

I suggest you bring US$ cash (so you dont have to pay ATM fees). However, please do exchange your Dollars for Pesos, but dont do so at the airport or the hotel. Go to a money changer where you will get the best possible rate - check with your hotel concierge who will be able to give you directions to the nearest one.

If he's a Citibank N.A. customer can't he use the Citibank Argentina ATMs for no charge and get the best exchange rate?

No charge ATM usage will depend on each individual agreement with your bank. You are right that Citibank does offer no fee ATM usage in some locations - and yes, the FX rate is usually quite good. There are enough Citibank branches around Buenos Aires so finding one should not be a problem.

How much are ATM fees on average, not including any fees my own bank would charge?

I used to haul a ton of cash with me, enough to pay for all my daily expenses. But after a couple of trips down there I decided that the 2 or 3 percent that I might save trading on the black market wasn't worth the stress of traveling with $1,000 or more in cash. Now I take a 1 or 2 hundred in US $, plus whatever pesos I have left over from my last trip (note that they also use $ to indicate pesos, or sometimes AR $). I pay for as much as I can with credit cards, and withdraw cash from ATMs 3 or 4 hundred pesos at a time. The fees I pay are usually 2 dollars per transaction when you combine my bank with the ATM's bank fees. To me its worth the extra 20 or 30 bucks per trip to not have to deal with the stress of carrying all that cash and dealing with the black market traders.

I agree.. I've travelled Argentina and South America extensively and have always found an ATM machine (not particularly Citibank - as I don't have an account with them) to be plentiful. The exchange rate was always very competitive and it allowed me to roam freely and get better pricing than paying by CC some of the times.

Though if you travel to Brazil, there is only bank that I've found works (I can't remember it but it had a red symbol - not HSBC, but could be Santander) so be prepared to try every banks ATM.

With regards to the greenback, mostly everywhere they'll accept them in Argentina, but I've found only one or two stores that gave a better exchange if paying with it. Though many ATM's in Buenos Aires still allow you to withdraw US$.

cheers, and hope this helps.

Hi-
This is a classic gringo question - but.....

I'm down in BsAs for around one week every two months or so. But, I haven't been down yet during this NFL football season. Are there any bars in BsAs that show American Football? I'm assuming World Sport Cafe and Loco por Futbol in Recoleta do not - but I don't know for sure.

Any ideas?

Sorry to get a bit off topic here, but to those of you currently living or staying in BsAs for an extended period of time, there is currently a great $349 USD ($483 USD all taxes in) fare from EZE-CPT (Capetown, South Africa) on Malaysia Airlines. You won't find it on most usual travel sites such as Expedia, etc. , but at this Travelocity clone Despegar.com The fare is good for all of November with outbound and returns on either Sundays or Wednesdays.

Unfortunately, I usually spend my winters in BsAs beginning at the end of December, so it looks like I'll miss travelling to yet another great wine country. Perhaps, Sr. Gaucho would like to extend his wine business a bit further afield?

billycwhatup, I believe World Sports Cafe in Recoleta does show the games. Locos sometimes, depending if there are not any important matches they might put up a screen or two on football. This is what I remember from about 2 years ago when I was living there..

the other option might be Hard Rock Cafe bar area, but from what I remember it's a little unpredictable on what games they will show.

other than these I don't know of any.. maybe others can try and comment.

Thanks for posting this. I have problems looking for MIA-EZE-MIA (in Nov. 2004):
1. mostly all in Spanish,
2. it looks like I have to register(?)

Also, LAN Peru had some cheap flights MIA-EZE ... they are all gone
Also taxes etc. are now US$112 (from $72)

My daughter (aged mid-20's) is thinking about booking a week at the Holiday Inn Express PUERTO MADERO at AVENIDA LEANDRO N. ALEM 770 in BA next Easter week. Does anyone have experience at this hotel or can comment or offer advice! How about the location for safety? Thanks.

Thanks! I'll try it next weekend and report back.