Hoa

Our family just visited Ar. recently-It was great!We stayed a good 10 days in BA ,and 3 days in Iguazu.<BR>In BA we stayed in Recoleta: wonderful area,everything you would want from a city-excitement , beauty , elegance , convenience , safest part to stay.<BR>Puerto Madero : IMHO it's overated . Nice waterfront dinning area but no character and the view is not beautiful.<BR>San Telmo : We went there on Sunday Antique fair ,huge ,lots of fun...overwhelming ,I know it's a big thing there but I almost wished that we had come also on a normal day so we could really see the place , it looked like a nice area with beautiful old buildings , antique shoppers heaven!<BR>La Boca - we loved it .I'm glad we didn't listen to some people suggesting skipping La Boca ,the place is not just &quot;colorful&quot; , nor the painted streets are that impressive , it's also kind of small too , BUT it has a &quot;feel&quot; to it . Come look , walk , sit &amp; let your hair down , soak it in.Can't explain but we loved it.<BR>Palermo - The Hollywood , Soho parts :very lively nice areas , but we didn't care much for a copy of New York . Now we did LOVED Palermo Viejo, really cool , funky and divers ,we had best food there.Cool shops , cool bars.<BR>Downtown- shopping district- Florida street: Spopping heaven! on and on and on...<BR>Overall , I would rated BA as top ten cities of the world .<BR>

Hoa

Iguazu : First of all , thanks to Cintia , everything went nice and smooth , we highly recommend Cintia if anybody needs travel help.We enjoyed the Falls and the food in town was excellent ,( so were the restaurants in BA , forgot to mention it.) You also get great service in AR. no matter what catergory of place it is.We loved those waiters and hotels staff.<BR>We stayed at the Sheraton and glad we did , nice falls view ,you're right there , save time travel in &amp; out , it was great! (The town there has zippo to do after dinner anyway...)3 days at the Falls were good , enough time to see everything ( magnificent !)and a good break in between our BA visit.By then we were just anxious to go back to the city of BA cause we really enjoyed city life!we took taxis and walked , walked all over town - cafes ,wine and dine ,parks, people watch .... Colon teatro was a good tour too, and cheap ,just a few dollars.Take couple hundreds in 1 dollar bills , they come in handy for tipping taxis drivers or your waiters , bellmen , lots of ours went to beggars with babies.<BR>Colonia is also a good day trip , only 50 minutes on ferry, but make sure you're there early cause our first try was sold out.<BR>Well , come to Argentina , it's still a good time to go and they do need tourism now.It's relatively safe for a huge and busy city , and what it has to offer versus what you pay ? it's one of the best value , unbeatable destination.We would go back .I know there're still a lot more regions to see. Have fun &amp; safe travel everyone !

Hoa

Sorry , how could I forget to mention Recoleta Cemetery - a must see ,it will knock your socks right off , see it to believe it.One more thing- Tango (have loved Tango since we were kids ), El Querandi was fabulous , loved it ( didn't see Senor Tango -the idea of a Hollywood style is not appealing to us),and I've seen good Tango shows (Ar. Companies ) in Washington DC. and Miami before , but I think the ambience here made it even more special. Ok , That was it .Bye now.

OneWanderingJew

Hoa--<BR>Thanks for posting. I will be doing a solo trip to Argentina in July and your comments come in mighty handy. I was only going to spend a few days in BA--should I consider staying longer? <BR><BR>What restaurants were your favorites and which ones would be comfortable for someone eating alone?? Obviously a romantic place wouldn't do it for me. LOL<BR>Debbie<BR><BR>PS Cintia is helping me organize my stay too

ThinGorjus

What about Le Vendana for a tango show? I heard this was a nice place. I am going to BA on June 3-10.

Hoa

Reebbie,Hi,just want to give a general idea of the city - it's huge,and very energetic,has as many or even more?(definitely more outdoor cafes)places to go for shopping ,museums , eat &amp; drink , or just hanging out as New York .You won't have any problem going solo anywhere there -just stay in the busy paths , (take taxis at nights for certain parts of the city).The city is advance and modern ,internet cafes almost every block (30 cents/hour,can you believe it?),people walk around with headsets and cellphones(on warm sunny days people lie around the parks in front of busy traffic getting sun tan in their thong bikinis!)Thousands of places to eat so it depends on the area your hotel is , check with your concierge would be best advice.The food and wine we had in BA were all good ,try pizzas ,they're great!Steaks and bacon are better than in US ,delicious, and I normally am a seafood lover.If you only stay in BA , no excursion out of town , I think a week is good, but it easily has enough things to do if you want to stay 2, 3 weeks.Enjoy!

Hoa

Re :Thingorjus -Sorry we didn't see that show ,so I can't comment? It was one of the 3,4 places the frontdesk suggested and we chose Querandi. We also saw a couple numbers at some cafes in La Boca and in San Telmo (plus plenty on the streets).Have fun.

OneWanderingJew

Hi Hoa!<BR>You sound really enthusiastic about your trip--when are you going back? LOL<BR><BR>I loooove to travel and am really eager to go see Argentina. I started thinking about going to South America a few years ago and in just over 2 months, I'll be hanging out, butchering the Spanish language (not on purpose), drinking wine and exploring neat neighborhoods!!<BR><BR>Debbie<BR><BR>Where did you stay in Iguazu? Did you go to the Brazil side too, and if so, did you hire a guide? I will be in Brazil w/a friend for the first part of my trip and one stop we're making is the falls. She can't be away as long as I can because she has a 'real job' and I'm a teacher with 2 months off!!

chfenton

One more thing people, remember that BA has got to be the cheapest big city in the world right now if you have dollars or Euros to spend. We are expats living here for a year now, and we just got back from Easter brunch at the 4 seasons. Unlimited champagne and soft drinks, every possible food you could think of (pasta bar, seafood bar, mexican bar, crepe bar, lamb, pork, beef, souflees for dessert) you get the picture. And impecable 4 seasons service. An absolute perfect afternoon for 80 pesos or about 27 bucks a person! At the 4 seasons! It was absolutely fantastic.

Hoa

Hi Debbie,yes I love to travel too ,done a lot (-all continents!)but still looking to go a lot more...<BR>About your questions -In Iguazu ,we stayed at the Sheraton (it's worth the money,you are right there), got a falls view room through their website for 129 USD/night plus tax(21pcent).You DON'T need a guide , very easy done,put on comfortable walking shoes , 2 full days will be enough .Go in town to eat, the town on the AR.(20 minutes taxi ?) is small and cute ,( nothing to do after dinner )extremely safe,the food was GREAT!<BR>Summer is comming so we're shifting gear to the Caribbean. Have fun+safe travelling Debbie!

OneWanderingJew

Hi Hoa,<BR>Did you encounter any problems going from the Brazil side of the falls to the Argentine? How easy is it to cross the border? I would really prefer to do things on my own but that is one concern...<BR><BR>Debbie<BR>

Hoa

Re: Debbie - No , Ar. doesn't require visa , you can arrange your taxi driver to take you roundtrip .We like the AR .side , you get closer to the Falls .There were lots of tourists ,and the parks workers walking around , don't worry.<BR>Now we didn't do those excursions-boat trips...can't comment on that.Have fun.