Touring through Puerto Madero

The day starts at 10 in the morning at San Telmo, Buenos Aires where we get our bikes sorted out near a garage. Among the people joining the tour there’s a British tourist, seven American tourists, myself representing The Netherlands, a German guide, a British guide and an American guide. So there are three guides at the Buenos Aires bike tour, just to be sure that you’re going to be well taken care off and every single person is enjoying their selves. I think it’s an excellent providing such a service!

A good start of the tour

Once everyone has their bikes sorted out and our guides have introduced themselves we’re of for the ultimate city tour which will take up to seven hours. Don’t worry though, it’s not just biking the entire time! Every here and there the guide finds a nice place in the shade to stop for a couple of minutes. There you will get a nice explanation in English and you’ll have the chance to take some photos if you want to.

A memorial in San Telmo behind closed gates

A quick stop near the Club Atlético Boca Juniors Stadium called La Bombonera

The first part of the tour passes through San Telmo all the way to La Boca and you’ll pass the neighborhood of “La Bombonera”. Normally this would not be a good place to go to with your camera hanging around your neck, but because of this tour you have a safe environment and you get the chance to be the tourist you probably want to be!

La boca

After having seen some interesting statues and lovely parks we make our way towards the neighborhood called “La Boca”. The name means mouth and was given due to the location at the river.
La Boca is a very colorful neighborhood where every street corner yells for attention. The place is full with paint, statues, tiny decorations and even the trees are not left out.

Tango tourists

Many Tango dancers try to get tourists to take photos with them and of course they’ll ask some pesos for that favor. During the tour we get about 20 minutes to walk around and explore the neighborhood of La Boca. I’d love to find some Tango dancer that are actually dancing. Before walking into the street where all the tourist restaurants are located I notice a lot of music and crowds. The Tango dancers are preforming at the restaurants and in that way they should attract tourists to go and eat there. “Though these dancers will not get paid by the restaurant” our guide Katherina explains to me. They have to live of the tips the tourists give them.

Our guide Katherina showing us how to prepare the local “mate” drink

Yerba mate

Something very typical for the people from Argentina is to drink Mate the entire day and then I literally mean the entire day. They always carry their calabash gourd with them and fill it with “yerba” (kind of tea herbs) and hot water. Since today is a very hot day we’ll just fill it during the tour with cold grapefruit juice instead of hot water.

After La Boca we proceed with the bikes to the most expensive neighborhood of Buenos Aires: Puerto Madero. It was the first harbor of Buenos Aires, but they’ve made the entrance to small for big boats, so it’s kind of useless now. There are some nice boats lying there though, but those are museums.

Puente de la Mujer in Puerto Madero

We enter the Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve, which is an expensive green park created on top of what used to be a dump site. It’s allowed to ride a bike in this reserve, so that pretty cool. It’s amazing that you can get away from all the noise of the big city within 20 minutes.

We have lunch near the park, on a quite busy spot in the shade. It seems as if every local wants to get a sandwich here. They let you choose between a couple of things to put on your sandwich. Do you prefer the typical pork meat, beef or maybe something else? You can get some salad at the local salad bar which is part of this restaurant/bar. I would actually have no idea how to call this place, because it’s like a beach chiringuito located on the pavement next to a park! Very nice.

With our bellies full, we jump on the bikes again and make our way for the next neighborhood named Recoleta. We place our bikes in the shades as soon as we arrive, because the sun is pretty hard right now. Katherina explains about the cemetery that’s right behind us and explains the story of Evita who’s buried at this cemetery after quite a struggle. I want to go and visit the grave, so in the free time we get to walk around at Recoleta I decide to enter the cemetery.

The best ice cream in the world!

At the cemetery there’s not much shade, and the grave is not easy to be found but I did find it with the help of my American friend. Thanks Sai!

After the short visit to the grave I really want to go for some ice cream, since they say it’s the best in the world! A bit expensive though, but still very very good!

Our last stop is the Plaza de Mayo, which I would call the real city center. There are some nice buildings over here and a lot of people! I wander around for a couple of minutes to see the square and afterwards we hit the road again with the bikes to go back to our morning meeting point.

This bike tour in Buenos Aires is highly recommendable! You get to see most of the city within one day and experience the local culture with a lot of information and sightseeing. I love the way the guides work and you meet a lot of nice other travelers too. How tough it always is to say goodbye to nice people you’ve spend the day with, I hope to meet them again!

Details & information

Company: Biking Buenos Aires
Cost: US $90
Note: Biking Buenos Aires has a lot more bike tours. You can choose a shorter one or a tour specialized in finding the amazing graffiti artwork of Buenos Aires for example.

About Renate Rigters

Ever since I left my home country I felt at home at any other place I went to. I enjoy getting to know more cultures by talking to strangers and hearing their philosophy about life. Speaking with gestures when you can not find a shared language, finding places only the locals go to and learn about their customs and values. Hanging out with local people makes me happy. The experience of every new place is a step out of your comfort zone where I like to wander around until it feels like a second home.

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