I'm thinking of taking a tour or two through the Cicerones program in BA. I've read a few positives about them, but not much detail. For instance, how long are their tours? Who actually does them? Are these professional guides, working for tips? How much do you tip? Their website says to submit requests 6 days prior to arrival, but is that really necessary? If these guides are not really "pros," then how do their tours compare to the ones given by the tour companies? Thanks for any info you can give me.

This is a volunteer organization. Guides are people who love their city and want to show off its many charms to visitors. They are not professional guides. The one Cicerone I used was a consulting engineer, fluent in six languages. You will need at least six days to arrange a tour. It takes time to find someone with the expertise for the type of tour you want to take who can be available when you need the tour. Since most Cicerones are employed elsewhere, tours take time to arrange.

Donations to the Cicerones organization are appreciated but not required. Also, be certain to pay the expenses of the guide...meals, transportation and so forth.

Thanks, drdawggy. How long are the tours, and how much does one donate?

Cicerones also have a free, group tour of Recoleta Cemetary every (I think Thurday, but do check) and they are excellent in describing the history and culture surrounding the tombs etc. You do not need a reervation for this, but a generous tip is appreciated and well worth it. Other free tours are
available and excellent. This is well reviewed here and on TA.

Enjoy your tours, ~MarnieWDC

What do you recommend as a generous tip for the Recoleta tour and other tours?

Topping to see if anyone has an answer to seeksocean's question. Since the guides are "volunteers," do they actually work for the tips? Or do the tips go to the organization? Thanks.

This question has been answered on TripAdvisor at various times. I do know people pay for transportation if you and your Cicerone are traveling by taxi and you will pay for any refreshments.. I would do a search on TripAdvisor if no one answers here.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Search?re...=Go&geo=312741

The tips apparently are supposed to go to the organization, but I would not be too sure about that.

About what could be considered a "generous" tip, I'd say at least 10 or 20 dollars, or quite a bit more, depending on the quality of the service, how much time the guide spends with you, etc.

Have a great time in our country.

Hi!!!

I worked for Cicerones this year, I confirm, the tips go to the organisation, the tour will last the time you want!!!(from an hour to 1 day) Sometimes, volunteers and visitors become great friends and organise other meeting for fun. The concept of Cicerones is really good, it gets your trip more tipical as you know how local people live.

Enjoy!!! Gwen

Gwen, what motivates volunteers to give tours? Are they professional tour guides on their "time off?" Students? Retirees? It's hard to imagine people volunteering in this manner just "to show off their city."

Ed, there are people in other countries who do a similar thing, they love their country/city and have the time ( retired) and enjoy the "job" , meeting people from other countries is also a benefit for some.
A friend of mine used the Cicerones a few years ago, he said that his was a retired professor who spoke perfect English and French and that he loved his city, enjoyed meeting people and using his language skills as well as getting pleasure out of sharing the "not so ordinary" aspects of BA with visitors who would not ordinarily see particular sights/buildings etc.

Wiki says:

<B>Cicerones de Buenos Aires</B> is the name of a non-profit organization that provides free guided tours and travel information to visitors of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Founded in May 2001 by residents of Buenos Aires, the organization's mission is to improve the image of the city though its services.

"Cicerones"is derived from the term cicerone, meaning tour guide.
Members of Cicerones de Buenos Aires are trained, multilingual volunteer tour guides.

Visitors to the city can contact the organization to schedule a free tour with a guide at a place and time of the visitor's choosing.
A guide can also suggest unique, less-traveled sites to visit.

One more thing... this is a huge cosmopolitan city and I believe most of the people here have college educations, they are voracious readers and many many of them speak at least 2 languages. They are very interested in politics and what goes on in the world, outside of South America as well as what is going on In South America... Many people here cannot afford to travel great distances, to Europe or the US... they enjoy meeting people from other countries and while showing off their beloved city, they also enjoy talking to and learning about people from various places.
They also all share a great love for their country and the city of Buenos Aires. With all of its problems, they still are very proud of their city .

So it is not hard at all for me to imagine why anyone here would enjoy "showing off their city" to "outsiders" ..

Hi Scarlet a good answer to the question of ED edwards.

He is saying that :
" It's hard to imagine people volunteering in this manner just to show off their city.!!!!!!!
( By the way did he meant show their city, or show off?).

I feel that is hard to imagine that he has so little imagination and that he seems to know so little about human nature that he is not able to imagine why Cicerones volunteer to show their city.

Thank you for your personal attack, which I thought was not allowed on this site. Graziella5b, I have traveled around the world and never come across a volunteer group who donate substantial time, without pay, to give tours to total strangers they will never see again. However, you and your fellow Argentines must simply be a superior class of individuals, with at least a great deal more imagination than I could ever emulate! You really make your country so much more attractive to travelers by acting so scornfully, you know.

Now, rather than attacking me, had you been civil and intelligent, you might have explained that the Cicerones program is consistent with the cultural values of Argentinia, or perhaps a reflection of other sociological factors.

My opinion on the above "exchange":

Graziella5b was uncharacteristically rude and I don't have a good explanation for that.

EdEdwards, who has asked quite a few questions here lately, responded in kind.

I strongly object to his ironic "you and your fellow Argentines must simply be a superior class of individuals, with at least a great deal more imagination than I could ever emulate! You really make your country so much more attractive to travelers by acting so scornfully, you know."

Therefore, I will ask Fodor's to delete both posts, hoping neither Graziella5b or EdEdwards really meant what they said.

Frankly I do not think I was rude nor I meant to be rude. I simply said how I feel, number one I am not Argentine and the funny thing is that when I said that it should not be that difficult to understand that a group of local volunteers enjoy showing their city for the opportunity to meet other people and helping tourists to enjoy it I was thinking of a similar group of generous people in New York City called Big Apple Greeters.
You can know more about them in: //travelwithkids.about.com/cs/newyork/a/bigapplegreeter.htm.
Big Apple Greeter is a non profit organization that has been offering this FREE service
for 12 years.
I believe that both Big Apple Greeters and Cicerones wish you to think of your greeter as a new friend showing you around NYC or Bs As.
So Buenos Aires or NEw York I feel similar generous people act similarly.....I appreciate
Avrooster feelings but frankly I do not see why either post should be deleted.

I certainly apologize for slurring Argentines as I did not mean to do that. However, I do think Graziella was quite nasty in her response to what was simply an honest question. Frankly, as an American who has spent a great deal of time in NYC, I'm surprised to learn of the existence of the Big Apple Greeters. I've never been aware of any such service in any of the major cities in which I've worked or lived. It's terrific, though, to learn that kind souls will donate their time in such a manner. However, in cities as big as NYC or BA, it would make sense that there are people of every stripe, including some who would find gratification doing volunteer tours for strangers, not working for tips.

In any case, Graziella, it's simply not intelligent or nice to judge people as lacking in imagination or unappreciative of the complex facets of human nature -- if you realy know nothing about them.

I'd certainly be fine with having this entire string of responses deleted, starting with Graciella's first speculation, above.

Wow....it was you who slurred the Argentines jumping to conclusions .
How about your wise remark :"you must be a superior
class of individuals"...that was uncalled for.

There is no need for me to explain AGAIN " that the " Cicerone 's program is consistent with the cultural values of Argentinia, or perhaps a reflection of other sociological factors." as you stated, because drdawggy, Scarlet, and Gweenmouth who happen to be a Cicerone and others had previously explain everything in this very forum.

I did not mean to attack you or any body,I'm sorry if you felt this way but I felt that after all the explanations that were given in this forum it would be easy to figure out that some people in ANY country can generously give some of their time to stranger providing a free tour.Btw for me tipping is not the way to thank them, i would pay for a meal, a coffee, or have any other courtesy as one would treat a friend.

I can bet that there are all over the world similar organizations, I do not know for a fact but I imagine there are.
I avail myself of this forum to thank the wonderfully amazing Big Apple Greeters who had been so kind to me and my family in the past.I heard that Cicerones are also great.

I imagined correctly ;-) there are many similar non profit organizations besides Cicerones de Buenos Aires and Big Apple Greeters from NYC , here there is a limited list:

Parisien d'un jour is a proud member of the Global Greeter Network:
; Australia: Adelaide Greeter,
Melbourne Greeter Service;
Canada: Tap into TO! (Toronto)
; France: Paris Greeter (Parisien d'un jour Parisien toujours),
Les Greeters des Nantes;
UK: Thanet Greeters;
United States: Chicago Greeter, Golden Heart Greeter (Fairbanks, Alaska), Houston Greeters,
Parisien d'un jour is like the other Greeter associations - a non-profit organisation that matches visitors with friendly and enthusiastic locals who are happy to share their knowledge on the city they love.
( http://www.wanderingeducators.com/be...nce-paris.html)
Have fun.

Ed, there are ladies who work every day at the Recoleta Cemetery , taking care of the many cats that live there. They feed them and make sure they are well, if they show signs of illness or injury, they take them to a vet. All of them are volunteers and are never paid for anything they do.

I don't know where you live, but surely there are organizations in your home town where volunteers do good works ? Everywhere I have lived, in the US .. towns have volunteers who do things from Reading Rooms at libraries for children to visiting elderly people..

In BA.. I understand... 65 is the age of retirement and here it is mandatory. But there are a lot of young 65 year olds with plenty of time and experience to share ... why not volunteer? it is certainly better ( in most peoples minds) to continue to be active and around other people than to sit at home and watch TV all day ..