Argentina: Our Best Travel Tips and Recommendations

During our trip around the World, we spent about two months in Argentina and we learned a few travel tips on the way.

Our trip to Argentina started first in Patagonia and we continued all the way up to explore the North part of this amazing country.

Click here if you want to read all about our One-month Backpacking Itinerary in Patagonia.

Argentina is a very big country and we would definitely recommend taking some time to visit all its beautiful parts.

In this post, we are sharing our Best Argentina travel advice and tips which we find useful to know before your trip.

These tips might make your life easier when you travel to Argentina for the first time and you will definitely feel more prepared for the unexpected.

Salinas Grandes Purmamarca

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Transport in Argentina

Argentina is a huge country so to travel around you will need some time. The type of transport you choose mainly depends on your time and how long you want to stay in Argentina.

Our time was very flexible and as we are currently traveling around the world in a slow way and on budget, we travel almost everywhere by bus.

Bus in Argentina

Most of the bus companies in Argentina have a very high quality of providing food, drinks, blankets, and pillows ( mainly for long-distance routes).

Of course, we also found some bus companies which offer pretty bad service, the buses are old and dirty however overall we would say that the bus companies have a good level of service in Argentina.

For us, buses were also the cheapest option most of the time so if you are travelling on a budget, this will be probably your option as well.

The buses in Argentina are called Micros or Colectivos in Spanish and here are few bus companies which we used along the way and we can definitely recommend them: Via Bariloche, Andesmar, Don Otto, Chalten Travel, Flecha Bus, Crucero del Norte.

Via Bariloche website

 

The bus company which we would not recommend is Marga Taqsa. The reason is mainly that all the buses are old, dirty and there is no food and drinks included even in the long-distance journeys.

Unfortunately, we had to use this company a couple of times as there was no other way to get to our travel destination at that time. We would say, if you can, try to avoid them.

Our main travel tip with buses in Argentina is that in some places it is cheaper to pay by cash at the Bus Terminal instead of buying the tickets online. The difference can be quite big, sometimes it was about 20 EUR discount to pay in cash.

Be careful as not everywhere is possible, the best option is to go to the Bus Terminal and ask for a possible discount. Bring your credit card and if the price for the tickets is the same by cash or by card then use your card and keep your cash for something else.

The reason for this is mainly the fact that every time you have to withdraw cash in Argentina, you will most likely pay the bank fee which is approx 650ARS for each transaction (more about this topic is in our section about Payments). So make sure you calculate the cheapest option for you at the moment of buying tickets.

Our Tip: To find all bus companies and their timetables with prices, we recommend using the Busbud website which was very helpful during the whole trip to Argentina.

Busbud website

Another tip is also the Moovit App, which is basically a public Transit Guide. It was a great help when searching for local buses.

Moovit

Flights in Argentina

The fastest and most expensive way to travel around Argentina is by plane. Usually is the most expensive option unless you buy the tickets a long time ahead.

However, if you travel like us and you don’t know where are you going to be next week, it is impossible to plan such a trip a few months in advance.

Sometimes the flights can be cheaper than a bus, so we always check both options. However, during our two months in Argentina, we did not find a cheaper flight then a bus, maybe we were just unlucky.

On one occasion we caught the flight in Patagonia back to Buenos Aires to make it faster and avoid going the same way back by bus.

Glacier Perito Moreno

So it really depends on how you travel, if you plan your trip ahead, you can check the flights in advance and you might get some good deals.

The main flight companies in Argentina are Aerolineas Argentinas, Jet Smart, LATAM, Norwegian Airlines operating in Argentina.

Read all about how to get the best flight deals on our travel tips page.

Car in Argentina

The other option is to travel to Argentina by car. We never rented a car so we cannot recommend any companies or give you tips, however, we met a few travelers on the way who rented a car or van.

The best advice would be to go to the Tourist Information office and ask for recommended car companies then visit them and ask directly for the price and conditions. Most likely you will need a credit card and driving license.

During the two months travelling, we discovered that in some parts of Argentina it is much better to rent a car, like for example in Mendoza.

In Mendoza, you will find over 1000 wineries and it is quite difficult to reach them by bus or bike. Next time we would visit Mendoza and surroundings we would definitely rent a car and do some excursions on our own.

Winery in Mendoza

Our Tip: During our trip, we discovered Carpoolear App which works the same way as Bla Bla Car in Europe. You share a car with other travelers and this way you divide the cost for the trip.

Taxi in Argentina

Before our trip we thought that we won’t use a taxi at all, however, we found out that in some cities you can use Uber and Cabify. The prices were very cheap comparing to Europe, as you could get from Bus Terminal to the city center in 20min for 3 EUR.

We also used normal taxi without app when it was recommended by the locals like in Córdoba. Cordoba also provides Cabify service which is basically the same taxi service you would call on the street but this way you do it thought the App.

Our Tip: Download the App and make a profile with Uber and Cabify before you travel to Argentina, so you can easily check wherever the service is available.

Money and Payments in Argentina

Due to the fluctuation of the Argentinian currency, it is very expensive to withdraw money from your international accounts.

Every time you go to the bank and withdraw 6000 ARS (which is usually the max amount you can withdraw within one day) you have to pay an additional bank fee around 650 ARS. To understand better, for every 100 EUR, you will have to pay the fee of 10 EUR. Most of the time, you cannot even withdraw this amount and you have to pay the bank fee anyway.

We used Transferwise and Revolut cards as we normally use them everywhere around the world and this was the amount we had to pay for withdrawing money in ATM in Argentina.

Our Tips for withdrawing money in Argentina

Our best tip is to get the Santander card before your trip. After a few days in Argentina, we found out that if you use Santander credit/debit card you don’t have to pay an additional fee to withdraw money at any Santander bank. So if you have a chance to get a Santander account, this is the best option for you in Argentina.

In case you don’t have Santander bank, you could check if your bank is also located in Argentina, so you can avoid commission this way.

Another option is to use Western Union where you create your account and send money there. This method is used by many travelers especially if you have no chance to get Santander’s card.

Another advice is to take cash in USD as most of the places happily accept American dollars. We changed 100 USD before our trip, but we would probably change more if we knew it before.

One of our travel guides also told us that you can also go to Casino and withdraw money there without commission like if you want to gamble. However, you just withdraw money and don’t gamble. Sometimes you can just get a few chips and then exchange them back. He said that it works most of the time so it is a matter of trying.

When we were writing this post, Argentina was going through many economic changes implemented by the new government. It was not exactly clear to us how it works as the law was changing and adding exceptions so we cannot really tell you how much this will impact tourism.

What we know so far is that some accommodations were trying to charge us more because of this new law, but we protested as we were paying in ARS and not in USD so just be careful when you are paying for your hostel or hotel ( We explain more about paying for hostel in our accommodation section).

Overall, our main tip is to pay by card whenever you can as this way you don’t have to withdraw cash from the bank. However, sometimes you will be charged more if you want to pay by card, so again, check your best option before paying.

Another advice we can give you is to always ask for the price before paying!

This way you can still decide if you want to buy it or not, and you can quickly calculate if the price is for tourists or for locals. Sometimes the price was not the same but we discovered it too late.

Our example: When we were charging our transport card called SUBE (we used it in Buenos Aires, Ushuaia, Mendoza, and San Juan). We went to different shops and one lady was charging 15 ARS for the service and another one behind the corner 5 ARS. Next time we asked before charging the card and it was only 5 ARS. So just a simple example that is always better to ask and decide if you want to pay for the service or not.

Accommodation in Argentina

We use Booking everywhere as they provide many options and instant bookings. You can also easily communicate with the accommodation owners trough Booking Assistant after you make the reservation. We stayed in various accommodations from guesthouses, shared hostel dormitories to apartments.

We wrote this post about how to get the best accommodation deals and avoid scams, which you might find helpful.

Tips on How to book budget accommodation

The only thing which we would warn you about is the price. In the whole of Argentina, the prices at Booking are in USD not in ARS.

Yes, you can change the currency when you are searching for accommodation, however, all accommodations load their prices at Booking extranet in USD and then converting to ARS at your check-in.

The problem is that the price in ARS can be totally different than at the time you booked the accommodation. Each accommodation uses its own website to convert from USD to ARS (mainly Banco Nacional Argentina) which means that the conversation rate is different at every accommodation.

We always used XE App to get the correct conversion rate which was the main indication for us.

So our advice is to be careful how much you pay for your accommodation and if the conversion rate is the correct one and not the exchange rate from banks. Most of the time there was no problem at all, however a few times we preferred to pay in USD to avoid further discussion.

You can also use Airbnb or Hostelworld which already adds their prices in ARS which might be easier at the time of the payment.

On the other hand, we like the diversity Booking offers and that we can really choose the accommodation we want when you filter all your needs.

Search for your best accommodation right here.

Booking.com

As we were mentioning before, the new government implemented a new law so-called Dollar Turista. What we have understood is that Argentinians will pay 30% extra for making purchases with a credit card in foreign currency or acquiring dollars in Argentina to save money to travel.

In theory, it should only affect Argentinian people, however, since many international companies work in the country and charge in USD (Booking, Airbnb) this could also affect tourists in the long term.

The law was just implemented (December 2019) so we are not sure what the real impact will be. We are just mentioning it so you are aware that this is happening in Argentina.

Weather in Argentina

Argentina is huge and there is different weather in the South and the North of Argentina.

It is hard to say when is the best time to visit Argentina, however, we can say that the best months to visit Patagonia are from October-November to March-April.

We arrived in Patagonia at the end of October and it was a great month to see all the animals like whales, penguins, sea lions and others. In the South of Patagonia like in Ushuaia, it was still pretty cold, however, if you take proper travel gear, you will be fine.

Sea lions Punta Loma Beach

What to pack when Travelling to Argentina

For our trip around the world, we prepared one big backpack and one small one, so we could carry everything on our backs.

We prepared our Ultimate Backpacking Checklist so check it out to know what to pack for your trip to Argentina.

North of Argentina is a bit different as there is a proper summer from December till March more or less. In January and February, it is very hot and in some places, the temperature goes up to 45 degrees.

We spend most of the December in Córdoba, Mendoza, San Juan and Salta and some days the temperature was about 35 degrees. The locals were saying that it is still not enough as later the temperature goes much higher. Well, we had very hot Christmas 🙂

Safety in Argentina

During our trip to Argentina, we never felt unsafe or in danger. We took certain precautions like not wearing any jewellery, expensive watch or a lot of cash in the wallet.

We also checked all travel destinations and the areas/neighbourhoods which should not be visited by the tourists.

Overall Argentina is a safe country and we would totally recommend it for your future trip.

Here is our post on travel safety where we provide our most useful tips on how to have safe travel.

Language in Argentina

Spanish is the main language in Argentina however it is not European Spanish. In Argentina you will hear different accents and different words like autobús is called Micro or Colectivo, Supermarket is Kiosko, etc. We got used it to after few weeks and also started to use some of the words 🙂

As we speak Spanish together it was easy for us to communicate with locals and it helps a lot when you are trying to get some information or a good price.

If you don’t speak Spanish, we recommend learning at least a few words before your trip as it could help you a lot on the way. Most of the owners of the accommodation, staff in restaurants or excursions guides speak fluently English, however most of the time local people speak only Spanish.

These are our Best Argentina Travel Tips and we hope you will find them useful for your next trip to this amazing country.

If you have other travel tips and travel advice for our readers, don’t hesitate to comment below or write us an email.

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