This post about Tigre forms part of our series about our trip to Uruguay and Argentina in October 2015. We have previously written about the first days of our journey in Montevideo as well as the two first days in Buenos Aires. Click on the links below to read the posts.
- Planning our trip to South America >>
- Our first days in South America: Montevideo, Uruguay >>
- iHola Buenos Aires! >>
When planning our stay in Buenos Aires, we quickly decided that one of the places we would definitely like to visit was Tigre. The little town lies on the Paraná delta and it’s a popular attraction among tourists and local city dwellers alike. Because of its location, the town is located 28 km north of Buenos Aires, which makes for the perfect day trip from the Argentine capital. In the end, we decided to visit Tigre on day 5 of our South American adventure. Apparently, we are not the only ones who enjoyed our trip to the small town, words have it that Madonna is fond of the place.
Tigre: How to Get There
Going to Tigre is very simple, the most difficult part is probably choosing from various options. There’s the option to hop on a ferry from Buenos Aires. One can also enjoy the scenery through the train window on the Tren de la Costa.
In the end, we decided to take the commuter train from Retiro, the train station in Buenos Aires. This seemed to be the quickest option, with the Mitre Line going all the way to Tigre. Buying tickets was easy. As far as we could tell, there were no ticket machines. Considering the short distance, even the commuter train took quite some time. On the other hand, it gave us the possibility to see other areas of Buenos Aires, even though it was through a train window. On the way back, we decided to take a look at the neighborhood of San Isidro.
Compared to hustle and bustle of the capital, Tigre welcomed us with a very relaxed atmosphere. There was no rush and the town was very lush even though it was early spring. Although the town is officially a part of Greater Buenos Aires, it really felt like visiting a completely different area altogether. The train station was old-fashioned and at the harbor, there was some serious political campaigning going on. Argentina held a general election a couple of weeks after our visit to the country.
Tigre: Things to Do
One of the reasons for going to Tigre is the Paraná Delta. There are several boat tours on the rivers forming the delta. Participating in such a tour does not require a whole lot of planning – you just show up and buy your ticket. At least that’s what you can do off-season. The situation might be different if you are visiting the town at the same time as a lot of other people. The duration of our boat tour was an hour and we saw quite a bit of the five different rivers.
After the tour, we had a delicious lunch at a restaurant near the amusement park before having a walk around the town. Buenos Aires has really nice lunch menus (often including wine!) and I had a typical ”guy-meal”, i.e. meat Argentina-style! Jesper had ravioli 🙂 During our walk, it turned out that the town wasn’t as small as we had imagined at first. The most charming part of town was the promenade on Avenida Victoria and Lavalle.
We were very content with our day when we got back on the train to Buenos Aires.
The Rest of Day 5
In order to see more of Buenos Aires, we got off the train at San Isidro – a residential area. It was very different from the central parts of the capital, with cobblestone streets and a lot of fancy villas. Suddenly we were given a glimpse of what everyday life might look like in Buenos Aires.
In the evening we made one of the greatest discoveries during our trip – a lovely little place called 1816 Cocina regional de Argentina (address: Marcelo T. de Alvear 868). Located near our hotel, the restaurant served delicious empanadas and red wine to die for. We would order a few different kinds of empanadas to try and then share them. The restaurants in Buenos Aires were surprisingly pricey, but the prices at this place were very reasonable. We strongly recommend this place. In case you eat meat, try the empanada tucumana.
Sources
Are you interested in knowing more about Tigre, San Isidro, and Buenos Aires? Check out the following links.
Perfect timing for this post as I am getting married in 2017 and my fiancee and I want to visit Argentina for our Honeymoon! How many days in total did you spend in Bueno Aries? And is Tigre worthy of a full day visit in your opinion then? Or would you have cut it down to a half-day visit instead?