Recoleta or Puerto Madero?

[Mary loves to travel]

We plan to stay in Buenos Aires for a few days post cruise.  Trying to decide between Recoleta and Puerto Madero.  
 

Any advice?

 

thanks,

Mary

[edinburgher]

 Trying to decide between Recoleta and Puerto Madero.

 

Sorry, no advice on actually staying in either, but posting to advise you do not miss visiting Recoleta Cemetery, ideally NOT in a tour group.  When we were there, we were able to explore much of this amazing space, in contrast we saw tour groups arrive, go directly to the tomb of Eva Peron then leave., and this is a cemetery worth an awful lot more exploration. 

 

And should you be there at a weekend, there was an excellent art/craft market very close to the entrance.  We bought some lovely quality  items there as most, if not all, items for sale were hand crafted by the sellers and these were the nicest items we saw for sale in our time in the city..  I cannot remember its name as we came across it completely by chance when exiting the cemetery and saw it only a few steps away,  but it would definitely be worth a browse. An internet search of art/craft markets should find it.  And if visiting the cemetery on your own and the market is open, you would have the flexibility to enjoy both to the max without the costraints of a tour group.  We had lunch in a restaurant/cafe very close to the market.  It is a very nice area.

 

And something a bit different. and a  little more off the usual cruise passenger sightseeing list, (or perhaps not?) we also rode part of the Underground/Subway to see some of the extravagantly tiled stations. They are quite a feature of the system and there will be much info and many  images to be found with an online search from which you can decide which lines and stations would be of most interest to you. We got off at the stations we most wanted to see, then jumped onto the next one which came along to continue our journey. It was very easy to do, despite us not speaking any Spanish.and cost hardly anything at all.  You should be able to find online info on using all types of public transport  in Buenos Aires

 

I

[Reina del Mar]

We stayed in The Brick Hotel Recoleta.now the Sofitel. At the time (five years ago) it was part of a Princess Package..not sure whether they still use it. It was flagged up as a five star hotel but we felt it was more like a 3.5-4 star as it needed a great deal of updating. It may have since been updated. Food and staff were excellent. Good location for an upscale mall (didn’t buy anything) and for restaurants. It was a fair walk to the centre of BA.We used the hop on/off bus to see the main attractions. There were some homeless folk sleeping on the streets but the police seemed to be monitoring and moving them on.

[ColoradoCruiser88]

We stayed at the Palladio hotel pre cruise in Jan.  It is walking distance to the Recoleta Cemetery and had a wonderful buffet breakfast.  But absolutely the best thing we discovered about the hotel was that they offered currency exchange (USD to ARG peso) at the MEP rate - “tourist” rate that was used on the Visa credit card - very close to the “blue” rate.  We stayed twice, one night before a DIY trip to Iguazu Falls and we left our luggage at the hotel.  Then again for 2 nights after the trip and prior to boarding the Oceania Marina.  
 

 

 

 

 

[kathynorth]

We've been to BA twice. We stayed at the BA Hilton in Puerto Madero in Dec 2018, then at the Palladio just south of Recolleta area in Feb 2023. Both of these areas were very nice and close to popular sites. This past trip we took taxis and Ubers all over the city for less than 5 usd/ ride. Set up an Uber account while still at home if you don't already have an account, then log into your account after arriving to your hotel. It takes some time for Uber to verify you as a legitimate user in a new country. Since it's very easy and inexpensive to travel to the various BA neighborhoods make your decision based on what feels most comfortable to you. If we visit BA again, we'll probably stay closer to the Recolleta Cemetery mostly because I liked the old European feel of that neighborhood. Puerto Madero had more of a modern contemporary feel.