Organized Tours

Free Buenos Aires City Tourism Office Tours

The Buenos Aires City Tourism Office offers an excellent array of free city tours. Participants are taken through the city on buses or meet at a designated point and walk through a neighborhood as a guide explains the highlights. Most of the tours are conducted in Spanish; however, a few are in Spanish and English. The possibility of an English-speaking guide being on hand can change at the last minute, but I encourage you to sign up for a tour anyway and see what happens. You can always leave if you do not understand, or someone will more than likely be able to translate.

Ask for information about the tours at the many Buenos Aires Visitor Information Kiosks. You can also call the hotline for information (tel. 11/4313-0187). It's staffed from 7:30am to 6pm Monday to Saturday, and Sunday from 11am to 6pm. Or call the organization directly about the free tours (tel. 11/4114-5791; Mon-Fri 10am-4pm; ask to speak with Rubén Forace, who is in charge of them). The tours are on a space-available basis, so you'll have to register for them.

The tours cover the most important neighborhoods -- Palermo, San Telmo, La Boca, Recoleta, the Plaza de Mayo, Belgrano, and many others -- but are not offered every day. Ask for the brochure Free Guided Tours, which tells you when they are scheduled while you are in town, at the Visitor Information Kiosks.

They also offer four specialized free tours that relate to Buenos Aires historic figures. Called Itinerarios Evocativos, these include Eva Perón, Carlos Gardel, Jorge Luis Borges, and Federico García Lorca. These will also be listed in the Free Guided Tours brochure, but each tour is not held every month. However, each of the Itinerarios Evocativos has its own pamphlet that lists the places, addresses, and a description of each of the sites that would be visited on the tour. You can therefore do these tours on your own on a self-guided basis if they are not offered while you are in town.

Another interesting self-guided, free city tour service offered by the Buenos Aires City Tourism Office is the Cellular Telephone Tours. Ask for the brochure, currently only in Spanish, called Audio Guía Móvil. The brochure has instructions for each itinerary, where you call a number and punch codes to hear speeches and other information (in either English or Spanish) when near historical sites. When I tried this system, I didn't think it worked very well, but you might have better luck. While, in theory, this information service is free, don't forget that you will be charged for the airtime itself, making the cost of using this service possibly significant. Still, the system's complete flexibility and ability to allow you to hear recordings from the past certainly makes this different from any other tour option out there.

If you take a tour and feel you've been the victim of fraud or misrepresentation of any kind by businesses serving tourists, or you have been the victim of a taxi scam, the tourism office also has a special number for troubleshooting. The program is called Buenos Aires Te Protégé, Buenos Aires Protects You, and can be called toll free at tel. 0800/999-283387.

Boat Tours

Buenos Aires ignores its riverfront location in many ways, and seems to have no real connection to the water other than a view from its tall buildings. The two tours listed below, however, allow you to see the city from the water.

Navegando Buenos Aires, Puerto Madero at Alicia Moreau de Justo 872, next to the Frigate Sarmiento dock (tel. 11/4342-4849; www.navegandobuenosaires.com), are low-rising boats that look like greenhouses skimming the Puerto Madero waterfront. They pass under the numerous low bridges in the Puerto Madero area and then head to La Boca. They operate twice a day Monday through Friday, and the trips last about 1 1/2 hours. Adults ride for about US$5 (£2.65) and children are about US$3 (£1.60). Only cash is accepted.

Buenos Aires Boats, La Boca Docks, at the base of Caminito (tel. 11/4303-1616; www.bueboats.com), leaves four times a day daily from the port in La Boca near where Caminito hits the waterfront. Trips last about 1 1/2 hours and go from La Boca to the Río de la Plata. Tours cost about US$5 (£2.65) for adults, US$3.50 (£1.90) for seniors and children, and are free for those younger than 3. Group discounts are available. Only cash is accepted.

Puro Remo Boats and Kayaks (tel. 11/4313-8008; www.puroremo.com.ar) leaves from the Puerto Madero Yacht Club and offers various tours where you do all the paddling. Tours vary in length, price, and skill set. Only cash is accepted.

In addition, La Boca also has small ferry boats at the base of the now-closed Puente N. Avellaneda (that big metal rusty thing overlooking La Boca that has actually been declared a UNESCO heritage site). These are the boats locals use to cross the river to come back and forth to Buenos Aires from the very poor suburbs in Avellaneda. Costing only 50 centavos (US$1.50/80p), they are fun to ride, but I suggest crossing and coming directly back instead of exploring the other side of the river, because Avellaneda is considered dangerous if you do not know where you are going. Few tourists take these boats, so you will be especially welcomed onboard by locals who rarely meet foreigners. Though it seems far-fetched considering the setting, some locals half-jokingly call these boats the La Boca Gondolas, considering the Italian heritage of the area. Whatever you do, do not touch the heavily polluted water full of industrial waste and sewage. Only cash is accepted.

Bike Tours

Buenos Aires Urban Biking (tel. 11/4855-5103 or 15/5175-6388; www.urbanbiking.com) offers four different themes for biking throughout Buenos Aires: northern areas of the city, southern areas including the Ecological Reserve, Buenos Aires at Night, and the Tigre Delta outside of the city. Equipment is provided by the company and prices and trip lengths vary by itinerary, from a half day to a full 8-hour day. They also operate in La Plata, the capital of the province of Buenos Aires. Guides speak English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese.

Lan and Kramer Bike Tours (tel. 11/4311-5199) leads groups, which generally meet and start their trips in Plaza San Martín. There are several tour routes, some of which pass through the Ecological Reserve along the Puerto Madero waterfront. Rates begin at about US$25 (£13) per person and tours last from 3 to 6 hours, depending on the itinerary.

Bus Tours

Travel Line (tel. 11/5555-5373; www.travelline.com.ar) offers more than 20 tours with various themes within Buenos Aires and into the surrounding suburbs. Participants are picked up at their hotel and tours can last anywhere from 4 hours up to a full day; some include meals. Themes include Eva Perón, tango tours, Fiesta Gaucho (which visits an estancia, or farm), City by Night, and the Tigre Delta, among many others. Prices vary but range from US$10 to US$90 (£5.30-£47). American Express, Discover, MasterCard, and Visa are accepted.

Jewish-Themed Tours

Travel Jewish (tel. 949/307-9231 in the U.S. or 11/4106-0541 in Buenos Aires; www.traveljewish.com) is owned by Deborah Miller, an American who has lived in Buenos Aires, and offers Jewish tours of Buenos Aires. Trips can be planned from beginning to end, including flights and hotels, or there are Jewish-themed day tours to enjoy once you are in Buenos Aires. Prices depend on the season; a 10-day tour of Buenos Aires, Patagonia, and Iguazú Falls costs around US$2,240 (£1,187) per person (based on double occupancy). Half-day Jewish Buenos Aires tours begin at US$80 (£42) per person. MasterCard and Visa are accepted.

Sports Tours

Go Football Tours (tel. 11/4816-2681 or 15/4405-9526; www.gofootball.com.ar) brings you to the game. Sports lovers will enjoy having all the thinking done for them, from knowing which team is playing when, to getting tickets and getting to the game itself. The company picks you up at the door of your hotel and takes you to the stadium and then back to the hotel again. Visit their website to plan out which games fit into your travel schedule. They also have tours to tennis, polo, and many other sports events. Visa and cash are accepted. Most events run about US$40 (£21), including tickets and transportation.

Golf Day (tel. 11/4824-8531 and 11/4826-8531) is perfect for busy executives who don't have the time to plan a day of golf but want to try to squeeze a few holes in before leaving Buenos Aires. This company will pick you up, take you to a local golf course, provide lunch, and then bring you back to your hotel. They prefer more than a day's notice, if possible, when making a reservation. Prices range from about US$60 (£31) or more.

Tango Tours

There are literally hundreds of tours for people interested in tango here in Buenos Aires, the city where it all began.

Walking Tours

Los Santos Tours (tel. 11/4325-8100; turismoxbuenosaires@netafull.com.ar) has several themed walking itineraries through different Buenos Aires neighborhoods. Price and duration will vary by itinerary, but the full-city tour can last up to 7 hours. Prices range from US$16 to US$24 (£8.45-£12), and some itineraries include a snack or lunch.

IN VIP Visit BA (tel. 15/5063-6602; www.invisitba.4t.com) offers highly customized tours, some of which are strictly walking while others are bus and walking combinations. Prices vary by itinerary but can range from US$15 to US$25 (£7.95-£13) or more per person, depending on the group size and itinerary complexity.