First-timer in Buenos Aires: 10 Things I should have known

Reading time: 7 min

My first time visit in this lovely vibrant country happened quite recently, more precisely 8 months ago, when fall leaves were covering the Buenos Aires streets.
I come from a cold northern country of Finland, and while dating my Argentinian man, it was natural to visit his home roots in the Buenos Aires province. In this 1 month visit, I saw different sides of Argentinian culture, the way of living, money exchange hassle, busy Buenos Aires street life and of course football!

Here is my take away of the trip to Buenos Aires in April 2025.

1. You can pay with Visa

We hear many talks about blue dollar, but during our visit we used Visa debit, cash and Mercado pago (that is only available with an Argentinian ID card). I think if you come to Argentina as a tourist the easiest way is to exchange money in airport or withdrawn on ATM. In Buenos Aires you can use card payments everywhere in restaurants to stores, maybe in small kiosks its good to have cash. The rate is not as great as for locals using Argentinian pesos, but it is sufficient enough to spend a vacation in there. If you know locals, you can ask them to show you "cuevas" the blue dollar exchange places where you can exchange currency with cheaper rate, but I would advice caution if you decide to search them alone.

2. SUBE public transportation card is difficult to top up and contactless does not work everywhere

The SUBE transportation card is widely used in the Buenos Aires, and the surrounding province. Many tourists and locals complains that it is difficult to obtain this card the first place. My advice is to go around local small kiosks in the city and ask if they make SUBE cards (or top them up). Some kiosks even have signs indicating on SUBE cards, but generally you need some time and patience to go and ask around to get it created.

Once you get the card created, top it up with good amount of Argentinian pesos, since while going around the city it can be annoying to find another kiosk that tops it up. In buses and metro you can use your Visa card as a contactless payment method. this should work in the Buenos Aires city, but if you are going to visit further the city, not all the busses will take contactless, so it is always a safe choice to have your physical card with you.

The city is huge and its extensive metro and bus connections are a great way to go around, fast. The fastest way in my opinion was the metro tunnels, considering the traffic jams on the roads, but if you want to see the city from above, a bus or hop on hop off are a great options.

3. Buenos Aires Metro stops running around 10-10:30pm

Buenos Aires' metro stops running around 10-10:30pm weeknights. In a city where dinner starts at 10pm, this is absurd. Budget for taxis/Uber at night, or master the bus system (which runs 24 hours but requires a SUBE card and route knowledge).

4.Ecobici bicycle sharing system is the way to go

Ecobici is the local bicycle provider in the Buenos Aires city. You can find 24h bicycle stations and thought Ecobici application you can find the nearest station. The city is pretty well prepared with bicycle lines, with 130km of them to be exact. We visited the Reserva Ecológica Costanera Sur with bikes. The bikes are quite heavy to paddle and some of them may have technical flaws, but in general they are pretty good shape for a big city bikes.

5. The city is relatively safe, even during the night in some areas

While walking on the streets during the day, I felt safe. I was also able to use my mobile phone on the street with caution of course. I never felt I needed to overly protect my belongings on the restaurant terraces or in stores. The local people generally mind their own business and cat calling or any type of harassment did not happen during my visit.

At night the city vibe changes a bit, it is really a place that never sleeps and there is people everywhere, even on weekdays. We walked in the city center Avenida 9 de Julio street at night with my man, we also walked at night in Palermo region. Generally we avoided parks or shady areas. We walked also in the infamous Boca district at late hours (but stayed caution and avoided slums under the bridge).

So a good rule of a thumb is to stay close to crowded areas like XXX. You will be fine. Metro tunnels are also ok in the early evening. At night I would use UBER for long distances.

6. The Afternoon Disappears

The Argentinians really have a different clock when it comes to lunch times, since their lunch lands around 1-2pm and as a Northern European I am used to eat lunch around 12pm. However, many places still served food for us when we searched around, but siesta time affected on the opening hours of cafeterias.

7.Pharmacies Sell Everything

The pharmacies in Buenos Aires sells everything from antibiotics to strong painkillers and without prescription. Pharmacies also sell everyday items. Coming from a country with highly regulated pharmacies, this was something new.

8. If you are a fan of football, the stadium games cannot be entered without a membership or a tourist group tour

I thought that visiting a football game would have been easy. How wrong was I. In Buenos Aires are two football leagues; Boca and River whose fan bases are the biggest rivals. In order to enter a football stadium and see a game, you need to pay to a tourist company to take you (not kidding this can be 100-200e) or you need to know a local person who is willing to give their ticket to you. Football is so passionate and loved sport in the country that entering games is allowed only to members of football associations that has months of waiting lists. Furthermore, due to past football hooligans, stadiums can only be entered by the fans of that specific football league and not from the opposing team.

9.Restaurants and stores are expensive

In Buenos Aires are multiple hip restaurants, stores and everything for everyone, however the prices are not local friendly. In the center of Buenos aires (XXX) restaurant dishes can differ from 15-20euros, which is similar to what I paid in Finland!

Also clothing stores have regular European prices, from 20-30euros to a shirt and sneakers can be closer to 100e. Considering that the locals do not have that high salaries, it is really odd to see the prices skyrocketing in the city.

10.Tourist price and local price

My argentinian man got better prices than me in the sightseen; for example the Japanese Garden or Hop on Hop off. Tourists prices can be 50% higher than the local prices, so be prepared to pay more for the same funs.

What surprised you most about Argentina? Share your "nobody warned me" moment below.