Tourist Centers -- The central office of the City Tourism Secretariat, responsible for all visitor information on Buenos Aires, is located at Calle Balcarce 360, in Monserrat (tel. 11/4313-0187; www.bue.gov.ar), but this office is not open to the general public. Instead, you'll find several kiosks (with maps and hotel, restaurant, and attraction information) spread throughout various neighborhoods. These are in Recoleta, San Telmo, Abasto, Puerto Madero, and other locations in the city center. Most are open Monday through Friday from 10am to 5pm, and on weekends, though some open and close later. In addition, individual associations have their own tourist centers providing a wealth of information, such as that for the Calle Florida Business Association in the shopping center Galerías Pacífico and where the pedestrianized shopping street Calle Florida ends at Plaza San Martín.
Buenos Aires City Tourism Kiosks
The city of Buenos Aires has decided to bring information to the people. It closed its old central tourism information office and opened numerous tourism kiosks all over the city. In addition to those at the airport, here is a list of those located in the city center, including addresses and opening times.
Microcentro -- Calle Florida: Calle Florida 100, at Diagonal Norte. Open Monday to Friday from 9am to 6pm, Saturday, Sunday, and holidays 10am to 3pm.
San Telmo: Defensa 1250, at San Juan. Open Monday to Friday from 11am to 5pm, Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 7pm.
Puerto Madero: Alicia Moreau de Justo 200, at Dique 4 (Dock 4). Open Monday to Friday from 11am to 6pm, Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 7pm.
Retiro: Retiro Bus Station, Window 83. Open Monday to Saturday from 7:30am to 1pm.
Recoleta: Av. Quintana 596, at Ortiz. Open Monday to Friday from 10:30am to 6:30pm, Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 7pm.
Abasto: Abasto Shopping Center, main level. Open daily 11am to 9pm.
Information by Phone -- The Buenos Aires City Tourism Office also runs an information hotline (tel. 11/4313-0187), which is staffed from 7:30am to 6pm Monday to Saturday, and Sunday from 11am to 6pm. The city also provides free tours. Though the majority of these tours are in Spanish, a few are conducted in English. To find out more about the tours, call tel. 11/4114-5791 (Mon-Fri 10am-4pm). If you come to Buenos Aires and feel you've been the victim of fraud by a business serving tourists or a taxi scam, the tourism office has a special number to call. The program is called Buenos Aires Te Protégé, Buenos Aires Protects You, and can be called toll-free at tel. 0800/999-2838.
Publications -- The following are publications I recommend picking up once you have hit Buenos Aires. They provide useful information for tourists and have websites you can look at before getting to Buenos Aires. The Buenos Aires Herald (www.buenosairesherald.com) is Buenos Aires's English-language daily, and one of the oldest publications on the continent. This newspaper will inform you about what's going on in the news in Argentina and around the world. Plus, they have great event listings of particular interest to English speakers. You'll find the Herald on newsstands everywhere for 1.70 pesos -- less than a dollar a day. It can sell out quickly, however, so try to pick it up in the morning. A new, free expat biweekly called Argentimes (www.theargentimes.com) also came onto the scene in 2006. It focuses largely on the arts and often has musings by expats on why they ended up in Buenos Aires. The Travellers Guru (www.travellersguru.com) is an English-language triweekly distributed free throughout Buenos Aires with tips on the city, Patagonia, and other areas of Argentina. Its disadvantage is it describes great places but does not always give addresses or contact information -- but at least it will give you ideas that you can then ask about at your hotel. Ciudad Abierta (www.buenosaires.gov.ar) is a free weekly newspaper published by the city government telling what is going on culturally all over the city, but it is in Spanish only. Ciudad Abierta is also an interesting cable access channel, which, like the weekly, highlights cultural and tourist interests around the city; it's usually channel 73 on hotel cable systems. Llegas a Buenos Aires (www.llegasabuenosaires.com) is another newspaper that has information on culture, arts, tango, and other event listings. It is published weekly and distributed for free at tourist information centers, bars, museums, shops, and other locations throughout the city. On sale at newsstands is also Buenos Aires Metropolis (www.bametropolis.com), a monthly lifestyle magazine with features on new restaurants, shops, and whatever is trendy in Buenos Aires. It's not aimed at tourists, but will give you some good inside information on what's chic and new in town before other foreigners discover them. El Tangauta (www.eltangauta.com) is the tango lover's bible. Published on a monthly basis, it is full of advertising and listings of places to learn tango, dance tango, and buy tango clothes and shoes. It is mostly in Spanish, but select advertising and a few of the articles are in English. The new La Milonga is similar but more tourist-friendly, with articles in both English and Spanish. Both are usually found free in tourist and tango venues.
