Buenos Aires vacation with a 20-month-old?
August 16, 2010 2:23 PM   Subscribe

Buenos Aires vacation with a 20-month-old: where to stay, what to do?

We're planning a 3-week vacation to Buenos Aires in late October/early Nov with our daughter, who will be 20 months old.

We're planning to rent an apartment and just hang out, with a little mellow sightseeing in and around the city.

BA seems like a good mix of exotic, civilized and inexpensive. I speak Spanish (my wife doesn't) and I've been there before, for a few days of solo sightseeing years ago.

We're wondering:

a) What neighborhood(s) would be best to look at renting, considering things like safety, playgrounds, location, etc.?

b) What are some fun things to do in and around the city for families with toddlers?

c) How about safe, trustworthy childcare?

d) Anything else we should be concerned or informed about?
posted by gottabefunky to Travel & Transportation around Buenos Aires, Argentina (5 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Having travelled with a 20-month-old quite a bit, I'd suggest planning your days loosely with 1/2 day adventures to start early in the morning so that you can get back to homebase for lunch (maybe) and for nap certainly.

While toddler naps, 1 adult can perhaps go out and do some stuff while other adult rests.

Post-nap you can all do something a little more low-key OR go out to eat.

Any way you slice it, assume that either in the AM or PM that you'll need to take toddler to somewhere where s/he can run around like a maniac.
posted by k8t at 3:23 PM on August 16, 2010


I'm the opposite of a kid expert, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express in Buenos Aires once. The historic centre of BsAs with the densest sightseeing is San Nicolas / Montserrat, with the typical reduction of touristic interest as you go farther out (although there's plenty of interesting stuff throughout communas 1-3. As you go north and east along the river, you get richer, as you go to the south, you get poorer. (I understand that the historical distribution of malaria is the main reason.)

I'd look at Recoleta or Palermo as a nice mix of upper-class living with reasonable central accessibility. Palermo is loaded with green spaces, but I don't know anything about kid-specific playgrounds. I would tend to find something near a Subte station, because traffic is murder in the rush hour (although taxis are cheap).

One alternative is Puerto Madero, which is very shiny-new and has a lot of park space. It's close to the centro, but getting to the Subte from there is a hike. (The tram there is useless.)
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 4:25 PM on August 16, 2010


Perhaps this is useful to you. I've lived in Bs As for a while, and while as a single guy I wasn't exactly looking for them, I've noticed few public playgrounds (and some of those were in appalling condition). Previous answers have given you some clues to the best neighbourhoods regarding green spaces, I would just add that this is probably important info for you, as many Bs As neighbourhoods are ridiculously lacking in any remotely decent public spaces, particularly for toddlers.
posted by Iosephus at 5:19 PM on August 16, 2010


The Abasto shopping centre (Carlos Gardel subte, line B) has a large kid-oriented amusement area and the Museo del Niño which I not been to, but I would imagine has enough to entertain. The zoo in Plaza Italia is a good kid day out, not too big and all the "classic" zoo animals are there.

As for areas, I wouldn't recommend Microcentro or San Telmo with a toddler. Recoleta & Palermo are much more residential and leafy. Both are conducive to just strolling around. Buses and the subte may be a challenge with a small child. Both get hellish busy, taxis may be your best bet as a rule.
posted by jontyjago at 8:20 PM on August 16, 2010


I would also recommend the Palermo area. Walking distance to the Plaza de las heras would be great. It was a park where I used to spend a lot of days, and there are also some toy cars etc. that you can hire. It is also close to the Botanical garden where you can lie on the grass and relax.

Other activities that might be fun:
- take the ferry to Colonia, Uruguay and go walk around there and spend some time on the beach.
- the museo de los niños in Abasto as recommended above
- go for boat rides in the delta del Parana
- go for a bike ride in the Parque de la Costa before lunch at Puerto Madero. Bikes are available for hire there.

And not really for kids, but you should also go to the Ateneo bookstore, in a converted theatre.

Enjoy!
posted by Gomez_in_the_South at 11:31 PM on August 16, 2010


« Older Is my husband's abusive behavior bad enough to...   |   Recommend me some old classic "New Yorker style"... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.