Tours in Buenes Aires and Rio

[georgieandmike]

We are sailing on the Oceania Insignia in February. Can anyone recommend a private tour company we can use to see Buenes Aires and Rio?

[CA2CO]

We used Rafael Torres when we were in Rio last year on this cruise and had a great experience. Check out his blog with information, pictures and contact info: http://donrafaguestsinrio.blogspot.com/. He was very responsive and although it was the Christmas holidays and he himself was booked, he set us up with Marcone for one full day and Diana for another full day. They were both lovely, had comfortable air conditioned cars and were right on time and very friendly. Diana also took us to the ariport on our last day. We met another couple on the ship who also used this company and they were equally pleased. He'll set up a custom itinerary, or you can use his suggested itineraries which we enjoyed.

 

We toured Buenos Aires on our own.

 

Both beautiful cities. I'm sure you will have a great trip!

[leonardray]

You need to go to the roll call board for Insignia where you will find tons of information.

[ClaudiaF]

for Buenos Aires

 

http://www.defrantur.com/ingles/citytour.asp

 

for Rio

Peter

pnovak@privatetours.com.br

 

have a great time..please tell Peter hello

[Judyumcer@aol.com]

We have been to Europe many times on Regent & Oceania & RCI. We are thinking of Sosuth America. Have heard so many different stories about that area of the world. Other opinions, please.

[bsherida]

Hi. I am taking the December 19th Samba Serenda cruise and I just made plans to tour with a man named Pedro Werberg. His website is:

www.amigodebuenosaires.com. He charges $70 pp for a private tour up to 2 people in a taxi and if there are more, the prices goes down accordingly. He was highly recommended. You might want to check out his website. The following is the itinerary he has suggested for us.

 

Suggested itinerary

1- Recoleta area and the cemetery.

 

2-San Martin Park( cattle baron mansions nearby and the Falkland Memorial )

 

3-May avenue ( this boulevard is quite similar to Madrid's Gran Via )

 

4-Cafe Tortoni ( The oldest cafe in the city dating back to 1858 )

 

5-The pink palace or government building (Juan Peron and Evita gave memorable speeches from its balcony.

 

6-Touristy but colorful La Boca ( birth place of tango )

 

6-San Telmo district( nice area with old homes and cobbled streets)

He will also make Tango show reservations, dinner reservations, etc.

Have a great trip!

[Mura]

We have been to Europe many times on Regent & Oceania & RCI. We are thinking of Sosuth America. Have heard so many different stories about that area of the world. Other opinions, please.

 

Judy, we have enjoyed several trips to South America. Early on in our marriage we spent a week in Rio which was delightful. We had the benefit of a Gourmet Magazine two-issue article on sights to see and restaurants to visit and so we just wandered around on our own. This was in 1974 and Rio is very much changed. From what I hear about crime, I don't know that I would go on our own if I went now. (OTOH, my husband was propositioned by a prostitute as we walked down a street together ... which made up for the time I was proposition in Copenhagen.)

 

We've done the Buenos Aires-Valparaiso (Santiago) cruise and both cities are fabulous. If you do such a trip, be sure to spend time in each city. Buenos Aires is very European in feeling -- my father was there on tour with Toscanini when he was a member of the NBC Symphony back in 1938 and he could never stop talking about how beautiful it was. Santiago also has much to offer. In both cities we were on our own with the exception of meeting an email friend for coffee in BA who gave us some hints, and doing a city tour in Santiago through our hotel where we ended up being the only passengers.

 

We've also gone to the Galapagos (back in 1989) where we spent several days in Quito beforehand. We wanted to visit Macchu Picchu at the time but this was when the Shining Path was still very active and we were hesitant to go on our own. Shortly after we took this trip members of International Travel News had photos of seniors hiking up the hill ... so things turned around quickly there.

 

I think you will find SA most interesting if you do go. Regarding the BA-Valpo cruise, I do have the name of a guide in Valparaiso although we were there nearly 10 years ago. Also, you'll find most of the cities on the cruise are VERY small. We generally had a least one sea day between ports.

 

If you want more info as to what we did (remember, our trips are now old news) feel free to contact me at mura @ speakeasy. net.

 

Mura

[Nuka]

I used RAFA as well in Rio. Can't speak more highly of his enthusiasm and knowledge. Can't go wrong if you engage him.

 

cheers

[poohbahh]

We have been to Europe many times on Regent & Oceania & RCI. We are thinking of Sosuth America. Have heard so many different stories about that area of the world. Other opinions, please.

 

Hi Judy! we love what we've seen in South America, some by cruise ship and some land travel; it's all wonderful and exciting. unfortunately many of the wonders are not accessible from ship: e.g. the gold country, Oro Preto, Minas Gerias, Iguazzo Falls; but it's still all wonderful; consequently, we've booked Insignia Buenos Aires to Barcelona in March; gets us back to two of our favorite cities to start and end and a lot in between; but frankly, I don't care a lot if we even get off the ship----especially with the outrageous cost of a Brazilian visa; on the other hand, I would hate to miss Stern's---more to look than to buy.

[poohbahh]

Hi. I am taking the December 19th Samba Serenda cruise and I just made plans to tour with a man named Pedro Werberg. His website is:

www.amigodebuenosaires.com. He charges $70 pp for a private tour up to 2 people in a taxi and if there are more, the prices goes down accordingly. He was highly recommended. You might want to check out his website. The following is the itinerary he has suggested for us.

 

Suggested itinerary

1- Recoleta area and the cemetery.

 

2-San Martin Park( cattle baron mansions nearby and the Falkland Memorial )

 

3-May avenue ( this boulevard is quite similar to Madrid's Gran Via )

 

4-Cafe Tortoni ( The oldest cafe in the city dating back to 1858 )

 

5-The pink palace or government building (Juan Peron and Evita gave memorable speeches from its balcony.

 

6-Touristy but colorful La Boca ( birth place of tango )

 

6-San Telmo district( nice area with old homes and cobbled streets)

 

He will also make Tango show reservations, dinner reservations, etc.

 

Have a great trip!

 

Never having taken a private tour, what does such a thing cost? compared to what is offered as ship'shore excursions? would be nice to have the luxury of planning our own itinerary.

[Mura]

Poohbahh,

 

Costs can vary but if you form up a small group (6-8 people usually) the cost of a private tour is generally less than a ship's tour, where you are in a bus. Plus you have the ability to choose your itinerary, customize it, etc.

 

I always prefer private tours but it DOES take time to plan ... and of course you need to make sure you'll be back in time or else the ship will leave you!

 

When we did our SA cruise in Jan 2002 (BA-Valpo) we were on a ship's tour in Puerto Chacabuco (pop. 100) where our bus broke down at the last stop. Fortunately for us, they'd been serving drinks and snacks and they just continued serving. We were told a replacement bus would arrive in half an hour but it was more like an hour and a half. The ship waited for us.

 

It wouldn't have if we'd been on our own ... but in SA, where most ports were a two day sail, we preferred to play it safe and use ship's tours.

 

OTOH, in Cadiz we had a private tour to Jerez where the driver got stuck in traffic and so we had very little time to get back to the ship. We made it in time, but they were already calling our names. And our driver was doing about 200 kph on the autostrada ...

 

Mura

[MightyQuinn]

We are sailing on the Oceania Insignia in February. Can anyone recommend a private tour company we can use to see Buenes Aires and Rio?

We cruised in South America in '09 with another cruiseline (:eek::eek:) and we arranged our tours privately. In Rio, we did a full-day tour with RioPlus, a small company owned by two women with a long history in the travel industry in Brazil. Our tour included Christ Redeemer; Tijuca Forest; Sugarloaf; Sao Bento Monastery; Copa/Ipanema Beaches; Flamenco Park; Sambodromo; Metropolitan Cathedral; Selaron Stairway; and Historic Downtown. We stopped for pastries & drinks at Colombo Tea House. This was an excellent overview to the wonders of Rio in a short time.

 

In Buenos Aires, we did an all-day walking tour with Buenos Tours, a small company owned & operated by a young British ex-pat. Our tour included Plaza de Mayo; Casa Rosada; San Telmo; Monserrat; Plaza San Martin; Avenida 9 de Julio; Retiro; Avenida Hotel; and Recoleta Cemetery. We stopped for hot chocolate & churros at Café Tortoni, empanadas & beer at El Sanjuanino and ice cream at Volta. While most of our tour was on foot, we also rode the classic Line A Subway. It was an exhausting but fulfilling day.

Both these operators met our requirement for seeing as much as possible in a limited time, but could adjust their tours to suit other needs. Hope this helps.

[Paulchili]

MQ,

Excellent itineraries in both cities - you obviously did your homework :).

We did sample Cafe Tortoni and ride the A line; in Rio we missed out on Colombo Tea house as they were closed on Sunday.

Instead we feasted in Porcao with views of Sugar Loaf - a carnivore's delight and a vegetarian's worst nightmare :D

[A Knitter]

for Buenos Aires

 

http://www.defrantur.com/ingles/citytour.asp

 

for Rio

Peter

pnovak@privatetours.com.br

 

have a great time..please tell Peter hello

 

 

I agree with ClaudiiaF. I should be getting a Holiday hello email next month from him. Truly the best, picks up from the Hotel returns you safely.

[MightyQuinn]

Instead we feasted in Porcao with views of Sugar Loaf - a carnivore's delight and a vegetarian's worst nightmare

I know what you mean! Porcao is legendary for its carnivore delights. But then again, most of South America is that way. Thankfully, we traveled there after we were recovering vegetarians & fully able to indulge. ;);)

[georgieandmike]

Thanks for that great info. We will follow up The itinerary looks good.

[ClaudiaF]

You can do all the Rio site seeing for free. The ship usually has reps from the emerald companies on the ship ..who will offer you free tours in Rio...they have many vans available..will take you to their companies (H.Sterns and there is another company name escapes me ,who also has reps on ship or on the dock)..then will take you touring to see whatever you want..FREE..you can arrange in advance by contacting H Sterns direct in Rio at

their website and arranging the free city tour and tour of the store, extremely interesting to see how everything is made, you are not obligated to buy although they will try to sell you jewelry at their store, they have wonderful stuff...but if you don't want to buy just do their tour and decline and on the way out to the vans their is a souvenier store..maybe buy something there.

 

http://www.hstern.net/hsterninrio/

[Mura]

We did a similar tour when we were in Montevideo on a cruise. No high sales pressure at all (in fact, while we were at a store it wasn't a jewelry store, but I was highly tempted to do some buying). It's certainly worth considering!

[marilynfaye]

Poobahh:

 

If you have not done so, post on the Roll Call for this cruise. Some of us who are arriving in B.A. early and are going to the Falls are meeting for drinks in the Sheraton bar. Gonna get this party started early.

 

We are kindred spirits when it comes to just enjoying being on the ship. I think this particular T/A is a wonderful balance between ports and sea days. This will be our 4th T/A, but our first time in South America. We just completed a 12 day - 11 port cruise and we turned a couple of port days into sea days. It was great.

 

Regarding the VISA, I have a feeling Oceania won't let you on the ship if you don't have it ahead of time so you may as well plan on Sterns. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

 

Marilyn

[bella555]

Where is the roll call board?

[Oceans&Rivers]

Where is the roll call board?

 

Click here to go to it: :)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=420

[JoePDX]

If you are in Buenos Aires on a Sunday take in the Antique Market in San Telmo. Even if you are not interested in antiques, the whole area becomes a street fair with throngs of people and the different milangos (dance clubs) stage tango performances right on the street. We spent several hours there just wandering around and it was part of the trip we still talk about with fond memories.

 

As others have mentioned Buenos Aires is an incredible city with a vibrant population. Cabs are plentiful and very inexpensive, easy way to get around this very large city.

 

Joe

[fremar1948]

We did a similar tour when we were in Montevideo on a cruise. No high sales pressure at all (in fact, while we were at a store it wasn't a jewelry store, but I was highly tempted to do some buying). It's certainly worth considering!

Hi Mura. Do you remember the store where you did the free tour in Montevideo? Thanks,

fremar

[Mura]

Fremar, I'm afraid I do NOT.

 

I checked my diary and it just indicates that the store reps showed up at dockside and offered us the tour. Bear in mind this was in January 2002! So I don't know if they still exist ... but it was a very nice shop and I'm inclined to think they do.

 

For the record, what we did was take their van to their store and then after thoroughly inspecting the merchandise for sale, we walked back to the ship. We were there on Monday, January 7, 2002. We walked back to the ship, encountering various sights to see (it's really a lovely city) and touring here and there. Around 1:30 we reached the Mercado del Puerto. The market was VERY busy on that Monday.

 

We met an American ex-pat artist outside of the the market who had wonderful watercolors for sale. We bought three of them. They were called "Metamorphoses" and one thing went to another. For example, one of them started out with a goldfish in a bowl and ended up with a white cat eating said goldfish ... They were excessively clever and well worth the pittance we paid for them.

 

They were $10 each framed, $6 each unframed. Is this guy still there? Probably not. But keep your eyes open! He might be. He was a late 20-something, early 30-something back in 2002.

 

We did enjoy Montevideo very much ... I'm sorry I don't know the name of the shop but assuming it's still open (and it was really a nice shop), I'm sure they'll be there!

 

Write me privately if you'd like to see my photos of Montevideo ... mkievman @ nyc.rr. com

[Rainbow3fe]

I don't know if it's possible for you but if you go in person to the Brazilian Consulate, the visas are only $120 per person.