Doin' Stuff in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires Life Centre

Attraction | "Yoga and More at Buenos Aires Life Centre"

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I met Buenos Aires Life Centre when it was just Happy Sun Yoga, a yoga studio that had just found its new permanent location in Recoleta. The studio is actually an apartment. Yoga classes are offered seven days a week in what would be the living room. There is space to fit up to about 12 yogis if you pack in there -- it's more comfortable for about seven or nine. Depending on the time of day, some classes just have a couple of people. The schedule is pretty much set, but sometimes there are minor changes at the start of a new month. The owner is really good about keeping the online schedule up-to-date, so if you check there you can count on reliable information.Classes ar...Read More

I met Buenos Aires Life Centre when it was just Happy Sun Yoga, a yoga studio that had just found its new permanent location in Recoleta.

The studio is actually an apartment. Yoga classes are offered seven days a week in what would be the living room. There is space to fit up to about 12 yogis if you pack in there -- it's more comfortable for about seven or nine. Depending on the time of day, some classes just have a couple of people. The schedule is pretty much set, but sometimes there are minor changes at the start of a new month. The owner is really good about keeping the online schedule up-to-date, so if you check there you can count on reliable information.

Classes are currently taught in English, but several of the teachers (currently all ex-pats from Canada or the United States, though many have been in Buenos Aires for a long time and/or are intending to stay a long time) are comfortable teaching in Spanish. All classes last 75 minutes.

There is also a massage therapist who works here, with a permanent set-up in one of the smaller rooms. Other offerings include reiki, Thai massage, and health counseling. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, you can set an appointment with the chiropractor.

Yoga classes can be paid for one at a time with AR$50. If you plan to come more often, you can get a 5-class pass for AR$225, a 10-class pass for AR$400, or an unlimited monthly pass for AR$500.

The other services are competitively priced by Argentine standards, and are downright cheap if you compare them with similar offerings in the United States.

Keep on the lookout for special events -- on the first Sunday of every month, there is a donation-based yoga class with proceeds going to a local charity. Also once a month, the studio hosts a healthy vegetarian lunch.

Traveling can be hard on the body and mind: we sit for long periods of time in buses and trains, we take on strange sleeping and eating habits, we don't always exercise, we're faced with tons of new information and occasionally our plans get screwed up and we get stressed out. A vacation, especially an extended one, is no time to let yourself go, and no time to be worrying! Take care of yourself at Buenos Aires Life Centre. Read Less

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on June 6, 2025

Buenos Aires Life Centre
French 2647 5E
Buenos Aires, Argentina

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Money Talk

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The budget is a serious consideration when you take a trip. Regardless of how much you're prepared to spend in Buenos Aires, there a few things you should be aware of when it comes to cash.ATMs can be found in any bank, though there is usually a limit to how much you can withdraw -- I used several different ones and was always cut off at AR$1000 -- less than US$250. That doesn't last too long, and of course you have bank and ATM fees to be wary of.Many places won't accept anything but cash. Some offer discounts if you pay in cash. Others have deals with banks in an effort to get people to pay with plastic, so you'll find some grocery stores and restaurants offer discounts to th...Read More

The budget is a serious consideration when you take a trip. Regardless of how much you're prepared to spend in Buenos Aires, there a few things you should be aware of when it comes to cash.

ATMs can be found in any bank, though there is usually a limit to how much you can withdraw -- I used several different ones and was always cut off at AR$1000 -- less than US$250. That doesn't last too long, and of course you have bank and ATM fees to be wary of.

Many places won't accept anything but cash. Some offer discounts if you pay in cash. Others have deals with banks in an effort to get people to pay with plastic, so you'll find some grocery stores and restaurants offer discounts to those who pay with a card from a certain bank. You can't go wrong with cash, though.

Change is chronically difficult to get. The largest bill in regular circulation is AR$100, which is worth about US$25 -- however, if you try to pay a 30-peso check, or even a 70-peso check, with a 100-peso bill, you will almost always be asked if you have something smaller. If you don't have exact change in coins and they don't have the coin power to give you, they will either give you those centavos in discount, suggest that they owe you and will pay you next time, or offer you a few candies or a lemon or something to make up the extra that you gave them. The small mom-and-pop type stores have a harder time with this than the bigger ones, but even in grocery stores sometimes you will have to wait for five minutes until the employee in charge of the change comes by your aisle with change for the checkout person. I tend to pay in 100s at the movie theatre and restaurants, and save my smaller bills for the verdulerias.

Speaking of smaller bills, you will want them for the taxis. Handing over $100 is a good way to screwed (the driver might say you only gave them a $50, or pull a quick switch and show you a fake $100, saying that that's the one you gave them). I don't mean to suggest that taxi drivers are dishonest -- the majority are good, hard-working people. But there are bad eggs who will take advantage of your foreign self. Beware, and use smaller bills.

Be on the lookout for fakes. There are several ways to tell: if you hold it up to the light, you should see the water marks. You can shine a black light on it to see tiny flecks shining back at you. There is a silver stripe that runs through the bill: tearing it just as the top of that stripe should reveal silver underneath. The numbers are ever-so-slightly raised (I don't like that test as I can't really feel the difference). And it's not just the 100s that are counterfeited -- I've seen fake 20s, as well. You'll notice that store clerks will habitually check the bills you hand them for authenticity.

Dollars are now a black-market luxury, so take care in how many pesos you withdraw -- changing them back to dollars here will mean a big loss for you. Don't try to take them back to States and exchange them there, either: I've heard that there are no banks in the US that will buy Argentine pesos right now. Check with your bank before you leave to be sure -- this is the type of situation that can change overnight.

And, as in any city, carry only what you need and be wary of pickpockets. As the economic climate wavers, we are seeing more and more of that sort of crime. Read Less

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Shopping!

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For many of us, vising a foreign country opens up a whole new shopping experience. Maybe we're looking for some fun new stuff for ourselves, or we feel like we have to bring something back home for all the poor suckers who didn't get to travel with us. Either way, you gotta know where to go and what to get.As mentioned in other entries, I love the craft markets and think they are great places to find something for your friends and family.In general, I have not found the clothes and some other products here to be of especially high quality, though they do tend to be pricey. This depends hugely on where you go and what you buy, but the average shirt in the window seems to cost ab...Read More

For many of us, vising a foreign country opens up a whole new shopping experience. Maybe we're looking for some fun new stuff for ourselves, or we feel like we have to bring something back home for all the poor suckers who didn't get to travel with us. Either way, you gotta know where to go and what to get.

As mentioned in other entries, I love the craft markets and think they are great places to find something for your friends and family.

In general, I have not found the clothes and some other products here to be of especially high quality, though they do tend to be pricey. This depends hugely on where you go and what you buy, but the average shirt in the window seems to cost about $50 and looks like it could fall apart any minute. My boyfriend bought me a little backpack that I used sporadically to take stuff to the gym and on one three-day weekend in Uruguay, but after a couple of months three of the four zippers had broken and the beginnings of a hole started to appear in the front. Not impressed. I hope you have better luck.

Here are some of the main shopping areas:

Santa Fe. This long street is lined with boutiques. You will find lower prices if you go back into some of the galleries rather than just popping into the shops with street-front views.

Florida and Lavalle. Both pedestrian streets, and both have a lot of clothing stores as well as tourist-focused stores for buying souvenirs and Argentiny things like leather goods.

The malls. Abasto, Alto Palermo, Patio Bullrich, Recoleta. The most impressive looking is definitely Abasto; it's worth a trip just to see the building. Otherwise, they're all about the same and not really places to find bargains.

San Telmo. This entire barrio is home to antique stores, and you won't want to miss the huge antique market if old stuff is your kind of thing.

Once. This is where I always get directed when I ask someone where to find reasonably priced goods, especially products for the home, like kitchen appliances.

Keep an eye out for stores that are going out of business -- this happens fairly often, which is easy to understand when you take note of how many similar stores are within a stone's throw -- they're a good option for finding some better prices.

Happy shopping! Read Less

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Recoleta Market

Attraction | "Weekend Market in Recoleta"

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Our first craft market experience in Buenos Aires was the weekend market near the Recoleta Cemetery. Things pick up in the afternoon, with all the vendors in full swing. In the summer, the grassy space fills with people sipping mate and watching live musical performances. I love browsing this market. There is such a wide variety of products at very reasonable prices: jewely, picture frames, notebook and photo album covers, knives, puppets, dishes, musical instruments, clothing, leather purses, belts, paintings, and more, more, always more. Sustain yourself with fresh-squeezed orange juice, chocolate covered strawberries, churros, or pan relleno (basically a sandwich). You can also have a ...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on May 26, 2025

Recoleta Market
Near Recoleta Cemetery
Buenos Aires, Argentina

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La Recoleta Cemetery

Attraction | "Recoleta Cemetery"

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The Recoleta Cemetery is always listed as one of THE things to see in Buenos Aires. It is unique in its city-like quality, the dead recreating the lives they lived in Buenos Aires by crowding together in their final resting places. Entire families lie together in one tomb, and it's incredibly creepy to peer down the staircases that take you beneath the monuments to the depths of the crypts.The monuments are elaborate and interesting, and the list of the dead reads like a list of Buenos Aires street names. If you have particular graves you are looking for, it can be a weird little treasure hunt -- everyone seeks out Evita -- but otherwise it feels like wandering a maze, looking at dates car...Read More

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on May 26, 2025

La Recoleta Cemetery
Junín 1790 Recoleta District
Buenos Aires, Argentina 1116
+54 (11) 4804 7040

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BABA: Bad Art in Buenos Aires

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I almost feel guilty as I write this -- as if I am anyone to judge artwork. I have little training in drawing and painting and no background in art criticism, but I do have opinions, and that's what I'm sharing here.If it's not nice to look at, I usually don't like it. Sometimes there are exceptions to this if the work carries an exceptionally powerful message. Walking through Buenos Aires, I have come across numerous examples of what I would consider Bad Art: not nice to look at with a message I'm not getting. I have missed capturing a lot of it to share with you because I don't always have my camera with me on my casual strolls, but I did make a special effort to go to the pa...Read More

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Puerta Cerrada: A Unique Dining Experience

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A growing trend in Buenos Aires is the "closed door" restaurant. Usually hosted in the chef´s apartment, most of these places have seating for only a few people, making reservations mandatory.Many of them have websites, but not all will offer their addresses until the day before you're due to show up! They tend to be more expensive, in part because they are not official restaurants -- so they do not buy in bulk -- and in part because the food is totally awesome and lovingly prepared.A puerta cerrada creates an incredibly intimate dining experience. You get to see and and maybe even visit with the chef, and you can tell he or she is so in love with his/her job. You get to learn ...Read More

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San Telmo Antique Market

Attraction | "San Telmo Market on Sunday"

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The San Telmo market fills Plaza Dorrego every day, and you can find an assortment of simple crafts and antiques. Our favorite market trip, however, is taken on a Sunday, when Calle Defensa from Casa Rosada to Plaza Dorrego becomes pedestrian-only and is lined with stalls featuring crafts and souviners.We make the trip every time we run out of hot sauce, because the guys who make Boca Roja have a stall there every week. You can pick up two bottles for AR$50, making it one of the most affordable spicy options in the city.You can find a variety of gifts and souvenirs -- from simple things like magnets, caps, and t-shirts to wooden serving dishes, hand-crafted shoes, ...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on May 26, 2025

San Telmo Antique Market

Buenos Aires, Capital Federal District

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Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA)

Attraction | "MALBA"

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We try to visit the MALBA every few months -- whenever they change exhibits! With my friend in town on a rainy day, and a new photography exhibit on display, it was the perfect time to go again.It costs AR$25, or AR$12 if you go on a Wednesday. We got a 2x1 deal because my friend has a Samsung Smartphone. I have no idea where they get these promotional ideas, but whatever -- half price!We started on the top floor and took in the exhibit called Bye Bye American Pie. which included haunting work by Paul McCarthy, Nan Goldin, and others. I enjoyed this the most.I also liked the work by León Ferrari. He printed Bible verses in Braille over a variety of images -- some Bi...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on May 26, 2025

Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA)
Avenida Figueroa Alcorta 3415
Buenos Aires, Argentina 1426
+54 (11) 43624583

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