Photo by Ciara Richards-Benson
To be honest, the thought of a tourist bus has never sent shivers of excitement down my spine. Three hours on a bus packed with camera-happy people while wearing enormous headsets and listening to someone tell me about monuments that I was going to forget the name of five minutes later was not really my idea of a good time.
So it was with a sense of dread that I headed out to brave the open top of the recently launched Buenos Aires Bus, a new tourist bus service that takes you around the city’s main sights. But what I thought might be a tortuous affair turned out to be a pleasant surprise.
Since the service works on a ‘hop on, hop off’ system, I was relieved to find out that I wouldn’t be trapped on the bus for the whole trip. In fact, you can spend the day getting off at each stop to explore the nearby sights and hop back on another bus at your convenience. The circuit consists of 12 stops, each strategically placed to put you in walking distance of most of the city’s best sights, and buses arrive at each stop every half an hour. Beginning at Plaza de Mayo, it takes you through Congreso, San Telmo, La Boca and Puerto Madero and then onward to Palermo and Recoleta. The route in total is just under three hours.
Photo by Ciara Richards-Benson
Ignoring the bright yellow colour scheme, the buses are very comfortable and the open tops will be much appreciated during the middle of summer. An audio guide accompanied by images is synchronised with the bus route. It is available in ten different languages, including Mandarin, Hebrew and even Arabic. As for the information, it was not the dreary list of dates and names that I had expected, but various interesting and quirky facts that even surprised some of the porteños onboard.
The service offers one or two-day passes, so if you only have a short time in BA this is a quick and easy way to see most of the main sights. You can almost think of it as a taxi service that will take you, hassle-free, around the city, allow you to get on and off, and impart a few fun facts at the same time.
A guide is also present on each bus, selling and checking tickets, handing out maps that detail the sights at each stop and adding further information to the audio tour. The service runs from 9am to 5:30pm in high season, and 9:30am to 5:30pm during the low season. A one-day pass is $18.75 for porteños and (adding the foreigner’s tax) $25 for everyone else.
For more information on prices, times and the route visit www.buenosairesbus.com.
Facebook comments