Top 10 Buenos Aires

Streetsmart
106
Left Heavy traffic on Avenida Corrientes Right Crowds in San Telmo
Things to Avoid
! Tourist Traps
Avoid the costly
leather goods stores on
Calle Florida and the herd
‘em in herd ‘em out
“tango for export” shows
aimed at visitors. Give a
wide berth to the overpriced
Irish theme pubs
in Microcentro since they
are neither authentic Irish
nor Argentinian. Think
twice before spending
money on second-rate
steak at expensive and
characterless restaurants
in Puerto Madero.
Crime Hotspots @ Buenos Aires is
generally a very safe city
but be careful in certain
areas. These include the
southern districts of La
Boca and Constitución.
In San Telmo watch out
for pickpockets and
“mustard” scams – a
local trick in which
mustard is squirted over
your shirt on a busy
street. A “passerby”
brings it to your attention
and helps you wipe it off,
just as a third person
uses the distraction to
nab your wallet.
£ Rush Hour
Traffic in Buenos
Aires is heavy, with rush
hour lasting nearly all
day. Roads are worse on
weekdays before 10am
and between 5pm and
8pm, especially on Friday
evenings, when middleclass
porteños leave the
city en masse for
weekend houses in
Buenos Aires’ province.
$ Taking a Taxi
Without Change
There is a chronic
shortage of small change
in Buenos Aires and if
you offer high denomination
notes, the driver
will spend 15 minutes
driving around looking for
change, while adding to
your fare. Check beforehand
if the driver is
carrying change, or in the
case of radio taxis,
inform the operator.
% Unscrupulous
Taxi Drivers
Never get into a taxi that
does not display an
official registration
certificate on the back of
the driver’s or front
passenger’s seat. Avoid
flagging down taxis in
the Puerto Madero
district, where rogue
taxis circulate.
Dog Poop ^ Dog poop here
features as a major issue
in mayoral elections,
alongside unemployment
and crime. It is especially
bad in residential districts
such as San Telmo and
Palermo Viejo, where the
only way to avoid an
unfortunate union of
shoe and poop is by
keeping your eyes fixed
to the ground.
Parque 3 de & Febrero at Night
Beautiful by day, Parque
3 de Febrero turns dark
at night – literally and
metaphorically. This is
when the city’s
For telephone numbers of safe taxi firms See p104.
transvestite prostitutes
and their pimps take
over. While some visitors
will wish to avoid it,
others may want to take
the sight in.
* Unauthorized
Money Changers
Called arbolitos or “little
trees,” these have lined
Calle Florida since
Argentina’s 2001 economic
crisis. They are
likely to rip you off on the
exchange rate or give you
fake peso notes.
( Taking Offense
Porteños pay little
heed to political
correctness. Young and
old swear with gay
abandon. Despite a ban
on smoking in public
places, smokers are
everywhere. And it is
a relentlessly macho
society in which women
travelers can be
subjected to passing
comments. However, it is
all invariably harmless,
and best taken with a
large pinch of salt.
) January
Not the best month
to visit Buenos Aires.
This is when temperatures
reach 104°F (40°C)
and humidity soars.
The city’s cultural
activities and nightlife
also take a dip since
most porteños leave the
city for vacations,
heading to Argentina’s
Atlantic coast resorts. On
the flip side, hotel prices
at this time are cheap.