Tips for traveling in Argentina?

[Anonymous]

Our family is heading to Argentina in a few weeks - teens/parents. We will be in BA, lake region and Calafate. We have hotel and activities planned, we are a bit loose on meal planning and could use tips on practical things like whether credit cards like Amex or Visa are accepted (for example in restaurants), best ways to get cash, how easy or hard it is to get Ubers, etc. Also wondering whether we check our bags through to BA bc we have a connection in a US city on the way (do we need to collect and recheck our luggage during our connection?). Thanks for any wisdom!

[Anonymous]

Also, I’m hoping my 21” Travelpro spinner will be ok for internal flights on Aerolineas Argentina? That measure may not include the wheels? But it doesn’t seem like I’m pushing my luck carrying that and a small purse on board. Anyone have experience that is relevant?

[Anonymous]

Uber works well there, and it's cheap, though even the "premium" Ubers are not as good as an UberX in the US. Plan to use cards mostly. Inflation has been so high (ok, it's improving under Milei) that you'd need a stack of cash to pay for a meal at a restaurant, so the govnerment mandated all places take cards. The ATMs can only hold so many bills in the hopper, so they run out of money a lot.

Bring some USD cash just to be on the safe side, as it's the second currency used there.

Make sure your card doesn't charge a foreign transation fee, or get a card from Wise or Revolut that is designed for travel.

On the way there, your bags will be checked all the way to EZE unless you're on separate itineraries (unlikely). On the way back you deal with your luggage at the first US point of entry.

[Anonymous]

Helpful, thank you! I’m reading that dinner is pretty late there (like early for us is 5:30 pm and early for them is 7:30). Does this sound right? If so, does it really persist everywhere (even in Calafate, which is out there?). Reservations needed? I usually can book just fine on OpenTable in foreign places, but Calafate doesn’t seem to work that way. Is there an app Argentinians favor instead that I should try?

[Anonymous]

I was there this summer (so cold there!) and just loved it. We got some cash at the airport, which would normally be my last choice but our bank (Wells Fargo) doesn’t exchange Argentina pesos and our son who was living there said the ATMs were unreliable. That said, we used credit cards the whole time. Cabs are incredibly cheap. So is the food, which is amazing. Cafe Tortoni is touristy but we really enjoyed eating there. I’d make a reservation if you can. Everyone seems to love Don Julio and El Preferido de Palermo but we couldn’t get a reservation for Don Julio and El Preferido was a bit too far from our hotel. I’d make a reservation for a tango show, if you enjoy shows. They’re usually dinner theater style. We went with our teens, who liked it less than us but ultimate look back at it as a highlight.
Buenos Aires is a great city!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was there this summer (so cold there!) and just loved it. We got some cash at the airport, which would normally be my last choice but our bank (Wells Fargo) doesn’t exchange Argentina pesos and our son who was living there said the ATMs were unreliable. That said, we used credit cards the whole time. Cabs are incredibly cheap. So is the food, which is amazing. Cafe Tortoni is touristy but we really enjoyed eating there. I’d make a reservation if you can. Everyone seems to love Don Julio and El Preferido de Palermo but we couldn’t get a reservation for Don Julio and El Preferido was a bit too far from our hotel. I’d make a reservation for a tango show, if you enjoy shows. They’re usually dinner theater style. We went with our teens, who liked it less than us but ultimate look back at it as a highlight.
Buenos Aires is a great city!

And yes, dinner is so late. We were invited to dinner at our son’s friends house and they said come at 8pm. Dinner was at 10pm. Restaurants were pretty empty at 7pm, when we like to eat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Helpful, thank you! I’m reading that dinner is pretty late there (like early for us is 5:30 pm and early for them is 7:30). Does this sound right? If so, does it really persist everywhere (even in Calafate, which is out there?). Reservations needed? I usually can book just fine on OpenTable in foreign places, but Calafate doesn’t seem to work that way. Is there an app Argentinians favor instead that I should try?

9:30pm is an early dinner for them. I don't remember the normal dinner time, if it was 10pm or 10:30pm.

[Anonymous]

Helpful, thanks! So far, outside BA I’m finding I need to dust off my best Spanish (yikes) and message restaurants directly to try to get reservations. Am I doing this wrong?

[Anonymous]

Not to hijack but since OP mentioned El Calafate - where are you staying OP? Or any hotel recs there from those who have been?

[Anonymous]

My research was limited - I went with what was available rather than optimal (I was late to the party). It seemed better to stay near town, so we prioritized that. Will report back when we return!

[Anonymous]

It's been a couple of years but we stayed here in El Calafate: https://en.hotelxelena.com/ and were happy with it. Echo what everyone else said-- yes, dinner is very late. Credit cards accepted everywhere- Amex was hit or miss.

[Anonymous]

I was just in BA and El Calafate in early October.
Nearly all restaurants take credit card, most even take Amex BUT check if your CC company will give you the Blue market rate. I think Visa will give you a better exchange rate than Amex and the difference is significant.

It was not high season when I went. I didn't need to book any restaurants.

The best steak in El Calafate is at the America Sur hostel. Also best lamb if that's your thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was just in BA and El Calafate in early October.
Nearly all restaurants take credit card, most even take Amex BUT check if your CC company will give you the Blue market rate. I think Visa will give you a better exchange rate than Amex and the difference is significant.

It was not high season when I went. I didn't need to book any restaurants.

The best steak in El Calafate is at the America Sur hostel. Also best lamb if that's your thing.

Also USD is often accepted, with often a 10% discount on goods.
Stores and hotels will often change your USD to Argentine pesos, at the same rate at least as the exchange offices.

[Anonymous]

Their president is a total nut. He communicates with his dead dog.

Please let us know how it goes!

[Anonymous]

Will you be there at Christmas? Be advised that there was literally only ONE restaurant in BA that had an available reservation on Christmas Eve for our family. Everything pretty much shuts down for Christmas and Christmas Eve so be prepared to either fend for yourself or make plans now to find a dinner reservation.