Argentina Archives - Wandering North

From Buenos Aires, Argentina, I was heading to Montevideo, Uruguay. Flying was an option, but I decided to go by ferry. The two capital cities are separated by a large estuary called the Río de la Plata. Flights are only about 50 minutes but factoring in the hassle of going to and from airports against the relative pleasure of riding a boat, it was an easy decision.

There are lots of ferry options between the two cities, many of them were slow ferries, stopping along the way, taking up to 7 hours. The express ferry takes 2.5 hours and is direct. That was the one that I decided to take, operated by Buquebus. I booked in advance, which based on the crowds on the ferry, I think was a good idea.

I booked the earliest ferry I could find online (departing at 7:15am and arriving 9:45am), and on the morning of my departure I walked from my hostel in Buenos Aires to the ferry terminal. Part of the reason I had picked the hostel I did was because it was walking distance to the ferry terminal. I arrived early and there was a large crowd waiting to pick up their tickets. Even though I had booked online and had no luggage to check, I still had to pick up a paper ticket. The ferry terminal is new and modern and has a cafe and Wi-Fi, so it wasn’t a bad place to pass the time.

I picked up my ticket and boarded the ferry.

There are four classes of ticket for walk on passengers and they range from about $80 to $150 US. Normally I would get the cheapest, but in this case, I decided to get the first-class ticket. In hindsight that was a good decision. I think at the time it was the only class that offered free Wi-Fi, which was part of the reason that I selected it. It allows priority check in and boarding, but it also meant that I got to exit the boat first which was a huge time saver or given how busy the ship was and how slow it appeared people were disembarking. I had access to a lounge with free drinks and snacks prior to departure.

On board, there the first-class seating was comfortable and on the top of the ship. It had kind of a weird 60s décor, but the seats were very comfortable and there was free Wi-Fi and charging ports and some complimentary beverages. Most importantly it was very calm. The other cabins when I walked through them as I was leaving were absolutely packed and full of lots of noisy families and they just didn’t seem as appealing. I found the journey incredibly tranquil.

The business class seating looked pretty nice too, but they didn’t offer the free Wi-Fi.

As they had checked my passport when I was boarding the ship, when I exited, I just walked into Montevideo and was steps away from the city centre. There was none of the hassle of airports and taxis. It was maybe 1 of the easiest non-European border crossings I’ve ever had.

And just like that, I was in a new country and ready to explore Montevideo, Uruguay.

The first international trip of 2025 (not counting my trip to Miami the month prior). Buenos Aires, Argentina. I had decided it was time to return to South America, or rather world events decided it was time for me to return to South America. I had another trip booked entirely but due to some political violence and flight cancellations I decided to change my plans and fly to Buenos Aires. More specifically I decided to fly to Buenos Aires and then also visit Montevideo and Asuncion at the same time. But my trip would start in Argentina.

Buenos Aires is a city that I’ve heard nothing but good things about and yet, somehow, I managed to not feel particularly excited about going. I had no doubt that it would be nice, but I just wasn’t enthusiastic. And maybe that reflected itself on my experience of the trip, because while I had a very good time in Buenos Aires I didn’t love it.

And here is where I am going to describe all the great things in Buenos Aires that I enjoyed, while still not loving it.

Arrival and Blunders

I spent three days in Buenos Aires, which for me was enough time in the city. I booked myself a little hostel (V&S Hostel Boutique), which was more like a shared Airbnb and was walking distance to many things that I wanted to see. It was nice and welcoming after such a long flight.

The trip got off to a bit of a weird start when on my first morning I walked out of my room barefoot in my pyjamas to make a cup of coffee in the shared kitchen and didn’t realize that my door was self-locking. I locked myself out of my room. There is no reception and I didn’t see any other guests. I didn’t even have my cell phone with me, so while I had coffee, I had no other way to contact anyone. Fortunately, I knew that the woman was coming to collect my money in about two hours, so I just had to bide my time and wait for her to come rescue me, though I hoped that someone would notice me on the security cameras doing weird things like dancing or doing bicep curls with the end table and send someone more immediately. Lesson learned, never leave your room without your key and cell phone in hand.

Setting Out

Dressed and organized, I set out exploring the city. Buenos Aires is beautiful. It has beautiful buildings and lovely tree-lined streets. There are oodles of bookstores and cute little vintage shops and wonderful cafes. If you like meat and wine, which I don’t really, there is an endless array of restaurants to seduce you. It feels like a city that I could happily live in, but as I visited it, while I was enjoying myself, I wasn’t falling in love with it. And, yet, I enjoyed many things.

There is an extraordinary bookstore in an old theatre: El Ateneo Grand Splendid, which was opened in about 1919 as a theatre and turned into a bookstore (with a café) in the 2000s. It was dubbed the most beautiful bookstore in the world by National Geographic. In my mind it was doing battle with the incredible bookstore that I had just seen a couple months earlier in Bucharest. They’re both equally grand and I have not decided who the victor is, but it’s certainly worth visiting both of them.

Smoking Cigars in Buenos Aires

I was also delighted by the cigar culture in Buenos Aires. There are so many cigar lounges, including two La Casa del Habano stores/lounges where I enjoyed talking with the staff. I visited the Oak Bar at the Palacio Duhau – Park Hyatt. It struck the right balance between fancy and cozy, and I sat there with a cigar, a cocktail, and a book and it was perfect. Right by the Oak Bar was a little cigar store/lounge called Prado y Neptuno that was full of local guys and had a friendly vibe. The prices were OK and the lounges were great, but even better than the lounges was the fact that every patio that I sat at had no issue with me smoking, and most of them brought me a proper a cigar ashtray. No one gave me a dirty look and there were other people smoking cigars, so I felt like I was in good company. How civilized.

Art

I also visited some art galleries and museums: the MACBA – Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Buenos Aires, the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, and the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA), each of which was excellent.

Death and Showtunes

I went to La Recoleta Cemetery, which was high on my list of places to visit because that is where Eva Peron is buried, but also it is just a beautiful cemetery with very ornate and imposing markers and mausoleums. Tourists pay a fee to get in but it is worth it. I opted not to take a tour and just wander on my own. I always love walking cemeteries. It was interesting seeing Eva Peron’s family crypt. It’s not that I am a scholar in Argentinian history, but I am a musical theatre fan and I have seen the musical Evita more than 25 times. I don’t even really like the musical Evita all that much but I had a special friend in the cast so saw it see it repeatedly, so I have this sort of superficial interest in Eva Peron. And so not only did I go to see her grave site, but I walked the streets of Buenos Aires listening to the cast recording Evita on repeat and I found that to be exhilarating. Even at times on desolate streets singing along to “High Flying Adored” or, obviously, “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina”.

I also really enjoyed the public transportation, which when the distances were too long to walk, the subway was convenient, as was Uber. Generally, though, it was a good city for walking, the one downside being that it was just blisteringly hot when I was there. On the day that I went to the cemetery it was 38°C and without any tree cover it was rather unpleasant.

La Boca

I took the bus down to La Boca; the area of Buenos Aires where there are all of the colourful buildings. You’ll see them a lot in social media posts about the city. La Boca is filled with colourful buildings and street art and cute restaurants and it is very photogenic, however it is also extremely touristy and has some kind of soccer/football connection so there are lots of stores selling football memorabilia and people taking pictures with these very tacky mannequins dressed in sports jerseys. I really hated that part of it, but overall, I liked exploring the neighbourhood. I wandered around and I sat and I had an incredibly expensive and bland vegetarian burger and watch the people mill about. It’s definitely worth it to go to the neighbourhood to look around, but it is touristy and tacky, and I wish it wasn’t.

A Friend from Home

Maybe the best thing that happened to me in Buenos Aires was that coincidentally a friend and actress from Vancouver was there filming a commercial. Our days overlapped by one and so we met up and went out for dinner and drinks. She had been there for a couple of weeks at that point and really knew her way around and found a restaurant with delicious vegan pasta dishes. That was really fun. I enjoyed having someone to chat with for an evening and it was neat seeing someone from home in a completely different environment. I think I especially appreciated it given that the entire time that I was staying my accommodations I didn’t see another living soul except when they collected my money, so I was maybe desiring a bit of human contact. But it was great.

Final Thoughts

I know it sounds a bit contradictory to say that I had a great time in Buenos Aires but also that I was underwhelmed, but that’s kind of how I felt. I have nothing bad to say about Buenos Aires and I enjoyed everything that I did but nothing about it excited me. It would be weird, I think, if I loved everywhere I visited. Perhaps not every trip has to be exciting; maybe some can just be interesting or pleasant.

I am very glad to have finally visited Buenos Aires. Clearly, I need to visit somewhere in southern Argentina or even outside of the city, but this was not the trip for that. The morning after my final day in Buenos Aires I was taking a ferry to Uruguay.