Planning a Trip

Getting There

By Plane -- Córdoba is most easily reached by air, and there are numerous daily flights from Buenos Aires. Aeropuerto Internacional Ing. Ambrosio Taravella (also called Pajas Blancas; tel. 351/475-0871/475-0874) sits 11km (6 3/4 miles) outside town. Aerolíneas Argentinas (tel. 0810/222-86527), Lade (tel. 0810/810-5233), Sol (tel. 0810/444-4765), and LanChile (tel. 0810/999-9526), operate here, with flights to Buenos Aires, Mendoza, Salta, Rosario, and Santiago de Chile. Buenos Aires flights cost approximately $200 (£110). Gol (tel. 0810/266-3131) also flies four times a week from Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil. LAB Lloyd Aero Boliviano (tel. 351/482-0614) has two weekly flights from Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

Taxis from the airport to downtown cost between $6 and $8 (£3.30-£4.40).

By Bus -- The Terminal de Omnibus, or central bus station, is located at Bulevar Perón 380 (tel. 351/423-3555). Numerous companies serve destinations throughout Argentina. Travel times are approximately 10 hours to Buenos Aires, 12 hours to Mendoza, 30 minutes to Villa Carlos Paz, and 2 hours to La Falda. A one-way ticket from Buenos Aires should cost no more than $40 (£22); companies constantly offer promotions and change their prices frequently. I recommend you check with the tourism office or the bus station before booking your ticket. A tourism information office is situated in the bus station (tel. 351/433-1987).

By Car -- The drive from Buenos Aires takes approximately 10 hours on RN 9, which is a good road.

Car Rental -- To rent a small car costs $60 (£33)per day. Try Annie Millet-Hertz (tel. 351/475-0581/475-0587; hertzcordoba@arnet.com.ar) or Avis (tel. 351/475-0815/475-0785; cordoba@avis.com.ar) at the airport, or Europe Rent a Car, Entre Ríos 70 (tel. 351/422-4867).

Visitor Information

Córdoba's Centro de Información Turística, in the Cabildo (tel. 351/434-1227), offers limited hotel and restaurant information and distributes small city maps. It's open daily from 8am to 8pm in summer, with shorter hours in winter. There are also branches at the airport (tel. 351/434-8390) and at the bus station (tel. 351/433-1987). They also provide information and maps on the entire region, such as La Falda or La Cumbre.

Getting Around

The old city of Córdoba is easy to explore on foot, with 24 blocks of pedestrian walking streets near the Cabildo. The heart of the old city spreads out around Plaza San Martín, in the southeast quadrant of Córdoba. Most of the historical sights lie in this area. Avenida Colón, which becomes Avenida Olmos, is the city's main street. As a general rule, you should not walk alone in big cities at night. In Córdoba, this is especially true anywhere along the river.

Driving is difficult in the city, and parking is almost impossible downtown. City buses are cheap and abundant, but only cospeles -- 30¢ (15p) tokens available at kiosks around town -- are accepted. In Córdoba, taxis are bright yellow, while the safer and similarly priced remises (private, unmetered taxis) are light green. As is the case throughout Argentina, it is always safer to hire a remise rather than flag a taxi on the streets. This is just an extra measure of security for the visitor -- locals have no problems flagging taxis on the street.