Here you get my 32 informative things that nobody tells you about Buenos Aires - not the usual stuff about La Casa Rosada, La Boca and big steaks.
Argentina,  Buenos Aires,  Latin America

32 Things Nobody Tells You About Buenos Aires

By doing a little bit of research about Buenos Aires, you will quickly find out the usual stuff about how the Argentines are fanatics of soccer and love their big steaks, or that when in Buenos Aires you have to visit the pink government building Casa Rosada, and the vibrant working-class neighborhood La Boca… 

However, there are many things that the guidebooks don’t tell you about the Argentine Capital. After spending quite a lot of time here in Buenos Aires, I have collected a variety of facts about the city which I had no clue about before arriving.

So, here you get my 32 informative, crazy, funny, and at the most time completely random things that nobody tells you about Buenos Aires:

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that at no additional cost to you, Becci Abroad will earn a commission if you make a purchase via one of those links. This helps to pay the bills and the maintenance of the site.

First things first:

#1

Do not confuse the province of Buenos Aires with the autonomous city of Buenos Aires. There is a huge difference – especially if you ask the porteΓ±os (e.g. the citizens of Buenos Aires) themselves.

Capital Federal, Capital, or simply CABA (e.g. Ciudad AutΓ³noma de Buenos Aires) is the autonomous city of Buenos Aires also called the “small” spot inhabited by approximately 3 million people. It is also where most of the tourist spots such as La Boca, Palmero, Belgrano, etc. are located.

The province of Buenos Aires is the massive surroundings of the capital with approximately 12.000 inhabitants.

#2

Close to half of the public opinion of all Argentina is placed in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and Province of Buenos Aires – leaving Argentina as quite a badly distributed political system.

#3

Security is of high concern for many porteΓ±os, and you should watch out as well. The city feels pretty safe but stories of robberies, drug trafficking, and gender-connected violence (also to towards foreigners) pop up in the media on a recent basis. Take care of yourself.

#4

The river running by the side of Buenos Aires is called Rio de la Plata (the river of silver/money) because, during the colonial time of the Spanish empire, it was used as the principal route of transporting gold and other minerals from Bolivia to Spain.

#5

In 1855, Buenos Aires declared itself a separate autonomous country that should no longer belong to the rest of Argentina. However, they changed their mind and are today “only” an autonomous city.

#6

There are around 1050 green spots around the city including parks, squares, trees along the roadside, etc… I’m completely in love with this feature of the city, and when you visit the city you will for sure notice this (and maybe also understand me).

Neighborhoods of Buenos Aires

#7

The houses in the popular La Boca neighborhood are painted different colors because the immigrants who arrived and settled there didn’t have money for painting so they stole the leftovers from the ships’ workshops.

#8

The neighborhood Once is known as the Jewish Quarter. Argentina should have the second-largest Jewish community after New York.

#9

The city’s architecture is as its inhabitants highly influenced by the European flows of immigration making some parts of Buenos Aires look like a mix of London, Paris, and Madrid.

Ice cream and other food tips for Buenos Aires

#10

The PorteΓ±os are fanatics of homemade ice cream (in Spanish: helado artesanal)… And properly for that reason, there are more ice cream shops in Buenos Aires than in any other city I have ever visited…

#11

Adding on the PorteΓ±ean ice cream fanaticism: it is completely common to buy 1/4 kilo of ice cream. Your first reaction might properly be: “oh no, I can eat THAT much ice cream…” but trust me, you will most properly be! (Been there myself).

#12

Most of the verdulerΓ­as (e.g. green groceries) in the city are run by Bolivian immigrants

#13

There are small Chino supermarkets (tiny supermarkets run by Chinese) almost every second block throughout the capital – no kidding! Here you can find the most necessary groceries…

The PorteΓ±os and their Habits

#14

If you are a woman and visit Buenos Aires, you will have to get used to the fact the PorteΓ±ean men open the door for you or will wait for you to go through an open door before they do – it goes for everywhere; the metro, the supermarket, the bank, etc.

#15

PorteΓ±os are huge fans of sending each other voice messages through WhatsApp. It is not unusual to see people on the bus or underground speaking quietly to their mobiles holding them in a weird position in front of their faces. This normally just means that they are in the middle of sending a voice message.

#16

The word negro or negro cabeza (e.g. black or blackhead) is by PorteΓ±os not used to refer to the color of somebody’s skin but instead, whether they act as badly educated or not. Check out this post for more useful phrases before visiting Argentina.

#17

Watering the concrete is just the most natural part of house cleaning in Buenos Aires… And properly helps cool down a bit as well. But seriously guys, is it really necessary?

#18

You will always be served a little glass of water when ordering coffee in Buenos Aires. I was told that it is to prevent people from dehydrating.

#19

The word Che can be used for anybody ALL THE TIME… “Ay, che, que te pasa?!”

Improve your Spanish before visiting Buenos Aires if private Spanish classes with native-speakers at italki.com

#20

PorteΓ±os tend to highly criticize the large number of immigrants from Paraguay in the city.

#21

PorteΓ±os love to discuss politics with anyone at any time! A common phrase to hear is something like “yeah, after all those years of Peronism see where we are today” (add a negative or positive understanding of this after your preferences)

Thinking about moving to Buenos Aires? Check out this guide of useful information about living in Buenos Aires.

Getting around Buenos Aires and other transportation tips

#22

Buenos Aires is generally an expensive city but public transportation is super cheap – not because they found some super-efficient way to run it but because the government heavily subsidizes it.

#23

When it rains too heavily the underground sometimes stops running because there is water on the tracks.

#24

The slang word for a bus is bondi. However, the PorteΓ±os also call the buses colectivos… Confused? Me too!

#25

People always make a line for the bus. Even when there is more than one bus line running from the same stop, sometimes there is still just one line… Or at least it seems like this to me.

#26

Even though there are signs in the buses not to tell the driver the price of your ticket but your destination, almost everybody does the former.

#27

When the red light on the pedestrian cross is blinking it means that it is the last minute for crossing the street. Some pedestrian cross even has numerical countdowns! So basically it is just for you to hurry up!

#28

… However, not all pedestrian crosses have lightning. So sometimes it is just to take a chance and hope that there aren’t coming cars (or take a look at the opposite pointing lights)…

#29

… Maybe for that reason, the PorteΓ±os cross the streets like crazy no matter if it is a green light or red light or if there are coming cars.

#30

Most streets are only one direction… Okay, it might just be my Northern European heritage who isn’t used to this! But it is quite confusing when I try to bike around the city and I suddenly can’t go down a road because it is only one direction.

#31

Garages crossing the pedestrian paths have small annoying blinking lamps and alarms that turn on when a car exits and enters

#32

Biking is a fine act between suicide and transportation… Even though the city’s government is establishing bike lanes around the city, the cars are still not used to looking for us who bikes.

Learn a Foreign Language!

What is your experience in Buenos Aires? Anything you would like to add or something important that I forgot? Please feel free to leave a comment below!

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10 Comments

  • Ivana

    Great post Becci. I live in greater Buenos Aires so I’m not officially porteΓ±.. but I do feel indentify with everything!
    26) that’s so me!! πŸ˜€

    • Rebecca

      Hi Ivana,
      So happy that you enjoyed the post! Haha, making a bit fun of (and with) the porteΓ±os – and you are always more than welcome here no matter where you are from ?
      26) yeah, right!? I actually had the very strange experience the other day of a bus driver not accepting the price-thing and asking people where they were going! Wow! First time every I tried that ?

  • Sofi

    Hi Rebecca! I loved your post! I am a porteΓ±a native but lived abroad for two years. It’s amazing how you noticed our everyday routines. It’s kinda funny that some of those things I forgot and when I came back was kinde shocking.. It looks like you enjoyed it πŸ™‚

    • Rebecca

      Hi Sofi,
      Thank you so much for your comment! I’m so happy to hear that a porteΓ±a enjoyed the read – then I really must have hit it right! And yes, you are so right, when you are abroad and then come back, somethings just hit you which you never thought about before. Happens to me as well when I go home πŸ™‚

  • Alicia

    This is a great post! I’ve lived in BA for a couple of years now, and I definitely chuckled at a few of these. I’ll be sharing this with friends and family when they come to visit!

    • Rebecca

      Thank you so much for dropping by, Alicia! I’m happy to hear that you enjoyed the reading and could relate to it πŸ™‚ Thanks for sharing it!

      //Rebecca

  • wowie

    hi becci, i’m from the philippines and looking forward to visit BA. this helps me have a foresight of what’s going naturally about this vibrant city!

  • John Leonard

    Thank you for the information. I am a widower/senior citizen and still speak absolutely no Spanish. This is my 4th year renting an apartment for 5 months(with my dog) during the United States winter. You might mention that if you are from the United States it is a big β€œno-no” to refer to living in β€œAmerica” …..always say”North America”.
    You might also comment about the annoying requirement of traveling to Uruguay within 90 days …as they say they will….but you cannot get a Visa…..
    I absolutely love BA…the last bastion of cafe life !!
    Thanks again …..

    • Rebecca

      Dear John,
      Thank you so much for dropping by my blog! I’m happy to hear that you are enjoying the summers in BA, and can make a little escape from the cold winters in the US πŸ™‚
      Yes, you are so absolutely right, one shouldn’t use the phrasing of being from “America” if you are from the US – that counts for most places in Latin America!
      Yes, it is true, you have to travel outside Argentina every 3 months/90 days if you want to extend your tourist visa. Actually, it is like that with most countries. There are several ways to obtain residency in Argentina, and it isn’t as hard as in other countries. So if you are planning on moving there long-term, you might want to have a look into how to obtain residency so you don’t have to leave every 3 months.
      Enjoy the upcoming spring and summer in the US – while we suffer winter times in BA πŸ™‚

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