We are 4 adults travelling to BA very soon. Our Spanish language skills are not good even though we will attempt to use what we know. I would like to meet an English-speaking porteno early on who would be able to give us a good overview of this wonderful city. I don't want a guide for an entire day but I would be glad to pay for someone's time to give us some good advice.

Thanks for your help.

The Buenos Aires Free tours are an easy way to do this. (You should tip if you enjoy the tour, of course.) I'm sure there are many good guides for hire, including the guides who do the free tours.

Thanks, WillTravel. That was my fall-back plan but since you suggested it, that's probably what we'll do. Appreciate your response.

This is probably what WillTravel meant, skeeter6:

http://tinyurl.com/c2d7wr

"Commercial" posts can be reported to Katie by writing to: [email protected]

Have a great time in our town.

Hip, Hip, Hooray! All the spam is gone, which means Katie is at work!

Skeeter6: Katie was a little over-enthusiastic and also deleted your post in answer to Pedro, but I guess that was because it didn't make much sense after the spam was deleted.

However, my reply to your post stood, so it's OK, because you got your answer about the Buenos Aires Free Tour.

Hey Skeeter!

Good idea- most people seem to just need an orientation and then they feel safe and independant - there is a service that does that type of stuff called www.baculturalconcierge.com - i have recommended it a few times and the people have seemed really pleased - feeling safe and well connected. The last woman I suggested it to was 89 years old and she said she had a blast- another one was a young family that just needed to know the safe playgrounds and how to get around on their own - try getting in touch with them to see waht their ideas are.

I also like the idea of doing the free tours- the guides are local and are also great at answering any questions about their city.

Another way is to go to bue.gov.ar and see their walking tour guides- if you are very independent those seem like a good way to orient yourself.

We had fun with our guide from Cicerones de Buenos Aires (http://www.cicerones.org.ar/index_spa.php). It's a volunteer organization for locals to introduce travelers to the city. It's one-on-one, and free (though they ask for a donation, and we gave our volunteer a gift as a token of gratitude).

Errr, maybe this website will work? http://www.cicerones.org.ar

Thanks WillTravel, avrooster, rowlesjr, and ctong27. Great advice. Nice of you to respond.

I went on a local bike tour in English too and that was a really nice way to get some insight from a local. We stopped and chatted over coffee on a break. I can't remember the name of the company but they advertise in the local tourist rags and in the backpacker hotels.