last day in buenos aires

[namest]

we are traveling on oceania and our last day is in BA. we need to

disembark at 9:30 a.m. and our flight doesnt leave until 11:00 p.m.

we are interested in a private guide for the day and then being

taken to airport. the prices we have gotten are very high.

 

any suggestions? someone recommended that we get an hotel

room for the day at 1/2 price, but that could be quite high too.

 

thanks for your help

[owl61]

Sounds like you are leaving BA on the same day you disembark. Unless you have a demanding schedule you are missing an opportunity to get to know and see an interesting city. If a flight change is possible I urge you to consider it.

A private guide for the day will not be less than a 1/2 day rate in a hotel especially since the hotel need not be upscale. After all, you won't be sleeping there or even spending much time there.

Check out http://www.friendlyvisit.com/indexi.html for an English language 3 hour city tour for $30pp. It is recommended by the Marriott hotel for its guests. Perhaps Friendly Visit can store your bags while you continue exploring BA on foot (and by taxi) after the city tour or, if not, perhaps they can recommend a place to store them.

I think that after a 3 hour city tour and assuming you can store your bags somewhere you won't need a personal guide. Just explore the various neighborhoods on foot or by cabbing to them. You don't say what day of the week you will be in port, but there are street fairs on the weekend.

During a week day just walking around/ shopping in the various neighborhoods ( Palermo Soho, San Telmo, Recoleta) will be interesting especially if you stop at a good parrillada for a meal.

If you do want a guide consult the BA forum at www.tripadvisor.com.

[namest]

thanks for the help. we actually will be in BA for several days before we

disembark. we leave on a thursday. do you happen to know of any

hotels that will offer a cheap rate for the day and are in a decent

location? i guess we can always cab to the airport.

[owl61]

The largest radio cab company in BA is Premium Taxi Co 5328 -0000. http://www.taxipremium.com. / Arrange an airport ride with them. The price should be 75.80 pesos + tolls ( 3 pesos). A lot of their vehicles are the mini SUV Fiat Duplos.They may even be able to store your luggage.

If you are going to be in BA for several days before flying out I can't imagine why you can't leave bags at the place/hotel where you are staying. In any case, I don't know of any hotels that offer a half day rate. Check the tripadvisor forum.

[luv2cruise450]

We're on the Infinity's 1/18/09 sailing from Valparaiso to BA. I tried to look for an 'independent' guide with pickup at the pier and then was hoping for a few hours of touring of BA before being dropped off at the airport for our late departure back to the states...but I really wasn't getting much response from others who might have done this and when I tried to google some travel guides for BA...really didn't come up with anything that would work...and then when our travel docs finally arrived from Celebrity...their shore excursions booklet showed that they had 2 post cruise tours in BA (one for 5 hours and another for ~9 hours...which one you chose would depend on when your international flight was leaving) that included a tour of the city and then dropping you off at the airport with enough time for check in and security. The longer one included also going out to an estancia for an Argentinian BBQ (the price was $125.00 pp)! So maybe if all else fails...perhaps Oceania offers something for the passengers who are flying out late.

Happy cruising!

[owl61]

... when I tried to google some travel guides for BA...really didn't come up with anything that would work...and then when our travel docs finally arrived from Celebrity...their shore excursions booklet showed that they had 2 post cruise tours in BA (one for 5 hours and another for ~9 hours...which one you chose would depend on when your international flight was leaving) that included a tour of the city and then dropping you off at the airport with enough time for check in and security. The longer one included also going out to an estancia for an Argentinian BBQ (the price was $125.00 pp)!

 

If www.friendlyvisit.com above doesn't meet your needs for a local tour guide try http://www.eternautas.com/. Highly recommended. If you are departing BA on the same day you arrive I suggest you forego the estancia tour and spend some time exploring the city. Allow 2 hours for an early dinner/late lunch at one of the better parrilladas.

You can arrange a ride to the airport with Premium Taxi Co (5328-0000), the largest radio cab co in BA. Price is 80 pesos and many vehicles are the mini SUV Fiat Duplo with lots of room. Find a way to store your bags either with the tour co, a friendly hotel, or Premium (or even the parrillada).

Do allow extra time in the airport especially if you are going to claim a VAT refund (do not check qualified items before visiting the VAT refund desk). After checking in, you have to queue to pay the exit tax ($18), and then queue again for the security clearance. After clearing security there is the VAT refund desk and duty free shopping to consider as well.

[luv2cruise450]

Thanks OWL61 for all the info that you posted so will note tour guide info etc...but I did already pre book this post cruise tour of BA (and already paid for it) with Celebrity. But DH and I are hoping to do a land package trip in later 2009 to Argentina and Chile so all this could be coming in handy then...and Highland Park is not that far from South Brunswick!!

Happy sailing!

[CathyCruises]

Owl61, you seem to know everything there is to know about BA! I am trying to do a relatively low cost trip to SA, since I just got back from 3 weeks in Europe. The Hotel Moreno seems to be a great value at $95 including continental breakfast. What's your take on it?

 

From BA we will be busing it down to Patagonia--no idea how that's going to work, but that's what we're going to do--traveling with DD and her BF--so we will really be on the cheap. The ultimate goal is to do some great fly fishng in Patagonia, but we want to see everything we can along the way. I'm starting to get nervous because I have no idea of where we're going or what we're going to do--and neither does anyone else--but, by golly, we're gonna do it!

 

Any thoughts or suggestions much appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Cathy

[owl61]

I am trying to do a relatively low cost trip to SA, ... The Hotel Moreno seems to be a great value at $95 including continental breakfast. What's your take on it?

 

From BA we will be busing it down to Patagonia--no idea how that's going to work, but that's what we're going to do--traveling with DD and her BF--so we will really be on the cheap. The ultimate goal is to do some great fly fishng in Patagonia, but we want to see everything we can along the way. I'm starting to get nervous because I have no idea of where we're going or what we're going to do--and neither does anyone else--but, by golly, we're gonna do it!

Any thoughts or suggestions much appreciated.

Thanks,

Cathy

I don't know the hotel Moreno. If you are going to be in BA for more than 3 nights ( and you should) I recommend you rent a furnished apt. You wll save $ and have better accommodations. Go to the BA forum at www.tripadvisor.com where the local experts can point the way. You can browse the various AR forums to get a better handle on how you want to travel. I urge you to plan more than you indicate you intend to.

 

I bought an apt in BA last year and have spent several blocks of time there, but I know only a little about other parts of the country. I do know it is big and for no other reason if you want to see a lot of it I would explore the option of a airline pass that would allow you and your fellow travellers to fly from certain key destinations to others. I appreciate your desire to go on a low budget, but you need to seriously weigh time and convenience vs cost.

If your starting point is BA then I might suggest a flight down to Bariloche. The weather will depend on when you travel. There are extremes depending on the season so a little more planning will serve you well. There is good fishing around there. Try nearby Villa Angostura. I have never been there, but my cousin has a home on the lake there and he is an avid fly fisherman. It would be a lot easier to bus to Patagonia from the Bariloche area.

I might then suggest that after seeing Patagonia and environs icluding Torres del Paine national park you come north through wine country Mendoza and then on to either the northwest of AR, Salta in particular, in the Andes foothills or... fly to Rio. If you opt for the AR northwest you can probably bus to Foz de Iguazu. If Rio, you will want to fly to Igazu. In either case, then on to Cuzco & Macchu Piccu. From there to Lima for a flight to Cuba via Panama City. Then home. At least , that´s what I would do.

[DD]

The largest radio cab company in BA is Premium Taxi Co 5328 -0000. http://www.taxipremium.com. / Arrange an airport ride with them. The price should be 75.80 pesos + tolls ( 3 pesos). A lot of their vehicles are the mini SUV Fiat Duplos.They may even be able to store your luggage.

If you are going to be in BA for several days before flying out I can't imagine why you can't leave bags at the place/hotel where you are staying. In any case, I don't know of any hotels that offer a half day rate. Check the tripadvisor forum.

 

Owl61, can you explain the whole Radio taxi thing to me? I know those are the taxis that you are supposed to stick with (and we did only use radio taxis when we visited last month), but I didn't realize that there were several different companies called radio taxib -- I had assumed that radio was some sort of brand name of the taxi company. I do remember that not all radio cab signs looked the same and I had wondered about that. What does "radio taxi" mean?

[owl61]

What does "radio taxi" mean?

It describes taxi cab companies that are equipped with a 2 way radio that allows communication between the dispatcher and a driver - to be distinguished from a cab without a 2 way radio. With the advent of cell phones the 2 way radio has diminshed in importance, but the term still identifies a company that can receive incoming calls and has a networrk of dispatchable cabs as opposed to an individual driver not equipped with a 2 way radio. In point of fact the latter are much more likely to be problematic and unreliable pirates. I am a fairly large person so I will sometime get in one if need be, but only if I like the condition of the car and the aura of the driver. Even then I will refrain from paying with a large bill as counterfeit bills are all too common amongst such cabbies.