There are 12 replies in this Thread which was already clicked 327 times. The last Post () by serafina.

Day trips around Buenos Aires

    We are short on day trips around Buenos Aires that do not involve 4 hours in the car.

    I asked my husband to spend NYE doing a picnic in front of one of the many lagoon shown on Google Maps. We drove 90' to Manzanares only to find out it was not possible to access the river by car and it was basically a dirty road converted into a dumpster in a "low-income neighboor", to put it mildly.


    My idea was to spend the day overlooking the water and sitting on the grass, the kind of thing you can do in San Miguel del Monte, but without the drive (we were also afraid to drive south because of traffic toward "la Costa" for NYE). Do you have any recommended spot?


    I am also looking for a beach (with sand) in Tigre. Can be a paid venue. Just to have a drink with a seaside feeling without actually driving for 500+ km south.


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  • Jump to the most helpful post

    Quote from Rice

    Two challenging questions, serafina . Not remembering ever seeing a grain of sand in Tigre, I had a look at photos posted by spas and hotels there. If they have a slice of beach, they all seem to be hiding it.


    The real fact is:

    You cannot find beaches with sand in Tigre. All the bottom of the Parana Delta is mud, only mud.

    To find sand you must go to Uruguay, in the Rio de la Plata. Too far and complicated.

    Northerner , I can't thank you enough! This is exactly what I was looking for.


    I see that a ride by boat is required - do you think it is still worth it for a day trip, or do you usually spend the night there?

    In case of a day trip, how much is the admission and should be book that in advance?

    I can't wait for my hubby to be back to head there for a day!

    • Helpful

    We have our own boat so we usually just try different places each week. Very few people realise the size and the scope of the Delta. A map I have shows over 30 schools only accessible by boat, so when you add to that the restaurants, chapels, police and prefectura stations etc etc. the Delta is itself like a city with rivers and canals instead of roads. Argentine friends of mine who I take out for day trips are quite astonished and unaware what is on their doorstep. Most have taken a short trip from Tigre in a catamaran, and think that's all there is to see.
    The picture above of Puerto la Pista is quite flattering. There is a stretch of sand, a restaurant selling OK food and some cabins, a few which seem to be fairly well equipped with air conditioning. There is nothing much to do there except sit by the water and pretend you are in the Caribbean. We usually just go, have a meal and a drink then head for home. It looks like a great place for families with small children. To moor my modest boat cost 2000 Pesos but I imagine there is no daily charge for those arriving by public boat transport.

    I am reluctant to recommend anywhere as everyone has different likes and dislikes, but I can give you our personal opinion of most places on the Delta.

    We rented a house for a weekend on one of the more distant small islands. Lovely jazmin grove was the only other occupant. Once we’d explored that, we retreated to the house; nursed our mosquito bites, read our books, ate some of the food we’d brought in, drank a LOT of wine, and dreaded having another 44 hours before being rescued by the public transport boat, which made that run every 2 days.


    Far better to go to one of the places Northerner has scoped out, with sunny beaches, other humans, and restaurants!

    We did a short getaway on the Delta once. The cabin's owner came to pick us up at the port of Tigre and drove us to the cabin. Since it had just rained, the water level was very high and it was not possible to explore our little island by foot (we were told there was a foot path we could walk along, but not when it is covered by the water and muddy!).

    We learned to kayak and had fun rowing in the small and quiet channel around the cabin, but when it ended up in the bigger one, I went into panic, the kayak went into the grass and the current and the speed boats passing by caused waves that almost rocked our kayak. We somehow managed to get back to the cabin, where we also had our wine, water and food. As Rice said, mosquitos went crazy as the sun went down, so we retreated into the cabin all night.

    We spent two nights there, just in time to be back home for some diarrhea due to the cabin's water.


    We shared Rice 's feeling of waiting to be rescued and brought back to civilization even before our time was over.

    Northerner 's suggestion seems less adventurous and more a match for our idea of relax in the Delta!