MileValue is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
Note: Some of the offers mentioned below may have changed or are no longer be available. You can view current offers here.
Most of this post was written in August as I left Buenos Aires, but I’ve edited it today. Thus the perspective is a mix of my perspective as I was leaving and my perspective as time has passed.
I arrived in Buenos Aires on February 19 with three 50-pound checked bags and two carry ons having flown from Los Angeles in American Airlines First Class. I’m typing this up on August 9 from the Star Alliance lounge at Ezeiza International Airport about to board South African business class to Johannesburg with one backpack and one overflow shoulder bag. (I’m cheating a little, but I am a one-bag evangelist.)
Trip Report: South African Business Class from Buenos Aires to Johannesburg
Other than 10 days in Paraguay and Uruguay, I’ve spent the last six months in Argentina. I took short trips to Bariloche and Iguazu, but I mainly spent the time in the Palermo Hollywood neighborhood of Buenos Aires.
Here are my six takeaways from six months in a distant land.
1. Cuisine
Argentina is known for huge hunks of grilled meet and renowned Malbecs. I don’t drink wine, so I only have an opinion on the food here. It’s cheap and delicious.
At the supermarket and restaurants, you’ll pay between a third and a half of what something similar in the US would cost.
Argentine cuisine is simple and the steaks are no exception. They may be lightly seasoned and served with chimichurri or salsa criolla (similar to pico de gallo), but you basically just get a hunk of meat. Why mess with perfection?
My two parrilla (steakhouse) recommendations are
- Las Cabras: This steakhouse is constantly packed because the value and quality are unparalleled. A filet with salad is under $10. A gran parrilla, which is a heaping pile of cuts from a variety of animals is about $25 and feeds 3-4. The $2 chorizo is a perfect appetizer for two and is the tastiest sausage I have ever had. Even in the cold of winter (45 degrees), people wait outside for a table for up to an hour. Go for lunch or before 8:30 PM to avoid a wait. I also love the convenient location in the heart of Palermo Hollywood and half a block from where I lived. Start the night here, and you can walk for the rest of the night.
- El Obrero: Entering El Obrero is what I imagine going back 50 years in Buenos Aires might be like. The waiters have been around for decades, and the decorations have too. The same cuts of meat are available at any parrilla, and El Obrero does them well and cheaply enough to stay packed despite being in a very seedy part of town. (Take a taxi. The restaurant will call one to pick you up.) The papas españolas (fried slices of potato) pair well with lomo (filet mignon), and the wine list is impressive. Just don’t say out loud that you support River Plate in this pro-Boca Juniors joint.
I love the quality of Argentine food, but the variety is very weak. The staples are meat, potatoes, pizza, pasta, and empanadas without much in the way of vegetables, spice, or imagination.
I ate most of my meals at home with spices purchased from barrio chino (Chinatown) or at foreign restaurants to inject variety into my diet. My favorites:
- Genghis House: My favorite restaurant in Buenos Aires–and a hit with everyone I roped into trying it–was this small Mongolian Barbecue place. Eight dollars bought a heaping pile of meet, noodles, and vegetables bathed in spicy, garlic-y, and delicious sauces. Included in the price is a drink and at lunch time, a desert.
- Burger Joint: You probably didn’t leave America to get a burger, but this place does the burger and fries very well. There’s the Classic, the Mexican, and the Bleu all of which are delicous and paired with fresh-cut fries. I recommend the Jamaican for a bacon/pineapple combo.
- Magdalena’s Party: The most popular expat bar is the only American-style brunch I found in the city. It is served on weekends until 5 PM. Bottomless mimosas for only $6 more.
- Vayarama: My favorite Indian place. Mains from $7. Get the aloo gobi. The restaurant is on Humboldt between El Salvador and Honduras across from the Be Hollywood Hotel.
Go to Argentina for the food and wine–it is that good. But if you stay more than a week, you’ll see the limitations in the “Argentine” cuisine, at which point you can branch out into an ever-growing international scene. For current English language reviews from an expat food blogger, check out pickupthefork.com.
2. There is something to do every night.
Argentina has the best night life of any city I’ve ever been to, and it’s not even close. It will be tough to adjust to their hours as an American, especially if you’re an early bird.
Dinner gets going between 9 PM and midnight. Bars might be full midnight to 3 AM. Clubs start to see people by 2 AM and go until… I have no idea. I have never stayed at a club until closing, but I surmise that they stay open until at least 7 AM.
Here are my picks for fun every night of the week:
Monday: Bomba del Tiempo. A rhythmic drum performance that attracts all ages and has been performing weekly for seven years! Costs $8.
Tuesday: Magdalena’s Party to Kika. Start the night at Magdalena’s Party for $2.5 beers and a chance to practice your English. Proceed around the corner to Kika, the busiest club on Tuesday night.
Wednesday: After Offices. The only time Argentines seem to go out before 2 AM is on Wednesdays to various After Offices around the city. There’s one I like at Terrazas del Este on the river.
Thursday: Every Thursday from 6:30 – 8:30 PM, there is a free tango lesson advertised on CouchSurfing. The class was a lot of fun, and I learned the basic steps, so you can too.
Friday: Start at one of the many bars in Palermo Hollywood. At 2 AM, join the throngs heading to Rose Bar, one of the largest night clubs in Palermo.
Saturday: Jobs Bar. This is one of the strangest bars in the world. You pay $5 to get in, which entitles you to a drink and chicken nuggets or nachos. Then you head upstairs past dozens of ping pong tables, pool tables, foosball tables, and people playing the bar’s board games. Upstairs, you can shoot five arrows–archery in a bar!–for $2.50. It’s the kind of thing you know that liability insurance would prevent in the US, and it’s a ton of fun.
Sunday: Asado time. Most of the city shuts down, so everyone can have a barbecue with their family. If you can’t swing an invitation, grill your own meats.
3. Buenos Aires is the place to live, but the rest of the country can’t be skipped.
Buenos Aires has the country’s best restaurants, night life, cultural activities, and selection of pretty much everything. I can’t imagine living anywhere else in the country, though I’ve heard friends make impassioned cases for Cordoba.
But the rest of the country should be part of any trip to Argentina that’s longer than a few days. I went to Bariloche and Iguazu. Rookie Alli went to Tigre. Next time I go to Argentina, I want to go to Tierra del Fuego, Mendoza, and the northwest.
The diversity–mountains to oceans, subtropical to subpolar, glaciers to waterfalls–is matched by few countries. The distances are daunting–Argentina is the world’s eighth largest country–so be sure to use your miles to fly around.
4. “All the Americans get along.” The beauty of the expat community.
I played in a weekly basketball game that was about half Americans and half Argentines. One week an Argentine marveled that in Buenos Aires, “All the Americans get along.”
He’s basically right, and I imagine expat communities are similar the world over. All permanent and temporary expats share certain qualities like adventurousness and openness to new ideas and cultures. The common ground of the expats creates an easy community that welcomes new folks with open arms.
It’s probably harder to move to a new American city and quickly make friends than it would be to move to a major foreign city and do the same.
5. We have it great as Americans.
We have it great in a lot of ways. One of them is the stability of the dollar. In the last 34 years, the dollar has lost about two-thirds of its value according to www.usinflationcalculator.com. That’s a good reason not to put your cash under a mattress for 34 years, but it’s easy enough to keep up with 3% inflation.
The Argentine peso has lost two-thirds of its value in the last five years. That makes it extremely hard to save money or invest in a new business if you earn pesos.
While I was in Argentina, the dollar went from 7.5 to 10.5 pesos then back down to 9. (It’s currently at 9.5 pesos to the dollar on the informal market.) Since I make dollars, I found the swings annoying, but not devastating.
Price and currency stability is just one example of the US’s superior institutions. Until Argentina and most of the world catches up to our institutions, most of the world will remain a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there (permanently).
6. If you’ve dreamed of moving abroad, you should do it.
An extended vacation, a mini-retirement, a sabbatical. If you’ve wanted to take one abroad, do it. Pick a time and place, book the ticket with miles, and start putting your affairs in order to move away.
It’s not very hard, it’s a lot of fun, it will fill your life with novelty and challenge, and you’re very unlikely to regret it.
Miles and points make it very easy to book the flights to your new home in style, get some free hotel nights while you apartment search on the ground, fly home for important events, or fly your friends to you for a visit.
Since this is a miles-and-points blog and not an expat blog or a general travel blog, I probably won’t post any more thoughts on the subjects of Argentina or living abroad. But please ask any questions you have in the comments.
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel℠ and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
Editorial Disclaimer: The editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuers, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuers.
The comments section below is not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all questions are answered.
Nice post. You should consider doing a similar lengthy visit in Brazil. You’ll have to pay for the tourist visa, and you probably wanna do it before or after the 2014 World Cup, but there are so many unique and beautiful regions in Brazil that you can explore.
Or after the 2014 World Cup, right? I do want to learn Portuguese or Russian next.
Nice post. You should consider doing a similar lengthy visit in Brazil. You’ll have to pay for the tourist visa, and you probably wanna do it before or after the 2014 World Cup, but there are so many unique and beautiful regions in Brazil that you can explore.
Or after the 2014 World Cup, right? I do want to learn Portuguese or Russian next.
Good read. I was there just before you arrived this past February and I lived in BA in 2004-5. Prices have changed a lot. Then you could get an apartment for $30k US and now prices are around $300k+. Don’t know how the locals do it. Brilliant place, though, and I agree about the food and nightlife. Try Brazil next…I recommend Rio.
You’re right about us having it good as Americans and doubly so on living abroad. I leave the country every year and having miles and points make it much easier. Keep up the good work.
Good read. I was there just before you arrived this past February and I lived in BA in 2004-5. Prices have changed a lot. Then you could get an apartment for $30k US and now prices are around $300k+. Don’t know how the locals do it. Brilliant place, though, and I agree about the food and nightlife. Try Brazil next…I recommend Rio.
You’re right about us having it good as Americans and doubly so on living abroad. I leave the country every year and having miles and points make it much easier. Keep up the good work.
Great to hear you had an amazing time down in Argentina! I lived there for 5 months back in 2009 and absolutely loved it. As you would know it takes a couple months to really get to know a place and settle in, you definately did it right with the 6 months. I would be interested to know what the cost of living per month down there is? I know you can travel most of South America for around 1k/month so it has to be less than that if your not moving around.
Great to hear you had an amazing time down in Argentina! I lived there for 5 months back in 2009 and absolutely loved it. As you would know it takes a couple months to really get to know a place and settle in, you definately did it right with the 6 months. I would be interested to know what the cost of living per month down there is? I know you can travel most of South America for around 1k/month so it has to be less than that if your not moving around.
We payed $1,200 / month for a two bedroom in the best part of town. Besides that, $1k / month is about right
Can you recommend any good expat blogs or other resources? I’d love to do what you did, but the devil is in the details. I have a mortgage and a family, so I’d love to find how folks like me manage to move out of the US for extended periods.
Try internations.org
Can you recommend any good expat blogs or other resources? I’d love to do what you did, but the devil is in the details. I have a mortgage and a family, so I’d love to find how folks like me manage to move out of the US for extended periods.
Try internations.org
The “informal market”? Haha, I’ve never heard it described that way. Haven’t been to Argentina since ’09 and there was no real issue just getting cash from banks, but it seems the “informal market” rate is almost double what the bank exchange rate is now (currently 5.8 but rising). I’ve read in a number of places that it’s not worth trying to find a better rate for a few reasons (counterfeiting, police, shady people, hard to find) but that doesn’t seem to be your experience.
I’m heading down to BA in January with my wife for three weeks. Would you recommend trying to just take the poor bank rate or try to seek out a better one. And do you have any tips on how to do that without getting arrested, ripped off or wasting a lot of time? Thanks Scott.
Bring $100s. Think about it: would an exchange house rip you of one time for a few $100s, thus ruining its rep? Only if it only dealt with one-off tourist transactions and had no regular clients.
Also, look at the gap between 5.8 and 9.5. You’d have to get ripped off a full 39% of the time before trying to get 9.5 was worse.
The “informal market”? Haha, I’ve never heard it described that way. Haven’t been to Argentina since ’09 and there was no real issue just getting cash from banks, but it seems the “informal market” rate is almost double what the bank exchange rate is now (currently 5.8 but rising). I’ve read in a number of places that it’s not worth trying to find a better rate for a few reasons (counterfeiting, police, shady people, hard to find) but that doesn’t seem to be your experience.
I’m heading down to BA in January with my wife for three weeks. Would you recommend trying to just take the poor bank rate or try to seek out a better one. And do you have any tips on how to do that without getting arrested, ripped off or wasting a lot of time? Thanks Scott.
Bring $100s. Think about it: would an exchange house rip you of one time for a few $100s, thus ruining its rep? Only if it only dealt with one-off tourist transactions and had no regular clients.
Also, look at the gap between 5.8 and 9.5. You’d have to get ripped off a full 39% of the time before trying to get 9.5 was worse.
I’ll be visiting BA for the first time next year. Is it easy to find these exchange houses? thanks
Yes, ask at your hotel or try the touristy Calle Florida.
how easy is it to use credit cards? how much cash for a week trip for 2?
Nice report. I loveArgentina, but I cannot believe that you did not mention Mendoza or have not gone there. As for the blue rate and reputable cambios, just ask at the reception and don’t forget to bring crisp $100 bills. Check out the blue rate online before you make an exchange and haggle a bit.
Just an opinion on this posting….why stop talking about Argentina or living abroad? Your info and experiences were fasinating. Points and miles are part of the big picture. Just as much a part of the big picture are your experiences and I hope you will tell more about them!
Hey Scott. Thanks for the post. Did you have to do anything special to get a visa for that long in Argentina?
We visited there in 2009 and went to BA, Trelew, El Calafate & Ushuaia during our visit.
We had a really nice time.
Reading your review of BA really made me want to go back again!
After three weeks of travel in Argentina my wife and i stumbled across a little kitchen shop that sold only baked vegetarian foods. It might be the only vegetarian shop in the entire country. Needless to say we became her best customers for the next two weeks while we took spanish lessons in Bariloche.
PS- Besides meat potatoes and pizza/pasta the fourth food group is chocolate- especially in Bariloche
Thanks for this great write-up about living in Buenos Aires. Echoing JohnnieD’s comment, I’d welcome reading more travel posts like this. Helps diversify your content, and give us more motivation to keep earning miles. I would love to see the MileValue take on Rio de Janeiro.
I would like to go, but I’m not paying the $160 reciprocity fee. Forget Chile and Brazil too. Friendlier countries like Ecuador and Peru charge nothing. The only country I will pay that much to visit is China, because I have family there…
The $160 does stink, but it is good for 10 years even if you get a new passport, so if you go more than once, it gets to be pretty cheap per trip.
Scott, i’ve got 17 days in Argentina over Nov/Dec. i’m thinking of eliminating one of these destinations in order to add Montevideo or Punta Del Este. What do you think?
BA – 5 nights
Iguazu – 2 nights
Bariloche – 3 nights
El Calafate – 4 nights
Ushuaia – 2 nights
I actually have found Montevideo to be extremely boring. Punta del Este has casinos and nightlife. To me, the beach is far below “worth a trip to the beach” standards. And although that would be shoulder season for PdE, I think it will be mainly empty. I’m not sure how long Calafate needs. If you can trim a little time there or in BsAs, you could add more to Bariloche, which is awesome for 4-5 days.
I would add Salta into as a destination instead of Montevideo, it is by far one of the most interesting and diverse (both natural and cultural) areas of the country. The city itself isn’t spectacular, but you can take day trips to salt flats and ruins, or head up into the Quebrada de Humahuaca and stay in smaller towns.
@Andy, we visited BA, El Calafate & Ushuaia during 2009. El Calafate and the Perito Moreno Glacier are not to be missed. Ushuaia is also neat just because its the southern-most city of the world but aside from penguins, and beautiful mountain scenery, its not a major tourist destination. I would probably skip Usuaia to hit one of your other destinations. If you chose not to, you’ll still have a good time in Usuaia. Seafood is very cheap… the Antarctic King Crab Legs were heavenly…
Excellent info Scott and Lanny. Thanks for the advice!
[…] read lots of great things about Buenos Aires and I’m looking forward to eating great steak while Emily would love the Tango […]
[…] Argentina (5.5 months) […]
[…] bummed because I love Buenos Aires, having spent six months in 2013 there, so I always hope for more options to get […]
[…] Argentina (5.5 months) […]
[…] bummed because I love Buenos Aires, having spent six months in 2013 there, so I always hope for more options to get […]
[…] I’ve spent about seven months in Argentina, including six months last year, that I memorialized in Six Thoughts on Six Months in Buenos Aires. […]
[…] If you have to change airports, the drive is 40 minutes to well over an hour depending on traffic in my experience. (I lived in Buenos Aires for six months last year.) […]