Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires has Ben one of my favourite cities so far. I love the old stone streets and cafe culture is unreal. While there, I did feel a a bit depressed by the economic situation and generally sensed many locals stressed out. I now understand the inflation in a personal and new perspective way. Too much smoking as usual. I thinks it’s a good city but hard to say if it could be long term. I met people from all over the globe there.

Wanted to remind people not to get too comfortable and forget that this place has problems with crime. I was staying in the Retiro neighborhood and let my guard down one night, and two thugs robbed me of my phone. I thought because the area didn't look as dangerous as some places I saw in Colombia, that I would be fine coming back from a bar late. I realize I was stupid, but it can happen to anyone. It's an interesting city with lots to do, but you definitely shouldn't let your guard down.

As a local living in Buenos Aires, renting a one bedroom apartment by myself, working from home and being very frugal (I don't dine out, I don't get take-out, I don't travel), I spend around USD 800 a month. If I buy myself something like a new bag or pair of jeans that number goes up by at least USD 100 (current value of USD 1 is ARS 1400). The cost of living for a local is severely outdated. It's more like the cost of living for an expat now.

Great city! Buenos Aires feels like a European capital located in Latin America (at roughly half the cost). Lots of cafes, restaurants, bars, clubs, shops, and etc. Uber and ride-share apps are very responsive & inexpensive here, but they are also not the greatest cars. The public transportation is also good. The language exchange events here are the best I have seen, heard of, or been to for those who are trying to learn languages or network with a wide variety of locals and internationals. Overall, I felt pretty safe here walking around the city (walked everywhere) and never had an issue with safety. However, my disclaimer is I stayed in Palermo Hollywood, and spent most of my time in Belgrano, Palermo, Recoletta, San Telmo, and Downtown (safe areas). There is a lot to do in Buenos Aires, the social life is very good. For nomads, there are a lot of whatsapp groups you can join to learn about group/social events to join. For those who want to learn how to dance, this is definitely one of the best spots in the world -- they have lessons every night and tons of men and women attend. This is a DOG city, tons of dogs and their humans at the parks or walking around the city. This is also a mosquito city, buy repellent as soon as you land and put it on immediately. The people here are pretty friendly and very social.

Decent city, mainly because the people are so kind. But, it is a pain to get cash (spent a few hours every couple weeks trying Western Union after WU and never finding one with enough cash), and a lot of places don't take cards/the current exchange rate is a ripoff. However, BRING REPELLENT. The place is littered with mosquitos, and my partner and I both contracted dengue. He ended up in the hospital, and it was not a blast. The healthcare system is decent, but long wait times even in the nicest hospitals (which are also filled with mosquitos?). Prices are super wonky right now as well. Overall I'm not sure I would recommend it!

I did not like it. The people are nice though. Palermo Hollywood and Soho are very walkable hipster neighborhoods, kinda remind me of the chill parts of Barcelona.

Food is hit or miss. For a country that's known for steak, most steak here is overcooked, low quality meat, without flavor. I heard it was better 10-20 years ago when the cows weren't factory farmed here. Now the free roaming cows are exported to US and Europe, while Argentineans eat the low quality cow meat. The other food than steak is empanadas. And then there's just a lot of Italian food. So not so much variety in food.

What kind of nomads come here? It seems the type of people that like to sit for hours in a restaurant eating and drinking wine with friends, every single day, this place makes sense. It didn't feel like particularly ambitious nomads here though. Also if you're a single guy it's probably a great place. Lots of nice girls here who are looking for foreigner boyfriends.

A restaurant scammed us and charged us 10x (extra zero on payment terminal without showing us). We had to threaten to call the police to get our money back. So make sure you always check your bank app what you actually paid.

The loud stinky buses with black smoke behind them are true, they're everywhere. The Ubers and Cabify taxis here look really bad and unmaintained. Even if you order a Cabify Executive or Uber Black, it's like sitting in your mom's grocery car but from 30 years ago, with the interior coming off and the driver wearing an Adidas track suit.

You have to see everything through the perspective of: this country just had massive hyperinflation, 2+ decades of economic problems, people losing their life savings etc. Lots of trauma here. So of course, shit doesn't really work well here.

The new president Milei is changing stuff fast here, when I visited (March 2024) he kinda solved the exchange rate problem and bumped the ARS USD rate from 300:1 to 800:1, making it more in line with the real rate on the street of about 1000:1. I think Milei's are very promising and might be able to fix all the problem Argentina and in turn Buenos Aires has.

Definitely interesting to visit. Would I live here? Yeah maybe if I was a single guy. But then I'd just find a gf here and GTFO. There's places with much better quality of life for your $ than Buenos Aires.

Just an update on the currency situation. Now, it seems you get the dollar blue exchange rate by using a credit card, so as long as you have a credit card that doesn't charge fees, it will be as cheap if not cheaper than paying in cash for things. Changing money is no hassle if you use the cuevas, and have clean 100 dollar bills for the best exchange rate. I have been two weeks, and have been humbled by the kindness and openness of the people so far. I have not found them rude in any way, quite the opposite. As for speaking English, in reply to some reviewers here, why do you assume everywhere you go people should speak English, why should they? Some people speak English and others don't , but if you don't speak the local language, you can't get annoyed because they don't speak yours! Choose an English-speaking country or learn the local language would be my advice.

I wanted to love BA, but it's one of the noisiest and dirtiest cities I've visited, with diesel engines, dog shit and litter everywhere.

The people are deeply political and conversations will get heated, and as a visitor you're mostly expected to keep your opinion to yourself.

The political and economic backdrop is wild and broadly I found the locals to be quite arrogant and confrontational.

It's warm, the weather, steak and wine are great, the queer party scene is good, and some of the people are amazing, but it's just too rough around the edges for me. It feels like stepping back 40 years in a time machine.

The most basic things like withdrawing money, getting a sim card, paying in a shop, ordering online, would always go wrong. Small tasks ended up taking hours, so if you're actually here to work not holiday it can be exhausting. The locals are so used to it, they are bemused if you mention it.

I think how you view the city really depends on how much time you've spent in LAM.

Yes, it's cheap (because it's a country in economic free fall) but that wasn't a big factor for me.

I was really disappointed in my experience.

PS - Nomad List says Barracas is up and coming which is nonsense. Do not stay there.

Buenos Aires is great in every aspect. Most people are nice, friendly, open minded and educated. Food, transportation, nightlife and shops... excellent. On the other hand, as any other major city in the world you can find not so nice people, some places can be unsafe, and you might feel overwhelmed by the distances between places. (It´s not unusual to take bus-subway and overground train to go somewhere) but as said before, public transportation is quite clean, cheap and efficient. They are not racists at all but I noticed a sense of superiority over the other latin american countries, but let´s be honest, that happens everywhere. People are passionate, creative and really good looking. You will find idiots, assholes and vain people, of course. Lots of green areas, pet and LGTBQ+++ friendly.
Excellent place to live and enjoy.

After living in Buenos Aires for two months I’d never return! Person after person in my expat group got robbed or had their phone stolen while in different parts of the city. Hardly anyone speaks any English. The Airbnbs are completely tiny, they are horribly decorated with random furniture and they are easy 40% more expensive than what they should be, even for Airbnb. Don’t even get me started on the food which is pretty much meat every meal and their grocery stores have nothing but poor quality, heavily processed food. Trying to get a local SIM card is a lesson on how to blatantly get ripped off. I’m always having to carry insane amounts of cash to pay for everything. Definitely one of the most racist cities I’d ever experienced and I’m not even a person of color. No thanks. Hard pass. Won’t be coming back.

The most cosmopolitan city in Latin America, really cheap prices, just don't expect Swiss quality or a Silicon Valley ambiance. Choose Buenos Aires for its passionate people, great food and wine, vibrant culture, and tango. Argentines have been through a lot, with constant ups and downs, so understand the context. Learn Spanish and try to blend in — great memories!

Way to crowded this city, stinky loud buses everywhere, even in the nice neighborhoods. Food is mostly pizza, pasta and empanadas. The exchange rate is a desaster, I hat carrying cash, so it was my worst nightmare to walk around with a worthless pile of cash all the time. I really hope they will become a normal country one day, because the people deserve it to be treated with respect by their government.

I love BA! And I wanted to say that you can use Visa card and get the "blue" dollar rate, that's been happening for one year now. Also you can withdraw and change money in WU at a good rate. You won't have a problem with paying by card in most of the places.

BA is the safest city in the world, just after Tijuana and Caracas!
But if you ask the local Porteños, they'll assure you Argentina is THE BEST around the globe, whatever the matter in discussion. :-D
With all the slums, poverty and ignorant population, a true 3rd world country, made of rude people, they didn't need to be so ridiculously arrogant. 😅

Need to write this review since I see a review here which is completely wrong!

-MEP Blue Dollar Rate (Double pesos for dollars)
- Amazing food
- Amazing restaurants
- Great hotels (for great prices)
- Great people
- Great local production
- Very safe (in comparison to latim)
- Renting via Mercadolibre (330 dollar a month for an insane place)
- Can be noisy (depends on where u live)

Yes indeed it is dirty and the ubers are a bit damaged, but come one.. what do you expect from a country which is in a recession with 10% inflation a year.

I highly recommend living in Buenos Aires, im here already for the second time (6 months each).

To sumarize; Quality of living here is amazing being a Nomad.

_____TLDR: If you value comfort, don't go to Argentina._____

I stayed for 6 months and, tbh, was really happy to leave. The main problem was that I didn't feel safe, especially at night (nothing happened to me though). I don't think the city is beautiful, yes it has some interesting architecture, especially modernist buildings, but the city itself was organized in an odd way, so it mostly has narrow streets and sidewalks, and latter are covered with dog shit or homeless people stuff. Food is cheap but not really good, and you can't just pay more and get better food. Hotels are expensive like you're in UAE but the quality doesn't match star rating (and expectations) -- scrambled eggs and sausage for breakfast in 5* (500$/night official price), cmon?! Airbnbs are also not good, cold at winter, noisy, thin walls, problems with water/electricity/insects... nice design though. No shopping: no international brands, local production is poor quality. When I had a trip around the country, two of my flights were cancelled and I didn't get a refund (maybe they'll make a refund in 6 month, when the amount in pesos costs nothing). Most of the people don't speak English. Uber cars in comfort class are mostly cheap and in a bad condition. And that hassle with money exchange and carrying a lot of cash with you: they give you 100 (50 if you're lucky) Argentinian banknotes for a 100$ banknote

Not true that people are racist in Buenos Aires, people are very curious about foreigners culture. Foreigners are very sensitive to Argentinian communication culture. It is imposible to judge a whole region about "respect" by staying one week as tourist. If you go to Argentina don't assume you are entitled to be treated as king because you bring dollars. The society has been in economic crisis for 40 years and yet they manage to keep sense of humor and passion, and like any other metropolis you find people from different class and education. The taxi driver may had drive 50Km from his home to the working area. I remembers Solomun concert, people loved his performance and they were cheering at him with love calling him "Gordo". Context is everything. My recommendation is stay in buenos Aires at least 3 month, stay away from the Hostel, make friends with locals, have fun, share you culture.

Probably the most racist city I've ever been to. I was there for 3 months, and people would often make racist comments or even yell at me. I don't know how it is for black people here, but I guess porteños (people from Buenos Aires) are particularly racist against dark-skinned Latinos, as they strongly want to differentiate themselves from the rest of Latin America due to their Italian ancestry. Within 24 hours of arriving, I heard the story of a guy whose family came from Italy, this talk is a well-known Argentine cliche in Spanish-speaking countries, and it seems to be quite real. Of course, not everyone is racist and uneducated, there are a lot of cool people too. After all, I had fun, but I wouldn't minimize this aspect.

Pros - extremely cheap (excl. housing), great transportation system (both subway and busses), great pastry shops
Cons - expensive airbnbs, rude people who can be fairly racist towards blacks (worldcup was a tough time given how openly people were cursing about black people in bars and home get togethers I went to) and other south americans (weird superiority complex), a tad depressing given the current economic crises (almost everyone is going through a rough time so it is difficult to enjoy yourself).
Overall - decent place if you can overlook the rude people and the racism.

Favorite city so far. If you have USD, bring as much as you’re comfortable traveling with - exchanging USD cash gets you ~10% more than swiping or transferring. (Or more, as many merchants charge 10%-20% more to charge credit)

I love BA! The safest, bet price, quality of life city in South America!
There's so many things to do, restaurants, all kinds of entertainment, the city never sleeps.
Just be careful with your stuff in the street, and the Argentinians can be not so nice.

i stayed in BA for a few months and it firmly wasn't for me. It's a beautiful city and comically cheap for the quality of food / goods / services. People are rude and accomodation is pretty bad. Plus with the inflation of the dollar to peso (3x the buying power for foreigners) it was getting dangerous when I left. (I think someone tried to kill the vice president last week) Excellent to visit, not great to live.

As everyone says, don't use cards / electronic payments. Make sure you use cash USD specifically. They also have a very different style of Spanish, so they can be very hard to understand even with a good level of Spanish. AreaTres is the big coworking there in Palermo.
Have to stay in Palermo, as this is the main spot for foreigners and digital nomads. Good food and steak at a very affordable levels.
Social scene, I was not a huge fan of as language barrier, the guys are aggressive and the women are more standoffish because of the aggressive guys. Good time zone with USA.
Overall: Not for me, with language barriers, people a bit more standoffish, and brain drain there as well. I think would prefer Spain or Portugal over Argentina in the long run.

Was here for January 2022. It was very nice. It's a very European city with South American vibes. Due to high inflation, it's cheap. The steak is the best I've ever eaten. Go to AreaTres for coworking. Bring cash (EUR or USD) in large bills. Otherwise, you'll have to pay by card and get the official exchange rate, which is 50% of what you get on the black ("blue") market. There are many places to exchange cash. As an alternative to cash, I've also heard that people like to send themselves money with Western Union. I have no experiences with that. The population are poor, and locals will tell you how everything is going downhill. Supposedly it's really common that mobile phones get stolen, so you should not use them while on the street. Other than that, it was a very pleasant experience.

Been living here in Buenos Aires for almost three years. Right now, it's (relatively) cheap. I mean, it isn't for the people who currently lives here but it's if you're a foreign, as the inflation keeps going on the peso isn't that worthy now. But, as I'm saying, if you come with dollars is going to make a huge difference.
(3 years ago: 20 pesos= 1 USD.
June 2020: 95 pesos= 1 USD. and if you're selling dollars in the informal market they will pay you $124. and with that you can buy two small doritos or 12 eggs. Which is a pretty good deal)

There's a lot to explain, and as usual, you gotta be careful because as the situation is getting bad the security is too. It's just about being careful and trying not to be walking on every street with your phone on your hands and that kind of stuff.
The rest of it, it's just joy and fun.

I just want to clarify that if you have residence in Argentina, you have to pay taxes in Argentina. These are not high but you are forced to send your income to a national bank, where it's converted into ARS (pesos) and if you want to buy dollars again you have a recharge of 30%.

I don't understand people who says Buenos aires is not suppose to be in the top 5 cities around the world. Its definitely a cosmopolitan city such as new york located in Latin america, providing a unique sense of familiarity among local people. I recognize that the economic situation and inflation is not the best. But so is in the rest of the top 5 cities, if you want to go to an organize city where everything works perfect you can visit Switzerland. You go to buenos Aires for the adventure, the sense of discovery, to meet incredible people, to taste the food and its nightlife. None of the great things Buenos aires has would be posible if not for the passionate people living there. why do you think futbol is an incredible show over there!!! For me Buenos Aires is the best city in South America to be in.

I have no idea how this place is ranked #1. I have been 3 or 4 times. Nothing works.... shops close half the day for siesta if they're not on strike. Buenos Aires was once a beautiful city to be certain, but I have zero desire to return and there are so many incredible places in Latin America that are so much better.

Whoa really? I have absolutely no idea how BsAs can rank so high. It used to be a nice city 10 years ago - nowadays it's decadent. Thousands of people living on the streets, inflation makes things extremely expensive (for Latin America), and locals are just tired and sad. I've been there 4 times in the last decade and could witness the decay of their once beautiful city. Definitely not on my top 100 list.

Love this place. relatively cheap, big city with something for everyone. Except beach people. Bariloche is worth a visit, we were there in winter and loved every minute. Late eating, later partying, all the amenities of a modern city with nice oldish feel in certain neighborhoods. Eay to get around, buses and trains are pretty good, Uber is not legal but available (although they prefer cash and will cancel about 2/3 trips). Would def go back.

One of my favourite cities to live in. I highly recommend living in Palermo, especially if it’s your first time in the city. There are a lot of amazing coworking spaces, I decided to work at Area3 which is a really big space with all the top tech companies. The city is amazing in the summer. I really enjoyed being there January - March. It was hot but I never found it incredibly humid, though that changes by the year. Apartment prices can vary significantly. If you want the best deal I recommend searching through facebook and going to visit the apartment in person. If you don’t mind the premium Airbnb is good.

Food is incredible and they are even getting more diverse vegetarian options as well as gluten free options in the city. Highly recommend downing the app Rappi - it’s like Uber for everything. You can sign up for unlimited deliveries for like something crazy like $5 a month. They can grocery shop for you, bring you cash from the ATM - it’s amazing.

Lastly for you non-European people I get my money via World Remit. It’s like western union but way less sketchy and also better rates. ATM are crazy there so you don’t want to be taking out cash from the machines often.

Highly recommend BA. Avoid in Dec/Jan/Feb. It's super hot and humid.
Try to stay in Palermo. Honestly, it's so much different from the rest of the city. This is where you find good cafes, coworking spaces, parks. If possible stay on the Hollywood side (Palermo Soho is too touristy). Belgrano is also nice 👍🏼.
Internet in cafes, coworking spaces is good for video calls and stuff. Also the wifi in apartments is solid.
Prices for a studio or room in Palermo range from 450 USD to 600 USD.
If you are from Europe use Azimo to transfer money (2€ fee but much better rate than in exchange places). Withdrawing from ATMs is extremely expensive here. Enjoy!

I lived in Buenos Aires in 2018 and I loved it. I highly recommend living/staying in the Palermo SoHo neighborhood. It’s full of energy, life, excellent cafes, co-working spaces, pubs, nightlife, etc. Also Palermo has the lakes and incredible rose gardens for hiking and enjoying Yerba mate. I also recommend hiking at the ecological reserve “reserva ecológica”

The public underground metro called SUBTE is very efficient. The city has been adding bike paths. The locals were very friendly, outgoing, and easy to meet. They seemed interested in meeting people from other countries. I recommend trying to speak Spanish and they appreciate the effort. The women are also gorgeous and friendly to foreigners.

Inflation is really making it hard for local people. Also as with most major cities, keep your cell phone and wallet in your front pocket and don’t be flashy with new iPhones. Using basic street smarts and simply staying alert at night, I had no issues. The Palermo and Belgrano neighborhoods seemed to be the safest and most relaxed. Make sure you try local foods, drink Yerba Mate with locals, take a weekend trip via a short train ride to “Tigre” where you can rent an affordable cabin and spend the weekend on the water, kayaking, fishing, drinking mate, etc. Argentina is really nice! Enjoy!

Buenos Aires has everything, nightlife (excellent bars and clubs), culture, art, running places, etc. Though insecurity could be an issue, it is not as high as it may seem; if you know how to get around, nothing will happen to you. It is also quite diverse in terms of LGBTTQQIAAP and there's plenty of offer to be entertained.
I see that hospitals are badly ranked in the Nomad ranking but I'd like to make a point here: public hospitals are free to use by anyone (no matter nationality nor residency status) and they are collapsed. Normally, people pay (the ones that can) around 100/110usd per month (the same way you pay in the majority of the countries) for a private health system which is excellent. So, that is not an issue at all.