At first glance, Buenos Aires has everything you would expect from one of the biggest cities in the world: public transportation, beautiful architecture, diverse restaurants, infamous night-life, and so on. As some visitors realize, Buenos Aires does still lack some of the usual convenience. For example, many businesses or establishments are still not online; or, if they do, their websites are either outdated or rarely come up in Google Search at all. This creates a challenge when you are looking for a lavadería (laundromat), a place to buy a SUBE card, or if you are trying to figure out what is going on in the city over the weekend. Nevertheless, the information are out there spread all over from many sources. Only that none of them is encompassing enough to cover everything in one place. Looking for them takes experience. Let’s us share with you a few of our clever ways to discover what´s going on around town.
Agenda Cultural
The elaborate and extensive bi-lingual government website Agenda Cultural Buenos Aires has a cumulative list of festivals, museum exhibits, shows, and tours etc. that are offered around Buenos Aires on a daily basis. You can search by date, by week, or by weekend. You will often find hundreds of events listed for a given weekend. Many of them are free admission!
Time Out Buenos Aires
Time Out Buenos Aires is a great resource as they are always reviewing new bars, restaurants, and boliches (nightclubs). It is a great way to find a new place to eat or drink or spend a night out dancing. They also have reader-friendly curated lists of bars, restaurants and hotels with helpful descriptions, as well as “best-of” lists to help you narrow down your options. Their Events in Buenos Aires section (see here) gives you a great overview of what annual festivals and functions are happening when during the year. It’s a good reference for those who are planning their visit to Buenos Aires.
In this age of social media, Facebook is a great way to stay in touch with old friends and family, but it has also become a very useful resource to keep updated on events and activities near you. Although many businesses in Buenos Aires do not have their own websites, almost every establishment will have a Facebook page. Keep yourself in the loop by ¨Like-ing¨ bars, restaurants, music venues, theaters, or event groups on Facebook and when they post information about events, happy hours, promotions, or sales (usually with very little advance notice), you will be the first to find out.
Blogs/News Sites
There are thousands of blogs written by travelers, expats, and locals alike (like ours, the blog of Vamos Spanish Academy! ). Each one has its own voice and style. Find a blog or info/news site written by someone you think you can relate to and one who writes about activities you might be interested in. You will get lots of ideas! Some of our favorites are: The Real Argentina, Pick Up the Fork, Argentina Independant (news site), The Bubble (another news site).
