TRANSPORTATION (LAND)

Buenos Aires it's a big cosmopolitan city and as such, it's got several options to travel around.

Even though Taxis are a cheap option, I personally recommend you take advantage of the public transportation and indulge yourself in the experience of traveling like a local!

It's fun, you will meet more people than just sitting at the back of a taxi (and getting ripped off!) and even if you get lost you'll take advantage of ending up in places you never even imagined!

But since you are probably a bit nervous of taking that step out of the hotel and jumping on the next Colectivo, let me give you some useful tools to make your journeys safer and more enjoyable!

COMO VIAJO allows you to enter a departure and destination location to calculate your best options, considering walking, buses and subways. Great site although not active all the time.

The city of Buenos Aires offers a good interactive map

But let's go trough each of our options:


BUSES

The bus (colectivo) is a fast and inexpensive means of transport to travel around Capital and it's surrundings. There are more than 180 lines going through the city and providing connection with all districts in the Greater Buenos Aires.
The service is available at regular intervals. Sometimes, streets may be blocked in the downtown area due to traffic jams.
Within the city, there are two fares: 0.75 cents and 0.80 cents. The ticket is sold on the bus and only coins are accepted.
Bus service is available all day long but its frequency decreases after 12 am.
You can buy a "Guia T" bus guide (Similar to the english A-Z) and work out your itineraries or check out the most popular bus routes at http://www.loscolectivos.com.ar/frameset1.htm. It also describes a short story of each bus line and contact info (sorry! spanish only)


SUBWAYS

This is the fastest and easiest way to reach your destination. The five subway lines (commonly known as “subtes”) are connected with the main avenues and railway and bus stations, and converge upon downtown, the main tourist and hotel area.
Maps showing the subway lines in different colors may be obtained at the ticket offices located in every station. Insist, they don't always want to give them out. Information boards showing each line routes and transfer stations between lines are available in all stations. These connections that allow passengers to use more than one line are called “combinación” and a ticket allows you to make as many "combinaciones" as you want.
The fare is flat: $ 0.70 (U$S 0,20) and payable at the ticket offices located in the different stations.
No, there are not "discount cards", although you can get a "subtecard" and charge credit so that you don't need to buy a new ticket all the time. But this is only recommendable if you are planning to spend a looot of time using the subtes!
The service runs Mondays through Saturdays, from aprox 5 am to 10 pm, and Sundays and holidays from 8 am to 10 pm.
The subte's website has all maps, schedules, routes and even updates about the frequency of trains for each line.
The subway company also runs the "premetro" service, a tram that connects "Plaza de los Virreyes" Station on line E and takes you all the way to "General Savio" station, for whatever reason it is that you want to go there anyways, and the "Urquiza" line of trains, that goes to from Lacroze Subte station on Line B to towns outside the city such as Devoto or San Miguel.


TRAINS

If you want to visit areas outside the Capital such as the Delta or neighborhoods distant from downtown, the railways provide an affordable service. Several lines allow access to the center of the city.
Trains are not THE SAFEST option, although some lines are better tan others. Try to avoid rush hour or late hours, just in case!
All the lines are run by different private companies and leave from several Stations around the city (Once, Constitucion, Retiro among others)
The METROPOLITANO LINE has a website with an english version! These trains leave from CONSTITUCION Station (again, not very safe area, avoid at night time!) and you can check out routes online to visit places like Canuelas, La Plata or Bosques
FERROVIAS LINE leaves from RETIRO Station. Check out their website for schedules and routes such as Don Torcuato, Del Viso, Tortuguitas, Carapachay or Munro.
FERROBAIRES LINE leaves from RETIRO, CONSTITUCION and ONCE stations(check for the line you need) and travels to places in the coast line (Mar del PLata, Miramar, Pinamar) as well as Tandil or Bahia Blanca among others.
TBA (Trenes de Buenos Aires) also offers several lines that you can check out in their web site among its popular destinations are Tigre, Capilla del senor and Rosario)

LONG DISTANCE BUSES

The "micros" will also take you outside the city of Buenos Aires and to all Argentina actually!
The main terminal it's in RETIRO and its wonderful website has contact information for all the bus companies, arranged by what destination they serve. Very user friendly!