Small-Group City Tour of Buenos Aires

Firstly, Natalie, Second, Natalie! What a great tour guide and what a pleasant lady. Natalie made this tour for us. A quiet Saturday morning, a small tour group of 4, add Natalie's knowledge and passion and enjoyment for her work and you have a winning combination. Ask for her by name. She is a full-timer and if her peers are anywhere near as good, you will be in for a good time. The Pink House, the south of the city, a stop for Banos, coffee and croissant and then onto the Northside for more viewing, tales and background on the sights. It ends at the Recoleta Cemetery, where you view Evita Peron's final resting place, in the Duarte Family Tomb. Worth every cent and the most pleasant way to get your bearings around the central city areas. Leaves the yellow hop-on bus tour for dead!

There were about 16 on the tour, including 4 from the Park Tower. The tour had been advertised as a maximum of 12 people, and that would have been better since it was hard to corral 16 people and to hear the tour guide. Nonetheless, it was a good introduction to Buenos Aires. The bus was air-conditioned and comfortable so it gave you mini-breaks from the heat and humidity. We started out at May Square, which is the political heart of Argentina with the pink President’s House and the Legislative buildings. We then went through the San Telmo neighborhood, which started out as the enclave of the wealthy and is now a shopping area for antiques. We then stopped in the La Boca neighborhood, the birthplace of the tango, but now kind of a seedy area of souvenir shops where a few tango dancers perform for tips. We then drove by the Puerto Madero, which is a lovely riverside area perfect for walking and hitting some of the local restaurants. We buzzed through the business district and past the Plaza San Martin in the Retiro neighborhood, and then on to Palermo with its mansions, parks and monuments. Finally, we wound up in the Recoleta neighborhood with its interesting cemetery reminiscent of the above-ground New Orleans-style cemeteries. The tombstones and crypts here were very interesting, including the quite understated one for Eva Peron. It was a good overview of the City, and it definitely gives you some ideas regarding what you would like to revisit and poke around in and where you have seen enough. At the end of the tour, it gets a little tiresome if you are at the end of the drop-off route since they drive to each of the hotels where people on the tour are staying. We were at the end of the route, and so it took quite a while. Still, the price is right and you cover a lot of ground in three hours.

Great van/walking tour with Nicolas. Excellent intro to the beautiful neighborhoods of BA so that you can get a 3-hour overview when you arrive in town. Tour guide was very well informed and personable.