Time Out Buenos Aires

by Time Out Guides

Book Overview

Bouncing back from economic meltdown, Buenos Aires has reinvented itself. Bars, bistros and boutiques are springing up, major new museums have opened and tango is making a dramatic comeback -- and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1904978983
• ISBN13: 9781904978985
• Release Date: June 2006
• Publisher: Time Out
• Length: 284 Pages
• Weight: 0.69 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.0" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Great Book For Sophisticated Travelers

I've traveled to 25+ countries and used countless brands of travel books. So I'll consider myself a "sophisticated traveler" and recommend it to others in the same boat. This was my second experience with TimeOut and it was great. The hotel and restaurant suggestions were right-on, and we owe most of our best dinners in Buenos Aires to this book. We were more interested in experiencing local culture than typical tourist attractions, and this book was helpful in achieving that goal. The prices in the book are a little off, but such is the state of the economy down there with a currency in flux. This is a great book for the city only, so don't expect much advice for Argentina at large. But for a Buenos Aires focused book, this is a winner.

Best, Most in Depth Buenos Aires Guide Available

The title really says it all. There is not another guide out there that goes into as much detail about everything one would want to know when visiting Buenos Aires. It's more current, filled with more information, and simply much cooler than the Lonely Planet city guide to BsAs, it's closest competition. It also can be effectively used for a longer-term vacation. For example, the book details which gyms to go to, which grocery stores to shop at, and what neighborhoods would be nice to call home for a while (as opposed to just visit for the day). The book was published in the summer of '06 and seems very relevant and up to date. There are web addresses for most everything and most of these sites are can be viewed in English. Most useful were the many websites for help with vacation apartment rentals. There are many pictures of things one would actually want to look at and good use of color and graphics throughout. There's an overall youthful feel to the writing. The discussion on excursions from the city is a nice plus, as well. I definitely recommend this and other Time Out guides.

The best there is right now!

In June 2004 I learned that I was moving to Buenos Aires. So I bought all of the Buenos Aires/Argentina travel guides I could find. The Time Out guide is by far the most comprehensive, most up-to-date, and hippest guide I found. In particular, I find the restaurant descriptions and reviews to be very much on-the-money. What's more is that the size and shape of this guide make it much more convenient to carry with you as you explore this gorgeous city. Make sure to get the most current edition of the book!

Buenos Aires, dias, tardes and noches

I find myself still reading this fascinating guide even after my return. The In Context section, which includes the chapters: History, Architecture, Literary Buenos Aires and Tango is well written and full of information. My favorite quote from this section is, "By the time you're reading this, Buenos Aires could be in the grip of an economic crisis, or the good times might just be rolling again." Ahem. The hotel, museum, monument and restaurant information was useful and truthful. The maps are clearly notated and easy to read, but if they could find a way to show the topography, the hills wouldn't have been such a suprise. I'll definitely take a Time Out guide on my next adventure.

Most up-to-date and hippest on the local scene

I packed this guide along with the Lonely Planet Buenos Aires guide on a recent trip (year end 2001-2002) after a ten-plus year absence. The city is quite different from what I remember, and this Time Out guide is much better than the Lonely Planet guide at pinpointing the recent changes. I used both because they cater to the younger, more budget-oriented and culturally hip set, and though I am no longer so young and certainly don't need to be budget-oriented, I want the most culturally attuned guides possible because that is the one thing that has increased along with age and resources. Generally I respect Lonely Planet's country and city guides for providing that sort of info (places to stay, eat at, visit, shop, etc.), but this time I was let down. I have also used Time Out city guides many times before and they are usually reliable on good places to check out, especially if you are into good food, bars and cafes, the party scene, the architectural and culture aspects, and daytrips from your main destination. The Buenos Aires version of this series is an excellent example. I was in Argentina during a critical and turbulent moment, with world-newsworthy events happening every day I was there, so one would expect a number of disjunctions between travel guide description and on-the-scene street reality, and there were certainly some (mainly in the form of places that are supposed to be packed and lively being much less so due to the general economic problems affecting the locals). I went to a number of restaurants and bars and cafes and clubs highlighted by the guide, and stayed at some of the hotels most recommended. All were wonderful, and from my discussions with many locals (including those I would consider to be the most informed about these things, journalists of all ages), the places that they recommended meshed well with the places in the guide. I stayed at Hotel Castelar, then NH Jousten. I dined/drank at places such as Abril San Telmo, Milion, Divino, El Federal. I highly recommend a visit to the El Ateneo bookstore (a converted theatre), an English-language tour of the opera house teatro Colon, a walk along the financially-doomed waterfront development Puerto Madero, the bars and cafes in Palermo Viejo and San Telmo, a quiet walk around some of the leafy residential areas such as Belgrano, a visit to MALBA, the fabulously airy and glassy new modern art temple. And for a bit of touristy stuff, check out a tango dance show. Never mind that most of the younger (i.e. under age 45) locals appears not to be interested in tango (it's an old thing for them); it's the (generally older, but if you can't enjoy it at age 25 your mind's too old)) foreigner's gain of a wonderful art form. I cannot say the same for MOST of the places recommended by the Lonely Planet guide. Granted, BA is a large city and there are tons of alternatives, but I hit practically every interesting neighborhood and could've come up with better choices than LP's