During my recent visit to Buenos Aires (on assignment to write a cover story about 21st-century travel trends in Argentina for TravelAge West), I took a number of tours. And I also noticed a distinct trend: There are more free Buenos Aires tours than ever. And while a free tour in Argentina may not always be your best option (I explored the value and reliability of booking tours through reputable tour operators in an earlier post), it’s certainly worth checking out what’s available.
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ARGENTINA TRAVEL TIPS: 5 Ways to Experience Evita in Buenos Aires
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My bottom line? You get what you pay for. So visiting with a true city expert like Borello Travel & Tours is a sure way to have the best experiences, hand picked for you. But if budget travel is your goal while taking that Argentina vacation, you can consider these options, too.
Here are a few ways that you can get a free tour in Buenos Aires.
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Self-Guided Tours
The city tourism office provides lots of interesting itineraries for self-guided Buenos Aires city tours — including visits to neighborhoods famous for street art, architecture, history and culture. You can also trace the steps of Evita Perón and tango legend Carlos Gardel. Travel guidebooks are another great way to get ideas for self-guided tours.
Guru Walk
A company called Guru Walk offers free, tip-based city tours in a variety of destinations around the world. Its Buenos Aires city tours include a city center walking tour, Recoleta walking tour, a Palermo nightlife tour and San Telmo market tour. I took the free gay club tour and was pleased with the experience — on my particular night, it was just the guide and me, and we only went to one club, but he was a great source of information about where else to go out on other nights. If you’re looking for interesting things to do in Buenos Aires, these guides can be of some help. These are essentially like a “pay what you wish” deal, meaning that you should tip the guide what you see fit.
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Other Free Buenos Aires City Tours
A variety of other organizations offer their own city tours as well — including BA Free Tour and Free Walks, both of which offer free Buenos Aires walking tours. Again, you should come with cash, so that you can tip or “pay what you want” to the guides. Remember, they need to make a living, and you’re not paying for the tour itself!
Free Museum Tours
Some museums in Buenos Aires — such as the Museo Evita, for example — offer guided tours that are “free,” although you do need to pay the admission price to the museum. But they are an added benefit, since they provide a more in-depth, insider view of whatever’s on exhibit. Check museum websites or call before you visit, since guided tours are generally only offered at certain times of day — and you also want to make sure they’re available in your preferred language.
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DON’T MISS: Rojo Tango: Argentina’s Sexiest Tango Show
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HOW I TOURED BUENOS AIRES:Borello Travel & Tours puts together customized and group tours to Buenos Aires, which include extremely good room rates at various hotels, based on your taste and budget. I got two great hotels in Buenos Aires, and multiple tours that were hand-picked for me (that’s the advantage of paying for high-quality service!).
HOW I GOT TO BUENOS AIRES:I flew United Airlines, on the amazing new United Polaris business class service, which is now available on nonstop flights between Newark and Buenos Aires.
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