A Guide to Studying Abroad in Buenos Aires

You're a college student on a budget and you're studying abroad in Buenos Aires. Congratulations! 

Here are some basic tips based off of my experience:

Where to stay:

• Palermo - it's where the best restaurants/bars/cafés are
• Airbnb is always a good option, just search it in Palermo
• Or search for hostels in Palermo or Recoleta (a different neighborhood of city, where I lived)
• If you want to do a hotel, I would say either BoBo hotel or Duque Hotel, both of which are located in Palermo
  • BoBo is a little cheaper (maybe $65/night) but it’s very charming, like a boutique hotel, and their complimentary breakfasts are awesome

Things to see in BA/surrounding area:

• La Boca
  • colorful, picture-perfect neighborhood
  • it’s where all those pictures are taken of the colorful buildings and benches
  • it’s a tourist trap, but is fun for an hour or two & you can take pretty photos
  • be careful here!!! it’s not safe at night and it’s notorious for theft/pickpocketing!
• Puerto Madero - section of the city on the water
• Recoleta
  • It’s a rich neighborhood in Barrio Norte and it’s pleasant to walk around here
  • a specifically attractive area to walk around is by the 4 Seasons/French embassy
  • there are definitely some good restaurants but the best restaurants are in Palermo
  • go see the Recoleta Cemetery!!
  • there's a fair on Saturdays and Sundays (like the San Telmo fair on Sundays) at cemetery/ the Hard Rock area -- just a bunch of stands to buy purses, belts, jewelry, food, etc

• Rose Garden
  • Palermo - romantic, pleasant, pretty
• MALBA - modern art museum in Palermo
  • I went with Charlie..it was cool, but it wasn’t THAAAT cool so I’ll leave that up to you
• Tigre
  • cool little town/neighborhood of BA
  • where the river delta is
  • it’ll be nice during the summer
  • one-hour train ride—you’ll have to cab to Retiro Station, then it will cost about $0.30 per person to train from Retiro Station to El Tigre
• San Telmo
  • neighborhood of the city
  • go on Sunday if you can for the weekly market where you can get tons of handmade leather goods like shoes and bags and jackets and food etc for very cheap

Dinner/Tango Show

• a little pricey, maybe $70 USD/person but it’s really cool

San Isidro

• richest “suburb” of city
• very pretty, orange trees everywhere, a 30-minute train ride (and 30 cents to go there) from Retiro Station
• go to Villa Ocampo, this huge mansion that was owned by famous author Victoria Ocampo---it has a little restaurant/cafe thing and you sit on the terrace and have a cappuccino 

Restaurants:

• Sarki’s - Palermo
  • cheap, Armenian food w Argentine twist
  • always packed
• La Cabrera - Palermo
  • A top voted restaurant in BA – if you want to splurge on a classic Argentine dinner go here
  • steak and red wine
  • expensive
• Malvón (Lafinur) - Palermo/Recoleta border
  • my favorite brunch spot - lot of food, not expensive, you can walk in on a Saturday at 12 and not have to wait for a table (I realize that’s usually a bad sign, but don’t worry, it’s just a big space so they have a lot of tables!)

Transportation:

• You probably won’t be there long enough to figure out the public bus system, so I would say take taxis—they’re unbelievably cheap and they’re reliable.

Keep in mind about taxis:

• only travel in the company called “RADIO TAXI” – they’re an official company and they’re the guaranteed safe ones…they’re clearly marked

• pay for taxi fair in small and exact change, because taxi drivers are notorious for giving you change for like 200 pesos with fake money!!!

• do NOT tip taxi driver—it’s not a thing there and they’ll be confused and try to give it back

You are about to embark on a fantastic journey and I hope this guide helped you with some basic knowledge!