The links below provide information on Visa, Currrency, Health and Maps about and Argentina

• Argentina
• Buenos Aires City Map
• Buenos Aires Urban Rail Map

BUENOS AIRES
The City of Buenos Aires is the capital of the Argentine Republic. It is located in the southern hemisphere of the American continent, latitude 34° 36´ and longitude 58° 26´. Approximately three million people live in its 202 square kilometers (78.3 sq miles). However, together with the metropolitan area, the total population of Buenos Aires is above ten millions, making it one of the ten most populated urban centers in the world.

The Río de la Plata and the Riachuelo are the natural borders of the City on the east and south, respectively. The rest of the metropolitan perimeter is surrounded by the General Paz avenue from north to west. This avenue provides a fast connection between the city and the Greater Buenos Aires, a densely populated area with important business and industrial activity area.

Buenos Aires is connected with the interior of the country and foreign countries through an extended transport system, with connection points such as a port for cruisers and ferries, two airports – one for international flights, Ezeiza, 22 kilometers (13.7 miles) away from the Obelisco and the other for domestic flights, 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) away from downtown – commuter railroad, highways, national routes and a passenger transport terminal located at no more than one kilometer from downtown.

CLIMATE
The climate of Buenos Aires - oceanic and warm - is mild all year round. The mean annual temperature is 18° C (64.4° F), making extremely hot and cold days very infrequent. Thus, visitors can enjoy walking along the city in any season. July is the coldest month in winter, with mean temperatures ranging from 3° to 8° C (37.4° to 46.4° F). Frosts are infrequent in Buenos Aires. A woolen coat, a jacket or an overcoat and a scarf will be required when going out. In summer, the weather is hot and humid and the mean temperature is 28° C (82.4° F). At night, temperature goes down slightly, so people may wear light clothes; coats are not needed. The annual average rainfall is 1,146 mm (45.1 inches). Rains are more frequent in autumn and spring.

LODGING
Buenos Aires offers more than 450 facilities for lodging, 25,500 rooms and 52,000 beds. The choice of accommodation ranges from high category hotels, some of them belonging to international chains such as Four Seasons, Sheraton, Caesar and Marriott, to simpler lodgings, such as youth hostels for those looking for lower fares. The city´s downtown is the place where you can find hotels of all categories, since the sightseeing areas and the financial and business center are located there. However, the entire Buenos Aires has hotels and lodging facilities, which can be easily reached by using the extended transport network connected through five subway lines and more than one hundred bus lines linking all city points. There are about 50 youth hostels and students accommodations with low fares and comfortable facilities that include kitchen, living room and internet services. Hostels (a total of 193) and union hotels (27) represent another possibility of economical lodging.

DINING
Having a delicious meal is one of the pleasures of the porteños and gastronomy is a main feature of social meetings and free time. The Argentine cuisine is famous not only for its international status, but also for the variety and quality of the ingredients used and for the number of restaurants offering a wide range of prices.

International status
In Buenos Aires, there are lots of restaurants serving dishes from different countries and communities. The meals typical from other regions were adopted and became popular due to the strong influence of immigrants coming from Europe, Asia and other Latin–American countries. There are about 57 types of ethnic food: Italian, Spanish, Japanese, French, Nordic, Mexican, Chinese, Arabian, Turkish or Armenian, among others. Other options are restaurants with aphrodisiac or vegetarian menus.

Variety and quality of Food
In Buenos Aires, "good eating" is somewhat of a cult. This is so because of the diversity and quality of wines, meat, fruits, vegetables and fish.

The Argentine wines, especially the red varieties, meet the quality requirements of any connoisseur. Wines coming from Mendoza province, where the best champagne of the country is also produced, are among the best. The production and export of wines from that region is one of the most important in South America.

The excellent quality of Argentine meat is famous all over the world and, no doubt, the "bife de chorizo" and the "asado criollo" are the dishes preferred by Argentines and foreign visitors. The traditional cooking method for meat is to roast it over an open hearth, and is usually served with salads. There are "parrillas" (restaurants where the typical menu is "asado") of different categories, ranging from those which offer a menú libre, where people can eat all they wish by paying only $8, to elegant establishments with high prices.

For people who like fish, the local gastronomy offers fine and delicious selections, such as hake, brótola, flatfish, corvina, sea bream, mackerel, coming from open sea fishing. Seafood is very popular and one of the most commonly served dishes is calamary, crawfish and mussel cazuela (a kind of stew).

Italian food is widely available: the pasta, accompanied by a variety of sauces, and the pizzas, praised even by Italians, which attain a good balance in taste between dough, the different sauces and the muzzarella cheese.

Desserts include delicious fresh fruits – served in salads, topped with cream, or as filling for pies – and ice–creams, elaborated with natural ingredients including cream and fruits. Buenos Aires ice-cream shops are open all the year round and are frequented by customers both in summer an winter.

The traditional "criolla" food is "empanadas de carne" – a sort of small pie filled with minced meat, and some stews such as "locro" – prepared with white corn, beef and pork sausage or "chorizo" –, "carbonada", meat and potatoes pie, sweet "pastelitos" (fried sweet pies) and the "tortas fritas" (fried pies made of grease and flour).

TRANSPORTATION
The City of Buenos Aires is a cosmopolitan and modern urban center, where every day millions of persons, among them tourists, come and go either to work or to visit the city. It is for that reason that the transport system provides mutliple options, such as a subway network, more than one hundred bus lines and a taxi fleet reaching all points in the City, with a wide rage of prices and extended and flexible timetables. The tourists coming from the interior of the country arrive at Jorge Newbery airport, located in the north coast area of the City, 5 minutes away from downtown. People travel to the provinces and neighboring countries from that point. Visitors from the rest of the world are welcomed at Ezeiza International Airport, located 15 minutes away from downtown through a highway. This airport provides taxis, private cars (locally called "remises"), buses and minibuses 24 hours a day.

Travelling through Buenos Aires is very easy. Its five subway lines (commonly known as "subtes") converge upon downtown, the main touristic and hotel area. The schedule is from Monday to Saturday, from 6 am to 11 pm and on Sundays from 8 am to 10 pm. The fare is flat (0.70 cents) and payable at the ticket offices located in the different stations. Each ticket may be used to go to any point of the city, even for long trips combining several lines. If you want to visit neighborhoods distant from downtown, the train is the most commonly used option, since it offers an efficient and affordable service. The main railway hubs are: Retiro, Constitución, Once and F. Lacroze, which are terminal stations used as a place for passenger transfer. Fares depend on the distance (minimum fare, 0.50 cents). The different stations have ticket offices. Taxis are another good option to go through the City of Buenos Aires, with a fleet of more than 32 thousand cars. The fare is composed of an initial price and an additional value charged according to the distance covered and time elapsed. The fare is viewed on the taximeter that displays $1.28 when the trip begins and adds $0.16 every two hundred meters (about two blocks). The bus (called "micro" or "colectivo") is a fast and inexpensive transportation for those already lodging in the City. This is one of the most commonly used means of transport to go through the Capital and the Greater Buenos Aires. Users of most bus lines wait for no longer fifteen minutes and trips, including those to more distant areas, take no more than 40 minutes. The service is available 24 hours a day. There are more than one hundred lines going through the whole City and providing connection with all locations in the Greater Buenos Aires. The fixed fare is 0.80 cents. To rent a car is a good decision for those willing to be more comfortable and independent during their stay in the City. Buenos Aires has a wide offer of car rentals at reasonable fares and for all purposes. Agencies provide modern cars of different makes and types to drive through the City freely, comfortably and safely.

CULTURE AND ENTERTAINMENT
Buenos Aires has always been famous for its incredible cultural offer. Museums, cinemas, theatres and shows provide an unlimited variety of options for entertainment. Dramas, musical comedies, "teatro de revistas" (a sort of revue), guided tours and tango shows, are some of the proposals for all ages, all the year round. Both cinema and theatre represent two very important activities for the porteños. Currently, there are about 175 theatres and 200 cinemas.

The Colón Theater, inaugurated in 1908, is the pride of the porteños. It has hosted, and still hosts, the most famous artists of the national and international opera and ballet. Caruso, Gigli, María Callas, Victoria de los Angeles, Krauss, Carreras, Domingo and Pavarotti were among the renowned singers. It received dancers such as Alicia Alonso, Margot Fonteyn, Paloma Herrera, Nijinski, Nureiev, Barishnikov and Julio Bocca. Orchestra directors as Stravinsky, Toscanini, Von Karajan and Zubin Metha have also presented in the theater.

Among the endless number of shows offered, music has a special place. Those who love classic music can choose from a wide variety of concerts performed in different theaters, such as Colón and Coliseo. Both the Buenos Aires Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Symphonic Orchestra offer free concerts. Music shows by highly talented national and foreign artists are frequently staged in football fields and private facilities.

Attractions and entertainment events have increased exponentially during the last years in Buenos Aires. Important international chains, such as Cinemark, Hoyt´s, Showcase and Village Roadshow, have established in the City.

There is a great variety of museums. At present, there are more than 100 museums, both public and private. Among the national museums, we can mention the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (National Museum of Fine Arts), ranked at an international level and offering free admittance. Average ticket prices are between $1 and $2 and there are private collections that may visited for less than $5. During the year 2001, the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA) (Buenos Aires Latin American Art Museum) was inaugurated. It has an important permanent collection of contemporary Latin American art in a spacious and modern building designed for that purpose.

The National Museum of Fine Arts, the National Museum of Decorative Art, the National Museum Isaac Fernández Blanco of Spanish American Art, the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum Eduardo Sívori of Plastic Art, as well as the National Culture Halls and the Borges Cultural Center, among others, frequently show very important circulating exhibits. The General San Martín, Recoleta and Ricardo Rojas Cultural Centers are important places where different expressions of national and international art are displayed.

The handicraft markets are one of the most picturesque proposals of the city. On Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, artisans offer their crafts in different parks and squares.

The Street–Museum Caminito, where 62 plastic artists exhibit their work in the open air, is one of the most important markets of its type in the world.

The San Pedro Telmo fair is one of the most important attractions offered by the City. On Sundays, Dorrego square (Humberto 1° and Defensa streets) changes its looks when more than 270 stands are displayed to sell peculiar articles – "antiques and old things". The fair also organizes popular dancings with the collaboration of the neighbors.

In a very significant corner of Buenos Aires, the Mataderos Market is open on Sundays and holidays, April to November, from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm, and offers an exhibition of Handicraft and Argentine Popular Traditions.

The Costanera Norte (Northern River Coast) is another option providing a series of recreational complexes that prioritize outdoor activities along the Costanera Rafael Obligado avenue, and comprising both gastronomy and sports – tennis, swimming, golf, basket, soccer, windsurf, sailing.

Tierra Santa (Holy Land) is the first religious theme park in the world. More than one million persons have already had the experience of treading Tierra Santa, walking along its streets, discovering its architecture, meeting its people and knowing about its customs.

The Parque Natural Costanera Sur (Southern River Coast Natural Park) is just the place to enjoy the contact with nature. The tourist may participate in guided visits and outdoor walks make night visits under the full moon, see the sunrise in the beach, go jogging, ride on a byke or simply sit and listen to the sounds of nature in action.

The Parque 3 de Febrero (3 de Febrero Park) in Palermo neighborhood is the major green area of the City. Since the famous landscape architect Carlos Thays projected and developed this park in the decade of 1890, it offers leafy trees, beautiful sculptures, secret paths, fragrant gardens and a magnificent body of water.

Additional images:

The national congress
The Cabildo
Teatro Colon
A view of Caminito
El rosedal

The obelisc
The pink house
Lake of Palermo