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Safety prep for an 11 night visit

    • Helpful

    Hello all, I wanted to get an opinion off people who live in Buenos Aires, as TripAdvisor seems 60/40 positive on safety precautions.


    We are staying in Palermo Soho next year for 11 nights.



    I have a pacsafe coversafe waist bag which fits around my hips in my shorts which I have used out and about, you cannot tell I am wearing it with my phone inside.



    I will hide my credit cards around my body under clothes and keep small petty cash in my pockets just incase someone comes up to me and wants my stuff.

    We will not be wearing any stand out designer clothes, jewellery or bags. I do have some rayban sunglasses that I will take I can afford to lose them but hopefully the thiefs are not in the market for sunglasses?

    I can draw on a piece of paper to navigate our routes to and from sites if needs to be so we ain't got our phone in our hand for navigation, we will mostly be using uber or taxis (we will book inside a bar/restaurant before we leave for the street)


    We will take cash to exchange and use CC where we can.



    Mostly our phones be used for taking photos, we will be very aware of our surroundings before we take a photo.


    We even have an old smartphone which we was thinking of taking just for photos so if it gets pinched the it will only be photos we lose (we will send them back home during our trip)

    Most nights we will leave everything in the apartment once we get used to our location and have taken plenty of photos. We will back up all our info to our laptop before we leave for Argentina.



    I guess you can only be so prepared and the rest is just luck?


    I live in the UK where knife crime is rife and robbery in big cities so I am street smart everytime I step foot out the door. Only last week a person peeped their horn at a car infront, 4 men got out in ballyclavas and smashed the persons car broad daylight in retaliation then drove off, so we have our troubles aswell.



    Thanks for reading, hope to hear some responses.

  • Jump to the most helpful post

    I don’t live in Buenos Aires year round but have been there 3 months this year and a month the back end of last year. I’m from the UK too (England specifically).

    The usual basic precautions suffice of which you appear already to be aware.

    Sometimes I take my phone out of my pocket on the street to check a map for directions and take a look around me first and that’s good enough generally.


    I don’t wear a day pack or anything. All I ever have is my wallet in my right front pocket and my phone in my left front pocket and walk around with my hands in my pockets much of the time. I feel safe as I can be and that’s all I can do. Everything else is out of my control.

    Theft in Buenos Aires is largely opportunistic like most everywhere else. Reduce or remove the opportunity and there’s little to worry about.

    Don’t overthink safety too much in Buenos Aires.

    Just my take as a semi-tourist, barely semi-resident in training!

    Happy travels, it’s a wonderful city.

    The only time I have personally ever met a problem was on a packed Buenos Aires Subte train. It was standing room only and I felt the the hand of the guy standing next to trying to get into my cargo trouser pocket. When he realised I knew what he was up to he got off at the next station.


    To be honest BA is no different from the precautions one takes when visiting any other large city in the world.

    As Bombonera says, dont overthink security too much. Things happen but not as often as people make out.


    My tip when consulting your phone in the street is to look around you at first and then consult with your back to the wall.


    ALso ever leave your phone on the table if you are having a coffee at a street cafe - THATS A RECIPE FOR THEFT!