Private Tour in Buenos Aires??

[Hockeygirl123]

My husband and I will be in Buenos Aires for 3 days before doing an Antartica trip with Nat"l Geographic next year. I am planning early..

 

Can any one recommend a safe guide or tour company that show us around in Buenos Aires.

We will be staying in the Cesar Park Hotel, which i was told is a great area. BUT i would like to know if any one has done a private tour in BA.:)

[Turtles06]

My husband and I will be in Buenos Aires for 3 days before doing an Antartica trip with Nat"l Geographic next year. I am planning early..

 

Can any one recommend a safe guide or tour company that show us around in Buenos Aires.

We will be staying in the Cesar Park Hotel, which i was told is a great area. BUT i would like to know if any one has done a private tour in BA.:)

 

Hello Hockeygirl -- my spouse and I were fortunate to have been able to do this trip last year, and also stayed at the Cesar Park before the Nat Geo trip started. We flew into BA a couple of days early, and based on recommendations here on CC, we hired Virginia Panetta as our private guide for a day and a half. She was really wonderful, and we highly recommend her. Here's her web info:

 

http://privatebatours.com/

 

I have a very detailed on-line journal about our preparations for the Antarctica trip as well as the trip itself (with lots of photos). My posts about our time with Virginia in BA are here:

 

https://antarcticjourney.wordpress.com/2013/07/06/lets-start-at-the-very-beginning-a-very-good-place-to-start/

 

https://antarcticjourney.wordpress.com/2013/07/06/lindblad-day-one-sunday-in-ba/

 

The main URL for my journal is the link below, in the event you may find it useful as you prepare for your trip. BTW, the staff at the Cesar Park were about the friendliest we've ever encountered at any hotel, anywhere. If you have any other questions, I'd be happy to try to answer them. It's the trip of a lifetime!

 

https://antarcticjourney.wordpress.com/

[4774Papa]

Buenos Aires is easy to do on your own.

 

However, here are free tours that you can take (tip as necessary)

 

http://www.bafreetour.com/english-home

http://buenosairesfreewalks.com/?gclid=CLPj-bP_trkCFS1p7Aodel8AKQ

 

 

We did the first one for a city tour and it was excellent.

[CraigRDR1]

We also did the BA free tours and it was great... Two different tours starting at different parts of the city... Totally free..tip if you want. Great guide (Maggie)....lots of great tips and info...

[Hockeygirl123]

WOW, this is alot of usefull information. I just have to be carefull not too duplicate the tour, because National Geographic does a tour of the city.

 

I definetly would do the Opera House on our own.

 

Turtles06, where did people keep there cameras, your journal and PICTURES are AMAZING.

 

Can i buy a cheap waterproof camera.??:)

[Turtles06]

WOW, this is alot of usefull information. I just have to be carefull not too duplicate the tour, because National Geographic does a tour of the city.

 

I definetly would do the Opera House on our own.

 

Turtles06, where did people keep there cameras, your journal and PICTURES are AMAZING.

 

Can i buy a cheap waterproof camera.??:)

 

We were on the Nat Geo trip, and took their city tour the last afternoon we were in BA, even though there was some duplication of what we'd already seen with our guide, because it gave us a chance to start getting to know our fellow travelers, and also a chance to take more photos at a different time of the day. That said, it was a bus tour and could not compare with our private tour or the time we spent on our own.

 

Thanks for the kind words about my photos and journal. I'm not sure what you mean as to where did people keep their cameras. (Do you mean while on the zodiacs?) If you'll clarify your question, I'd be happy to answer. :)

 

As for a waterproof camera, I really loved how my Nikon AW 100 performed in Antarctica (above the water, of course). There's a newer model out now, the AW 110, but you can still find a few AW 100s on Amazon. The price is about $230, which for this type and quality of camera I think is a good deal. It was a great camera to have in my pocket for the times when it was far too wet or slippery to have my DSLR out.

[Hockeygirl123]

Thanks again for so much info. In regards to the camera. Many people stated that their cameras froze while on the landings.

Did you use hand warmers? Or Did you keep yours in your pocket at all times. I noticed in many pictures as well as yours no- one carried a pack. Do I need one on my zodiac landings.

 

I have already started to take advantage of the winter sales in layering in clothes:)

Edited January 31, 2014 by Hockeygirl123

[Turtles06]

Thanks again for so much info. In regards to the camera. Many people stated that their cameras froze while on the landings.

Did you use hand warmers? Or Did you keep yours in your pocket at all times. I noticed in many pictures as well as yours no- one carried a pack. Do I need one on my zodiac landings.

 

I have already started to take advantage of the winter sales in layering in clothes:)

 

Since this is your thread, I guess it's okay to go OT, but it would probably be better in the future to have the Antarctica discussion on the Antarctica board.

 

I don't know anyone who had a camera freeze. The summer temps in Antarctica are typically in the 30s F. I had no camera problems whatsoever. (I'd brought those chemical hand warmer packs to use in my pockets with my spare camera batteries to keep them warm, but I experienced no problem with undue battery discharge and never used a single hand warmer. Certainly not necessary for your hands either, in my experience.)

 

For the zodiacs and landings: I had my camera bag in a dry bag in the zodiac, and when we landed, I stuffed the dry bag in a pocket or, if my spouse was carrying a backpack (she didn't always), I put it in there. Most of the time it was perfectly safe to have a good camera "out" in the zodiacs, but you need protection for it (like a dry bag) for getting in and out and for when it's wet, as it can be when you are zooming along getting a lot of spray (particularly if you are in the bow), or if there's precipitation.

[donaldsc]

Thanks again for so much info. In regards to the camera. Many people stated that their cameras froze while on the landings.

Did you use hand warmers? Or Did you keep yours in your pocket at all times. I noticed in many pictures as well as yours no- one carried a pack. Do I need one on my zodiac landings.

 

I have already started to take advantage of the winter sales in layering in clothes:)

 

I used my camera on an extended photo shoot in Fairbanks in the winter where the temperatures were as low as -30. No problems w freezing except for my hands when I had to change camera settings.

 

You do have to worry about bringing a cold camera back into a warm room. What will happen is that moisture condenses on and even worse within the camera. Put your camera inside a sealed bag and let it slowly warm up to room temperature before you take it out of the bag.

 

DON

[vickie_bernie]

We have been to BA twice and both times we used Private guides that were amazing. Here is a link to my write about each day. http://vickieandbernietravel.blogspot.ca/search/label/buenos%20aries

 

BA is easy to get around with transit and on foot.

 

Keep your valuable safe, pick pockets are out in force. But we have never had an issue.

 

Enjoy

[banditoo]

My recommendation is the Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour and free walking tour (you tip the guide based on your satisfaction). We did HoHo first for city overview and then also did the BA free walking tour. Very informative, great guide.

[cormike1]

We were in SA in March and from recommendations from this Site, we also contacted Virginia Panetta as per the 1st post here by turtle. Although we did not have Virginia personally as our guide, she came and met us before our 2nd tour. We did two 1/2-day tours and the guides she sent us were excellent....Maria and Estaban. We saw a lot of BA and heard a lot of history. Would highly recommend Virginia and her company. Contact her soon though as she can be booked up very quickly. Have a wonderful cruise!

[brissie]

We did a wonderful private tour of Buenos Aires prior to our Antarctic Cruise in February this year. We booked with John Boyle at info@bataxis.com and it cost US$150 for about 5 hours. We were picked up at our hotel and it was the best private tour we ever had.

 

The cost was for two people. We did a complimentary tour from the ship on return due to noro virus on board and it was not at all as good.

 

Brissie