BedtimeontheMoon

Hey all!

I was informed today that my program is allowing some students to do their elective courses for the Spring in their partner school in Buenos Aires Argentina! Of coarse, I jumped at the opportunity to live somewhere else for 2 months.

I am planning to leave a couple of weeks early to see a city or two before arriving at Argentina for the program and to meet my bf's Father who lives there before my bf comes back to Miami. Then I have weekends off and a couple of long (4 days off) weekends also. I want to plan to see some of the neighboring countries.

So, I have a few questions for the seasoned So.Am. travellers.

1. What is the best way to travel between countries? (Pricewise, timewise) I am on my way to the bookstore after class tonight to get me a book, but I figured you all know best anywho!

2. What are some good cities to visit with the limited time frame? (aside from the initial 2 weeks I have 2- 4 day weekends and 6 regular 2 day weekends) I can leave the day before each of these timeframes in the late afternoon after class.

3. Money?

4. Safety concerns? Not sure if I'll be able to muster up some buds to travel around on the weekends so how is it down there for a solo female just in case?

I am super excited and my bf is actually supportive of this trip so that makes it a lot better! :D

My program dates are Jan 15 - March 10 but I'm planning on vacationing with my bf from maybe Jan 2 until the 15th.

Any other tips I would truly appreciate!

Very Excited!

raoulduke

That sounds awesome.

Florencia is from BA so I'm sure she'll help you out soon.

Congrats!!

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One of God's own prototypes. Some kind of high powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die -HST

AKguacamole

The best way to travel around is buses!! They are reasonably cheap and comfy

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worldwidemike

Congrats! Sounds awesome...I'd jump at an opportunity like that, too. You'll see and experience so much more of the country than those of us who jet in and out for a week or two...

worldwidemike

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florencia9699

Hey!! that's really cool :D

I'm from here... so just fire away with specific questions you may have about the city (if you already have a place to stat at, or you're looking at a couple of neighbourhoods... etc) What's your school here??

I'll try to help u out on some of your questions:


Best way to travel is by bus. Yes, distances are looooong... but it's the cheapest and easiest way. Perhaps if you wanna go all the way to Perú or the north of Brazil my personal preference would be by airplane, although I know many people who've done it by bus. For example:

Buenos Aires - Córdoba: 10hs
Buenos Aires - Iguazú Falls: 20hs
Buenos Aires - Mar del Plata: 5hs
Buenos Aires - Bariloche: 24hs

Here is a link posted by pinknic38 to all the aprox. times for buses within Argentina (really accurate) and here is for the rest of South America.

Argentina:
- Buenos Aires
- Rosario
- Gualeguaychú (to see the carnival every weekend during January and February)
- Córdoba (and all it's little towns, a lot of German colonies settled here and in Villa General Belgrano we have Oktoberfest every Oct.)
- Mar del Plata (the beach, though I really rather go to Pinamar, a gorgeous summer town FILLED with young students)
- Península Valdez (to see the whales... depends the time of year)
- Mendoza (wine tasting and trecking and hicking)
- Bariloche (hicking in the mountains)
- Villa La Angostura and San Martín de los Andes (a bit more expensive but lovely cities located in the lake area in the Andes)
- Perito Moreno Glacier (absolutely fantastic!!)
- Ushuaïa (the southern most city in the world)
- All of the NOA (Argentinian North West that includes the provinces of Tucumán, Salta and Jujuy)
- Iguazú Falls (limit with Brazil)

Brazil:
- Foz do Iguaçú (Iguazú falls on the Brazilian side)
- Brasilia (capital city)
- Sao Paulo (coolest city ever... though I've never been)
- Río de Janeiro (cool party/cultural/beach city, I think they chave the carnival the same months we do, though you should look it up)
- Florianópolis (where u'll find all the Argentinians during January as it's the closest coolest beach to Argentina)

Uruguay:
- Colonia de Sacramento (lovely colonial town, ideal to go visit during a sunny weekend on ferry brom BA)
- Montevideo (the capital city. Never been... some people love it, some people say it looks like BA in the '30s....lol I bet it's cool to check it out)
- Punta del Este (THE place toi be in January. It's a party beach city. Quite expensive, all the prices are in US$ and t's filled with wealthy Argentinians and some really popular actors from the US have been spotted too)

Chile:
- Santiago (capital city.. a lot of people say it's boring, personaly I've never been. But it's provably quite tuidy, kind of expensive)
- Viña del Mar (by the beach)

1 ARS$ = 3.15 US$ you do the math... lol... ask me about some reference prices if you like... but for example:

a 600ml Coke: 3/3.5$
drink at night club: 16/20$
Subway: 0.9$
Bus fare: 1$
BigMac: 16.5$
Dinner at cheap nice restaurant: 40$ per person (of course there are much cheaper ones and many more expensive too)
Hostels: 30/40$

(My examples suck.. I know!!! hahaha)

I've moved around alone quite a bit and it's just fine. You just have to be really street smart and look out for your stuff all the time. If you live in a big city anywhere in the world u're used to that anyway.. remember that Bush's daughter got her purse stolen while she was having dinner at a street table at a restaurant here in BA!!

Totally cool to bring him down here and whisk him away to the beach!! You guys'll love it! And you'll be here during the summer (REALLY hot, but lovely days too).

Any ways, that's my "two cents"... let me know if there's anything else!

__________________
Been to: Argentina, Chile, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt. Greece, Turkey, England, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Belgium, USA, Mexico, Spain, Monaco, Czech Republic, Ireland and Uruguay.

Next trip: Still pondering the possibilities for January 2009... * OH THE MYSTERY!! *

The travel bug is insatiable

raoulduke

See? I told ya she'd help you out

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One of God's own prototypes. Some kind of high powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die -HST

simply_angelic

Haha nice way of trying to somehow twist flo's amazingness into your own raoul...

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GO CANADA!!!!

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Countries I've Visited: Austria, Botswana, Canada, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of the Congo, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Italy. Malawi, Mexico, Portugal, Rwanda, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, Tanzania, Uganda, USA, UK, Vatican City, Zambia

florencia9699

^^

__________________
Been to: Argentina, Chile, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt. Greece, Turkey, England, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Belgium, USA, Mexico, Spain, Monaco, Czech Republic, Ireland and Uruguay.

Next trip: Still pondering the possibilities for January 2009... * OH THE MYSTERY!! *

The travel bug is insatiable

maracle

Wow, I found this pretty terrifying before i realized you had it backwards, it's $3.15 USD = $1 ARS

Otherwise it would mean a dinner is $120 USD

I see the clubs in BA know how to gouge for a drink as badly as they do everywhere else

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florencia9699

^^ Hmmm... lol, you got it the other way around too!! hahahah but thanx for pointing it out!! It is: 1US$ = 3.15$ARS

Which means that id dinner is 40 $ARS = 12.69 US$

:D Thnx!!

__________________
Been to: Argentina, Chile, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt. Greece, Turkey, England, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Belgium, USA, Mexico, Spain, Monaco, Czech Republic, Ireland and Uruguay.

Next trip: Still pondering the possibilities for January 2009... * OH THE MYSTERY!! *

The travel bug is insatiable

raoulduke

__________________
One of God's own prototypes. Some kind of high powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die -HST

BedtimeontheMoon

Thank you so much for the info Flo and others! I just met with my counselor today and it's as good as done as long as I keep a 3.0 + at the Fall (which is also as good as done lol) !

The exchange rate is damn good to me! lol Safety wise sounds just about what I have to think about here at home (Miami) so I think I'll be ok... and I did Europe solo this past summer and that was fine too. Just needed to hear it from someone else :D

I'm going to research the cities you mentioned and start planning out my weekends! I am unbelievable excited! So far it's just me going, no one else in program has signed up :/ but I don't doubt it'll still be awesome.

The bus to Iguaza sounds excruciating !!! But I know it's a must so I'll see if my bf and I do the trip together before classes start.

The only other place I felt was a must which as you mentioned would be best by plane is Peru for the Inca Trails Macchu Picchu sp* ?

I'll definitely be bugging you as soon as I think of other questions Flo! LoL

Thank you again for the info it's all really really helpful and gives me a solid ground to begin planning ! You are awesome!

worldwidemike

Yikes. I had no idea it was so far away. Are there direct flights from BA to there, Flo? I'm still thinking of the possibility of zipping down in November, if my school schedule permits, and the flights are open enough...

I would definitely want to do the day trip to Montevideo, to check it out. Great list of things to do and see in Argentina...thanks!!!

worldwidemike

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Check out my travel web page at:
Worldwidemike.com
"Life is not measured in the number of breaths we take, but by the places that take our breath away..."

florencia9699

Yeah, deffinitely... there are planes to all the turist location/cities in Argentina. There's a plane route to Gualeguaychú that gets you to the city of carnivals in 25'!! hahahaha

__________________
Been to: Argentina, Chile, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt. Greece, Turkey, England, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Belgium, USA, Mexico, Spain, Monaco, Czech Republic, Ireland and Uruguay.

Next trip: Still pondering the possibilities for January 2009... * OH THE MYSTERY!! *

The travel bug is insatiable

clanshrapnel

Do a day trip to Uruguay (Colonia del Sacramento) via Buque bus. It's totally worth it, especially if you rent a scooter to travel with your bf around town. If you thought BA was cheap, wait until you get to Colonia del Sacramento haha.


Have fun and really check out everything you can at BA. It's a wonderful city (I just came back from there a few weeks ago).