Buenos Aires sightseeing possibility if you only have a few hours, hotel location?

[gam888]

We will be arriving Buenos Aires by plane in March. I figure by the time we check into a hotel, it will be around 4:30pm and we only have a couple of hours of day light left. We are supposed to check into our Celebrity cruise ship before 3pm.  The ship sails at 6:30pm. We plan to check out of our hotel by 9am, leave our luggage there until we are back to pick them up later, and head out to do maybe about 5 hours of sight seeing. Is there enough time to take a hop on and off bus? Other than La Boca area, where is a must see that we can cover within a few hours of time. Is there enough time to do a quick city tour and the boat ride? What district should we be picking a hotel in? We only need a clean hotel to stay for one night, so no need for any luxury hotel. Perhaps somewhere central for sightseeing purpose would do. Is it easy to get a taxi from the airport to a hotel in  the center of town? Any info on the transportation, sightseeing, hotel in Buenos Aires are welcome. Thank you in advance.

[mcmarya]

It has been awhile, but we took Taxi Ezeiza from the airport--there is a booth near where you leave the airport.  The exchange rate will be poor but you can pay in USD and it is a flat rate to town.  We stayed in the downtown area which is convenient to Plaza de Mayo, etc.  The hotel we used, Facon Grande, is fairly basic but I would recommend the general area--there are quite a few options.  Close by are places to eat and small stores as well as a fancy mall.  If you are into walking and/or using public transport, it is a great location.  We have only taken cabs to and from the airport and the port.

 

I would not necessarily recommend the hop on hop off bus because you would end up wasting a lot of time waiting for it to move you from place to place.  Since you don't have a lot of time, you may want to try to arrange something with Tours by Locals or similar organization for a tour instead.  There is so much to see and do in Buenos Aires it's a shame not to see as much as you can. There is lots to see around the Plaza de Mayo including the changing of the guard at the Cathedral.  You can visit Casa Rosada if you book tickets in advance--not sure of the current status.  The Cabildo is also on the Plaza.  Puerto Madero is close by with some other attractions.  In some cases, walking is the best way to get around.  We had 4 or 5 days there and still didn't see everything.